April 2025
The idea for this chapter stemmed from a collective experience we all had during our time as English teachers at a language institute from a private university in Colombia. Back then, English-level courses were mandatory for all students across various degrees such as engineering, architecture, law, among others. During our time as teachers, we noticed that the resource books and overall institutional materials we had to use were partially promoting monetary and market-driven perspectives. There was a clear emphasis on using English as an instrument to generate better incomes and, by extension, more "benefits" in 21st-century society. Although English is undoubtedly a language that brings better opportunities in life, especially due to its global lingua franca nature, we perceived that the materials we relied on for teaching did not really address issues affecting different spheres of society. Instead, they often reinforced a narrow, economically focused view of language learning. In response to these concerns, we created the materials we will share in this chapter. These resources were designed to move beyond a solely market-driven approach and instead engage students with more socially conscious and relevant topics in their English learning journey.