DSpace Angular :: Browsing by Author "Barahona, Malba"

Browsing by Author "Barahona, Malba"

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Afterword charting the path forward: Teacher education, practice, and pedagogy
(Taylor and Francis, 2024) Veliz, L.; Barahona, Malba; Darwin, S.
As we conclude this volume, it is useful to critically reflect on the analytical journey we have undertaken throughout these 14 chapters. This book sought not only to provide a critical examination of the contemporary state of English language teaching (ELT) and teacher education in Chile but also to engage in a deeper and more meaningful dialogue about the possibilities for transformative practice in this vital and largely unexplored educational space in the country.
Analysing preservice teachers' enactment of the UDL framework to support diverse students in a remote teaching context
(2023) Barahona, Malba; Reyes, José; Gallegos, Francisca; David, Viviana; Ibaceta-Quijanes, Ximena; Darwin, Stephen
Internationally, the investigation of inclusive education in foreign language teaching and foreign language teacher education is a relatively new phenomenon. Part of this imperative has been the pressing need to research how teachers perceive inclusion and learn to support a diverse range of students. Responding to this challenge, this paper reports on the results of a case study that investigated the perceptions and attitudes toward inclusion of a group of Chilean preservice teachers of English (n = 6) enacting the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in ELT. The study drew on qualitative data generate through interviews, focus group discussion and an artefact analysis, and was conducted within a remote teaching context due to COVID pandemic during 2020 and 2021. The outcomes suggested that preservice teachers conceptualised inclusion as ‘not-segregation’, expressing positive attitudes toward diversity and a commitment to principles of inclusion in their teaching. The enactment of UDL allowed participants to diversify the representation of contents and making language more comprehensible. However, participants also experienced frustration and anxiety as they felt their practices were sometimes ineffective. The findings also made visible the complex challenges and struggles preservice teachers confront as they attempt to teach inclusively, particularly in remote learning environments.
Analyzing teacher educators’ perspectives on professional pedagogical responsibility in initial EFL teacher education
(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2024) Barahona, Malba; Darwin, Stephen; Duran Castro, Macarena; Lobos Stevens, Carla
This study addresses the underexplored role of teacher educators in initial English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education within the Chilean context. It aims to understand how these educators perceive and instill professional responsibility among pre-service teachers. Data was collected from university-based EFL teacher educators through 48 questionnaires and 17 semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that these educators prioritize pedagogical skill development and the cultivation of social consciousness, preparing pre-service teachers to effectively respond to and proactively manage diverse educational settings. The study highlights the pivotal role of teacher educators as role models, shaping the professional identities of future teachers through the integration of ethical standards and reflective practices into the curriculum. The results highlights the need for teacher education programs to continuously adapt to changing educational demands, emphasizing autonomy and proactive professional development to equip pre-service teachers with the necessary skills and attitudes for their future roles. This research contributes to the understanding of professional responsibility in initial teacher education, offering insights into the specific challenges and strategies within the Chilean EFL context.
Balancing being a 'good teacher' and a 'motivating teacher of English': Analysing the sense of professional responsibility of pre-service EFL teachers
(2023) Barahona, Malba; Darwin, Stephen
The professional responsibility of teachers has been primarily understood in international literature in terms of external obligations, primarily from an accountability perspective. Alternatively, more recent approaches have begun to propose that teacher responsibility is more appropriately understood as an internal drive toward their work and its contribution to broader social development, which is seen as crucial to the design of effective pedagogical practices. However, within this continuing dialogue, limited attention has been given to how professional responsibility develops and is nurtured within the unique contexts of English language teacher education. This mixed-method study investigated the sense of professional responsibility held by pre-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) context, framed by an online survey (n = 611) based on a teacher responsibility scale and a series of semi-structured interviews (n = 17). Results demonstrated that there was a comparatively higher sense of responsibility felt in two critical areas: building positive student relationships and ensuring an equitable classroom and society. However, lower levels of responsibility were demonstrated toward the discipline-specific issues of encouraging student engagement, student motivation or success in learning English. This suggests a critical tension that develops in the sense of pre-service teacher responsibility between the abstract and affective notion of being the 'good teacher' and the more concrete objectives of building learning environments for language development.
Balancing being a ‘good teacher’ and a ‘motivating teacher of English’: Analysing the sense of professional responsibility of pre-service EFL teachers
(2023) Barahona, Malba; Darwin, Stephen; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Universidad Alberto Hurtado
The professional responsibility of teachers has been primarily understood in international literature in terms of external obligations, primarily from an accountability perspective. Alternatively, more recent approaches have begun to propose that teacher responsibility is more appropriately understood as an internal drive toward their work and its contribution to broader social development, which is seen as crucial to the design of effective pedagogical practices. However, within this continuing dialogue, limited attention has been given to how professional responsibility develops and is nurtured within the unique contexts of English language teacher education. This mixed-method study investigated the sense of professional responsibility held by pre-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) context, framed by an online survey (n = 611) based on a teacher responsibility scale and a series of semi-structured interviews (n = 17). Results demonstrated that there was a comparatively higher sense of responsibility felt in two critical areas: building positive student relationships and ensuring an equitable classroom and society. However, lower levels of responsibility were demonstrated toward the discipline-specific issues of encouraging student engagement, student motivation or success in learning English. This suggests a critical tension that develops in the sense of pre-service teacher responsibility between the abstract and affective notion of being the ‘good teacher’ and the more concrete objectives of building learning environments for language development.
Can an outsider become an insider? Analysing the effect of action research in initial EFL teacher education programs
(2018) Darwin, Stephen; Barahona, Malba
Action research methodology is commonly used in initial teacher education programmes as a pedagogical strategy to enhance student teacher learning. Action research is most often used in tandem with school-based practicum components in the latter stage of programmes as a means of bridging the theory-practice divide. It is also frequently used as a capstone assessment to assure prospective teacher capability for reflective inquiry. The study reported here focuses on the perspectives of teachers who were recent graduates of two initial English language teacher education programmes in Chile, who had undertaken action research projects as part of their degree programme. It also engaged the university-based supervisors who had overseen this work. These experiences are analysed in the context of the guiding epistemological and political foundations of action research. The outcomes of this research suggest that the use of action research in initial teacher education contexts may be more problematic than it is often assumed; particularly, where student teachers’ work is professionally isolated. From this, it is suggested that action research in initial teacher education needs to be conscious of potential constraints in school-based contexts, as these may act to limit the current and prospective impact of this learning experience.
Chilean EFL student teachers and social justice: ambiguity and uncertainties in understanding their professional pedagogical responsibility
(2022) Barahona, Malba; Ibaceta Quijanes, Ximena
Professional pedagogical responsibility (PPR) for teachers does not only mean to meet deadlines or attend meetings, but also to be conscious of how their actions can contribute to challenging inequities in society. Thus, it is imperative that teachers of English embrace the responsibility of teaching English as a tool to promote social justice. This article reports on a qualitative study to understand how seven pre-service teachers developed a sense of PPR and to what extent participants' discourse revealed a sense of social justice. Data were collected through a number of semi-structured interviews that required participants to reflect on different practicum experiences and expectations for their future work as teachers of English. The results demonstrated different degrees of PPR ranging from resistance to high levels of agency. These different degrees were shaped by personal drives such as preservice teachers' motives for teaching English, but also by social and contextual factors such as expectations and requirements of the practicum. The outcomes also suggested that most preservice teachers were unaware of their role as change agents. The paper concludes with implications on how the integration of a social justice perspective in initial English language teacher education programmes can strengthen their professional responsibility.
Critiquing the teaching and learning of English in Chile: Challenges and opportunities for transformative practice
(Taylor and Francis, 2024) Veliz, L.; Barahona, Malba; Darwin, S.
This edited volume challenges the hegemonic values and practices that have shaped the contemporary state of English language education in Chile, offering a space for a transformative vision that prioritises pedagogical practices grounded in (g)localised methodologies and epistemologies. Providing insights into English language teacher education and the pedagogical practices that teachers enact in diverse contexts, chapters delve into a critical scrutiny of prevalent issues in ELT education and explore new opportunities for innovation, reconsideration and reconceptualisation of policy and practice. Motivated by the drive for transformative, context-sensitive and culturally relevant practice, contributors critically engage with the socio-cultural and socio-political context of Chilean English language researchers, offering a systematic analysis of the profound effects of entrenched neoliberal ideologies in education, as well as how these act to influence and shape teaching practices, policies, and outcomes. In highlighting the inherent limitations and inequities perpetuated by neoliberal policies, contributors offer alternative perspectives and solutions designed to promote more equitable, inclusive, and socially just second language educational practices. Providing a comprehensive examination of the intricate relationship between Chile's political history, socio-economic evolution, and the rise of English language education, this book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of applied linguistics, teaching and learning English as a foreign/second language, and initial English language teacher education. Policy makers working in ELT in the Chilean context may also find the volume of use.
Developing expertise through experience
(2021) Barahona, Malba; Ibaceta Quijanes, Ximena
Exploring Chilean EFL Student Teachers' Development of Teacher Identity Through Perezhivanie
(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2022) Barahona, Malba; Toledo-Sandoval, Flor
This study was designed to understand the multi-layered aspects and conflicts that shaped the identity development of English language pre-service teachers in Chile. This longitudinal, multiple case study research investigated the identity trajectories of seven EFL Chilean pre-service teachers over an 18-month period. Data were drawn from a range of sources, including semi-structured interviews, analysis of recorded lessons, and pedagogical artefacts. Framed by a sociocultural perspective, student teachers' perezhivanie and lived experiences were examined. This work found that the transition to a developed English language teacher identity was a slow and recursive process and shaped by multiple interactions and situations of conflict in practice. Strong and conflicting emotions of joy, self-fulfilment and frustration, anxiety, and self-doubts were recurrent. These findings contribute to the understanding of how English language teacher identity is developed in the Global South.
Exploring tensions in integrating core practices into initial EFL teacher education programs in the Chilean context
(2021) Barahona, Malba; Darwin, Stephen
Globalising or assimilating? Exploring the contemporary function of regionalised global university rankings in Latin America
(Springer, 2023) Darwin, Stephen; Barahona, Malba
Global university rankings (GUR) have become increasingly influential as a proxy measure of higher education quality. The more recent development of regionalised forms of rankings has increased their global reach, drawing a greatly expanded range of institutions into their orbit. As a result, regionalised GUR have developed an increasing potential power to shape social perceptions, institutional actions, and everyday academic practices. In this paper, the perceived impact of regionalised forms of GUR is analysed from the perspective of Latin American higher education. Based on a critical meta-synthesis framed by a glonacal heuristic (Marginson and Rhoades, Higher Education 43:281–309, 2002), the tensions arising around the application of regionalised forms of global rankings are mapped. Specifically, the impact of rankings on conceptions of the mission of universities is foregrounded. The meta-synthesis identifies three primary tensions around the regional application of GUR in Latin American contexts: how conceptions of regional higher education quality are most effectively developed, how the local university is imagined under the weight of global expectations, and the relativised value of local agency in assessing quality outcomes. The findings suggest that GUR have created strong fissures in Latin American higher education regarding the missions of institutions, particularly in confronting the powerful hegemonies of the epistemologies of the Global North imposing themselves on Latin American higher education. The paper concludes that the stratification and social anxiety caused by the regional applications of GUR may not be necessarily productive in encouraging regional institutional diversity or in enhancing the local relevance of higher education.
Identity of foreign language pre-service teachers to speakers of other languages: Insights from Brazil and Chile
(2019) Barahona, Malba; Archanjo, Renata; Finardi, Kyria Rebeca
The aim of this paper is to examine the identity of foreign language (FL) pre-service teachers in two distinct contexts: Brazil and Chile. A multiple case study methodology was used to investigate how foreign language pre-service teachers develop and conceptualize their teacher identity in three different teacher education programs—two in Brazil and one in Chile. The analysis focused on three main issues: emerging identities, the role of foreign language proficiency, and the practicum as a mediating space to develop teacher identity. Results of the two case studies situated in Brazil suggest that FL pre-service teacher identity is shaped by their beliefs on language proficiency. The case study in Chile confirmed that pre-service teachers’ identity oscillates between identifying as students and as teachers. Overall, results of the study suggest that FL teacher identity is shaped by notions of legitimization of the teacher’s role and language proficiency
Introduction - Exploring avenues for the transformation of teaching and learning English in Chile
(Taylor and Francis, 2024) Barahona, Malba; Veliz, Leonardo; Darwin, Stephen; Barahona, Malba; Veliz, Leonardo; Darwin, Stephen
This chapter introduces the context and key issues explored in the book, providing a critical overview of each of the chapters. It begins by outlining the historical and contemporary landscape of English language teaching (ELT) in Chile, and then moving to consider how English was integrated into the national curriculum. A critical reality—the persistent socio-economic disparities affecting language acquisition and proficiency—is considered in the context of the persistence of neoliberal educational policies that have led to pronounced levels of school segregation and inequitable resource allocation. Reflecting on the inequities and social injustices in English language education, the chapter details the editors’ collective commitment in developing the volume to critically analysing contemporary ELT practices and exploring prospective opportunities for transformative change. The chapter emphasises that this work can act as a potential catalyst for practitioners, educators, and scholars to use these insights, experiences, and innovations to foster critical dialogue on curriculum, policy, and pedagogical practices with an orientation toward transformative change.
"It is impossible to teach English in English": Preservice teachers' struggles to facilitate L2 comprehensibility in English
(2021) Barahona, Malba; Delaporte Raurich, Catalina; Ibaceta Quijanes, Ximena
La deuda de la formación de profesores de inglés en Chile: la justicia social
(2022) Barahona, Malba
El idioma inglés ha dominado el mundo de los negocios, la diplomacia internacional, la producción académica y la producción y comunicación de conocimiento, adquiriendo el valor de lengua franca y de commodity como un bien de consumo que se puede adquirir y transar (Barahona & Ibaceta-Quijanes, en prensa). En este sentido, el idioma inglés adquiere un valor simbólico hegemónico en relación con otras lenguas. En Chile, el inglés es actualmente la lengua extranjera más respetada y deseada por la población. Se considera al inglés como un poderoso idioma internacional que permite a los chilenos ser parte del mundo globalizado. Bajo esa premisa, varios gobiernos a partir de los 90s han invertido e impulsado distintas iniciativas para promoverr la enseñanza del inglés en todos los niveles educativos. Esta promesa del inglés también ha permeado en la formación de profesores de inglés la cual se ha visto desafiada tanto en su capacidad para formar profesores de inglés para distintos contextos educativos, como también en el desarrollo de una concepción de la lengua y su enseñanza en el sistema educativo que vaya más allá de una promesa del sistema neoliberal por mejores salarios. En este contexto, emergen las siguientes preguntas: ¿Qué otros motivos existen para la enseñanza del inglés en Chile? ¿Qué hace la formación de profesores de inglés por la justicia social en el país? ¿Cómo la formación de profesora de inglés puede contribuir a la justicia social del país o perpetuar la falsa promesa del inglés? En este ensayo intentaré dar respuesta a estas preguntas usando investigaciones previas, mis conocimientos y experiencia en la enseñanza del inglés y formación de profesores de inglés
Looking from the outside in: Action research in initial language teacher education
(Taylor and Francis, 2024) Barahona, Malba; Darwin, Stephen; Burns, Anne; Dikilitaş, Kenan
© 2025 selection and editorial matter, Anne Burns and Kenan Dikilitas. All rights reserved.In this chapter, we critically explore the potential of action research (AR) for initial language teacher education programmes. In considering the foundations of AR, we assess how these relate to the challenges faced by pre-service teachers as they seek to navigate the language classroom. One of the key challenges we identify is the pre-service teacher as the 'outsider' and the dynamic this creates in building trust and change, often under the already difficult pressures of practicum teaching experiences. Further, using a case study from Latin America, we argue that the democratic-collaborative foundations of AR are also not necessarily suited to all teaching environments, particularly those where more vertical, directive forms of education practice prevail, and teaching conditions are highly challenging. We conclude the chapter by offering some critical questions for teacher educators to consider in designing pre-service teacher research and encourage a more nuanced understanding of the value of situated research for initial language teacher education.
Making research (more) real for future teachers: a classroom-based research model for initial teacher education
(Taylor & Francis, 2021) Darwin, Stephen; Barahona, Malba
Action research is characteristically used to provide research experience for late-stage, pre-service teachers as a means of breaching the perceived divide between theoretical knowledge and contexts of practice. However, aside from the considerable methodological challenges of enacting action research itself, pre-service teachers also enter schools as 'outsiders', therefore often simultaneously struggling to make sense of both their research mission and school context. This anxiety is amplified by the characteristic relationship of action research outcomes to summative, programme-level assessment of prospective teacher capability. Following research that confirmed negative experiences of a group of late-stage, EFL pre-service teachers using action research-based projects in two Chilean universities, potential alternative methods of encouraging research practice was investigated and piloted. Based on the outcomes of this research, a new classroom-based model was designed to provide a more useful and ultimately productive research experience for pre-service teachers, particularly those in the challenging environment of EFL teaching. This model stresses the need for pre-service teachers to be offered more research autonomy, to be less 'problem' focussed and to be more actively supported in the planning and enactment of achievable research to ensure the learning outcomes sought for this type of research-based inquiry were achieved.
Navigating the challenges and opportunities for equipping pre-service English language teachers for diverse classrooms
(Taylor and Francis, 2024) Veliz, L.; Barahona, Malba; Darwin, S.
This chapter reports on research designed to analyse the views and attitudes of a group of 12 Chilean pre-service teachers (PSTs) of English towards inclusive pedagogies, and to critically examine their perceived levels of professional responsibility for diversity as experienced during teaching placements. Using a qualitative methodology, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with PSTs from four Chilean universities. The interviews were structured around three main dimensions: (i) the role of English language teacher education programmes in preparing teachers for diverse contexts, (ii) the candidates’ pedagogical readiness and pedagogical responsibility for diversity, and (iii) the challenges and opportunities encountered during school placements. Analysis of the interview data revealed that while PSTs showed a great sense of pedagogical responsibility and recognition of the value of initial teacher education programmes in providing grounding for diverse contexts, they expressed a sense of limited pedagogical preparedness to meet the needs of increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse language learning classrooms. Further, the findings suggested that attempts to enact inclusive pedagogies during placements are constrained by the persistent drives of neoliberal ideologies for accountability, standardisation, and a continuing narrowing of curriculum focus.
Pedagogy of resistance: against manufactured ignorance
(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2023) Barahona, Malba

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