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DECOLONIZING THE EFL MATERIALS:
A STRATEGY TO TEACH ENGLISH TO
CHILDREN AND FOSTER THEIR ICC
DESCOLONIZAR MATERIALES DE INGLÉS: UNA
ESTRATEGIA PARA ENSEÑAR INGLÉS A LOS NIÑOS
Y FOMENTAR SU COMPETENCIA COMUNICATIVA
INTERCULTURAL
Valentina Charry Londoño
Universidad El Bosque, Colombia
Jason Fabian Laguna Pulido
Universidad El Bosque, Colombia
Cristian Felipe Campos
Universidad El Bosque, Colombia
Karoll Valentina Linares Velasquez
Universidad El Bosque, Colombia
Ingrid Johanna Rodríguez Granados
Universidad El Bosque, Colombia
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37811/cl_rcm.v8i2.11093
Decolonizing the EFL Materials: A Strategy to Teach English to Children
and Foster their ICC
Valentina Charry Londoño 1
vcharry@unbosque.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8206-5660
Universidad El Bosque
Colombia
Jason Fabian Laguna Pulido
jlagunap@unbosque.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0941-5654
Universidad El Bosque
Colombia
Cristian Felipe Campos
ccamposq@unbosque.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6450-9503
Universidad El Bosque
Colombia
Karoll Valentina Linares Velasquez
klinares@unbosque.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5452-5967
Universidad El Bosque
Colombia
Ingrid Johanna Rodríguez Granados
rodriguezingrid@unbosque.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8121-4008
Universidad El Bosque
Colombia
ABSTRACT
The teaching of foreign languages emphasizes communicative and intercultural skills; however,
Colombian education often neglects local cultures, leading to cultural alienation. This research aims to
investigate the role that a digital booklet, designed from a decolonized perspective, plays in the EFL
learning process and the development of intercultural communication competence of a group of young
learners. This research follows a qualitative action research design and the participants are four children
from Puerto Gaitan, Colombia, who took EFL lessons online, and whose parents are active members of
a social foundation located in the same municipality, which is interested in fostering their
communicative skills in the target language to help them become cultural ambassadors of their region.
The instruments used to collect data were transcripts from the video recordings of the lessons, field
notes and the students’ productions. Findings show that the booklet played the role of a motivational
source, a facilitator of context and language and a provider of interaction among cultures by means of
its features and activities. Likewise, the use of the booklet fostered the children’s development of
intercultural attitudes, knowledge and skills, which represent the basis of their intercultural
communication competence.
Keywords: language teaching, intercultural competence, cultural significance, decolonized digital
resource
1
Autor principal
Correspondencia: vcharry@unbosque.edu.co
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Descolonizar Materiales de Inglés: Una Estrategia para Enseñar Inglés a
los Niños y Fomentar su Competencia Comunicativa Intercultural
RESUMEN
La enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras enfatiza las habilidades comunicativas e interculturales; sin
embargo, la educación colombiana a menudo descuida las culturas locales, lo que lleva a una alienación
cultural. Este estudio busca investigar el papel que juega un librillo digital, diseñado desde una
perspectiva descolonizada, en el proceso de aprendizaje de inglés y el desarrollo de la competencia
comunicativa intercultural de un grupo de jóvenes estudiantes. Esta investigación sigue un diseño de
investigación acción cualitativa y los participantes son cuatro niños de Puerto Gaitán, Colombia, que
tomaron clases de inglés en línea, y cuyos padres son miembros de una fundación social ubicada en el
mismo municipio, la cual desea fomentar sus habilidades comunicativas en el idioma para ayudarlos a
convertirse en embajadores culturales de su región. Los instrumentos para recolectar datos fueron
transcripciones de grabaciones de video, notas de campo y producciones de los estudiantes. Los
resultados muestran que el librillo desempeñó el papel de fuente de motivación, facilitador del contexto
y del lenguaje y proveedor de interacción entre culturas a través de sus características y actividades.
Asimismo, el librillo fomentó el desarrollo de actitudes, conocimientos y habilidades interculturales de
los niños, representando la base de su competencia comunicativa intercultural.
Palabras clave: enseñanza de idiomas, competencia intercultural, significado cultural, recurso digital
descolonizado
Artículo recibido 28 marzo 2024
Aceptado para publicación: 20 abril 2024
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INTRODUCCIÓN
In recent years, the field of teaching foreign languages has emphasized the relationship that is
established between the development of communicative and intercultural skills that allow students to
interact effectively and share information about L1 and L2 cultures into the classrooms. However, in
Colombia, English as a foreign Language (EFL) has focused mainly on the foreign language culture,
relegating "local needs, interests, and life experiences of the learners in their own context" (Núñez and
Téllez, 2020, p. 23). Hence, learning EFL in our territory implies a power relationship between a
dominant group, mainly the American or British culture, and a subordinate group, which is the
Colombian one; therefore, the dominant culture tends to superimpose its practices and knowledge on
the local one.
Moreover, deculturation is a growing concern in Colombia. In recent years, the spread of EFL has led
to a cultural alienation, which makes people tend to abandon their own traditions and heritage (Mann,
2001). This situation is worsened inside the EFL classrooms since the majority of materials and
textbooks to teach this language tend to constrain the students' intercultural communication
competence. The production of EFL educational resources in Colombia is scarce; the majority of these
materials are designed by international publishing houses that do not understand the complexity of local
contexts and communities, nor do they truly promote awareness and sensitivity towards sociocultural
diversity (Núñez and Téllez, 2020). What is more, school curricula address very few topics related to
our own culture, which does not foster its recognition and value.
Following the aforementioned, a change of paradigm to embrace our own southern epistemologies and
decolonize the EFL learning and teaching practices is paramount. It implies understanding that there is
an imposed worldview that should be negotiated and mixed with the local one. In this regard,
developing materials which reflect a more diverse and inclusive range of cultures and perspectives,
recovering pedagogies which have been marginalized by the dominant approaches from the northern
epistemologies, and exploring local contexts by incorporating our own cultural and social backgrounds
are key strategies to decolonize the Colombian EFL classrooms.
Consequently, this research arises, first, from our observations and reflections as EFL pre-service
teachers. We have realized the emergent need of creating EFL materials that do not prevent learners
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from valuing and learning about their own culture along with the foreign one as these resources tend to
emphasize heavily on foreign cultural traits as if they were superior to our own, instead of valuing
standard English varieties which have their own richness (Pennycook, 1994). Furthermore, this research
emerged from the challenge we had to face when having a social practice to teach synchronous online
EFL lessons to a group of young children whose parents belonged to a social foundation in Puerto
Gaitan, Meta in Colombia. These learners had little to no knowledge of English, nor did they have
sophisticated electronic devices, just their parents’ cell phones; however, the foundation's interest was
to support the children’s EFL learning as a way to empower them to become the cultural ambassadors
of their region, which is a tourist destination, so that they could bring prosperity to their community in
the future. Therefore, the design of a digital decolonized booklet that could support their learning and
foster their intercultural communication competence (ICC) emerged as our main strategy.
Thus, the following research questions guided our research: What is the role that an EFL digital booklet,
designed from a decolonizing perspective, has on the learning process of a group of young children,
from the rural and the urban area of Puerto Gaitan, Colombia, who are taking lessons in a synchronous
virtual environment? and second, to what extent can the use of these material foster this group of
students' ICC?
Accordingly, this research may promote EFL classrooms where the L1 culture is valued and considered
as a source of knowledge and topic of interest just as much as the English one. This could boost the
learners' effective communication, and serve as an example for teachers who seek to satisfy their
students’ L2 learning needs without forgetting their cultural wealth, which may result in a more
meaningful and engaging language learning experience.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Decolonization
The term decolonization can be defined as the process of removing dominance and power from a
colonizing group. It implies a cultural, economic, psychological, and political liberation that allows the
right to exercise self-determination over one's own land, culture, politics and economy. In fact, it aims
to create new symbolisms and realities based on the local context of subordinate groups to challenge
hegemonic and discriminatory hierarchies (Gómez et al., 2017).
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In the educational context, decolonizing means rebuilding a system that is already predetermined,
examining its limitations and biases. It questions patterns of knowledge and power instituted by
colonialism (Fandiño, 2021). Thus, decolonized education breaks the traditional ways in which things
are conceived and done for the mere fact that they have always been that way, and proposes a decoupling
of forcibly imposed cultural and linguistic concepts and terms, to give way to the creation of context-
specific instructional strategies based on local sociocultural, historical-political, and educational needs
(Fandiño, 2021).
Different authors have focused on the decolonization of EFL classrooms from different perspectives.
Among them, Nuñez (2020) explains that the content of EFL textbooks, from the ways of being,
knowing and exercising power, misrepresent and hide the realities of the local context. Also,
Kumaravadivelu (2016) emphasizes the potential benefits of incorporating decolonial perspectives in
ELT, such as promoting social justice, empowering subaltern learners, and enriching the overall
learning experience.
Intercultural Communication Competence
The intercultural communication competence (ICC) has had a positive influence on the field of
languages education. In the current globalized, interconnected and interdependent world (Munezane,
2021), full of opportunities for people to interact with others from different contexts, fostering
intercultural communication becomes a must to succeed in creating citizens of the world. Hymes
(1972) defines the ICC as the ability of an individual to express him/herself effectively and
appropriately in diverse cultural contexts, taking into account their native communicative structures and
relating them to foreign ones. Also, Byram (1997) proposes a five dimensions model of the ICC that
characterizes a competent intercultural speaker. These five dimensions are solidly interconnected,
hence, not developing one implies not achieving the others.
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Table 1 Five dimensions of ICC
Savoir
knowledge about the communication participants -oneself and the other-, the
interaction happening and the individual-society relationship.
Savoir être
attitudes towards the self-strengthening and valuing others
Savoir comprendre
skills to interpret and relate information
Savoir
apprendre/faire
discovery and interaction skills
Savoir s’engager
cultural awareness from a critical perspective
Note. Adapted from Byram, 1997. p. 34)
However, authors like Hymes (1972), Byram (1997), Byram et al. (2002) and others are focused on the
study of ICC on the adult population. It opens the door to creating a new field of research to understand
the functioning of the ICC in the younger population. One pioneering investigation in the study of
Children’s ICC was developed by Gerlich et al. (2010); they identified skills, knowledge, and attitudes
related to ICC in a preschool group of children aged three to six.
This study allows to raise the conceptualization of children’s ICC in a bilingual education environment.
It was was based on the observation of children during 4 school days where cultural exchange activities
were carried out in order to analyze their behavior towards the ICC. It demonstrated the importance of
meaningful developmental environments that promote students’ exposure to language and culture in
bilingual institutions at early ages and the key teacher's role as a linguistic and behavioral model.
Therefore, fostering children’s ICC contributes to their adaptation to the uncertainty when interacting
with other cultures by developing behavior strategies of exploration and negotiation with proper
confidence.
MATERIALS DESIGN
The process of developing or selecting suitable and effective resources for language teaching and
learning is known as ELT material design (Tomlinson, 2011). This practice objective is to create
resources that are in line with the needs, interests, and skills of the learners as well as with the objectives
of the educational programs. Tomlinson (2011) asserts that there are three key steps to material design:
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
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Teachers or material developers identify goals and students needs during the analysis stage. Later they
must aim at developing relevant, authentic, and meaningful materials. They should provide
opportunities for learners to practice all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
and to interact by using the language in meaningful contexts. Hence, designing materials with a clear
purpose in mind is key, as well as setting opportunities for their regular evaluation; it allows to measure
their effectiveness and fosters improvement (Richards, 2013).
There have been different studies focused on the design of materials in EFL classrooms. Howard &
Major (2004) emphasize language levels proficiency and cultural appropriateness considerations as
guidelines for creating effective English language teaching materials. The authors stress the significance
of aligning materials with learning goals and objectives, as well as providing a variety of activities and
assessments that allow students to practice and apply new language skills. Rico (2012) also reflects
upon the role of designed teaching materials for ICC development; he explains that traditionally
designed materials prevent learners from developing their communicative skills and successfully
participate in an intercultural encounter due to the stereotypes and colonizing perspectives they
promote. Therefore, materials design and decolonizing education may serve as drivers of change
towards effective and culturally enriched communication that opens doors to a more inclusive and
assertive world.
METHODOLOGY
This study follows the principles of qualitative research, which aims to comprehend complex social
phenomena with an emphasis on the viewpoints and experiences of individuals and groups (Bryman,
2012). Likewise, it is framed in the action research design, which is commonly used in the educational
field as an improvement-oriented strategy. It involves cycles of planning, acting, observing, and
reflecting upon practice as a strategy for professional development (Burns, 2019).
Accordingly, this research involved four cycles, each one with five main steps. First, the planning of
lessons and materials embedded in a digital booklet took place. It was developed according to the
syllabus provided, the children’s needs, their context and the institution’s requirements, which mainly
emphasized on the foundations needed for students to be able to interact in EFL about their region and
in the future, become their territory ambassadors. Second, activities and lessons of the digital booklet
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were developed; this step was a critical one since several different modifications were required due to
the children and their parents’ lack of knowledge about the use of platforms and ICT tools, which made
us focus on the basics. Third, the lessons were developed online; the children’s processes and the use
they made of the material were observed, recorded and reviewed for further analysis. Fourth, there was
a reflection and assessment stage based on the data collected, considering the kids’ EFL learning process
and ICC development, and the weaknesses and challenges of the material. Finally, decisions regarding
the way to present the language contents, the narrative used and design elements were made to improve
the quality of the material and so, the learners process.
Our participants were a group of four students aged between five and eight years old. Their parents
were active members of a Colombian social foundation located in Puerto Gaitán, Meta, whose main
purpose is to promote the formation of skills in order to contribute to the prevention of drug
consumption among the indigenous population living in the Wacoyo reserve, although they also work
with the non-indigenous community from the municipality. They focus on making the most of leisure
time and seek to develop autonomy and social cohesion among the members.
These children had almost no knowledge of EFL. Their parents attended a campaign made by the
foundation to teach their kids English online during two hours a week for ten weeks. Then some
informed their interest and joined the foundation's objective of starting training their children in this
language so that in the future they could share their traditions, customs and values as a strategy for their
community to make their culture known and learn from others around the world. These kids were in
elementary school; some of them were becoming literate and others were perfecting their reading and
writing skills, so their written productions involved words as well as drawings. Moreover, due to their
ages, some of their oral production was difficult to understand, so Spanish was used as a tool to confirm
understanding and sometimes to deliver instruction.
Due to their location and economic situation, they did not have high-tech devices, but their parents’ cell
phones. Furthermore, the poor Internet quality and continuous power outages were issues that affected
the class delivery; hence, lessons tended to be paused, some restarted more than once, and it was not
possible to develop interactive online activities.
We implemented three instruments to collect data. First, according to Creswell (2016), recordings can
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be a rich source of data, especially in qualitative research, where varied and detailed data are often
needed to understand complex phenomena; therefore, every online lesson was video recorded and later
transcribed to get detail of what had happened. Second, we took field notes, which allowed us to record
our class observations; as Emerson et al. (2011) explain, field notes help capture detailed descriptions
of the activities, the class environment, the methodologies implemented, the people involved. Third, we
collected the students' productions. We took pictures of their written samples and drawings as evidence
of their outcomes based on the activities proposed in the digital booklet. These instruments allowed us
to analyze the learners’ EFL learning progress, the development of their ICC, and the strengths and
opportunities for improvement of the material.
Likewise, in order to analyze the data, first, we carried out a process of triangulation. It is a method that
involves the utilization of multiple data sources, methods, theories, or researchers to study a
phenomenon, with the aim of enhancing the credibility and validity of the information through cross-
verification (Creswell & Plano, 2017). This approach helped us to avoid biases and get a more
comprehensive understanding of the findings. Second, we developed a thematic analysis, a powerful
method for uncovering meaning. It is a strategy used to carry out complex interpretations of qualitative
data by identifying and analyzing data thematic patterns (Braun & Clarke, 2012).
Besides, it is important to mention that we carefully emphasized the ethical principles that must be taken
into account when conducting research. We acquired the consent to carry out this research directly with
the foundation by presenting a letter where we requested authorization to proceed with the study,
explaining important information and main objectives. to ensure full understanding of the study
objectives, procedures, and benefits. In addition, absolute confidentiality of their personal information
was guaranteed by codifying the data and ensuring that no individual could be identified. Also,
methodological rigor was applied at all stages of the process to guarantees transparency in the
presentation of the methods used and honesty in the interpretation of the results.
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Table 2 Codification of the data collected
Instruments
Transcripts from video recordings
Field Notes
Students documents
Students
Note. Own Elaboration.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This research aims at analyzing the role an EFL digital booklet, designed from the decolonized
perspective, played in the EFL learning progress of a group of Children from Puerto Gaitan, Colombia,
and to what extent it fostered their ICC. For that purpose, two categories and subcategories emerged as
it is shown in table 2.
Table 3 Research questions, categories and subcategories
▪ What is the role that an EFL digital booklet, designed from a decolonizing perspective, has on the
learning process of a group of young children, from the rural and the urban area of Puerto Gaitan,
Colombia, who are taking lessons in a synchronous virtual environment?
▪ To what extent can the use of these material foster this group of children's ICC?
Categories
Subcategories
The roles of a decolonized digital Booklet on
the children’s EFL learning process.
The booklet as a source of motivation
The booklet as a facilitator of a context and language
items to understand how language works
The booklet as a space of interaction among cultures
Young learners’ ICC development through
the use of a decolonized EFL digital Booklet.
Attitudes
Knowledge
Skills
Note. Own elaboration.
The roles of a decolonized digital Booklet on the children’s EFL learning process.
According to the data analysis, there are three main roles the digital booklet played along the process.
They are explained as follows.
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The booklet as a source of motivation
According to Sedarmayanti (2017), motivation is a mental condition that encourages activity and
provides energy that leads to the achievement of goals or reduction of imbalances. After collecting and
systematizing the data, the analysis we carried out about the role of the booklet we designed showed
three ways in which this material constituted a source of motivation for the participants.
First, we identified the motivational power of the digital booklet on the participants by integrating the
idea of a trip around the world for learning EFL. The booklet presents the idea of a trip to visit three
different English speaking countries, Colombia, The USA and Australia, whose cultures were portraited
throughout different environments and situations. This feature followed Mirza’s idea regarding the
importance of giving learners enough opportunities to receive language input used in meaningful
situations, thereby enabling them to exploit such situations (2021). Then the students’ motivation was
marked by their positive response towards the places they were going to see while using the booklet;
the idea of visiting unknown countries and using English in situations proper for a trip fostered their
wish to keep working in class and participating while focusing their attention. What is more, the
presentation of different scenarios and situations embedded in the contexts of every country not only
aroused the children’s interest, but also arouse their curiosity and anticipation to the class contents.
Then, we introduced the material from the book (whose name is not mentioned), which drew a
lot of attention because it sparked curiosity about a journey. The children began asking
questions like: "Where are we going to travel?" and "How are we going to travel?" (FN 1).
Secondly, the use of meaningful characters along the journey was a factor that highly motivated the
learners. There were three colorful digital animals who were presented as their traveling companions.
Paco, the main character, shared the children’s nationality and social context. The children were very
excited when they recognized him as a typical animal of their geographical region. Also, John, an eagle,
and Luke, a kangaroo, were two characters typical from the United States and Australia. They called
the students’ attention since they did not have much knowledge of these animals’ origins. Thus, it also
had not raised their curiosity and engaged them in multiple activities that fostered interaction. Students
had different reactions, such as shouting, moving towards their screens and asking about them. It
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boosted the learning atmosphere and made them feel eager to continue learning about them and their
context by using the target language.
Students showed excitement to answer by showing a smile and jumping in their seats. They
showed that they remembered that they had talked about greetings. In the same way, the students
remember Paco's friends, their names, nationalities and which animal they were. FN2
Finally, the use of cultural items and situations proper of the explored countries was another source of
motivation. It seemed that topics such as typical food, traditions, celebrations, curious facts, tourist
places, among others, created a novel environment since the students did not have previous knowledge
regarding the foreign cultures. In response to this, they generated attitudes of curiosity and discovery
toward a cultural exchange. As Kashdan & Silvia (2009) explain, these attitudes potentialized the
learners wish to explore new scenarios, no matter how novel and challenging the experiences could be,
which in turn, promoted their active learning while sharing ideas about their own contexts and enhanced
their understanding about their own culture and the foreign ones.
(After discussing the vocabulary in the booklet) The teacher asked the student what the perfect
accompaniment could be for a hamburger in Colombia. The student thought a lot and the
teacher decided to suggest French fries as an example. The student smiled and mentioned
Creole potatoes. The teacher congratulated him … the teacher explained that the activity would
continue, but now Paco, the Colombian capybara, would help them (FN4).
The booklet as a facilitator of a context and linguistic items to understand how language works
When using the digital booklet, the students received instruction and developed different activities
immersed in specific contexts, such as dialogues, stories or informative blocks that were written or
presented through audios and images. The teacher acted as a facilitator while reading, explaining, and
playing the audios of the material. Then instead of memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary, students
seemed to understand the language's meaning and function to achieve specific communicative goals
and connect it to real life situations. This was evident during the lessons as students’ participation
focused on their understanding of circumstances in which the characters were involved, such as filling
a passport with their personal information in English to be able to travel, comparing their tastes
regarding food, finding equivalents from the other cultures and learning about the types of animals they
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could find in Australia, among others, even though they had not seen them in their region. Although
they tended to move from English to Spanish and vice versa, it was clear how the use of the new and
revisited EFL items in different context and situations made them aware of the communicative nature
of language to receive information, to formulate questions about the unknown information and clarify
the doubts that emerged through the lessons, to explain what they had understood and to share what
they knew from their culture without focusing on strict grammatical rules and lists of words.
¡Listo profe! Blue whale, blue whale. Green, parrot. En mi casa también hay peces ¿Se los
muestro? ¡Ahí está el acuario! son green, blue y red… green. Three! ¡Parrot, parrot! El color
de la parrot (T5, S3).
Also, images serve as visual anchors making the abstract easier to understand and to remember. They
engaged students with the colors and shapes and captured the implications of meaning beyond isolated
words; they helped to create associations to clarify definitions, contextualize meanings and avoid the
ambiguity, which boosted their vocabulary acquisition and comprehension. Besides, formulaic
language seemed to be very useful for the learners’ communication and language understanding. The
use of ready-to-use phrases allowed children to pick grammar patterns as they interacted with the
teacher and the characters of the booklet, for example, while greeting, sharing personal information and
expressing their likes and dislikes. Therefore, these phrases helped the learners enhance their oral and
written skills and facilitated their comprehension while reading and listening.
(Activity to introduce themselves to the characters using formulaic language) SD1 S1, SD1 S2)
The booklet as a space of interaction and sharing among cultures
The use of the digital booklet also provided the students with multiple opportunities to interact by using
the target language. The learners frequently exchanged ideas and information in written and oral ways
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while interacting with the characters, which also generated a positive and dynamic learning
environment. A key feature of the booklet was the characters' speech, which appears in dialogue bubbles
and audio recordings; it made learners engage in conversations while rehearsing the language.
Regarding the aforementioned, Cook (2008) states that exposure to authentic cultural and language
interactions supports the language learning process.
What is more, the interactions with the characters and the language samples in the booklet allowed
students to recognize and appreciate various cultures while fostering a sense of belonging to their own,
which is important when developing the ICC. Images, written texts and audios with the characters’
words provided the learners with details about the cultures that the learners used to compare and
appreciate while experiencing a cultural exchange.
In the next activity, through a dialogue with Luke the kangaroo, the learners reviewed the colors
and proposed examples, teacher showed the screen and then she showed them the colors, she
said that Luke chose “corn” as an example for the color “yellow” and that ¨Maíz” is called
“corn” in English. Then the students gave an example according to the color. FN 4
In this way, the booklet not only fostered the students’ communicative skills in EFL, but
provided them with a meaningful learning environment in which they could interact with different
characters, learn from their cultures and share information about their own context, which aligned with
the intention of the social foundation the learners’ families belonged to.
Young learners’ ICC development through the use of a decolonized EFL digital Booklet
The second category emerged from the analysis of data we systematized throughout the adapted version
of the children’s ICC development matrix by Gerlich (2010), which involved attitudes, knowledge and
skills young learners could demonstrate. This allowed us to identify how our participants were building
the foundations of their ICC.
Attitudes
Attitudes represent one of the pillars of the ICC (Gerlich et al., 2010; Byram et al., 2002; Byram 1997);
they represent values, opinions, and willingness to accept, understand, and realize not only the own
culture but also features, views and experiences of others as well. After analyzing the data, we could
find that the learners were able to exhibit their attitudes towards their language and culture and the
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foreign ones in different moments of the class. First, by sharing judgmental statements, they
demonstrated their rejection towards some foreign culture features, in this case some typical food. Their
lack of experience with the new tastes and their previous knowledge made them judge negatively a dish
presented in the booklet. However, students demonstrated tolerance to the unknown, for instance, when
learning about wild animals from their own and foreign countries; no matter the fear those animals may
produced, their interest towards the unknown allowed them to accept and value them; some of them
even wanted to see them in real life and pet them no matter their previous feelings. Besides, there were
some hesitating moments in which students doubted about what to respond as they did not know
whether their ideas were appropriate to the topic or not, so they took their time but finally answered.
Likewise, they exhibited their interest toward the languages and cultures when being introduced to new
topics that appealed to their likes; their curiosity towards the novelty made them even anticipate what
was going to be taught. Also, their body language showed their excitement towards certain topics and
activities related to the trip to other cultures. These situations allowed them to demonstrate their
admiration for the other cultures and their willingness to interact and participate actively. There were
very few moments in which the learners seemed to be not interested in the class and the material; mainly
at the beginning of the process, some students were distracted and tended to focus on personal topics
unrelated to the class; it happened when they did not understand the new language or when they did not
have any previous knowledge about the topic, which showed certain frustration that disappeared with
the time as they became knowable of the foreign cultural topics and language and related them to their
own.
Finally, they demonstrated their motivation towards the intercultural contact and the use of the foreign
language. There was a continuous excitement when interacting with the booklet characters and the
teacher along the class. What is more, their wish for traveling, their interest towards most of the novel
features of the foreign cultures, and their enthusiasm when participating in conversations with the
characters motivated them to understand and reproduce the target language using the phrases and
vocabulary they had been taught, although their need for translating and incorporating words and ideas
from their own culture was a constant as well.
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Knowledge
Based on Gerlich's (2010) categories of ICC knowledge, which relate to the model of Byram et al.
(2002) and Byram (1997), the analysis of the data allowed us to identify certain types of knowledge our
students developed, which helped them start building their ICC. Thus, the participants were able to
exhibit factual knowledge regarding their own and the foreign cultures as well as their knowledge of
the foreign languages and the lack of it. To begin with, something that call our attention was the fact
that they tended to compare the information from the foreign cultures to what they had experienced in
their own context; they found similarities and differences regarding the characters of the booklet, food,
animals and traditions, among others, and seemed to be proud of their previous knowledge and
experiences while showing interests towards the novelty. Additionally, by watching TV and using
streaming service platforms, they had already built certain knowledge about the foreign cultures that
they shared with no hesitation. It was shown through their active participation in various discussions
while introducing vocabulary, and reading and listening.
Likewise, students seemed to be proud of the knowledge they had gotten from the lessons; they were
enthusiastic when recalling previous lesson contents, reviewing vocabulary, and showing understanding
when listening and reading. Nevertheless, sometimes they had trouble remembering or finding new
words and structures or using the proper pronunciation to communicate; as they were EFL true
beginners, there were different moments in which they had to pause and ask for support from the
teacher.
Skills
The ICC skills encompass diverse abilities for facilitating successful intercultural communication.
Based on Gerlich's (2010) model, our learners were able to develop skills to communicate by
implementing various strategies. First, they used verbal communication strategies which included the
use of new vocabulary, formulaic language and even the use of Spanish to participate in oral activities
and conversations. The teacher’s support was paramount to equip the learners with enough linguistic
resources to interact. Also, the use of non-verbal communication, like facial expressions and body
movements, allowed students express their interest towards communicating; they jumped out of their
seats when something new called their attention or moved their hands and head when remembering
pág. 6789
language and trying to express themselves. Besides, when they were not able to express their ideas
easily, they used their mother tongue or asked the teacher to translate as strategies in order to keep the
communication.
Moreover, they developed strategies of deduction and transferring. First, by using images, linguistic
resources and previous knowledge, they generated ideas and tried to understand certain concepts and
situations they had not thought about before. Also, they were able to transfer basic structures, sounds
and vocabulary from their mother tongue to the target one; Although semantics, grammar and
pronunciation were not always successfully used, their communicative intention allowed them to
discover certain rules that helped them to improve their linguistic skills as well.
pág. 6790
Table 4 Matrix of ICC attitudes, knowledge and skills
ICC Attitudes
Instrume
nt code
Context
Participa
nt(s)
Oral and behavioral samples Languages Comments
Judgemental statement T4
The characters present some of the most typical foods and students have to
choose a favorite one and explain why. "In my country we eat a vegemite
that is a brown dip that we use for sandwiches, the flavor is salt and bitter
but in my country we love it."
S3, S4
Ay! No guacala, suena asqueroso - Yo jamas lo probaria profe - Creo
que ese no es mi favorito.
Listening in
English, Speaking
in Spanish
In this case the kids are judging culture features of the foreign language. The
teacher explains it is a new flavor, not bad at all, in order to guide them and let
them value the other culture
Tolerance/acceptance FN7
The teacher shows the list of animals arranged in alphabetical order for
each animal.
All
students
During the course of the class. Students share their feelings and
experiences with animals, some feel fear or surprise when talking about
wild animals, However they show their interst and others say they want to
pet them if possible.
English and
Spanish
Even though feelings of fear and surprised emerged, their interest towards the
unknown allowed them to accept and value the unknown animals. some of them
even wanted to see them in real life and pet them no matter their previous
feelings.
Hesitation FN4
The teacher asked the student what the perfect accompaniment could be
for a hamburger in Colombia. The student thought a lot and the teacher
decided to suggest French fries as an example.
S3
The teacher asked the student what the perfect accompaniment could be
for a hamburger in Colombia. The student thought a lot and the teacher
decided to suggest French fries as an example. The student smiled and
mentioned Creole potatoes . The teacher congratulated him.
Listening in
English, Speaking
in English and
Spanish
The student hesitated while thinking about what type of food would be
convenient and finding the world.
Interest FN 1
The teacher presented the principal characters in the booklet, Paco, Luke
and John, and this lead to some inquiries about the countries of origin for
Luke and John (America and Australia). For instance, they inquired about
the distance from Luke and John, the language they speak, and whether
they can comprehend us.
All
students
"How far away are we from Luke and John?", "What language do they
speak?" and "Can they understand us?".
As this was their
first class, them
express their ideas
in L1.
The students show a significant interest in characters originating from other
cultures (America and Australia). They were curious about their way of
speaking, their physical distance from where they live, among other aspects.
They demonstrated respect and admiration for a different culture.
FN 2
The teacher begins by recalling Paco and his friends. Students become
enthusiastic, jumping and engaging in the conversation about them. The
teacher encourages them to recall the animals and participate by
remembering their names and nationalities.
S1, S2
Students express excitement by sharing a smile, jumping in their seats
and starting talking about the characters.
The teacher asks
in English and the
students answer in
Spanish.
Even though the students didn't know how to express their interest in the topic
correctly, they used L1 and L2 to express their ideas, as well as their body
language to demonstrate their engagement.
FN 3
Teacher was talking about all the themes and topics that they seen the last
class, and also was asking about what the students remember.
S1, S2
The teacher starts the class by making a recap of the last class. A student
actively participates by remembering greetings, passports, and tickets that
were used last class.
The teacher asks
in English and the
students answer in
Spanish.
The interest about the themes that they had already seen in classes supported
their actively participation and engagement.
No interest FN 2
The teacher begins by elucidating the story and background of Paco to the
students, using the booklet. Nonetheless, a student becomes distracted and
disrupts the class by talking about other things.
S2
The student, with excitement, decides to interrupt the class by discussing
her personal matters, even though the teacher was speaking.
Listening in
English, Speaking
in Spanish
The student, by not being captivated or showing interest in what the teacher
was discussing, decides to shift the topic to something that truly interested her,
even if it was entirely unrelated to the ongoing class discussion. This maybe
indicate a desire to connect with the teacher by expressing herself and sharing
personal thoughts. However, it also demonstrates a lack of interest and respect
towards the class, the teacher, and the classmates.
Motivation for contact FN 1
The teacher in the lesson, proceeded with the crafting of airplane tickets to
initiate they journey.
All
students
Students participated making the airplane tickets and the drawings of the
characters in their notebooks.
Spanish when
speaking and
English when
writing.
Their wish for travelling and meeting the characters made them design their
own plane tickets and use English to register their personal information.
However, they needed to ask the teacher to translate to get the proper words.
FN 3
The teacher was presenting how introduce themselves using one of the
characters that was Luke the kangaroo, the idea of the activity was to use
the structure of introductions to talk with luke the kangaroo.
All
students
“Hello luke my name is S1”
“Hello luke mi name is S2”
My favorite food is papitas fritas Luke
English and
Spanish
The motivation of the students to talk with Luke the kangaroo was evident. The
did not hesitate to use the langauge learned, although they used Spanish to fill
the unknown.
Motivation for language T 05
There are some expressions from the students which demosntrate
enthusiasm for learning a foreing language.
S1, S3
Sii! Bueno, ¡ Me aprendí casi todos! menos el 49
¡Colors! ¡Me los sé de memoria!
¡Yellow! ¡Yellow!
English and
spanish
The motivation is key for language acquisition and the students demostrated
an intrinsic interest in learning and mastering the foreing language.
T03
Listening activity that requires all the attention for the students to identify the
phrases that they had already learned.
S1
Yo reconoci un (I am from monteria) que significa yo soy de. Profe
puedes ponerlo otra vez, es que hay una palabra que quiero reconocer,
ya casi la tengo.
Listening in
English, Speaking
in Spanish and
English
Student create an engagement with the activity and was really motivated to
understand the ideas from the audio, S1 made an effort to understand and
reproduce the same phrases that he recognized and try to explain them to the
teacher.
T5
Notably, the student who initially displayed apprehension about speaking
English now greets the teacher and responds to basic English questions
with ease.
S1 How are you teacher? Student 1: Yes, yes ! (T5) English
It is clear the motivation for the language use. He is trying to keep the
conversation with the language he knows.
pág. 6791
Note. Adapted from Gerlich (2010).
ICC knowledge
Instrume
nt code
Context
Participa
nt(s)
Oral and behavioral samples Languages Comments
T1, FN 1
The teacher presented the primary character, Paco the capybara, and
engaged the, in an activity where the children had to speculate about the
type of animal Paco was.
All
students
Yo he visto muchos de esos animales aqui donde vivo. Son animales
tipicos de mi ciudad.
They find out that Paco was a capybara and recalled that there are many
of these small animals in their city, and in some way, they are
characteristic of the region where they live.
Listening in
English, Speaking
in Spanish
The students recognized the animal that is very typical of the area where they
live (Meta). Therefore, when discussing a familiar animal, they felt the need to
talk about that animal and its culture. They seemed proud to have such a small
creature in their surroundings.
F6
They moved on to the presentation of the class topic, which was the
alphabet and vocabulary of different animals. This class was guided by
Luke the kangaroo, so everything was centered around Australia.
All
students
The teacher asked the students what information they knew about that
country, and all the children participated and were excited to share what
they knew about Australia. There were comments like, "I watch
documentaries about Australia with my family all the time and see the
dangerous animals," and "In the Disney movies I watch with my dad, I
saw a kangaroo similar to Luke."...
While she asks the students if they know or have seen these animals that
are there, the students tell their experiences and they tell the teacher that
they have seen them in movies, videos or even where they live, so with
each animal some of them say that they know them and have seen them
like others have not.
Spanish and
English
Children had information about the animals from other cultures due to their
access to the TV and streaming platforms. This knowledge made them feel
motivated and eager to participate. They also were enthusiastic when they
noticed there were several animals they had seen in their territory. It was very
motivating.
Language knowledge FN 5, T5
The students had to answer basic questions and that involved colors
associated vocabulary (e.g., objects and animals).
All
students
The students state colors and numbers in English, with correct
pronunciation and using English for basic communication was evident.
Bueno, el azul es blue, el amarillo es yellow, el verde es green, el rojo es
… ¡Se me está olvidando! ¡Ay no! Bueno el negro es black, el rosado es
pik, pink ¿Cuál más? El naranja es orange ¿Cuál más? ehh tengo el
morado en la mente pero es que no me acuerdo.
English primarily,
with occasional
references to the
students' native
language for
clarification.
The interactive exercices encourage the students to reproduce or recall words
in the foreing language. They feel eager to express what they know.
Lack of knowledge FN 1
When the teacher presented the primary character, Paco the capybara.
The teacher made an activity where the children had to guess the type of
animal Paco was. They provided a variety of opinions in response.
All
students
The students, despite being familiar with the animal, encountered difficulty
in recalling the name of the species. They demonstrated this by
mentioning incorrect names for the animal.
Spanish
The students were already familiar with the animal, as it is a very typical one in
the area where they live. However, when the teacher asked them for the name
of the animal, they encountered difficulties as they couldn't remember the
name of it. However, it did not discourage them.
Factual knowledge
ICC Skills
Instrume
nt code
Context
Participa
nt(s)
Oral and behavioral samples Languages Comments
Verbal communication
strategy
T03
The students had to introduce themselves using the language structures that
they have seen on class, they have to make a portrait and talk about
theirselves using only English phrases they could recall.
All
students
Mi nombre es S1 - my name is S1- yo tengo 8 años - I am 8 years old -
mi comida favorita es la pasta - my favorite food is pasta- yo soy de
Puerto Gaitan - I am from Puerto Gaitan.
The using of L1
and translating to
the L2.
The students knew that luke the kangaroo could not understand Spanish for
that reason they decided to use their L1 to think of what to say and then
translate itusign the formulaic language given to be understood.
Non-verbal
communication strategy
FN 2
The teacher begins by recalling Paco and his friends. Students become
enthusiastic, jumping and engaging in the conversation about them. The
teacher encourages them to recall the animals and participate by
remembering their names and nationalities.
S1, S2
Students express excitement by sharing a smile, jumping in their seats
and starting talking about the characters.
The teacher asks
in English and the
students answer in
Spanish.
Students used their non-verbalcommunication and body langauge to express
their interest.
T7
Students have to answer the question about the favorite things of the
characters and the characters’ countries.
S3, S4
What was your favorite thing about my country?
No entendi), my favorita thing of your country is mmmm…..
tu nariz….. no, tu bandera.
They express the
major part of the
ideas in L1 and
translate to the L2
Students had to answer the questions using short phrases in L2 however they
could not first understand the question completely and did not find the words to
express themselves. So they started guessing and providing any answer to
keep working on the activity. They even used humor to avoid frustration.
FN 2
While the teacher was providing to the students some examples about the
activity of the class, a student brought up the topic of how to say "papitas
fritas" and how to express it in English.
S2
The student expressed interest in participating in class. However, as she
does not know how to say what she wanted to say in English, she wasn't
afraid to ask to the teacher about how the translation is.
Students use L1 to
ask how to say a
word in L2.
The student clearly did not know how to express her liking for French fries. So,
showing confidence in front of the teacher, she decided to ask for the correct
translation for the specific food. The student used her native language to
acquire knowledge in a second language.
Deduction/transfer FN 1
The teacher presented the key characters of the booklet, Paco, Luke and
John. Students start to ask some questions about the countries of Luke and
John's. For instance, students made questions that they were unaware
about such as: "How distant are we from Luke and John?", "What language
do they speak?" and "Can they comprehend us?".
All
students
Students were unaware about their relation with the other cultures, so they
asked question such as: "How distant are we from Luke and John?",
"What language do they speak?" and "Can they comprehend us?".
As this was their
first class, them
express their ideas
in L1.
The students, upon being interested in subjects from another culture, asked
about things they didn't know but found intriguing they tried to guess based on
whatthey had in their own culture and deduced some things from the images.
The teacher responded happily to their participation.
Mediation/translation FN7,
SD7
Activity to express in short phrases about the favorite animals of their
country and the australian zoo making a comparison.
S3 and
S4.
They named the animals and also draw them to understand bettter the
vocabulary, and also they write name of the animals in spanish to
understand better the idea.
L1 and L2.
The use of draws to make more easy to understand and express their ideas
due they don’t know how to write correctly the name of the animals, also the
use of translation to make a clearment their ideas.
Lack of communication
strategy
pág. 6792
CONCLUSIONS
To conclude, the use of decolonized materials, in this case a digital booklet, played a significant role in
the students’ EFL learning process and allowed students build their ICC foundations. The motivation it
produced as well as the linguistic and visual resources it provided along with the opportunities it
fostered to interact withing meaningful contexts related to the own culture and the foreign ones, helped
students get in contact with English speaking cultures while learning the basics of the target language
and exhibiting understanding of it works.
The decolonized perspective which the booklet was designed with, as well as the linguistic and semantic
resources, including images, formulaic language, reading and listening text, its narrative and characters
allowed the students to identify how the language works in real communication and use basic
vocabulary and expressions to interact in everyday basic situations. Nevertheless, the use of their first
language and translation, among others, were strategies they implemented to successfully express
themselves in the communicative contexts the booklet proposed. Besides, it encouraged students’
engagement and immersion in cultural contexts beyond their own, fostering curiosity, empathy, and
understanding of different perspectives while generating different attitudes, types of knowledge and
skills that constituted their ICC foundations.
Finally, although designing decolonized materials may be a demanding task, we encourage further
efforts to produce them. They positively support and encourage the learning of languages along with
their cultures, which may result in successful foreign language learning processes.
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APPENDIX A. BOOKLET
The digital booklet contains activities and materials designed to facilitate children's early learning of
English as a foreign language (EFL). This resource includes a variety of activities and materials adapted
to the needs of students, designed to be used online, making them accessible to all. Additionally, it
focuses on the development of Intercultural Competence (ICC), promoting student interaction and the
development of their linguistic and communication skills.