The Portrayal of EFL Teachers in Official Discourse: The Perpetuation of Disdain

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to offer an interpretation of the images of Colombian English teachers constructed in official discourse, particularly (but not exclusively) in the document "Estándares básicos de competencias en lenguas extranjeras: inglés. Formar en lenguas extranjeras, el reto". This is part of a larger critical discourse analysis research study whose main data source is the aforementioned document. The analysis was conducted following a Hallidayan "clause as representation" approach combined with Fairclough's methodology for a critical discourse analysis. Three main images were found: teachers are invisible; teachers as clerks; and teachers as technicians/marketers. The conclusions show that official discourse plays into folk concepts of Colombian teachers and feeds into them to validate official unilateral decisions.

Keywords

• Teacher education
• EFL teachers
• critical discourse analysis
• symbolic power
• meaning as representation