Learning English Through Inquiry: An Acquired Experience in Three Public Settings in Colombia

Abstract

The main purpose of this qualitative case study project is to share the experience I have gained by means of the implementation of an inquiry-based approach for the teaching English in three different settings in Boyacá, Colombia, during the years 2005, 2006, and 2007. Inquiry-based learning was developed through the Authoring Cycle Method. The inquiry projects took place in a rural school at Pijaos – Cucaita with sixth graders, at a city school in Santa Cruz de Motavita with tenth graders, and at the UPTC with students in different academic programs who took English III. The objective of my research project was to describe how students related their inquiries in the English language to their programs from a personal and social dimension.

Keywords

• Inquiry
• critical pedagogy
• authoring cycle
• socio-constructivism