Can EFL teaching help revitalize the Aymara language and culture? Exploring EFL teachers' practices from Northern Chile

Abstract

Under the premise that revitalization can be attained through multi-, inter-, or transdisciplinary fields, this article posits that teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) can aid in revitalizing the Aymara, an indigenous community in Northern Chile, to avoid their cultural and linguistic extinction. This qualitative study explored how EFL teachers’ practices can contribute to revitalizing the Aymara culture and language in schools located in Northern Chile. Ten teachers participated in individual semi-structured online synchronous interviews and a group interview. The findings revealed two types of practices: (a) non-intercultural teaching practices that were mediated by personal, educational, and institutional factors, and (b) approximations of intercultural teaching practices where the teachers valued and included Aymara culture, yet they did not generate spaces for intercultural dialog in the classrooms. The study concludes that the approximations of intercultural teaching practices contribute to an initial stage in revitalizing indigenous languages and culture, an implication that should be considered valuable in teacher education programs and the EFL classroom.