The Common European Framework, Task-Based Learning, and Colombia: Crossroads for an Intercultural Collision or a Path under Construction for Improvement?
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Abstract
This paper provides a critical response to the implementation of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, and Assessment (CEFR, Council of Europe, 2001) in Colombia by exposing a threefold approach discussing the following areas: Intercultural communication, Task-Based Learning, and some pertinent SLA research. Bearing this in mind, the author provides important cultural differences, and how these differences may affect what is proposed methodologically in the CEF from the standpoint of communication styles and local cultural modes of behavior. Likewise, the author provides reasons that the approach proposed in the CEFR may put at stake important modes of language instruction and the use of computer technology, among other items. Voices from pre-service teachers in regard to the implementation of the CEFR and its principles in the context of a public school would also be included. Finally, the author encourages further academic discussion on the issue in question in order to invite the academic community to contribute to the construction of a locally-made framework bearing in mind the immediate needs and cultural characteristics of the local context.
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