ENGLISH TEACHING IN COLOMBIAN RURAL SCHOOLS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES LA DEL INGLÉS EN LAS ESCUELAS RURALES DE COLOMBIA: RETOS Y OPORTUNIDADES

This qualitative multiple case study reports the perceptions of education stakeholders about English teaching in rural areas of one of Colombia’s regions: Quindío. The participants of this investigation belong to the academic community (teachers, principals, coordinators, the bilingual coordinator of the region, and pedagogical staff) of different institutions in rural areas. Through in-depth interviews, observations, and focus groups, it was possible to identify the challenges that still persist in rural contexts regarding language teaching and the opportunities this region has had, thanks to the introduction of new initiatives whose main goal is to strengthen English learning-teaching processes. Amongst the challenges, rural institutions still need major investment in resources and training; and there is a call for continuity of the projects being implemented. As for the opportunities, it is evident that better progress can be reached in all processes when education stakeholders’ voices are heard.

the opportunities this region has had, thanks to the introduction of new initiatives whose main goal is to strengthen English learningteaching processes. Amongst the challenges, rural institutions still need major investment in resources and training; and there is a call for continuity of the projects being implemented.
As for the opportunities, it is evident that better progress can be reached in all processes when education stakeholders' voices are heard.

INTRODUCTION
There is no doubt that globalization has given importance to second and foreign language learning worldwide (Galindo, Loaiza & Botero, 2013). For the Colombian Ministry of Education (MEN, 2006), learning a foreign language gives people better opportunities, improves communication and interaction between cultures, and contributes to the development of the country in all of its spheres (social, political, economic, educational, and cultural , and there are more and more initiatives to deal with foreign language learning. Although there has been criticism towards the way in which the bilingual policies have been implemented (De Mejía & Fonseca, 2009), the poor English level Colombian citizens have reached in standardized tests (Sánchez, 2012), and the misconception of the term bilingualism in the country (De Mejía, 2006), among others, the initiatives of the governments to improve the English level have not stopped.
These ideas aimed to counteract the vices of traditional education such as passivity and superficiality and focus on aspects such as the child and his/her relationship with the environment, content, and methods. That is to say, the infant is totally taken into account in his/ her context, skills, attitudes, and aptitudes. The role of the teacher changed, and the lessons were seen in a more student-centered setting.
The previous should be perceived as one that interests the student regarding the content.
Therefore, the content related to their everyday life is usually the one that meets these needs. In other words, there is significant learning when the content is relevant to the student's cognitive structure (Ausubel, 1983); that is to say, when the ideas studied are and essential to the individual.

Rural education systems in the 1970s in
Colombia began to adopt these ideas and created the "Escuela Nueva" pedagogical model,  (2017) and Suárez et al. (2015) reported that the linguistic       One of the advantages reported is that, with this program, they could recognize and use some strategies they did not consider before, such as the suggested curriculum, which, as mentioned in the strategy, considers the local and social context of students. They also highlighted the importance of guidance while designing lessons and putting them into practice. Even though some teachers still feel reluctant to learn the language, most of them value the fact that they have been supported and do not feel alone in the process. There is an urgent call for the continuity of these strategies.

PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS RESOURCES
During the observations and considering the answers retrieved from the focus groups and the in-depth interviews, between the years 2014-2018, many institutions did not count with appropriate materials to teach English.
Focus group extract (35:00): Translation: "Before we did not have materials to teach English, there were few but we did not know how to use them because they were in English or we did not have a guide to follow" There is no doubt, as mentioned by Suárez, Del Pilar y Parra (2015), that the lack of didactic resources and technological equipment impedes the development of successful English lessons.
Although it has been claimed that "bilingualism plans and policy have boosted a process of commercialization more than a process of equity" (Gomez, 2007) (2018), teachers in rural areas "intuitively tend to make the most of their expertise, the limited resources available, and the local lingua-cultural repertoires in an attempt to help students make sense of English" (p 1). As evidenced in the interviews, the most recent strategies have provided them with pedagogical support that helps them transmit their English knowledge in a better way.

CONCLUSIONS
Research in Quindio's region towards the teaching of English has shown three realities: 1) it is scarce, 2) it has reflected more flaws Besides, and as participants remark, technological resources in today's world are a great help to improve pedagogical practices; then, more investment is needed. It is worth noting, though, that economic investment should be seriously adjusted considering the real academic context.
That is to say, in order to generate ideas that will provide institutions with materials, they should consider that most institutions do not count with an internet connection-so the creation of platforms or applications that only work online would be useless-. Furthermore, the materials provided should also consider teachers' level (so that the written material-instructions-should be in Spanish). Thus, after acquiring any service, a thorough analysis should be made so as to avoid what Usma (2009), González (2007, and Álvarez (2008) state in regards to bilingual plans just seen as a lucrative business.
Let us remember that the voices of the people involved in the situations is the starting point to ensure progress in any given situation. As stated by Gomez (2017)