provide the reader with a written picture of the context in which the SAC in Oaxaca is
immersed. Although there are certain aspects that respond to the specific situation of
Oaxaca, many elements of this description can be generalised to most of the SACs opened
by Mexican universities in recent times.
2.4.1 Foreign languages in the Mexican curriculum
In Mexico, English (or French) as a foreign language is taught as compulsory subject
of the national curriculum at secondary and preparatory (high school) level (see Fig. 2.3).
This means that all the students attend a Foreign Language class for four to five years after
the elementary school. Although French is also considered in the national curriculum,
English is the most commonly taught. French is only learned in few schools, where English
also is an option.
The situation of the foreign language teaching in secondary schools is fairly similar
around the country. As I said before, English is compulsory during the three years. This
means three levels within the national curriculum. The national curriculum also establishes a
national syllabus whose objective is the comprehension of written English texts. There is a
tendency to use standardised textbooks written to follow the official syllabus. According to
the statistics, the Foreign Language as a subject is difficult for secondary students, and as a
result marks tend to be low. A study (Clemente, 1989) on students', teachers' and parents'
attitudes towards different subjects show that the Foreign Language subject is not considered
as an important subject, in fact, it is one of the least important of the list of compulsory
subjects in which the leaders are Mathematics, Physics and the Social Sciences. In other
words, for most students (and parents) English is a non-important subject that has to be
passed.
The teachers at the secondary level have, more or less, the same background: three
years of general elementary teacher education and two years secondary teacher education
with a focus on foreign language teaching. However, this pre-service training mainly focuses
on pedagogical issues and is deficient in foreign language matters. In addition, the teachers'
command of the FL is usually very low.
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