TRANSFORMING A NEW EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE: CHALLENGES AND DIFFICULTIES OF THE ECUADORIAN ENGLISH CURRICULUM

This article describes the problems that Ecuadorian public education faces at the secondary and higher levels in order to transform an old education into a modern education for the future. This transformation focuses on the importance of knowing languages other than the mother tongue to be able to communicate internationally with individuals from other cultures in this globalized world. For this reason, in 2012, the Ministry of Education of Ecuador designed a National English Curriculum based on the Common European Framework that impacted not only teachers but also students, parents and all Ecuadorians in general. This English curriculum details certain levels that Ecuadorian students must meet to achieve the goals of the curriculum which most of the time are difficult to reach. This situation affects more students of public institutions than private because usually public students have a great lack of experience and opportunities to practice English. This fact indicates that the completion of their studies will not be in line with the requirements of the Ecuadorian government. The purpose of this article is to describe the challenges and difficulties of working with an English curriculum with very high goals and standards, taking into account our Ecuadorian reality in public institutions. It also reflects the impact and the role of English teachers in this transformation.
For the elaboration of this article, a general overview of reports, statistics, academic articles, and studies of public and private institutions was carried out. It indicates that certain factors have been impairing the learning and the acquisition of the English language which have brought real challenges and difficulties for teachers. Among the challenges and difficulties, we encounter that the standards of the English curriculum have increased teacher’s stress and anxiety due to the need to know how to apply appropriate strategies for the development of the communicative skills. Also, the insufficient number of hours of English per week in public schools is not enough to learn and acquire a foreign language. Consequently, Ecuadorian students do not improve their English levels and the situation is worse when teachers have to work with a large number of students in a classroom that is not appropriate to have an effective teaching and learning process.
In conclusion, even though English teachers struggle in the teaching and learning process, Ecuadorian education needs the intellectual contribution, constant updating, and compromise; but it is also important that teachers receive support and all the facilities to be able to perform favorably in the public education system