Mexican Secondary School Students’ Perception of Learning the History of Mexico in English

Abstract

This article focuses on Mexican students’ perceptions of learning the history of Mexico in English through content-based instruction, which is one of many types of bilingual pedagogical approaches that are now considered established approaches in Mexico and around the globe. A phenomenological approach was chosen in order to understand and examine participants’ lived experiences through semi-structured interviews; this in turn led to the discovery of their acceptance or rejection towards learning the history of Mexico in English. The data suggest that despite students’ initial rejection to learning a sensitive subject as is the history of Mexico in English, most students found the content-based method as being meaningful, thus, they had a sense of pride in the end.

Keywords

• Attitudes
• belief
• content-based instruction
• emotions
• learning strategies
• perceptions