English Learning from the Students’ Perspective: Social Representations in a Rural Middle School in Sinaloa
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This study analyzed the social representations that first-year secondary school students in a rural school in northern Sinaloa constructed about English as a school subject. The objective was to understand the meanings, values, and experiences that students attributed to this subject within their sociocultural context. A qualitative interpretive approach with a phenomenological method was adopted. Sixty-two students participated by completing an open-ended questionnaire designed to explore evaluative, functional, and symbolic dimensions of the represented object. Thematic analysis, interpreted in light of the structural approach to social representations, identified an ambivalent representation of English: it was recognized as important for future academic and professional opportunities, yet it was also perceived as distant from everyday life and mainly associated with assessment and difficulty. The results showed the influence of the rural context and the limited social presence of the language in shaping predominantly school-based meanings. It was concluded that understanding these representations was essential for guiding more contextualized and culturally responsive pedagogical practices.
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