Indigenous Students’ Attitudes Towards Learning English Through A Virtual Program: A Study In A Colombian Public University

Indigenous Students’ Attitudes towards Learning English through a Virtual Program: A Study in a Colombian Public University
Actitudes de estudiantes indígenas frente al aprendizaje de inglés a través de un programa virtual: un estudio en una universidad pública colombiana

Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá
This article reports an exploratory study carried out at a public university inBogotá, Colombia, with two indigenous students who took a level I virtual English-course during the second term of 2008 and the first term of 2009. The aim was to analyse their attitudes towards the learning of English through the virtual modality. Interviews, observations and questionnaires were used for data collection. It was found that indigenous students felt frustrated taking a virtualEnglish course, and that their motivation as regards the learning of this language is very low. Thus, they need to be motivated and guided along the process. At the end, some recommendations for teach ing or tutoring indigenous students, learning English virtually or any of the other modalities of the English program at the university were derived. Key words: Indigenous students, virtual learning,online English courses, students’ attitudes. En este artículo se reporta un estudio exploratorio que se llevó a cabo en una universidad pública en Bogotá, Colombia, con dos estudiantes indígenas que realizaron un curso virtual de inglés durante el segundo semestre del 2008 y el primero del 2009. El objetivo fue analizar sus actitudes frente al aprendizaje de inglés a través de la modalidad virtual. Larecolección de datos se hizo mediante entrevistas, observaciones y cuestionarios. Se encontró que los estudiantes sienten frustración al tomar un curso de inglés virtual, por lo que su motivación hacia el aprendizaje de este idioma es muy baja. Por tal razón, deben ser motivados y guiados en el proceso. Al finalizar el estudio, se produjeron algunas recomendaciones para la enseñanza o la tutoríaa estudiantes indígenas a través de ambientes virtuales o de cualquiera de las otras modalidades del programa de inglés en la universidad. Palabras clave: estudiantes indígenas, aprendizaje virtual, cursos de inglés en línea, actitudes de los estudiantes.

Ruth Elena Cuasialpud Canchala*

*

E-mail: rukita77@googlemail.com

This article was received on March 1, 2010, and accepted on July7, 2010.

PROFILE Vol. 12, No. 2, October 2010. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 133-152

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Introduction Nowadays the use of new technologies in education is more common than before, although in Colombia there are many people who are still not used to this way of learning. In education, especially in secondary schools, it is considered essential and importantto encourage students to learn by using these new technology instruments as eventually they will feel the necessity of using them. In big cities, students have the facilities of using computers and being exposed to the technological advances; even in small towns they may have access to these tools. But what about indigenous students who live in isolated and rural areas of the country? Do theyhave access to technology the same as students in big cities? To answer these questions we have to take into consideration many social, cultural and even economical factors. Due to the little or no use of new technologies in their communities, indigenous students face a difficult situation while attending university. In most cases students do not find guidance or assistance so they get tired oftrying to learn this way. As an indigenous student and student of English philology I started to observe with preoccupation the fact that some indigenous students, in some assemblies, expressed no interest in taking English classes at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá campus, where they were doing their undergraduate studies. Moreover, out of 358 indigenous students registered in 2007 at...