During the past five years, there has been a notable concern for decolonial studies in the Doctorado Interinstitucional en Educación program and the experiences of the students doing the major in ELT EDUCATION15. The interest in these studies raises new questions for colonial situations, which are currently reflected, it seems, in the study of Applied Linguistics in ELT in Colombia, or at least in Bogotá, as a city-region, a development that may give investigators of ELT food for thought. Personally, I very much appreciate these concerns, since they stimulate those who are engaged in the discipline. However, while I support the advance of this line of research, and hope it will thrive, I believe it is important to continue to explore local ELT issues which throw light on the Westernization that seems to characterize the assumptions of Applied Linguistics in ELT. Very briefly, this chapter discusses aspects of this problem which investigators of ELT can expand on, with the aid of the decolonizing approach.

The first section of this chapter focuses on the history of the Westernization process. The second speaks of a recognizably Latin American contribution to post-colonialism. The third goes over some ideas related to Subaltern Studies. The final section points to some subjects that should be of interest to those who have a decolonizing approach to the place of Applied Linguistics in ELT. The whole chapter raises questions which are relevant to local research efforts and should prompt stimulating debates in this field.