ELT Local Research Agendas III

Continuing with the conversation series on the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) Education, we started this volume, ELT Local Research Agendas III, with the third cohort of the major in ELT Education, of the Doctorado Interinstitucional en Educación (DIE-UD) of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. This volume brings the voices of the third cohort along with the voices of their teachers. The book we present on this occasion to the academic community is the result of engaging dialogues, reflections, and discussions we have held during this cohort’s first year of studies.

The book encompasses the interest that has guided our academic work in this line of research (ELT Education), which has been approached to from a South epistemological perspective. The seminars have been nurtured with a variety of literature that span topics ranging from activist-related to those of a philosophical nature. Both our languages, Spanish and English, have been welcome in the readings as well as in the conversations held in class. The variety of topics fulfills specific purposes in each moment of the formation of doctoral students and, overall, they paint a picture of a decolonial stance that we have sought to bring to this program.

As such, in each one of the chapters the reader will find the locus of enunciation of the author/s as individuals, teachers, and researchers, which is the starting point for unfolding their research agendas. Each chapter uses a decolonial lens to explore and problematize a topic of current relevance in ELT, be it epistemicide, whiteness, or coloniality of being, among others. I am sure that the chapters in this book will enrich our efforts to continue building local epistemologies that inform the field. Finally, the ideas expressed by the authors might serve as food for thought among the academic community and hopefully make, in the long run, our profession richer and more epistemologically situated.