Sociocultural factors involved in the teaching of English as foreign language in rural areas of Colombia: an analysis of the impact on teachers’ professional development

Bilingual education has been a very controversial issue in the last decade in Colombia because national laws now aim at fostering English–Spanish bilingualism. In particular, it has been evident that special attention has been paid to privileged, urban contexts, leaving aside the realities of disadvantaged and rural areas. This article attempts to raise awareness of critical sociocultural factors involved in the teaching of English in rural areas to understand the complexity of teachers’ professional development considering the particularities of their local work settings. Within the outcomes of this exploration, we found that teachers’ development in rural areas is quite different from that in urban areas. The sociocultural issues in the language classroom frame both teachers’ labour and their professional development needs.