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MEXICO

What is happening in Mexico with English Language?

¿Qué pasa en México con el idioma inglés?

In Mexico, the national educational curriculum is designed by Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP). SEP is a governmental organization.

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto (2017) try to apply reforms to many fields of Education. These reforms look for increasing the quality in education, but they don't seem logical. Some teachers and specialists in education are against this governmental reform because it was planned without considering teachers' opinions.

Undoubtedly, the Educational Reform on English issues seems to be an attractive plan.

On the other hand, the Reform is touching other subjects in the curriculum, not only the English one. Many teachers of different subjects are annoyed because they still think that people in charge are not conscious about the accurate context of education.

WednesdayRuben

00:00 / 00:21

The following VIDEOS show teachers of institutes, colleges, or primary schools teaching English in MEXICO.

English language as a social phenomenon in Mexico

English language has been part of Mexico's educational programs. The nearness to the United States could be one of the main reasons for its inclusion. This language is officailly given in secondary and preparatory schools, Unfortunately, the English subject in the programs has not at all taken seriously by authorities and the subject is covered by any other teacher with a different profile such as physical educators or mathematics teachers who only want to have more paid hours. This is what normally happens in governmental schools. We know that the teacher is a social worker who should connect students with the phenomena around the society, however it doesn´t hapen at all and the reason may be the lack of knowledge in this aspect. I mean teachers start having more and more compromises step by step, but this compromises or responsabilities are due to familiar, social, or work factors that make teachers to take teaching as something simpler that as something more valuable. At least, this is something that I have observed with many of my colleagues in teaching.

The so-called Reforma Educativa in Mexico has pushed the English language to a level that some teachers, who feel they are not capable to pass examinations related to English teaching or English command, have decided to change English classes for any other subjects which may considered less demanding. On the other hand, the demand of English teachers for kindergaten, primary schools, and universities may be overpassing the talent or qualifications needed to teach English language and these institutions may be hiring teachers who might need more preparation for being more efficient.

La lengua inglesa como fenómeno social en México

El idioma inglés en la República Mexicana ya se había considerado como fenómeno social desde hace varias décadas, debido principalmente a la cercanía con los Estados Unidos de América. La lengua inglesa se incluía en los programas de secundaria y preparatoria. En las escuelas oficiales o de gobierno, el inglés, todavía hoy (2018), no llega a ser un fenómeno que sea dominado por la gran mayoría de los maestros en turno. De hecho, la clase de inglés en estas escuelas de gobierno puede ser cubierta por cualquier otro maestro sin importar si su perfil es en Educación Física o matemáticas. Esta parte es interesante porque es un diagnóstico claro de la falta de honestidad y de interés en el área. Personalmente, me he dado cuenta que la gran mayoría de maestros en inglés dejan de crecer en el idioma porque van adquiriendo más y más compromisos familiares, sociales, y laborales, y es esto lo que poco a poco podría ir mermando su entusiasmo y capacidad por alcanzar mejoras en el nivel didáctico, pedagógico, y por ende laboral sobre el idioma inglés.

Con la Reforma Educativa (2017) se ha empujado un mayor interés en el área de la lengua inglesa. Las escuelas, como conectoras de la sociedad, ya tienen una consciencia de que la lengua inglesa se debe incluir de alguna forma en sus programas. Al mismo tiempo el medio educativo parece estar buscando caminos en su necesidad de aprender o mejorar su dominio del inglés. Esto ha también destapado que algunos maestros que no se sienten capaces de dar la materia de inglés en escuelas oficiales, estén optando por cambiarse de área o materia. Es decir, que busquen enseñar materias menos complejas.

Hoy en día (2018) se siguen creando escuelas comerciales para la enseñanza del inglés. Estas escuelas presentan también programas de enseñanza en otras lenguas como la francesa o italiana, sin embargo la demanda es poca en comparación con la inglesa. Las escuelas particulares colocan al inglés como parte principal de su propaganda. A decir verdad, la enseñanza del inglés se esta destapando tanto que seguramente rebasa los estándares de calidad que deben ser observados en los candidatos a un puesto de maestro o de coordinador de inglés (opinión personal).

Migration to the USA and Canada

The main reason for every Mexican and Cetroamerican person who goes to the USA or to Canada is to make money. Many people look for the Amercan Dream. In Mexico, extreme poverty is a social phenomenon for roughly 12 million people. Another factor that pushes Mexicans to emigrate is the lack of preparatory schools and universities, as well as jobsites connected to the career our graduates get. With all the former information, let me tell you that most of the time, I have realized that people lack of ideas to start their own business ot to set up business as a corporative with other people, since I understand that ideas are the supportive part of every successful business.

Nowadays, learning English has been a constant coming form the government in its try to make Mexico a bilingual country. This information appears all of the time in the radio and TV. Howerver, there are certain conditions that must be observed in order to make English language a successful activity in every Mexican. From my experience through most of the English schools in Mexico, teachers focus their attention to grammar and vocabulary. that's good, but may be better if they think about the social factor that should be included during the teaching-learning scenery. When we ask people's interest in English classes, they say that they look for English language as an academic or cultural medium. They hardly ever say that they look the language for travelling to the USA or Canada looking for job oportunities.

I have visited the USA many times and I have seen that only 1 out of 200 Hispanic people is able to speak English with a proficient level with a phonology similar to those born in the USA. This condition is an advantage to this immigrant because it lets him or her in a position of being fluent in socio-cultural and work events ( I investigated this phenomenos in 2012 and counted the number of hispanic people arund the speaker who had a profiecient level. California, USA).

La migración a los Estados Unidos o Canadá

Con expectativas de ganar dinero, muchos Mexicanos emigran cada año a los Estados Unidos en busca de mejores oportunidades de vida. A esto se le llama el Sueño Americano o The American Dream. La necesidad de que muchos Mexicanos emigren al país vecino, incluso a Canadá, es porque por un lado la mayoría carecemos de ideas sólidas que nos empujen a ser participes en micro-empresas ne nuestro propio país. La otra es que existen poblaciones muy alejadas de escuelas preparatorias o de universidades, y esto hace que los pobladores prefieran emigrar, tal es el caso de muchos municipios en el Estado de México, que es el estado en donde yo vivo. El aprendizaje del inglés se ha vuelto un fenómeno social de más y más trascendencia en la sociedad Mexicana, en especial a partir de que todo medio radiofónico y televisivo está retransmitiendo la idea de la Reforma Educativa. Esto es lo que ha hecho consciencia en la población.

A partir de mi contacto con emigrantes Mexicanos y Centroamericanos pude darme cuenta que el motivo número uno de querer emigrar a los Estados Unidos o Canadá es el hecho de ganar dinero, no el de aprender inglés La mayoría de los inmigrantes no aprenderán el inglés debido a que no será su objetivo principal. En mis visitas a los Estados Unidos pude observar que aproximadamente sólo 1 de cada 200 hispano hablantes adquiere o aprende inglés a nivel avanzado (este estudio lo realicé en el año 2002 contando a las personas que se desenvolvían alrededor de a quien consideré con un nivel de inglés similar al del nativo hablante en los Estados Unidos). Este nivel es bueno, y mejor si se adquirió en ese país, ya que el contacto social y cultural es sumamente importante en el aprendizaje de una lengua. Este nivel es de mucha ayuda para el inmigrante porque puede llevar a cabo conversaciones de tipo espontánea con angloparlantes, en especial noté que se desenvuelve con mucha facilidad en cuestiones sociales y laborales de todo tipo.

Click: Video: Tlacaélel (Edited in 2015)

This video presents part of our ancient roots, what we knew, and our ancestral identity what Spaniards obliged us to abandon.

Spaniards thought: “Indigeous people have capacity, but if we teach them to think, they will not be docil anymore. So, just convert them to Christianity. (Fray Jerónimo de Mendieta, 1597).”

“In this place called Mexico, its people created one of the six mother cultures in the planet. Many people think that sacrifices of people and wars were the hallmark of the New World tribes, but they already had culture, science, and technology among other things. It’s a lie that the Christian church was the heroe of these lands.”

Minute 1:38: “Nowadays, this is what we call Mexico.”

Minute: 2:08: “they had medicine”

2:19: “they had literature”

2:38: “they had Art”

2:57: “they had music”

3:12: “they had sports”

3:21: “they had painting”

3:35: “they had poetry”

3:51: “they had agriculture”

4:13: “they had commerce”

4:23: “they had architecture”

4:41: “they had urbanization”

4:56: “they had Science”

5:04: “they had education”

5:14: “they had laws and government”

5:55: “Nobody lacked of food. All of them had a place to live. They didn’t know begging. They took care of nature”

6:13: “But what happened with all their impressive knowledge? Why did they stop their progress?”

6:19: “October 11, 1492. The last day of freedom for the ancestral peoples of the <new world>”. That day, European people found out the existence of these lands.

6:32: “It’s believe that Vikings were the first people that arrived in these lands, but they failed to conquer or they weren´t interested in the conquest. But this time, the church and the monarchy were thrilled with the news of the discovery”

6:44: “Spanish soldiers started killing and destroying our cultures in the name of <civilization> and Catholicism”.

7:02: “Millions of indigenous people fighted against Spanish people”

7:18: “However, European people brought with them diseases able to kill many people. Scientists state that these deseases could have been comparable to the deadly atomic bomb”

7:26: “smallpox, bubonic plague, measles, typhoid, malaria, rabies, and much more…”

7:34: “According to scientists, more tan half the population died because of the European invasión”, but Europeans dare to believe that their military technology was the key to defeat those peoples” (Neil De Grasse Tyson)

7:54: Images of religión that Spaniards introduced in the New World

8:05: Marco Cipac de Aquino (?-1572) painted the image of “Virgen de Guadalupe” as a form to convert indigenous into Chatolicism. Some people were cheated and converted, but others would not. Those who didn’t accept the Catholicism would be punished or killed.

8:46: Spaniards destroyed natives’ temples, burned thousands of books, punished those who refused to become worshippers of the cross, stole the land and called it Nueva España (New Spain).

9:38: Today, Mexico is a country of violence, corruption in the sphere of politics, low educational standars, and a long breach between the social clases.

9:59: In Mexico, nowadays, there is only one researcher out of every 33 000 inhabitants while in Korea and Germany there is one researcher out of every 310 inhabititants.

10:22: The low class is roughly the 60% of Mexico’s population.

10:26: Main responsables of violence in Mexico: Unemployement (22%), no educational opportunities (17%), former governments (16%), corruption (13%).

10:36: Nowadays, Mexico is a country that believes that God will solve most of the problems.

Many people have died and many of those crimes have not been solved

10:55: After the grandeur of ur ancestral civilization, today exists racism against ethnic groups.

11:19: Apparently, most of Mexicans admire the dead indigenous, but look down on those who are alive.

Click: VENTANA A MI COMUNIDAD (Window to my community).

English language in Mexico seems to be very difficult to be acquired by certain people. Even the quality of teaching English changes from school to school.

It is a site in which you can have contact with some aspects related to Mexico's indigenous groups and languages.

It's believed that the number of languages of these groups is somehere in the region of 70. Scientists state that many of these languages have been starting to die because of new generations reject using the language of their ancestors and because of the necesity to emigrate to big cities.

You can click on each of the THREE DIFFERENT ZONES. Another page will be shown in which you will see more photos or videos through which you will access to get information of each of the different indigenous groups in the north, center, and south of Mexico.

The following videos depict original people of our different peoples in Mexico. Part of the original languages is exposed in each video.

Náhuatl was the most important language spoken in Mexico before the indigenous tribes were defeated by Spanish soldiers during the conquer of the so-called "New world" around 1521. Nowadays, only around 1.5 million people in Mexico still speak this language. The rest, approximately 120 million people, speak Spanish since this is our official language.

November 16, 2017

Three months ago, the government launched an announcement to hire around 600 English teachers to be inserted in the design of programs for TEACHING SCHOOLS in all the specialities. Two months ago, roughly 30 thousand teachers applied for it and at the moment (November, 2017) the second filter to hire them has been applied after many of them have been rejected from that process. Many teachers think that this is not going to work and that the government lacks of trained and qualified people to cover the necesities of teaching and learning English.

October 13, 2017

Only a reduced group of teachers have the language skills to teach English

In English schools, most of our English classes in Mexico, if not all, are controlled by the textbook. For good or for bad, the textbook is more than 90% that a teacher needs to teach. However most of the teachers are not really familiar with it. The case is worst in public schools.

Up to now, some teachers of other subjects in public (state) schools become English teachers only because the government let them work as English teachers without testing these teachers' skills in the language. I mean, a physical educator may be an English teacher too. Of course, this is not healthy for the Education system.

Paused fossilitazion of the language

From my point of view, teachers have not been preparing students to be bilingual. I mean, hardly ever students become enough good as to take their language skills to communicative situations. As students, many of us have felt frustration when we realize that we are unable to understand spoken language coming from English speakers. From her, I state that the target language used in the classrooms is very paused and charged of grammar. If teachers pay more attention to this evidence, they may work on the creatin of alternatives to really help students. Unfortunatelly, a high percentage of them won't do anything about it by different reasons.

September 26, 2017

So far, and because of the demanding government plan, teachers are afraid of their future situation if they are examined and they do not show the capacity or ability to pass such examinations. In my opinion, a teacher would not be afraid of it if he or she had the tools as to go further. But, the reality is different, most of Mexican teachers are not accustomed to pass through these types of situations. The former phenomenon is seen everyday when we compare the type of teaching offered by public schools compared to that of State schools

September, 2017

One of the major problems detected in Teaching English in Mexico may be the still poor knowledge of how our students learn and what the society needs are. I have detected that many teachers have a vast knowledge of theoritical information, unfortunatelly it hardly ever has been proved by the same teachers as to be enthusiastic and really motivate our students. When we enter a classsroom, we have the aptitude and contents but our attitude and mastery of the teaching phenomena is not good enough as to really help our Mexican students. At the end, our students will not learn the language and others will quit the English courses.

In Mexico, private schools hire teachers who speak English, but this talent does not guarantee excellence when teaching. I personally passed through this situation. A person can speak English, but the questions are; Does he or she know how to teach English? Is he or she prepared to explain the learning processes to our students? is the teacher involved in research on the problems that occur in our classrooms?

Teachers will normally teach according to their beliefs or to the way they have learned. They hardly ever would teach according to what our students need. (Ruben)

Most of Mexican English teachers have not been taught to solve students' difficulties that they face when learning English.

Teachers involved in training

Are Mexican teachers prepared to receive contents of quality during private or governmental training programs?

How can we make sure that the teacher in the classroom keeps updating himself and keep innovating? Are the observers qualified to evaluate Mexican teachers in the different areas of teaching such as the developmet of the Language skills and knowledge skills? (To be honest, they are not).

Despite of having experts on educational programs working in centers of investigation of important institutions like in Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), which is our best university in Mexico, government gives the creation of curricula tasks to people who have never been in classrooms or who do not have an idea of the true situation in Mexico as to prepare contents according to what our society needs. That is one of the many reasons why public education in Mexico is so bad. This situation is not as bad in many of the private schools or universities in the clountry.

It is also a shame that the organisms in charge of education do not have the true number of teachers in Mexico, although some figures estimate that there are around 1 million and 200 thousand of them.

Training, updating, continuous preparation, and professionalization are many of the names that have been given to pilot programs in order to make teachers get better teaching skills and strategies, but the content inside those names are not good enough because teachers who train teachers are not the best in their fields, amd the models they teach are so perfect that they never can be applied to the needs of the public schools. Let me exemplify theis; training courses invite teachers to apply models that would be good if you have 20 or 30 students in each classroom, but the reality is that most of the Mexican classroms in public schools have from 50 to almost 70 students. So, these programs provided by the governmental organisms will always fail.

Video: De panzaso

The expression "de panzaso", which is the title of this video, means informally "something that somenbody gets by pure chance". To understand the semantical and pragmatical application, use the expression "Pasé el examen de panzaso" = "I passed the test by pure chance".

The documentary "De Panzaso" is a picture of what is happening with English language in the relationship teaching-learning. The problem is even major if we consider that most of Mexican students in public schools are not interested in school because of the lack of job oportunities after finishing a career. So, students are not willing to learn.

Most of the students in public schools will not finish their secondary or preparatory school. On the other hand, private schools are very expensive. Some of the major problems of public schools is the fact that English teachers lack of a true knowledge of the language. They also lack of management classroom strategies as well as lack of innovative ideas that help them to have the control of students behavior.

In fact, teachers also have problems of managment of classrooms because students don't observe a good behaviour that could promote a positive attitude to learning.

Documentary about the Education system in Mexico governmental schools (2012).

English scripts of the video

Introdution:

Narrator: What are you gonna do when you get older?

Girl: Flight attendant or vet

Boy: cook

Girl: Pharmaceutical and biological chemist

Girl in red sweater: 1, 2. 3 cupid!

Narrator: What I am about to tell you is very hard. Education in Mexico is really bad.

Girl: We are behind work for almost a year. I have been looking the guide for the preparatory admision test, and I’ve realized that I know nothing.

Narrator: This situation has been hidden by years and people with power are interested in not revealing it or making it public.

Narrator and woman (Elba Esther Gordillo): [Elba E. Gordillo was the Secretary of Education at that time]

Narrator: why don’t you tell me?

Elba Esther: By a political strategy, clearly!

Narrator: I’m not gonna share this information with you to make you feel down, but for getting stronger and having the courage to solve this tragedy because we don’t have any time. Who says that private schools are better?... why?

Girl: Because it has better educational level

Girl in black sweter: Those who study in private schools are not more intelligent, but they have more money.

Boy: I think that if poor students received the same education than rich ones, poor students would surpass their poverty

Girl: I think that students in public schools receive a minimal part of what has to be taught.

Narrator: In PISA exams, Mexican private and public schools got lower scores that put Mexico in disadvantage. Where is the problem? Where does Mexico go? Are the students?

Girl in red jacket: I don’t know. Don’t make me think right now!

Narrator: Is it the government?

Dennis: An effective Education minister needs courage.

Tensions have risen in recent weeks as teachers opposed to President Enrique Peña Nieto's reform, which requires teachers to sit evaluation tests every three years, have closed off a slew of highways throughout the country.

The head of the Public Education Ministry in Mexico, Aurelio Nuño assured that Education Reform is not the problem but the solution to bring the country today to modernity, while groups of teachers reject it.

Video: "The cracks of Mexican education" by Gil Antón (investigator)

Video: "Las grietas de la educación en México" por Manuel Gil Antón (investigador)

Published on August 26 . 2014

5.4 million Mexicans are illiterate (indigenous people and women)

10.1 million of Mexicans did not finish primary school.

16.4 million of Mexican did not finish secondary schools.

The figures above show much of the education problems in Mexico.

Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) imposes teaching models based on memorization and on answering tests by filling in circles. So, students just memorize. In my opinion, this is not bad, but we need to set goals based on this idea.

La situación de la educación en México no es nada alentadora, o mejor dicho, es alarmante: 43% de la población entre 15 y 64 años está en un fuerte rezago educativo
Con esta cifra abre el Dr. Manuel Gil Antón su agudo análisis de una realidad que tal vez las autoridades educativas de México desearían no ver, a pesar de que éste y otros datos que presenta en esta cápsula provienen de la propia Secretaría de Educación Pública.

¿La Reforma Educativa promulgada por el presidente Enrique Peña Nieto tendrá capacidad para responder a los enormes retos que esta lacerante realidad plantea?
Producción: Programa de Educación Digital / Colmex Digital

VIDEO

English language has been in the Curriculum since 1926 / El inglés se introduce en los programas escolares desde 1926

Teaching and learning English in governmental public secondary schools is not working at all.

Most Mexicans relate the English language with the USA.

Mexicans' attitude to English language is poor.

Since 2007, some national and international organizations are trying to improve teachers language and pedagogical skills in order to send them to the educational field with more developed teaching skills.

Mexicanos Primero, a Mexican organization, investigated the situation of English in Mexico and they found that in spite of a 300 000 million of Mexican pesos invested in education, teaching and learning English is not working. Almost 80% of Mexican students of third grade of secondary schools do not know anything about English.

In the north of Mexico, the attitude to English language of teachers and students is different to the attitude of other states. For example Coahuila puts a lot of efforts on kindergarten and primary schools. Maybe because states like Coahuila are states bordering on the USA.

Video: El inglés en la educación mexicana

Situation of English in Mexico

Untrained teachers thank having training programs delivered by organizations such as the British Council, however teachers in governmental schools have no the level of English to understand training sessions when they are delivered in the atrget language. Additionally, most teachers receive training preparation courses for International Examinations like PET, KET or FCE, but they recognize that they do not have the level of English required for taking these courses. So, teachers situations do not improve at all and they hardly ever finish the training courses or decide not to take the international examinations.

Bad pronunciation is another symptom between teachers and students. This may be another reason why teachers fail when taking classes in training programs.

Attitude of the secondary and prepartory school students to English is poor, specially because of most teachers lack of interest in teaching or in creating innovative classes. The number of students in these schools is aorund 60 students per classroom which are not big enough for improving teaching quality. Classrooms lack of technology so most of teachers are pushed to teach with traditional methods and, most of the time, they take the text book as the only program.

Teachers agree on the general idea that students of public shools do not want to learn English.

In 2009, the governmental program called Programa Nacional de Inglés en Educación Básica (PNIEB) is introduced in the educational curriculum as a pilot program. In 2011, PNIEB was launced in all the schools of basic level in the Mexico.

VIDEO

In the following video, you will see a planning form for public primary schools according to the national program for basic education called PNIEB. This program dissapear in 2015. Nowadays the program is called Programa Nacional de Inglés (PRONI)

Video: Planeaciones de Ingles para primaria | Planeación PNIEB