Multidisciplinary Journal Epistemology of the Sciences

Volume 3, Issue 4, 2026, october-december

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71112/ymdkfe37

PERCEIVED FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE

COMPETENCE AMONG ELEVENTH-GRADE STUDENTS IN A COLOMBIAN

PUBLIC SCHOOL

FACTORES PERCIBIDOS ASOCIADOS CON LA COMPETENCIA COMUNICATIVA

EN INGLÉS EN ESTUDIANTES DE GRADO UNDÉCIMO DE UNA INSTITUCIÓN

PÚBLICA COLOMBIANA

Blanca Lucia Cely Betancourt

Jineth Karina García Cendales

Kelly Jhojana Lesmes Ibáñez

Yamile Santana González

Esther Gloria Gómez Bonilla

Colombia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71112/ymdkfe37

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Perceived factors associated with english communicative competence among

eleventh-grade students in a Colombian Public School

Factores percibidos asociados con la competencia comunicativa en inglés en

estudiantes de grado undécimo de una Institución Pública Colombiana

Blanca Lucia Cely Betancourt

a,*

bcely@uniminuto.edu.co

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8059-5160

Yamile Santana González

yamile.santana@uniminuto.edu.co

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0009-5538

Jineth Karina Garcia Cendales

jineth.garcia.c@uniminuto.edu.co

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4617-9170

Esther Gloria Gómez Bonilla

glgomez@uniminuto.edu

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3839-4740

Kelly Jhojana Lesmes Ibáñez

klesmesiban@uniminuto.edu.co

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3951-580X

*Corresponding autor: bcely@uniminuto.edu.co,

Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios –

UNIMINUTO, Colombia, Colombia

ABSTRACT

This qualitative case study explored students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the factors

associated with the development of English communicative competence at a public school in

Bogotá, Colombia. Although this subject has been widely important in Colombia’s educational

policies as can be observed in the country’s bilingualism policies which promote the

improvement of communicative competence in English, public school students have been

struggling with achieving the expected level of proficiency at the end of the secondary level.

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Based on this concern, this article reports the findings of an interpretive qualitative case study

that examined the factors participants associated with difficulties in developing English

communicative competence. Data were collected through an open-ended survey completed by

fourteen eleventh-grade students and semi-structured interviews conducted with two English

teachers, fourteen students and two English teachers from an eleventh grade at a public school

in Bogotá, regarding their English language learning process elicited through semi-structured

interviews and surveys with open-ended questions; and through the examination of previous

research on the topic. The findings indicated that participants perceived English communicative

development as being associated with four interconnected dimensions: student motivation;

teaching methodologies; resources and school conditions; and implementation of English and

Bilingual policies. Recommendations are offered regarding student engagement; communicative

methodologies; teachers’ training; resources; and policies that address the real contexts of

public schools to improve English learning outcomes. The findings suggest a gap between the

objectives of Colombian bilingualism policies and the instructional conditions available in the

participating public school. The study therefore presents communicative development as a

multidimensional phenomenon shaped by interdependent personal, pedagogical, institutional,

and policy-related factors.

Keywords: English communicative competence; English language learning; student motivation;

teaching methodologies; institutional factors; bilingualism policies.

RESUMEN

Esta investigación analiza la relación entre la competencia comunicativa en inglés, la

motivación, las metodologías, el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y la baja competencia en

un grupo de 14 estudiantes de undécimo grado que están a punto de graduarse de una de las

instituciones educativas públicas ubicadas en Bogotá, Colombia. Basada en un enfoque

cualitativo bajo el paradigma interpretativo, esta investigación utilizó la metodología del estudio

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de caso, entrevistas semiestructuradas y una encuesta abierta como principales estrategias

para recopilar información de los dos profesores de inglés y del grupo de estudiantes. Una vez

recopilada toda la información, se realizó un cuidadoso análisis para comprender y explicar la

situación actual, triangulando las visiones de los participantes con información de fuentes

académicas. Se identificaron cuatro dimensiones principales como factores clave que

interactúan entre sí para producir o no usuarios competentes de inglés: factores asociados a

los estudiantes, siendo la motivación el más importante; factores asociados a la forma en que

se enseña inglés en términos de metodología comunicativa; factores asociados a la institución

y sus recursos disponibles; y, por último, factores asociados a las políticas destinadas a la

promoción y desarrollo de la lengua inglesa y cómo estas se implementan en las instituciones

educativas. Las implicaciones derivadas de la investigación señalan que, si bien el gobierno

colombiano ha realizado grandes esfuerzos para alcanzar los objetivos propuestos por las

Políticas de Bilingüismo, todavía existe una brecha entre las expectativas y la realidad de la

escuela pública. Se necesitan estrategias más integrales para hacer frente a la complejidad de

la competencia en inglés, integrando todos los componentes, desde la motivación hasta las

políticas basadas en escenarios reales.

Palabras clave: competencia comunicativa en inglés; aprendizaje del inglés; motivación del

estudiante; metodologías de enseñanza; factores institucionales; políticas de bilingüismo.

Received: September 21, 2026 | Accepted: October 6, 2026 | April: October 7, 2026

INTRODUCTION

Communicative competence has been described as the ability to use and interpret

language appropriately (Hymes, 1972) and strategically (Canale and Swain, 1980) according to

context. In other words, being competent in a given language does not necessarily involve

knowing its grammar and lexical features, but, most importantly, being able to produce

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meaningful interactions in social settings. Based on a qualitative approach, this article explores

students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the factors associated with opportunities to develop

English communicative competence among eleventh-grade students at a public school in

Bogotá, is affected by a set of personal, pedagogical, institutional, and sociocultural variables.

Data was collected via surveys to fourteen eleventh-grade students and semi-structured

interviews with two English teachers.

Triangulating students’ perceptions with teachers’ views, as well as current literature on

the topic, reveals that (a) the extent to which students take part in communicative events in

English depends on their level of motivation and confidence towards English, which is highly

influenced by previous experiences with the target language; (b) the kind of pedagogical

decisions made by English teachers determines whether or not students get opportunities for

meaningful communication in English at the classroom; (c) problems of continuity and a lack of

material and financial resources negatively impact learning outcomes; (d) there seems to be a

gap between the local reality at the research site and the goals of national language policies,

especially when it comes to the country’s bilingual dream. Thus, the article does not only aim to

describe the notion of communicative competence from the participants’ perspectives, but also

shed light on the complex reality faced by English teachers at eleventh grade and the extent to

which this reality shapes students’ communicative competence in English. As the project was

based on an interpretive paradigm, results were analyzed qualitatively; hence, statistical

analyses or generalization were not within the researchers’ goals.

Literature Review And Theoretical Framework

English Communicative Competence

Previously, competence has been associated with the knowledge of grammatical rules.

However, Hymes (1972) claims that being competent means being able to use the language

appropriately depending on the context. Based on Hymes' contribution, Canale and Swain

(1980) establish a model of competence with three components: grammatical competence,

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sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Grammatical competence refers to the

knowledge of the language system, i. e. lexical items, sentence structure, morphology,

phonology, etc. Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of appropriateness according to

context, interlocutors, topic, social norms, and so forth. Lastly, strategic competence includes

verbal and non-verbal resources which are used as compensation strategies in order to keep

the conversation going when there is a lack of linguistic means to communicate.

Based on these authors' ideas, Saleh Ahmed (2018) claims that competence involves

not only linguistic components but pragmatic ones. In fact, it is possible to find individuals who

can demonstrate an extensive knowledge about a language but may run into difficulty when

they have to interact in a given situation; meanwhile, other people who show a limited repertoire

may be able to get through situations relying on strategies and negotiating meaning. Moreover,

communicative problems do not always lie in knowledge but may result from limited

opportunities for interaction, lack of self-confidence, limited input, and/or L1-L2 transfer.

More recently, Kramsch (2006) adds another component: symbolic competence, which

deals with the relationship among the interlocutors, how they project their identities, how they

relate to reality from a cultural perspective, how they create meaning beyond the exchange of

information. Therefore, competence involves the system of a given language, how to use it

depending on the context, strategies to cope with communicative problems, and sensitivity

towards the situation. Regarding English competence among Colombian public-school students,

their ability to communicate depends on different factors: willingness to participate, opportunities

for interaction, pedagogical practices, educational policies about FLs, resources, among others.

Student-Related Factors and Motivation

Factors at the student-level include their motivation, attitude, confidence, prior

knowledge, their participation and their willingness to communicate in class. All of them play an

important role since L2 competence demands effort, continuous practice, language exposure

and a certain level of tolerance to ambiguity and errors. Regarding willingness to communicate,

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there must be an opportunity to do so: communicate and interact with others in order to

negotiate meaning, use compensatory strategies when breakdowns occur, etc. Therefore,

several factors may discourage participation and communication among students:

embarrassment, lack of confidence, fear of making mistakes, feeling that English is not relevant

outside the classroom, etc. This means that by not participating students will be avoiding

practice and by doing so they will be avoiding the very vehicle that will help them gain

competence.

Recent studies in Colombia have tried to understand what happens to learners inside the

classroom when they are supposed to learn a foreign language. Bastidas-Arteaga and Muñoz

Ibarra (2020) looked into the factors that secondary school graduates in Pasto considered

important in order to learn English. These factors were classified into three groups: personal,

educational, and contextual factors. Beleño Ospino (2024) conducted a study with eighth

graders in order to unveil factors that could be associated with their poor EFL performance at a

public school in Colombia. By reviewing these studies, it becomes clear that the so-called

student-level factors are highly associated with the realities of students at the institutional-level:

motivation is far from being static since it goes up and down depending on the perceived

relevance of tasks, classroom climate, teachers' feedback, task difficulty, experiences of

success/failure, etc. Therefore, they cannot be dealt with in isolation from pedagogical practices.

Teacher Related Factors and Teaching Methodologies

Teachers also play a crucial role as they are the ones who organize interactions, choose

materials, decide on frequency of English use etc. A good approach should offer learners

sufficient exposure to the target language, systematic learning of it, opportunities for meaningful

practice as well as communication (Harmer, 2008). A focus on grammar rules, translations, and

uncontextualised practice would allow learners to master the system of the language but might

not lead to communicative competence as the knowledge thus learnt will not be used in actual

communication. On the other hand, purposeful communicative activities which relate to learners'

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lives such as role-plays, problem-solving tasks, presentations, discussions, group-work etc. will

help learners use the language for communication.

Prabhu (1990) points out that no one approach or method is better than others, but their

success depends on the way they are used. Communicative approaches have been adopted by

many teachers with modifications suited to their situations, particularly, the realities of the

public-school classroom with its large number of heterogeneous students, limited contact time,

lack of material and technological resources etc. Hence, the CLT should be made meaningful

and effective by adopting to the realities of the situation rather than adopting it in a mechanical

fashion.

Often times the focus on external tests which look at knowledge of grammatical

components of the language can lead teachers to de-emphasize oral communication. Teachers'

beliefs about teaching, their competence in the target language, pedagogical preparation,

opportunities for professional development etc. affect learning as do learners' motivation and

participation in class which is a function of the kind of methodology adopted in the classroom.

Motivation decreases if lessons are irrelevant whereas well-planned lessons which offer

challenges which are neither too easy nor difficult and offer opportunities for communication

would motivate learners and help them gain confidence. Methodology, learner, and contextual

factors thus work in tandem to facilitate language learning.

Institutional Conditions and Educational Resources

Additionally, teachers and students are not the only ones responsible for Colombian ELT

problems. It is fundamental to pay attention to the context where knowledge construction takes

place, including the availability of materials, technological tools, the number of students,

curricular flow, hours, physical space, institutional support, etc. since these may condition what

happens in classrooms and impact language learners' opportunities for L2 practice and their

attitudes towards English learning. Likewise, Colombian public schools seem to go through an

undesirable gap between the highly challenging goals to reach regarding L2 use and the

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heterogeneously available material and administrative resources. Such gap may cause

frustration and loss of motivation among students, as they may not be aware of institutional

factors that limit their language learning possibilities and thus, they may not appreciate their

learning progress.

From a sociolinguistic perspective, developing communicative competences in L1 and/or

L2 involves having sufficient and constant exposure to the language, as well as ample

possibilities for interaction. Nevertheless, Colombian ELT seems to be moving against such

claim, as students are limited to few English class hours, and, since English is a FL in

Colombian schools, opportunities to use the target language out of the classroom seem to be

scarce, which may affect vocabulary and pragmatic competence, for instance. Likewise,

Colombian public schools are still struggling with overcrowded classrooms that may affect

student-teacher ratios; consequently, chances for L2 production and teacher's corrective

feedback become limited.

Bilingualism Policies and the Colombian Public-School Context

Extensive evidence points to difficulties in reaching expected levels of English

competence throughout Colombian education. Benavides (2021) affirms that tertiary-level

English competence has not changed during the last decade. He also mentions the importance

of understanding what happens in Colombian higher education regarding English because of

the educational processes at previous educational levels. Evidence is found through Instituto

Colombiano para la Evaluación de la Educación (ICFES, 2024) Saber 11 standardized test

results, which provide a broader reference point for the challenges surrounding English

achievement at the end of secondary school.

As for FL policies, Law 1651 of 2013 (Congreso de la República de Colombia, 2013)

represents an attempt to establish strategies to improve Colombian's foreign language

competences. Other important documents such as Basic Standards of Competences in Foreign

Languages: English (Ministerio de Educación Nacional [MEN], 2006) seek to determine

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expected competences at different educational levels based on international scales. More

recently, English competence was considered a priority through Programa Colombia Bilingüe

2014–2018 and Colombia Very Well: Programa Nacional de Inglés 2015–2025 (MEN, 2014,

2015). Although these documents attempt to implement strategies for ELT and establish

expected outcomes regarding English use and communicative competence, it is important to

notice that they do not necessarily contemplate the implications of applying such policies in

Colombian public schools, including material, institutional, and training requirements. In other

words, language policy is a complex and interrelated aspect which reaches language users'

classrooms through curriculum, institutional projects, teacher's roles, and assessment

processes.

It is also relevant to highlight that bilingualism is far from a dichotomous phenomenon;

Romaine's (1999) definition of bilingualism mentioned above sheds light on the dynamic,

flexible, and context-dependent nature of the phenomenon. Thus, competence in both

languages depends on the domains where languages are used, the purpose of such use, the

sociocultural context, the amount of exposure to each of them, etc. As mentioned above,

English is a foreign language in Colombian public schools; consequently, exposure to English is

reduced to few contact hours. Therefore, the analysis of Colombian's bilingualism policies may

offer an approach to understand Colombian ELT from another dimension.

Integrative Framework for the Study

This study examined eleventh-grade students’ perceptions about English as a Foreign

Language (EFL), triangulating their point of view with that of teachers. The main objective was

to explore how eleventh-grade students and their English teachers perceived the student-

related, pedagogical, institutional, and policy-related factors associated with the development of

English communicative competence.

For the aforementioned, it was relevant to consider communicative competence not just

in terms of knowledge of English, but also regarding the strategic and appropriate use of the

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foreign language in meaningful contexts (Canale & Swain, 1980; Hymes, 1972; Saleh Ahmed,

2018). Thus, to understand communicative competence from a multidimensional approach, four

interconnected dimensions were considered: student’s factors, teachers’ factors and

methodologies, institutional factors and resources, and the application of the national policy for

bilingualism. All dimensions were considered as interacting elements since students’ motivation

is a result of what happens in the EFL classroom, teaching methodologies depend on the

institution’s resources, and the way an institution works is a consequence of the application of a

policy and the realities of each context.

Recent Empirical Evidence (2021–2025)

Although this chapter focused on classic literature to understand communicative

competence in EFL, it is important to provide some of the latest evidence on this topic.

Theoretical and empirical studies published between 2023 and 2025 and indexed with DOI were

taken into consideration to strengthen the theoretical framework presented in the previous

sections. Table 1 shows eight recent publications divided according to each of the dimensions

that make up the theoretical framework of this research. It is important to underline that although

recent studies have been presented to update and enrich the theoretical framework, classic

literature still holds its space and provides the theoretical foundations that have been, and are

(2025), the most cited in the field of communicative competence within an EFL context: Hymes

(1972), Canale and Swain (1980), and Kramsch (2006). These eight studies are presented as

up-to-date empirical evidence to support and deepen the discussion of this research.

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Table 1.

Synthesis of Recent Related Research on the Four Dimensions of English Communicative

Competence (2023–2025)

Title

Year /

Country

Participants

Methodology

Main

Findings

Implication

for This

Study

¿Por qué el

bilingüismo en

Colombia?

Una revisión

sistemática

2025 /

Colombia

19 documents

(systematic review,

PRISMA)

Systematic review

National

language

policy centers

on English, is

driven by

globalization

and economic

competitivenes

s, and shows a

persistent gap

between policy

objectives and

implementatio

n, particularly

between public

and private

education.

Corroborates

the policy–

implementati

on gap

identified

through

triangulation

in the present

study and

situates the

participating

institution

within a

documented

national

pattern.

Standardized

educational

policies in

English

teaching in

primary

education: A

systematic

review

2025 /

Colombia

15 studies

(systematic review,

PRISMA)

Systematic review

Standardized

national

policies lack

contextualizati

on when

applied to

heterogeneous

local settings,

producing

gaps in

teacher

training and

institutional

inequality.

Supports the

finding that

uniform

bilingualism

standards do

not, by

themselves,

guarantee

the

institutional

conditions

required to

reach them.

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La realidad de

las políticas

lingüísticas en

Colombia:

hacia una

configuración

de enseñanza

de las lenguas

en clave

intercultural

2024 /

Colombia

Documentary/ critical

analysis

Qualitative

documentary

analysis

Colombian

language

policy has

prioritized

English over

intercultural,

multilingual

vision, with

limited

attention to

differentiated

regional and

institutional

realities.

Reinforces

the argument

that policy

expectations

must be

interpreted in

relation to the

specific

conditions of

each public

institution.

Tiempo,

motivación y

rendimiento

académico en

inglés como

segunda

lengua

2024 /

Colombia

Literature review (26

references)

Integrative literature

review

Time on task

and motivation

jointly predict

achievement

in English as a

second

language;

motivational

and time-

inequities

compound

institutional

and evaluative

gaps.

Corroborates

the reciprocal

relationship

between

motivation,

instructional

time, and

achievement

discussed in

the Findings

and

Discussion

sections.

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Improving EFL

learners'

speaking skills

and

willingness to

communicate

via artificial

intelligence-

mediated

interactions

2024 /

Internation

Intermediate EFL

learners (quasi-

experimental)

Quasi-experimental,

pre–post design

Structured,

low-stakes AI-

mediated

speaking

practice

significantly

increased

learners'

willingness to

communicate

and reduced

speaking

anxiety

compared with

a control

group.

Provides

recent,

controlled

evidence for

the affective

mechanism

linking low-

stakes

practice to

willingness to

communicate

, reinforcing

the

interpretation

of students'

fear of error

in this study.

Exploring

secondary

school

teachers'

creativity in

differentiated

instruction (DI)

practices

across

Indonesian

EFL

classrooms

2024 /

Indonesia

6 EFL secondary

teachers

Qualitative case

study

Teachers

adapted

instruction

creatively to

heterogeneous

proficiency

levels through

pre-teaching

sessions, task

design, and

materials

adjustment,

but

professional

development

in this area

remained

limited.

Supports the

discussion's

argument

that teachers

require

sustained

professional

development

to manage

heterogeneo

classrooms

rather than a

single

prescribed

methodology.

Causas de las

bajas

competencias

comunicativas

en inglés

como lengua

2024 /

Colombia

Documentary/theoreti

cal analysis

Qualitative

documentary

analysis

Identifies

learning

strategies,

learning styles,

anxiety, and

motivation as

Directly

parallels the

four-

dimensional

structure of

the present

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extranjera:

Consideracion

es y

reflexiones

the principal

factors

associated

with low EFL

communicative

competence in

Colombian

contexts.

study and is

cited

throughout

the

Discussion

and

Conclusions.

Level of

English in

Colombian

higher

education: A

decade of

stagnation

2021 /

Colombia

(included

for

continuity)

National Saber Pro

results, 2007–2017

Documentary/statisti

cal analysis

English

proficiency

among

graduating

university

students

showed no

significant

improvement

over a decade

despite

national policy

efforts.

Situates the

eleventh-

grade

difficulties

documented

in this study

within a

longer,

unresolved

national

trajectory

rather than

an isolated

secondary-

school

problem.

Note. Own synthesis based on the sources cited in the References section. Search

conducted across Crossref, Scopus-indexed journals, SciELO, and Redalyc;

METHODOLOGY

Research Paradigm and Approach

An interpretive paradigm and qualitative approach were adopted for this research. The

former recognizes that people are knowledgeable about their own contexts and situations and

can provide insights that are relevant to a research inquiry (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Quecedo &

Castaño, 2002). The latter focuses on understanding and describing participants' perceptions of

social phenomena instead of quantifying and analyzing variables and relationships (Creswell &

Poth, 2018). Given the multidimensional and contextualized nature of English communicative

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competence, it is more meaningful to explore this issue from a qualitative approach. The

assessment of English communicative competence can hardly be reduced to scores in

language tests; thus, it is important to obtain students' views on the issue to have a truer picture

of what is happening.

Research Design

A case-study design was adopted to limit the inquiry to eleventh graders' English

learning in a given educational institution. A case-study design helps explore complex

phenomena in real-world contexts (Creswell & Poth, 2018), which is applicable to the present

study that seeks to investigate the issue of English communicative competence in the local

context of eleventh graders' English learning in the institution. With a case-study design, the

research does not pursue generalizability and statistical significance. Instead, it provides an in-

depth understanding of English communicative competence by exploring students' English

learning needs, their motivation, teachers' instructional practices, the learning resources to

which they have access, the impact of the bilingualism policy on their English learning, and how

these factors are interrelated.

Ethical Considerations

The principles of ethics in educational research were adhered to, including those

stipulated in the formal consent forms for students and verbal and written information sheets for

teachers. Specifically, the following points were taken into consideration.

Voluntary participation. Students' participation was on a voluntary basis. Since they are

minors, formal consent forms were sent to parents/guardians for their signatures, and assent

forms were sent to students. The two kinds of documents were worded in language appropriate

for the readers and explained what the research is about, their roles and tasks as participants,

the expected duration of participation, how data will be used, and that they are entitled to reject

participation and withdraw at any time without giving reasons and without incurring negative

consequences. Participants' signatures indicated their agreement to take part in the research.

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Teachers were informed about the research verbally and in writing. Participation was voluntary

for them. Similar to what was explained to students and parents/guardians, teachers were

briefed on the aims of the research, how it is going to unfold, what it involves, what will be done

with the data, and their rights of rejection and withdrawal. Teachers provided verbally informed

consent in accordance with the ethical procedure approved for the study, and, more importantly,

the research does not have evaluative or supervisory implications for them.

Minimization of risks. Risks that participants may be exposed to were minimized.

Participation does not entail risks beyond those they would be exposed to in normal

conversations in the course of their English learning. No participant expressed feelings

threatened, anxious, or upset. Confidentiality and anonymity. Pseudonyms were used to refer to

participants. Participants were assigned alphanumeric codes that were used in data-collection

instruments, data, and analysis. Consent forms, assent forms, and other documents bearing

participants' names were kept apart from research data. Audio files and transcripts were stored

in a password-protected computer which is accessible to the research team only. Participants'

identities were protected by removing their names from the transcripts. The name of the

institution was also removed since contextual clues could help identify it, thus threatening

participants' anonymity. In reporting research findings, particular attention is given to avoid

disclosing information that may identify the institution and/or its staff, avoid quoting participants

in a way that makes them recognizable to others who are familiar with the context, avoid

reporting data at the level of individual participants, and report patterns and themes at the group

level. Protection of participants' rights. Teachers' participation is independent of the school's

decision on the research, so they are not under any pressure to participate in the research.

Students' rights are protected through their parents/guardians' formal consent for their

participation. Participants' views are presented accurately and faithfully. They can review the

research findings pertaining to them if they wish to.

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Positionality and Reflexivity

Furthermore, reflexivity played a critical role throughout the analytical process. The

researcher kept analytic memos that recorded interpretive decisions and the rationale for

coding. As the analysis progressed, the researcher repeatedly returned to the data to verify that

the inductively identified sub-themes accurately reflected participants’ accounts within the four

theoretically informed dimensions. These steps do not remove interpretation; instead, they

make the researcher’s reasoning visible and auditable, which is essential for demonstrating that

the results are firmly based on the data. Regarding positionality, the researcher has experience

with English language teaching and teacher education, especially in Colombian public schools.

Such familiarity can help interpret educational issues correctly. However, it might also impose

existing views on data interpretation. To reduce this, the researcher intentionally approached

the data with an open mind, concentrating on the particular experiences that the teachers and

students expressed.

Context and Participants

One important methodological aspect that should be mentioned is the sample size,

which, although limited, allowed for a better and more comprehensive approach to the purpose

of the study. In this way, generalization was not statistically representative, but rather a case

that sheds light on the main aspects of the study, providing valuable information about the topic

under analysis. Data was collected in a public, urban, secondary institution. For ethical

purposes, the name of the institution has been protected. However, its urban and public

character is a key element that helps to understand the results. Fourteen students from eleventh

grade, the last grade of secondary, and two English teachers were selected as participants.

These actors provided essential information about the subject of this study from two different but

complementary perspectives; the former approached the phenomenon from their own

experience as eleventh graders who live the challenges of motivation and their classes, while

the latter, as professionals, shared their opinions about the teaching-learning process, the

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students' behavior, and other contextual and institutional aspects. The approach followed for

this study is non-probabilistic and used purposive sampling. This means that participants were

not chosen to be representative of the population but because they had been part of the

phenomenon under analysis (Hernández González, 2021), which is common in qualitative

studies.

Sample Size Rationale and Information Power

A total of 14 eleventh-grade students took part in the study. In addition, two eleventh-

grade English teachers at the same urban, public educational institution in Bogotá participated

in the study. This study used a non-probabilistic purposive sampling strategy to choose its

participants. It meant that they were selected due to their direct participation in the context being

examined. The main criterion for participant selection was their direct experience with eleventh-

grade English classes. Therefore, students shared their experiences of motivation, classroom

instruction, and difficulties. In contrast, the two English teachers gave professional insights into

student performance, instruction, and institutional conditions. This allowed the researcher to

examine the relationship between language and bilingualism from multiple angles.

It is critical to highlight that in qualitative research, sample size does not follow the same

logic as statistical representativeness in quantitative research. Instead of statistical

representativeness, qualitative research emphasizes the richness and relevance of information.

Thus, adequacy can be discussed through the idea of information power, which considers

sample homogeneity, the study's limited focus, high-quality data, well-developed analytical

frameworks, and the use of a narrower rather than extensive interpretation. Applying this idea, a

sample of 14 eleventh-grade students and two English teachers from a public, urban school was

judged to be reasonable and pertinent for this limited, context-dependent study. In particular, the

two English teachers represented the entire population of teachers of English at this specific

grade during the study's duration. Accordingly, it is critical to emphasize that the results of this

investigation should not be interpreted as providing an overall perspective on English language

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learners in Colombia's public-education system. Rather, they should be viewed as an effort to

delve into a specific educational environment and provide useful, context-specific accounts of

motivation and language and bilingualism policy.

Data Collection Instruments and Procedure

The study used two main data-collection instruments: semi-structured interviews with

English language teachers and surveys for English language learners. Semi-structured

interviews with English language teachers: Two eleventh-grade English language teachers

participated in audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews that were later transcribed verbatim.

Participants provided their informed consent before taking part in the interview. The goal of

these interviews was to explore teachers’ professional perceptions of students’ English-

language motivation and how this is manifested in academic performance. Additionally, they

discussed the methodologies they use in the classroom, the institutional and contextual

elements that support or limit instruction, and their opinions of the importance and impact of the

language and bilingualism policy. The interview guide was organized into four key areas:

"student-related factors, teacher-related factors and methodologies, institutional resources, and

bilingualism policy."

Surveys with eleventh grade English language learners: Fourteen students from the final

grade of secondary education participated in an open-ended survey. The goal of the survey was

to enable participants to express their experiences, challenges, interests, and perspectives on

English classes and the factors that shape their motivation. Participants were encouraged to

express their thoughts in their own words, without fixed response categories. Both the survey

and interview questions were organized around four common areas: "student-related factors,

teacher-related factors and methodologies, institutional resources, and bilingualism policy." The

instruments were examined to ensure that the language was clear and age-appropriate; some

wording changes were made to enhance student comprehension. It is critical to emphasize that

participants’ responses were not assessed according to linguistic aptitude or treated as

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independent factors that could predict motivation. Rather, they were analyzed as valuable,

personally held accounts that could be examined to reveal patterns and themes regarding

motivation in the context of learning English as a foreign language.

Table 2.

Summary of Data Sources, Instruments, and Analytic Alignment

Participant

Group

Instrument

Format

Analytic Treatment

Eleventh-

grade students

Open-ended

survey

Written, individually

completed, organized

around the four

framework

dimensions

Coded thematically (Braun &

Clarke, 2006); triangulated

against teacher interviews

and literature

English

teachers

Semi-

structured

interview

Audio-recorded,

individually

conducted,

transcribed verbatim

Coded thematically (Braun &

Clarke, 2006); triangulated

against student surveys and

literature

Theoretical

and empirical

literature

sources

cited

Literature

review and

Table 1

synthesis

Peer-reviewed, DOI-

verified where

available

Used as a third triangulation

point for interpreting

convergence,

complementarity, and

divergence

Note. Own elaboration. The literature row refers to the reference list accompanying this

article, including the sources synthesized in Table 1.

Data Analysis and Triangulation

Data were analyzed through a theoretically informed thematic analysis based on Braun

and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase procedure. Initial coding was deductively guided by the four

dimensions established in the theoretical framework, while sub-themes were developed

inductively from participants’ responses. In the first phase, familiarization, both the transcribed

interviews and the survey responses were read and re-read in full to develop an overall sense of

the data before any coding began. In the second phase, initial coding, segments of text from

both data sources were labeled descriptively in relation to the four dimensions established in the

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literature review, allowing additional, unanticipated codes to emerge inductively where

participants raised considerations not fully anticipated by the theoretical framework. In the third

phase, searching for themes, related codes were grouped into candidate sub-themes within

each of the four dimensions, for example, within the student-related dimension, codes referring

to fear of error, perceived insufficiency of vocabulary, and avoidance of spontaneous speech

were grouped into a broader sub-theme of confidence-related avoidance. In the fourth phase,

reviewing themes, candidate themes were checked against the full data set to confirm that they

captured a coherent pattern rather than an isolated response, and themes that did not hold

across multiple participants were merged or discarded. In the fifth phase, defining and naming

themes, the four principal dimensions and their sub-themes were refined into the structure

presented in the Findings section. The sixth phase, producing the report, is represented by the

thematic narrative developed below.

Triangulation was integrated throughout this process rather than applied only at the end:

for each theme, the analysis compared how it appeared, or did not appear, across three

sources, students' survey responses, teachers' interview accounts, and theoretical and

empirical literature, including the recent studies summarized in Table 1. Convergence occurred

when students and teachers identified similar conditions consistent with the literature;

complementarity occurred when the two groups emphasized different aspects of the same

issue; divergence was also analytically significant, revealing how responsibilities or institutional

conditions were understood from distinct positions. The literature served as a conceptual and

empirical point of comparison rather than as evidence to validate or invalidate participants'

experiences.

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Trustworthiness of the Study

Rather than relying on the post-positivist criteria of validity and reliability, which assume

a single, measurable reality, this study assessed its quality against the four trustworthiness

criteria proposed by Lincoln and Guba (1985) and subsequently refined in recent qualitative

methodology literature (Ahmed, 2024): credibility, transferability, dependability, and

confirmability. The scope of the study remained contextual and interpretive throughout. Because

the research examined a specific group of participants at one institution, its purpose was not

statistical generalization, and findings must be considered in relation to the participating

institution and the experiences reported by the participants involved, while remaining, as Table

1 and the Discussion demonstrate, consistent with patterns documented in comparable recent

research elsewhere.

Credibility Whether findings are true representations of participants' realities.

Triangulation was applied throughout the research, constantly comparing student and teacher

perceptions through survey and interview data, and comparing these with literature.

Transferability Whether the research's findings can be applied to other situations. Thick

description is provided regarding the research's context, a public, urban, secondary-education

institution, enabling readers to determine the extent to which they can apply its results to their

own contexts.

Dependability Whether the research can be repeated in the same way with similar

results. This report outlines the analysis process through coding and clustering of data, offering

a complete picture of how data led to the four dimensions that are reported.

Confirmability Whether data are sufficiently documented for other researchers to follow

the same paths and processes. All identified themes are grounded in empirical data from

participants' comments. Comments are also reported alongside interpretations to make it clear

what is said by participants and what is interpreted by researchers.

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To increase data trustworthiness and account for multiple perspectives on the

researched topics, triangulation was a core part of the research. Triangulation was not merely

applied after data collection; rather, data were constantly compared and contrasted during

analysis to identify points of convergence when survey responses by students and interview

data from teachers were similar and confirmed literature reports, complementarity when data

from the two groups shed light on different facets of the same topic, and divergence to

understand institutional realities and roles from different perspectives. Triangulating interview

and survey data with the literature meant that findings were interpreted in the context of the

literature. However, the literature was not used to validate or invalidate participants' perceptions;

instead, it was used as a point of comparison to see if similar findings emerged in similar

contexts.

To enhance data quality and increase confidence in the research's validity, Lincoln and

Guba's (1985) four criteria of trustworthiness were adopted, namely, credibility, transferability,

dependability, and confirmability. The rationale behind adopting these criteria is that validity and

reliability are considered inappropriate because they stem from a post-positivist paradigm. Table

1 describes the four criteria and outlines the ways in which they were operationalized in the

present study. The four criteria helped the research maintain an inductive, bottom-up approach

to analyzing interview and survey data. Nevertheless, the identified themes were checked for

commonality with literature findings regarding the researched topics. Therefore, while

interpretation took precedence, contextualizing the four dimensions with literature allowed us to

affirm that similar perceptions are widespread in contexts resembling ours.

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Methodological Coherence

The paradigm, the approach, the research design, and the techniques are coherent with

each other since the researcher is interested on finding out and understanding participants'

perceptions on why eleventh grade students show a low English communicative competence,

and not in measuring them. Moreover, open-ended surveys to students and semi-structured

interviews with teachers are suitable techniques to deal with this kind of qualitative data.

Findings and triangulation

The findings were organized thematically across four dimensions: student-related

factors, teaching methodologies, institutional conditions, and bilingualism policy implementation.

Nevertheless, instead of presenting results for each source separately, the researcher preferred

to organize the data thematically, as shown in Table 2, to display the main themes that came up

in the survey and in the interviews, as well as in the literature reviewed. The table also shows to

what degree each of the sub-themes was mentioned by participants. Thematic display of

findings and its source(s).

Once the results were analyzed, participants' perceptions about eleventh graders'

English communicative competence pointed out the role of a set of factors pertaining to four

different dimensions: those related to students, to teachers' practices, to institutional resources,

and to the way in which the National Bilingualism Policy is implemented. Factors related to

students, specially motivation and participation, received a great importance. Once all of this

information was triangulated from literature and participants' perceptions, some agreements,

complementary visions and disagreements were detected. Four themes emerged from this

process, which coincided with the aforementioned dimensions, each of them containing two or

three sub-themes that were recurrently addressed.

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Table 3.

Thematic Structure of the Findings, by Dimension and Source of Convergence

Dimension

(Theme)

Sub-themes Identified

Reported Mainly by

Convergence Pattern

Student-related

factors

Fear of error and confidence-

related avoidance; perceived

insufficiency of vocabulary

and grammar; uneven

engagement beyond minimum

requirements

Students (primary

source); confirmed

by teachers

Convergent both groups

independently identified

motivation and

confidence as central

Teacher-related

factors and

methodologies

Preference for

understandable, appropriately

pitched tasks; need to

manage heterogeneous prior

knowledge within one class;

relevance of feedback style to

willingness to speak

Both groups

(complementary

emphases)

Complementary

students focused on

task experience,

teachers on instructional

demands

Institutional

resources and

conditions

Limited weekly instructional

time; scarcity of materials and

technology for oral practice;

heterogeneous proficiency

levels within the same grade

Teachers (primary

source); reflected

indirectly in student

accounts

Complementary

teachers named

structural conditions

students experienced

but did not label

institutionally

National

bilingualism

policy

Gap between expected

proficiency outcomes and

available resources; difficulty

following uniform progression

given heterogeneous levels;

limited visibility of policy at the

student level

Teachers (primary

source); students

experienced

consequences

indirectly

Divergent in framing,

convergent in substance

teachers named policy

explicitly; students

described its practical

effects

Note. Own thematic synthesis derived from the six-phase analytical procedure described

in the Methodology (Braun & Clarke, 2006), applied to the fourteen student surveys and two

teacher interviews.

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Student-Related Factors: Motivation, Engagement, and Confidence

Language learning is a process that demands considerable effort and commitment and

practice on the part of the student. It was found that nine of the fourteen students identified

speaking as one of the most difficult aspects of learning English. The explanations provided by

the subjects focused primarily on difficulties with sentence formation, vocabulary retrieval, and

pronunciation. One student articulated the challenge of verbal communication by stating, "The

act of speaking presents significant difficulties, as I continue to encounter challenges in

formulating complete sentences or sustaining a coherent conversation" (S1). In addition,

another participant asserted that effective communication necessitates not only a rich

vocabulary but also precise pronunciation (S14). These responses indicate that students

primarily associated their limited oral participation with perceived linguistic difficulties rather than

with a lack of interest in English.

It was evident that students recognized the personal and professional relevance of

English. Ten of the fourteen participants explicitly associated English proficiency with

employment, professional development, or enhanced economic opportunities. It was evident

that motivation was not exclusively instrumental in this context. Indeed, students cited a range

of factors that contributed to their engagement with the English language. These factors

included travel, viewing films in their original language, participation in games, and the

development of a personal interest in English. One student articulated their long-standing

aspiration to pursue English studies and attain a high level of proficiency, stating, "Since

seventh grade, I have wanted to study English and reach a very good level" (S12). Another

participant explained that "games that require me to use English motivate me" (S6). The

responses thus obtained indicate that motivation is characterized by the presence of both

future-oriented goals and positive classroom experiences.

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Teacher Related Factors and Teaching Methodologies

Both teachers described instructional practices intended to connect English learning with

meaningful and engaging contexts. Teacher 1 reported using “an effective communicative

approach” in which students were exposed to situations requiring the use of English according

to the course content (T1). Teacher 2 emphasized the inclusion of “dynamics and games” based

on contexts that attracted students’ attention (T2). These responses indicate that both teachers

sought to promote contextualized language use, although one emphasized communicative

exposure while the other focused more explicitly on ludic activities and student engagement.

However, it should be noted that teachers’ choice of methodology is not only an individual

matter. Methodological decisions are affected by contextual issues including available

resources, time, heterogeneity of the class, goals, etc. Teachers should not necessarily be

blamed for their approach to pedagogy; instead, teachers' comments should be analyzed within

the broader contexts in which they teach. For example, if a class involves a lot of repetition and

error correction, little attention may be paid to the pragmatic and meaningful uses of language.

This type of class may suggest that English is a subject that needs to be learned, not a vehicle

for communication. Overall, the comments from the two teachers about adapting to learners'

needs were very similar. These accounts indicate adaptive teaching practices but do not provide

sufficient evidence to conclude that differentiated instruction was implemented systematically.

Their comments suggest coping strategies and improvisation to address challenges in the

moment, not necessarily conscious implementation of DI. Based on these comments from the

two teachers, training on how to implement DI appears to be an area of need.

Students reported that classroom activities frequently included reading, listening

exercises, pronunciation practice, and group work. Nine of the fourteen participants

recommended incorporating more dynamic, participatory, or speaking-oriented activities. One

student suggested, “more participatory and dynamic activities” (S14), while another expressed a

preference for classes in which “English is spoken more than it is written” (S10). These

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responses suggest that students valued the existing activities but expected more opportunities

for active participation and oral language use. Teachers need to be aware of the range of

learners and be flexible. Prabhu (1990) cautions against adopting a method or an approach

based on the assumption that there is one best way to teach.

Students generally perceived the teacher’s use of English as beneficial because it

increased their exposure to the language and supported listening development. However,

comprehension difficulties sometimes interrupted their engagement. One participant explained,

“There are parts that I do not understand, and from that point on I get lost” (S10). Another stated

that increased use of English was helpful when the teacher was willing to repeat and explain

what students had not understood (S14). These findings indicate that using English as the main

classroom language can support communicative development when it is accompanied by

repetition, clarification, and appropriate scaffolding.

Institutional Resources and Educational Conditions

Therefore, from this idea, it can be inferred that the concept of restricted hours,

materials, and resources is understood differently depending on the reality of teachers and

students. From teachers, restricted hours, materials, and resources refer more to the number of

hours they have per week to develop their classes, the number of students in the classroom,

and the number of resources, be they technological, audio, among others. Both teachers

reported that eleventh-grade students received four hours of English instruction per week, and

both considered this amount insufficient. Teacher 1 stated, “They receive four hours, and I

maintain that there should be at least six. Clearly, the less exposure students have to the

language, the poorer their performance” (T1). Teacher 2 similarly explained, “With only four

hours to reinforce knowledge and prepare students for external examinations, it is not enough”

(T2). These responses indicate that the available instructional time restricted opportunities for

sustained practice, reinforcement, and communicative language use.

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However, from students, this term refers to those situations where activities are carried

out in a hurry, listening to activities that cannot be repeated, and opportunities to speak that are

reduced. This idea of reality shows us how participants perceive the context where they live the

EFL process from different angles and positions. Thus, this does not mean that what is

mentioned above are contradictory ideas, since, in fact, they complement each other. Only two

of the fourteen students explicitly reported some form of additional contact with English outside

school, including one participant who used Duolingo. The teachers also identified weaknesses

in the continuity of English instruction. Teacher 1 emphasized that language learning “must be a

continuous process beginning in primary school” (T1), while Teacher 2 described the integration

of English across other subject areas as “almost nonexistent” (T2). These findings suggest that

students’ exposure was concentrated mainly within the four weekly English lessons rather than

being sustained across educational levels and learning environments. Six students requested

computers, tablets, internet access, headphones, or interactive platforms to support their

English learning. One participant proposed having “more computers to practise English on a

platform, especially speaking, because it is very difficult for the teacher to do this with thirty or

forty students” (S9).

Developing communicative competence also involves many factors related to the

context, such as time for instruction, educational materials, technological resources, physical

space, composition of the class, institutional support, among others. On the other hand,

Benavides (2021) affirms that low competence in English is still an issue for Colombian higher

education. Likewise, the Saber 11 test applied to Colombian students when they finish their

secondary education has documented persisting difficulties, they must learn English since their

results are not satisfactory; ICFES (2024). Regarding the previous idea, when frequency or

number of classes is limited, language learning is affected since vocabulary may not be fixed,

and automaticity is not achieved, especially when opportunities to use English outside school

are rare. In addition, a heterogeneous group of students that have received different previous

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instructions on English generates a gap between proficiency levels in the classroom. In this

sense, teachers must cope with a wide range of levels attending to curriculum demands, which

implies that activities may not reach deeper purposes. Finally, CLT demands a space of

interaction and constant feedback that may be affected when working with restricted hours and

resources. All the aforementioned is a burden for participants that prevents them from

overcoming challenges related to language learning and teaching; therefore, difficulties are not

only related to the actions carried out or the investment of effort, but also to the structural

conditions where learning takes place. Consequently, context should be considered as a factor

that influences communicative competence and not just a space where action takes place.

National Bilingualism Policies and Local Implementation

All this indicates that teachers find themselves in situations where the challenges they

face to implement national plans and standards are extremely difficult to reconcile. National

plans to strengthen FL competence have been in place for a few years now (Congreso de la

República de Colombia, 2013; MEN, 2006, 2014, 2015) and English proficiency continues to be

a high priority. However, bilingualism objectives cannot be achieved through policy mandates

alone: Romaine's (1999) point about bilingualism as a function of opportunity and need seems

to apply to Colombia, and the situations that could potentially promote bilingualism, such as time

on task, qualified professionals, adequate materials, continuity in curriculum, and opportunities

for use, were lacking at the school that is the focus of this article. Further, since learners are

extremely heterogeneous with regards to competence in each classroom, it becomes very

difficult to have all of them move forward in a homogenous way towards national goals.

Both teachers perceived the results of Colombian bilingualism policies as insufficient

within the public-school context. Teacher 1 stated that “the policies have been insufficient” (T1),

while Teacher 2 maintained that “they have not been effective because the established goals

have not been met” (T2). These responses reflect the teachers’ perceptions of a gap between

national proficiency objectives and the conditions available for achieving them locally. eacher 1

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emphasized the need to monitor teachers’ English proficiency, increase the number of

instructional hours, and ensure continuity in English education from primary school. Teacher 2

similarly identified teacher preparation as a central factor and highlighted the need to restructure

institutional educational projects so that English could be integrated across different subject

areas. Their responses indicate that policy implementation was perceived as dependent on

sustained institutional planning, qualified teachers, and greater exposure to English.

With regards to institutional will, one might argue that teachers are not really committed

to national language policy since they view the goals as incompatible with their realities,

however, neither teacher voiced disapproval of the goals themselves. Yet, teachers perceived

the goals to be unrealistic given the reality of the classes they work with. Thus, there is an

important gap between language policy and its implementation; however, this gap is more of an

implementation problem, not necessarily a problem of policy, nor a problem of will.

To implement language policy in ways that make sense to learners, certain conditions

need to be met, conditions that are not always feasible. Language policy should perhaps be

implemented with these considerations in place. The role of opportunity and need in developing

bilingualism seems very relevant here; bilingualism is socially mediated, so contexts and

opportunities to develop bilingualism are fundamental. Thus, the extent of learners' bilingualism

depends on context of use and opportunity.

Integration of the Triangulated Findings

Three main findings arise from the triangulation. Firstly, the analysis of the information

provided by students and teachers converges to show that English communicative competence

cannot be attributed to one particular element. Both types of actors agree on the influence of

motivation, participation, teaching practices, and educational conditions in this competence.

Secondly, the information about confidence and participation provided by students complements

the interpretation about institutional and pedagogical elements proposed by teachers. At the

same time, the information obtained from the literature contextualises the relationship among

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these four categories in the framework of Colombian policy on bilingualism and communicative

competence.

Finally, it can be argued that interactions among categories were more explanatory than

each category analysed on their own. Together these finding suggest that English

communicative competence in this context is influenced by a chain of elements, starting from

the possibilities and limitations posed by policy and the conditions of the institution for its

implementation, which in turn determine teaching practices, classroom dynamics, and

opportunities for interaction. Such conditions have an impact on motivation and participation and

opportunities for using English, which, in turn, condition communicative competence in English.

At the same time, the relationship among these elements should not be interpreted in a

completely linear fashion: teachers may make pedagogical decisions based on the behaviour of

their students. Similarly, changes in classroom dynamics may have an impact on the motivation

of learners. All things considered, low levels of communicative competence should be

interpreted as a multidimensional product, which calls for changes on the part of students in

participation and motivation, teachers, the institution, including time for English, adequate

materials, and professional development, and, ultimately, on the part of policy and its

implementation in terms of communicative competence.

Such relationship among policy, institution, teachers, and students in relation to

communicative competence has been reported by a great deal of research not only within

Colombia, but also in other countries. For instance, Garzón León et al. (2024) provide

meaningful insides about the main factors that influence communicative competence in EFL

reports the importance of learning styles, learning strategies, motivation, and anxiety as main

factors behind low levels of communicative competence in English. Such finding resonates with

the importance this study attributes to motivation and participation, as anxiety may be

considered as a variable that impedes participation.

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Thus, the four-dimensional relationship among policy, the institution, teachers, and

learners put forward in this study does not constitute an idiosyncratic interpretation of the reality

of a single institution. Instead, it echoes previous research on EFL in Colombia, thus

contributing to an explanatory chain about communicative competence in English within

Colombian public institutions.

DISCUSSION

Results also revealed that communicative competence in the EFL classroom is the

product of multiple intersecting variables, including learner motivation, teaching approaches,

school resources, and national language policies. This confirms that communicative

competence is a multidimensional construct (Hymes, 1972; Canale and Swain, 1980; Saleh

Ahmed, 2018). Difficulties were not necessarily related to grammar or vocabulary but rather

confidence for participation, pragmatic application, and the capacity to use the available

linguistic resources effectively. The results of this research in a public institution in Colombia

also contribute to the discussion around the contextual dimension of motivation. Indeed,

although motivation is a learner-oriented construct, it is heavily dependent on context. As such,

this research confirms the ideas of Bastidas-Arteaga and Muñoz-Ibarra (2020) and Beleño

Ospino (2024), according to whom motivation does not only depend on the learners but is also

the product of the educational context.

Motivation as an Individual and Contextual Condition

Regarding the relationship between communicative competence and motivation,

teachers are aware that language acquisition depends on the learner's motivation. However,

motivation and willingness to participate depend on the difficulty of the task, previous

experience with similar tasks, fear of error, and even the learners' perception of their

competence. Thus, those who feel less confident tend to participate less when they must speak

in class; this, in turn, negatively impacts the opportunities to interact in English, which is

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fundamental for developing communicative competence. This factor is especially relevant in oral

production because it is the modality in which gaps in communicative competence are more

likely to become apparent. Speaking in front of others makes learners aware of their own

limitations, which might discourage participation. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that a

learner's reluctance to participate orally might not necessarily be related to indifference but

might reflect insecurity, insufficient development of communicative competence, or an

accumulation of gaps.

Furthermore, the negative impact of lack of motivation and insufficient time on academic

achievement evidenced in Hernández-Otálora's (2024) study was also seen in the research

presented here, especially when analyzing the interdependence of both factors, that is, lack of

motivation aggravated the effects of insufficient class hours and vice versa. As seen above, the

discussion about motivation entails the notion of competence and confidence. Thus, strategies

to increase motivation should be oriented to give learners an opportunity to experience success

through challenging but attainable communicative objectives with adequate scaffolding,

engaging topics and contexts, and an atmosphere that considers errors a normal and necessary

part of language learning. Regarding the relationship between speaking anxiety and willingness

to participate, Fathi et al.'s (2024) quasiexperimental research provides empirical evidence of

the effect of speaking anxiety on willingness to participate through the analysis of the effect of

structured, low-stakes speaking tasks on willingness to communicate in comparison to a control

group. All of this confirms that this is still an issue that has a reciprocal dimension of anxiety and

participation and is present in different EFL contexts nowadays.

Teaching Methodology and Opportunities to Communicate

Based on the above discussion and participants' data, it can be concluded that English

contact time dedicated only for language form explanations or language practice does not

enhance the development of communicative competence. On the other hand, a communicative

task without linguistic support may not lead to meaningful language production and participation.

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Nevertheless, the role of explicit teaching of form and meaning cannot be ignored since it has

shown positive effects on improving communicative ability by preparing the learners to put their

interlanguage to a communicative purpose (Harmer, 2008). Thus, an ideal CLT practice should

integrate teaching of linguistic support with encouraging learners to be independent in using the

target language for completing relevant, often open-ended tasks in pairs or small groups.

Further support in CLT classes includes extensive scaffolding and corrective feedback with a

communicative focus. In addition, minor mistakes that do not interfere with communicative

success should be ignored.

The effectiveness of integrating "traditional" and "communicative" techniques mentioned

above depends on how sensitively the techniques are applied. Prabhu's (1990) assertion that

no method is universally superior, thus, may raise doubts as to whether there is a definite

distinction between CLT and traditional approaches. In light of such views, this study attempts to

argue that the dichotomy between CLT and traditional approaches can be overcome if language

teaching techniques are context-sensitive and applied to address the needs of the learners. To

realize this argument, English language teaching approaches are required to be implemented

with sensitivity to context, including the learners' levels of English and motivation. Therefore,

EFL teachers at the participating institution have been accommodating these realities. As

revealed by their responses, the classes are heterogeneous; the number of students is large;

and the instructional times are limited. However, teachers' adaptations to heterogeneous

classes have been made informally, not supported institutionally. Similarly, Hidayat, Basthomi,

and Afrilyasanti's (2024) research on the application of differentiated instruction in

heterogeneous classes reports that secondary EFL teachers in Indonesia are creative in

differentiating materials and designing pre-teaching and task for mixed levels. Nevertheless,

these teachers lack professional development about differentiated instruction. Thus, this study

suggests that instead of looking for which approach is more effective, CLT or traditional, a more

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important solution lies in how to train EFL teachers to apply differentiated instruction creatively

and sensitively.

Institutional Conditions and Accumulated Learning Gaps

Likewise, Benavides's (2021) research about English learning in Colombian higher

education showed that poor performance is not limited to eleventh graders; English learning has

been stagnant for a while, corroborated also by ICFES (2024) in their report about the results of

a national-level exam: Saber 11. Thus, although the scope of the aforementioned studies is

broader than this case-study, making it impossible to claim its findings as representative of the

English-learning experience of Colombian students at large, they do contextualize the

participants' struggles within a broader and more comprehensive framework.

Apart from contextualizing the current research within a broader one, Tique-Estrada's

(2025) PRISMA-guided review of fifteen different research studies focused on English-learning

policies implemented in Colombian primary schools. It thus addressed a pivotal aspect that has

been mentioned throughout this discussion: institutional conditions define what is and is not

possible for students to learn. Building communicative competence requires sustained exposure

to the target language (among other things) and dedicating only a couple of hours per week to

it, with little to no exposure outside school hours, impedes automatization and consolidation of

the target language, slows down the process of addressing all curricular content, and prevents

educators from providing ample and personalized speaking practice. At this regard, Cely

Betancourt and Osorio de Sarmiento (2024) reported that many Colombian public schools lack

enough qualified English teachers and that secondary students frequently receive only two to

four hours of English instruction per week. The authors also noted that some primary schools do

not have specialist English teachers, leaving generalist teachers without specific preparation in

English language teaching to assume this responsibility.

However, arguably more important, eleventh grade is the product of everything that has

been learned or failed to be learned during previous years. As expectations become higher,

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discrepancies between learners' knowledge become more salient and harder to bridge;

shortcomings in basic speaking practice, vocabulary, and grammar knowledge cannot be

mended easily. Tique-Estrada (2025) highlights how Colombian policies regarding English have

been implemented on a national-level without adequate planning for local contexts, which

entails problems regarding access to materials, regional disparities, and inadequate teacher

education. In short, Tique-Estrada's findings suggest that eleventh graders' shortcomings

started way earlier than their final year of secondary education and cannot be mended with

isolated, idiosyncratic efforts; curriculum planning and implementation must be revisited

systemically to adequately attend to learning needs across all basic education stages.

The Policy Implementation

Similarly to what happened with the four dimensions, the triangulated voices of students

and teachers regarding their reality at the participating public institution allow us to affirm that

the results obtained through this study resonate with those of previous investigations. According

to these voices, it seems that the identified problems with the implementation of foreign

language policies at their institution are not representative of a single failure of the participating

school. Instead, their voices seem to indicate that the problems with foreign language education

in Colombia can be found from their genesis, that is, from their planning and design at the

national level to their implementation at the local level. The importance of including participants'

perceptions regarding bilingualism and foreign language education at the participating institution

allows us to go beyond standardized test results. It also enables us to contextualize and make

sense of them by unveiling that persistently low performance in foreign language tests cannot

be understood independently of the advances in educational policies, legislation, programs, and

projects concerning foreign language education in Colombia (Congreso de la República de

Colombia, 2013; MEN, 2006, 2014, 2015). It also reminds us of Romaine's (1999) call to include

local contexts, participants' realities, and, we add, their voices as fundamental for language

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planning and policy decisions. These voices also unveil an English-only policy which neglects

interculturality and participants' contexts.

Previous research has characterized Colombian bilingualism policymaking as

predominantly top-down, with limited participation by English teachers in policy formulation

(Usma, 2009). In an exploratory study involving 40 Colombian English teachers, Cely

Betancourt and Osorio de Sarmiento (2024) found similar results, identifying limited teacher

participation in policy construction and uncertainty resulting from successive bilingualism

programs being introduced and overlapping. These findings help to contextualize the

implementation gap identified in the present study, in which teachers perceived national

expectations as being difficult to reconcile with their institutional realities.

Additionally, results suggest that the participating institution is still missing basic

requirements to achieve the goals and purposes of the Colombian foreign language policy, for

example, enough spaces and class hours, adequate materials, a well-articulated curriculum,

etc. We argue that bilingualism cannot be reduced to economic and competitive purposes. We

also posit that language cannot be reduced to school contexts only. Nonetheless, since

opportunities for English exposure seem minimal outside of school for the participants of our

study, the number of hours devoted to English at the participating institution seems a key aspect

for students' bilingual competence. Similarly, results reveal the plurality of bilingualism in terms

of the opportunities that participants had throughout their lives to use the language. This

highlights the relevance of a closer look at each institution to identify strengths, needs, and

possibilities for foreign language education in relation to the expectations of the MEN's

bilingualism program, which, to some extent, has already been done by Reyes-Galeano (2024).

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Convergence with Recent Regional and International Evidence

Although generalizations are not a feature of case-study research, the identification of

four dimensions that account for problems with the implementation of national foreign language

policies, as well as the main features of each dimension, resonates with those of recent

research in foreign language education. Specifically, all four dimensions were found in recent

(2023 to 2025) studies using different research designs, approaches, and methodologies carried

out at different geographical locations. More information regarding these studies is presented in

the following subsections.

The affective dimension has been confirmed in previous controlled research such as

Fathi et al.'s (2024) meta-analysis which confirms the relationship between foreign language

anxiety, willingness to communicate, and, we add, confidence. Likewise, Hernández-Otálora

(2024) found a reciprocal relationship between motivation and instructional time. As confirmed

in the studies of Reyes-Galeano (2024), the motivational aspect is indeed a key factor.

However, Hernández-Otálora's (2024) research also explores the impact of hours of instruction,

highlighting the correlation between the duration of English instruction in schools, students'

performance on standardized tests, and, as we contribute, motivation.

The heterogeneity dimension was explored by Hidayat et al. (2024) study carried out

with EFL students. Both studies report challenges associated with dealing with heterogeneous

classrooms. Finally, the last dimension has been explored in recent systematic reviews carried

out in Colombia by Reyes-Galeano (2024) and Viana Astaiza and Gómez Medina (2025).

Although different methodologies were followed, all of them explore the gap between Colombian

foreign language policies and reality. Given the extent to which the findings of the above-

mentioned studies resonate with ours, we posit that, to some extent, the proposed dimensions

seem to transcend our case and apply to different contexts. In other words, it seems that these

dimensions have explanatory potential to account for problems with the implementation of

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national foreign language policies beyond our particular case. Nonetheless, more research

needs to be done in order to confirm these initial findings.

Theoretical Contribution

Although the participating students' grammatical competence appeared to be lacking,

which may have played some role in their difficulties, their lack of sociolinguistic competence

cannot be explained by Canale and Swain's (1980) three-part model alone. Rather, strategic

competence seems to be contingent upon having a positive affective attitude, such as tolerance

of error and low anxiety, and motivation to communicate using L2. Moreover, the ability to do so,

that is, to be presented with tasks that are achievable and meaningful, appears contingent on an

enabling institutional context. As such, sociolinguistic and strategic competences may be seen

as products of what students know and how well they can use language appropriately (Hymes,

1972), as well as products of the extent to which their immediate institutional and affective

environments allow them to demonstrate their sociolinguistic and strategic knowledge.

In other words, it may be that learners may well know how to communicate in

contextually appropriate ways, but do not have an institutional context where they can and are

encouraged to demonstrate their knowledge. Moreover, shortcomings that may be considered

deficiencies in sociolinguistic or strategic competence may be more adequately considered

performance constraints that arise from an institutional context characterized by

large/heterogeneous groups of students, little teaching time to work with, and expectations on

the part of language policies that do not always match realities on the ground. A summary of the

institutional factors identified in the analysis is presented in Table 1. Further exploration of

communicative competence in contexts like the one in this study, an under-resourced public

education context, may benefit from paying attention to performance constraints in addition to

grammatical, sociolinguistic, and strategic competences. Along similar lines, further exploration

of symbolic competence as socially and institutionally situated (Kramsch, 2006) may be helpful.

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CONCLUSIONS

The study concludes that participants perceived the implement of English communicative

competence as being shaped by the interaction of student-related, pedagogical, institutional,

and policy-related factors. The evidence does not support explanations that assign primary

responsibility to a single group; instead, students' performance reflects the cumulative influence

of motivation and confidence, classroom opportunities to communicate, teaching

methodologies, prior learning experiences, institutional resources, and the conditions under

which national bilingualism objectives are implemented.

Student motivation was an important factor, particularly because sustained engagement

is necessary for language development; however, motivation was not independent of the

educational context, and motivational difficulties should therefore be addressed through

attainable tasks, supportive feedback, meaningful interaction, and opportunities for students to

experience progress. Teaching methodology also influenced communicative development:

grammar and vocabulary remain necessary, but students need opportunities to apply this

knowledge in listening, speaking, and interaction. The findings support flexible methodologies

that combine explicit instruction, scaffolding, guided practice, and meaningful use, rather than

the assumption that a single method can respond to every classroom condition.

Institutional circumstances affected what teachers and learners could accomplish: limited

exposure to English, differences in prior knowledge, and restrictions on instructional practice

reduced the opportunities available for sustained communicative development, demonstrating

that English achievement cannot be improved solely through greater individual effort. Finally,

the study identified a gap between the proficiency objectives established by Colombian

bilingualism policies and the conditions experienced within the public-school context; improving

English competence depends on aligning policy expectations with the actual opportunities

schools can provide.

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The study's principal contribution is a contextualized explanation of English

communicative competence as a multidimensional and interdependent phenomenon,

emphasizing the need for coordinated strategies involving students, teachers, school

leadership, and educational policymakers.

In summary, the level of engagement that eleventh-grade students reach is the product

of the sum of the relationship among motivation, confidence, previous learning, and the

possibilities of use provided within the educational experience. Although motivation is a

personal element, the context has a strong influence on it. In order to keep them motivated,

students should be challenged with tasks they can accomplish, provided with support and

helpful feedback, given opportunities for meaningful interactions, and presented with evidence

of their own progress.

However, regardless of how much effort is made, certain elements such as limitations on

teaching practice, little exposure, and different learning experiences and knowledge can hinder

the development of communicative competence. Thus, an important gap was found in relation

to what is expected by the national policy regarding bilingualism in terms of English level and

what is provided by public schools. Then, it is important to bear in mind that increasing the level

of communicative competence in English among the participants of the present study requires a

concerted effort by teachers, students, leadership, and educational policy makers to make sure

that expectations and teaching practice match each other.

Although there is no unique approach for language teaching, it is important to promote

the practical use of English by providing opportunities for listening and speaking. Nevertheless,

grammar and vocabulary should not be neglected, as these constitute the bases of the target

language, and interaction should be introduced and scaffolded to facilitate the task. In short,

blame cannot be assigned to a single element; communicative competence in English is a

product of an intricate relationship among a great variety of elements that work in harmony or

discord.

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Limitations

These results should be interpreted in terms of the scope of this study. Since only 14

eleventh grade students and two teachers from the participating school were involved, the

results should not be generalized to a statistical inference. The results are limited to the

perception of English as a subject of study through semi-structured interview and open-ended

survey and not an actual measure of competence in English. Nevertheless, by limiting the scope

to a particular grade-level cohort, a deeper and more context-based understanding of the

research problem can be achieved. Moreover, the views of the participants provide valuable

information of their perceptions regarding the factors that may affect their level of competence in

the English language. Furthermore, the perceptions of the two English teachers provide

professional insight which complements the perspective of the students. Although limited in

terms of scope, the study can serve as a starting point in improving English education and serve

as basis for future and more extensive studies on this research problem, including those with a

longitudinal approach.

Statement of Conflict of Interest

The author declares that she has no conflicts of interest related to this research.

Declaration of authorship contribution

The author carried out the conceptualization of the study, the methodological design, the

data collection and analysis, as well as the writing, review, and editing of the manuscript.

Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence

No artificial intelligence (AI) tools or generative AI systems were used in the

development, analysis, writing, or preparation of this work. The content was developed entirely

by the authors, who are solely responsible for its originality, accuracy, interpretation, and

conclusions.

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