English in rural areas: pedagogical and didactic routes and dynamics based on authentic materials

Abstract

Education in rural Colombia is characterized by implementing the Escuela Nueva (New School) model with its heterogeneity in the formation of school groups with different levels of training and attending to diverse realities; in addition to emphasizing autonomy, experimentation, and practical learning, which requires teachers to perform multiple functions in a multigrade classroom, guaranteeing formative quality by articulating the classroom, the community and the territory, which directly affects educational relevance. According to Law 115 of 1994, criteria, programs, pedagogical models, and didactic strategies are integrated, aimed at comprehensive training and cultural identity, reinforcing the social and community function of the school, in all areas of knowledge and in the learning of English, pedagogical and didactic routes based on activities are highlighted, structured with authentic materials, linking knowledge management with the reality of the context. This research is developed with a mixed approach, integrating the qualitative and quantitative to understand the educational phenomenon in rural areas, evaluating both teaching and learning performance and their impact on the use of authentic materials, intercultural awareness and the characteristics of the student's environment and its relationship with academic performance in English. The results indicate that 40% of the students achieve a high performance when verbally communicating concepts of the context they inhabit, and 98% are seduced by playful and contextualized didactics, tending towards an integral development of the subject and its context.