Ciencia y Educación
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Vol. 7 No. 7
Edición Julio del 2026
Página 37
THE INTEGRATION OF ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHING THROUGH VIRTUAL LEARNING PLATFORM
LA INTEGRACIÓN DE LOS SABERES ANCESTRALES EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL
IDIOMA INGLÉS A TRAVÉS DE PLATAFORMAS VIRTUALES DE
APRENDIZAJE
Autores:
1
María Teresa Albán Defilippi,
2
Silvia Beatriz García Estupiñán, y
3
Karla Estefanía
Crespo Guttler.
¹ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3915-2530
²ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6654-1318
3
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9066-7248
¹E-mail de contacto: maria.alband@ug.edu.ec
²E-mail de contacto: sgarcia@uagraria.edu.ec
³E-mail de contacto: kecrespo@uagraria.edu.ec
Afiliación:
1*2*
Universidad Agraria del Ecuador, (Ecuador). ³*Universidad de Guayaquil, (Ecuador).
Artículo recibido: 29 de Junio del 2026.
Artículo revisado: 1 de Julio del 2026.
Artículo aprobado: 1 de Julio del 2026.
1
Licenciada en Ciencias de la educación mención Lengua inglesa y lingüística, adquirida de la Universidad de Guayaquil (Ecuador).
Magíster en Pedagogía de los idiomas nacionales y extranjeros, mención en enseñanza de inglés, adquirida de la Universidad Casa Grande
(Ecuador). Doctora en Educación adquirida de la Universidad César Vallejo (Perú).
2
Licenciada en Ciencias de la educación mención Lengua inglesa y lingüística, adquirida de la Universidad de Guayaquil (Ecuador).
Magíster en planificación, evaluación y acreditación de la educación superior, adquirida de la Universidad de Guayaquil (Ecuador).
Magíster en enseñanza de inglés como lengua extranjera, adquirida de la Universidad Estatal de Milagro (Ecuador).
3
Licenciada en Ciencias de la educación mención Lengua inglesa y lingüística, adquirida de la Universidad de Guayaquil (Ecuador).
Magíster en Pedagogía de los idiomas nacionales y extranjeros, mención en enseñanza de inglés, adquirida de la Universidad Casa Grande
(Ecuador).
Resumen
La integración de los saberes ancestrales en la
enseñanza del idioma inglés a través de
plataformas virtuales de aprendizaje constituye
una propuesta pedagógica orientada a fortalecer
la identidad cultural, la interculturalidad y el
desarrollo de competencias comunicativas en
una lengua extranjera. El presente artículo
analiza la manera en que los conocimientos,
prácticas, relatos y tradiciones comunitarias
pueden incorporarse en entornos virtuales para
favorecer un aprendizaje significativo del
inglés. La investigación se desarrolla siguiendo
un enfoque cualitativo, documental y analítico a
partir de la mirada que nos ofrecen las fuentes
académicas actuales relacionadas con temas
como educación intercultural, plataformas
virtuales, enseñanza del inglés, por ejemplo, e
introducir, incluso, saberes ancestrales. En los
resultados se observa que la introducción de
temas culturales propios permite contextualizar
el aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera,
percibiendo cómo se puede motivar la
participación del alumnado y reconocer la
diversidad cultural. De la misma manera, se
destaca que las plataformas virtuales permiten
incorporar recursos interactivos para desarrollar
actividades de lectura, escritura, comprensión, y
expresión oral mediante relatos, glosarios
bilingües, vídeos, foros, infografías y proyectos
colaborativos. Sin embargo, también se
detectan aspectos éticos, tecnológicos y
curriculares, principalmente vinculados con la
protección de los saberes sensibles, la brecha
digital y el desarrollo de una planificación
docente adecuada. Se concluye que enseñar
inglés desde los saberes ancestrales mediante
plataformas virtuales permite construir
experiencias educativas más inclusivas,
contextualizadas e interculturales, donde el
idioma extranjero se convierte en un medio para
comunicar la cultura propia y no en un elemento
de desvinculación identitaria.
Palabras clave: Saberes ancestrales,
Enseñanza del inglés, Plataformas virtuales,
Interculturalidad, Aprendizaje significativo.
Abstract
The pedagogical proposal of integrating
ancestral knowledge into English language
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teaching via virtual learning platforms aims to
enhance cultural identity, interculturality and
communicative competence in a foreign
language. This article examines the
incorporation of community-based knowledge,
practices, stories and traditions into virtual
spaces in order to create meaningful English
language experiences. The study utilized
qualitative, documentary and analytical
approaches through the examination of current
academic literature pertaining to intercultural
education, virtual platforms, the English
language classroom and ancient knowledge. It
has been concluded via research that
incorporating content relating to the local
culture within your community into lessons will
assist students with understanding how they are
learning a foreign language through increasing
student engagement within their lessons and
increasing students' appreciation of the
diversity found in different cultures. Also
included as part of the findings were methods
for using digital technologies (virtual platforms)
for practicing reading, writing, listening and
speaking skills, via interactive materials such as
storytelling, bilingual dictionaries, video,
forums, infographics and collaboratively
created projects (e.g. ePortfolios). On the other
hand, we have identified ethical, technological,
and curricular obstacles; among them protecting
the cultural heritage of our people; addressing
the issue of access to technologies; and ensuring
we have a quality curriculum with relevant
instructional strategies. It is concluded that
teaching English through ancestral knowledge
and virtual platforms makes it possible to build
more inclusive, contextualized, and
intercultural educational experiences, where the
foreign language becomes a means of
communicating one’s own culture rather than a
factor of identity disconnection.
Keywords: Ancestral knowledge, English
language teaching, Virtual platforms,
Interculturality, Meaningful learning.
Sumario
Integrar conhecimentos ancestrais no ensino de
Língua Inglesa, através de plataformas virtuais
de aprendizagem, é uma proposta pedagógica
que visa fortalecer a identidade cultural, a
interculturalidade e desenvolver as habilidades
comunicativas em uma língua estrangeira.
Neste artigo, analisamos de que modo
conhecimentos, práticas, relatos e tradições
comunitárias podem ser integrados em
ambientes virtuais para promover uma
aprendizagem significativa da língua inglesa. A
pesquisa é pautada por uma abordagem
qualitativa, documental e analítica, com a
revisão de materiais acadêmicos
contemporâneos, nessa área de educação
intercultural, plataformas virtuais, ensino de
inglês e saberes ancestrais. Os resultados
demonstram que a inclusão de conteúdos
culturais próprios proporciona contextualização
da aprendizagem linguística, a qual amplia a
participação em sala pelo aluno e legitima a
diversidade cultural. Constatou-se também que
as plataformas virtuais disponibilizam recursos
interativos para o trabalho nas atividades de
leitura, escrita, escuta e fala, como, relatos,
glossários bilíngues, vídeos, fóruns,
infográficos e trabalho colaborativo. Os
desafios são de ordem ética, técnica e curricular,
fundamentalmente, isto é, no que tange à
proteção dos saberes sensíveis, à inclusão
digital e à necessidade de um planejamento
pedagógico condizente. Conclui-se que ensinar
o inglês em função dos saberes ancestrais, nas
plataformas virtuais, faz possível a construção
de experiências educativas mais inclusivas,
contextualizadas e interculturais, onde a língua
estrangeira começa a ser um meio de comunicar
a própria cultura, e não um fator de
desvinculação identitária.
Palavras-chave: Conhecimento ancestral,
Ensino da língua inglesa, Plataformas
virtuais, Interculturalidade, Aprendizagem
significativa.
Introduction
New methods for teaching English as a second
language have changed how we teach and learn
this language drastically; with advances in
technology being one factor contributing to this
change (via new virtual platforms), but also
through digitization (i.e., making educational
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materials available online). The second factor
contributing to these changes has been the need
for more "contextualized" or real-world ways of
teaching English as a second language. A third
factor influencing these changes has been the
growing use of ancestral knowledge as a way to
connect English learning with Indigenous
cultural expression, memory, and
practices/institutions.
This connection will allow learners to find
meaning in learning English as a second
language from both global content and from
their community's local culture/narrative,
reinforcing their sense of belonging to both their
community and to the whole of society. This
perspective is consistent with culturally
responsive pedagogy, which recognizes
students’ cultural backgrounds as meaningful
resources for language learning and for
strengthening learner agency in online
environments (Khoo y Huo, 2022). Ancestral
knowledge is an important aspect of Ecuador’s
cultural heritage and educational framework in
Latin America. Additionally, teaching through
ancestral knowledge creates a forum for
multicultural understanding, appreciation of
diversity, and the development of valuable
learning experiences for students.
According to recent studies regarding
intercultural higher education in Ecuador, there
exists a strong sense of social value associated
with living traditions as part of Ecuadorian
cultural heritage; however, the incorporation (or
institutionalization) of ancestral knowledge into
the curriculum and educational management
system presents a number of challenges. In this
sense, the integration of Indigenous and
ancestral knowledge requires curricular
sensitivity, institutional commitment, and a
pedagogical approach that avoids reducing
culture to isolated or decorative content (Da
Silva, 2024). The same time, new forms of
technology have created new opportunities for
accessing, interacting with, and creating content
for teaching English as a foreign language
through digital platforms. Current research
conducted in Ecuador illustrates how online
platforms and new methodologies have
transformed traditional practices.
These are associated with teaching and learning
English by fostering new avenues for
interaction, evaluating student success, and
using digital resources. However, the use of
educational technology must move beyond a
purely instrumental approach and be geared
toward culturally relevant pedagogical
proposals. This position coincides with
UNESCO’s approach, which emphasizes that
educational technology should be used
according to evidence, equity, inclusion,
teacher preparation, and the real needs of
learners (UNESCO, 2023). From this
perspective, this article analyzes the integration
of ancestral knowledge into English language
teaching through virtual learning platforms. It
proposes an academic reflection on the value of
interculturality, the design of contextualized
digital content, the role of the teacher,
community participation, and the
methodological challenges of this approach.
The research is based on a review of recent
academic sources, prioritizing studies published
between 2022 and 2025.
Ancestral knowledge can be understood as the
knowledge, practices, values, narratives,
techniques, and ways of interpreting the world
transmitted from generation to generation
within Indigenous, Afro-descendant, Montubio,
and rural communities. This knowledge is
expressed in traditional medicine, agriculture,
oral traditions, spirituality, the relationship with
nature, gastronomy, music, community
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organization, and Indigenous languages. In
terms of the educational setting, the inclusion of
this perspective enables educators to step away
from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to teaching
and to embrace an educational approach that
values cultural differences. Intercultural
education not only involves the incorporation of
cultural content into the curriculum; it is also a
pedagogical approach that acknowledges that
different knowledge systems exist. As such,
intercultural education provides a framework
for establishing dialogue between scientific,
community, and technological ways of knowing
(Manan, 2022).
Recent research on intercultural bilingual
education has shown that this type of education
is intended to acknowledge and support the
linguistic and cultural diversity of Indigenous
peoples, but that due to institutional, curricular
and training constraints implementation of this
type of education is limited. As such, the
integration of Indigenous knowledge into the
teaching of English requires careful planning so
that cultural elements are not used in a way that
is superficial and in a manner that maintains
respectful relationships with the Indigenous
language and culture communities. Therefore,
ancestral knowledge should be incorporated
through participatory, respectful and context-
based practices that recognize communities as
active knowledge producers rather than passive
cultural references (Meighan, 2024).
The use of ancestral knowledge is an important
source of authentic material for English
teachers when developing the skills needed to
communicate in the English language. Students
can use English to describe local medicinal
plants, tell stories about local legends, develop
intercultural glossaries, create presentations
about traditional recipes, compare the festivals
of their communities, or develop bilingual
infographics on ancestral practices. This will
show that using English as a foreign language is
not simply about reproducing information from
other sources but finding ways to express their
own culture in the English language. Through
virtual learning, teachers and learners can create
a variety of learning experiences using different
types of content (text-based and non-text-
based), activities (e.g., group work, group
projects, etc.), assessments (books),
multimedial sources (TV & film), and spaces
for communication (e.g., e-mails, websites, chat
rooms).
In addition to the availability of effective
teaching tools, ELT utilizes a wide range of
tools to develop listening, speaking, reading and
writing. Examples include video, forums for
discussion, quizzes, videoconferencing, audio,
simulations or role-playing, games or
simulations, and collaborating with other
students. Scholars have recently begun to
investigate how digital platforms impact
English language teaching. They note that
English teachers have expanded their teaching
resources, improved the interaction between
student and teacher, and given them a wider
variety of ways to teach and learn English
because of the many digital resources available
to them today.
Many teachers have used different tools, such as
Zoom, Google Meet, Moodle, Microsoft
Teams, Kahoot, and Educaplay, as
supplemental resources when teaching English
in post-COVID settings. Recent studies on
online foreign language teaching highlight that
virtual instruction requires teachers to assume
multiple roles, including designer, motivator,
communicator, assessor and facilitator (Hu,
2024). The use of a digital platform in English
language instruction does not mean that it is
effective solely because of access to the
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hardware. Many, if not most, of these platforms
do not provide the type of instruction to support
improved English language learning.
Effectiveness is further determined by the
content's relevance, how the teacher mediates
the instructional process and whether or how
students are involved in the instructional
process. UNESCO states that the use of
technology for education must be assessed by
how it is used (context), how it is used, who has
access to use the technology, how equitable the
technology is, and how relevant the technology
is for learners.
They also believe that we must not make the
assumption that technological advancements
will automatically improve student learning
(UNESCO, 2023). A real-world application of
a digitally based platform for learning English
through the teaching of ancestral knowledge
should have contextualized learning resources,
communicative activities, and places for
communal construction as part of their design.
Simply posting information about an ancestral
culture in the form of text and/or video is not
sufficient. Learning should not occur unless
students are actively engaged in finding,
creating, collaborating, discussing, and
presenting their English language learning
based upon their cultural heritage.
When the digital English content is developed,
the tasks will involve culturally related issues,
based on the culturally appropriate topic
chosen, as well as creating linguistic activities
based on that topic. Students can acquire
vocabulary, grammatical forms, and skills to
communicate using their cultural environment
in their activities. A virtual module on
traditional foods may be focused on vocabulary
using foods from ancestral recipes; the past
simple (verbal tense) is taught through
community stories; the present simple through
agricultural techniques; the use of comparative
forms to compare the differences between
ancestral and modern medicine; and descriptive
writing can be demonstrated by providing a
description of a sacred site, a popular festival,
or an artisan craft.
Digital initiatives for Indigenous languages
show that technology can contribute to
preserving, revitalizing, and promoting native
languages and cultures, provided there is
community participation and respect for
cultural rights. UNESCO and Global Voices
have highlighted that digital tools can support
the preservation and promotion of Indigenous
and minority languages. Digital initiatives for
Indigenous languages have shown that
technology can support preservation,
revitalization and visibility when it is developed
with community participation and ethical
responsibility (Llanes-Ortiz & Huiza Capo,
2023).
In English language teaching, this means that
the foreign language can be used as a
communicative bridge to make local knowledge
visible to wider audiences. In addition to
acquiring proficiency in English, students will
also have the opportunity to express their
culture through English. This focus on
developing cultural self-esteem, intercultural
competence, and creating their own range of
discourse in a second language enhances all
these areas. Additionally, by providing
opportunities for students to integrate their
ancestral knowledge into digital content,
teachers can develop more diverse English
language related resources than those that
currently exist by removing decontextualized
examples and replacing them with true
situational contexts that relate to students’
everyday lives. Examples of true situational
contexts would be developing activities around
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community celebrations, traditional farming
techniques, herbal medicines, crafts, ancestral
foods, or oral histories that take place within the
community rather than developing activities
about foreign cities, food or celebrations
unrelated to local areas.
Developing activities in this manner will
provide students with an understanding that
English can be used outside of the context of
communicating with others from around the
world but rather can be used to express and
share the cultural richness of where they live. In
foreign language education, digital native
storytelling has been found to strengthen
learners’ awareness of their own culture while
improving language proficiency and cultural
expression (Liang et al., 2024). Equally
important, digital content based on traditional
knowledge encourages active and collaborative
learning. In doing so, students can
independently explore their own heritage
through sharing family stories or interviewing
older members of the community using a video
camera, gathering community language, and
creating video-based presentations about
traditional customs.
While participating in these types of projects,
students will use English language skills such as
describing, narrating, comparing, and arguing
to strengthen connections between home,
school, and the wider community. During this
process, the virtual medium serves as a place
where knowledge comes together via social
interaction; thus, students are not only learning
from others but also producing and sharing
valuable material. Finally, the role of this
integration also includes assisting in the
preservation of cultural memory across digital
spaces. Because many traditional knowledges
have been passed down orally, incorporating
these traditional knowledges into a virtual
platform may assist in preserving, organizing,
and disseminating this traditional knowledge
for educational purposes. However, this process
must be carried out with ethical responsibility,
avoiding the misappropriation or exposure of
knowledge considered sensitive by
communities. Therefore, teachers must guide
students on respecting sources, recognizing
knowledge bearers, and the importance of
requesting permission when using community
narratives, images, audio recordings, or
testimonies.
The teacher plays a central role in integrating
ancestral knowledge within virtual platforms.
The role isn’t limited to digital resource
selection, but also designing culturally
appropriate pedagogical experiences, guiding
student involvement, and promoting a respect
for knowledge from the community. Teachers
play an important role in the process of acting
as intercultural mediators. They recognize that
all students come to them with prior knowledge
connected to their family, community, and
territory; based on that prior knowledge the
teacher is able to create English language
activities that connect students lived
experiences to the language and its content.
For instance, an interview with a community
elder can be used as a listening and writing
activity; an oral story can be turned into a short
written narrative, and a local farming practice
can be shared with the class through an oral
presentation by students. E-learning research
with Indigenous communities shows the need to
contextualize virtual learning using the local
context and realities and co-create educational
proposals using a participatory approach.
Virtual learning experiences with Indigenous
communities must be created based on the
cultural context, have the participation of the
community, and be relevant to the education
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system. E-learning experiences with Indigenous
communities should be contextualized,
participatory and grounded in local realities, so
that virtual learning does not reproduce external
or extractive educational models (Levitan et al.,
2025).
As such, it is critical that teachers do not engage
in extractive practices, which include treating
the knowledge of Indigenous people passively
as “decoration” in their lessons. Rather,
teachers should create a culture of respect for
the sources of knowledge used by the
community, ensure they have permission to use
the stories or images of the knowledge carriers,
and give recognition to those who carry the
knowledge. On a virtual platform, this can be
achieved through reflective forums,
collaborative repositories, testimonial videos,
bilingual glossaries, and integrative projects.
Virtual teaching strategies should allow
students to use English in meaningful
communicative situations. To achieve this,
active methodologies such as project-based
learning, collaborative learning, flipped
classroom, gamification, digital storytelling,
and virtual portfolios can be applied.
One intercultural storytelling strategy allows
students to gather stories, myths, legends, or
family histories and adapt them to English.
Intercultural storytelling promotes greater
reading comprehension, narrative writing,
pronunciation ability, and oral expression.
Further development options for this activity
include making short films, creating podcasts,
developing interactive presentations, or
creating discussion forums. Digital storytelling
can also contribute to vocabulary development,
motivation and the representation of cultural
identity in English as a foreign language
learning processes (Kristiawan et al., 2022).
Creating bilingual intercultural glossaries is
another effective strategy. Bilingual glossaries
assist students in recording words in both
Spanish (students' native language) and
English. The creation of a bilingual glossary
enhances linguistic awareness and supports the
comparison of cultural meanings for which
there is no direct translation.
Studies of technology applied to indigenous
languages indicate that when developing digital
tools, attention should be paid to the complexity
of language, the limited amount of available
data, and developing a culturally sensitive
approach. Gamification can be further utilized
with digital games, quizzes, and creative
challenges based on cultural-themed
vocabulary. Recent studies using Kahoot in a
virtual environment as an English as a second
language (ESL) teaching tool demonstrate that
it provides motivation and helps develop
proficiency in the target language when coupled
with an appropriate pedagogical framework.
The above strategies transform the use of virtual
platforms from simple repositories of
assignments to dynamic environments that
encourage students to research, create, and
share cultural products through an English
language lens. Integrating ancestral knowledge
into online English language teaching presents
significant challenges. The first is ethical. Not
all ancestral knowledge can be freely
disseminated on digital platforms, especially
when it involves spiritual, medicinal, or
ceremonial practices, or knowledge protected
by the community. Therefore, it is necessary to
respect cultural boundaries, request
authorization, and avoid the Misappropriation
of Knowledge. The second challenge for digital
education relates to technology. Many
communities continue to experience gaps
regarding connection, device access and digital
literacy. According to UNESCO, when
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implementing digital education provide polices
and consideration must be given the issues
related to inequalities in digital technology
access and how technology is actually being
used throughout Latin America. Therefore, the
online model must be flexible, accessible,
mobile device compatible, contain
asynchronous activities available with low-
data-consumption resources (UNESCO, 2023).
The third challenge for digital education relates
to curriculum. The incorporation of ancestral
knowledge must not be treated as an
independent subject but rather as a cross cutting
topic integrated with the curriculum using
clearly defined linguistic objectives. In order to
accomplish this teachers must be able to plan all
subject matter, skills, activities and assessment
in a coherent manner. Additionally, there needs
to be teacher training in interculturalism,
instructional design and the pedagogical use of
virtual platforms. Lastly the challenge remains
to avoid a folkloric approach to education.
Culture should not be reduced to festivals,
costumes, or typical foods. Ancestral
knowledge includes complex systems of
knowledge about health, nature, community,
spirituality, memory, and identity. Therefore, its
inclusion in English language teaching must be
done with depth, respect, and participation.
Methods and resources
This study adopts a qualitative, documentary,
descriptive, and analytical approach. It is based
on a review of recent scientific literature on
ancestral knowledge, intercultural education,
teaching English as a foreign language, and
virtual learning platforms. The type of research
being conducted includes a review of
documentary-bibliographic sources, including
scientific publications, international reports,
academic literature, and institutional materials
related to the topic. In addition, this study is
descriptive in nature as it describes how
ancestral knowledge could be integrated into
the teaching of English as a second language
using virtual platforms. An analytical-synthetic
approach is used to break down the research
into categories: ancestral knowledge; the
teaching of ESL; virtual platforms; intercultural
issues; teaching methods; and ethical dilemmas.
Subsequently, the findings are integrated to
construct an interpretive proposal.
To ensure the relevance and currency of the
literature review, specific criteria were
established for selecting the bibliographic
sources used in the study. Publications from
2022 to 2025 related to English language
teaching, intercultural education, ancestral
knowledge, and the use of virtual learning
platforms were prioritized. These criteria
enabled the organization of the information
search, the selection of recent studies, and the
assurance that the theoretical contributions
directly addressed the article's objective. Table
1 below presents the criteria considered for
selecting the analyzed sources.
Table 1. Criteria for Selecting Documentary
Sources.
Criteria
Description
Timeliness
Recent publications between 2022 and 2025
Relevance
Studies on English, virtual platforms,
intercultural, or ancestral knowledge
Reliability
Scientific articles, UNESCO reports, and
academic journals
Context
Preference for Latin American and
Ecuadorian studies
Aplicability
Useful sources for designing virtual
educational proposals
Source: Own elaboration.
These criteria enabled the organization of the
information search, the selection of recent
studies, and the assurance that the theoretical
contributions directly addressed the article's
objective. Table 1 below presents the criteria
considered for selecting the analyzed sources.
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In addition to the source selection criteria, a
comparative matrix was developed to organize
the main foreign authors and institutional
sources that support the theoretical foundation
of this study. This matrix allows the
identification of the principal contributions
related to educational technology, intercultural
education, Indigenous and ancestral knowledge,
digital storytelling, and English language
teaching. These contributions provide a clearer
understanding of how the reviewed literature
supports the integration of ancestral knowledge
into English language teaching through virtual
learning platforms (see Table 2).
Table 2. Comparative Matrix of Foreign Authors and Theoretical Contributions.
Author(s)
Main contribution
Theoretical or
pedagogical approach
Relationship with the article
UNESCO (2023)
Educational technology must be evaluated
according to access, equity, inclusion, quality and
teacher preparation.
Critical and inclusive use of
educational technology
Supports the idea that virtual platforms
must not be used only as technical tools,
but as pedagogical environments.
Llanes-Ortiz and
Huiza Capo (2023)
Digital tools can contribute to the preservation,
revitalization and promotion of Indigenous
languages.
Digital preservation of
Indigenous languages
Strengthens the argument that ancestral
knowledge can be represented and
protected through digital environments.
da Silva (2024)
Indigenous knowledge integration requires
curricular sensitivity and contextualized
educational practices.
Integration of Indigenous
knowledge in education
Supports the inclusion of ancestral
knowledge as part of intercultural and
contextualized English teaching.
Manan (2022)
English education can incorporate Indigenous
knowledge to challenge dominant cultural models.
Decolonial and intercultural
English language education
Helps justify the use of English as a
means to express local culture, not only
foreign cultural content.
Hu (2024)
Online foreign language teaching requires
teachers to act as designers, motivators,
communicators, assessors and facilitators.
Teacher agency in online
foreign language teaching
Supports the role of the teacher as
mediator in virtual and intercultural
learning environments.
Levitan et al. (2025)
E-learning experiences with Indigenous
communities must be contextualized, participatory
and culturally relevant.
Contextualized e-learning
with Indigenous
communities
Supports the need for community
participation and ethical design in
virtual learning proposals.
Khoo and Huo
(2022)
Culturally responsive pedagogy in online learning
promotes learner agency, identity construction and
engagement.
Culturally responsive
pedagogy
Supports the relationship between
cultural identity, participation and
English language learning.
Liang, Said and Wei
(2024)
Digital native storytelling improves foreign
language learners’ awareness of their own culture.
Digital storytelling and
intercultural
communicative competence
Supports the use of stories, legends and
cultural narratives in English learning
activities.
Kristiawan,
Ferdiansyah and
Picard (2022)
Digital storytelling promotes vocabulary
development, motivation and cultural identity
representation in EFL learners.
Digital storytelling in EFL
Supports the use of videos, podcasts and
digital stories as resources for teaching
English from ancestral knowledge.
Koole (2024)
Educational technology should be decolonized to
avoid reproducing dominant cultural and
epistemic structures.
Decolonial educational
technology
Supports the ethical warning against
using ancestral knowledge in superficial
or extractive ways.
Meighan (2024)
Indigenous language revitalization through
technology should be community-led and
grounded in traditional ecological knowledge.
TEK-nology and
Indigenous language
revitalization
Supports the importance of community
participation and respect for knowledge
bearers.
Pinhanez et al.
(2024)
Artificial intelligence and digital technologies can
support Indigenous language documentation if
ethical and community-based processes are
followed.
AI, documentation and
Indigenous language
vitality
Supports future research on responsible
technologies for ancestral and
Indigenous knowledge.
Mothe (2024)
Large language models offer possibilities and
risks for endangered and low-resource languages.
Critical approach to
language technologies
Supports the discussion about digital
preservation, cultural simplification and
ethical risks.
Chen and Abdul-
Mageed (2022)
Indigenous language technologies face challenges
due to limited data and linguistic diversity.
Low-resource language
technology
Supports the technological challenges
related to Indigenous languages and
digital tools.
Source: Own elaboration.
Based on the theoretical contributions presented
in Table 2, it is also necessary to identify the
pedagogical resources that may support the
practical application of this proposal in virtual
learning environments. These resources can
facilitate interaction, collaborative production,
cultural representation, and the development of
communicative skills in English. Therefore, the
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following table presents suggested virtual tools
and their possible application in English
language teaching from an intercultural and
ancestral knowledge perspective.
Table 3. Suggested Pedagogical Resources.
Virtual Resource
Application in English language teaching
Moodle o Google Classroom
Organization of modules, assignments, forums, and assessments
Zoom o Google Meet
Oral presentations, interviews, and group discussions
Kahoot / Educaplay
Cultural and intercultural vocabulary games
Padlet / Jamboard
Collaborative wall of ancestral knowledge
Canva
Bilingual info graphics on traditional practices
Podcasts o videos cortos
Narration of legends, interviews, and community stories
Glosarios digitales
Record of terms in English, Indigenous language, and English
Source: Own elaboration.
The resources presented in Table 3 show that
virtual platforms can support the integration of
ancestral knowledge into English language
teaching through interactive, collaborative, and
culturally contextualized activities. However,
their effectiveness depends on the teacher’s
pedagogical mediation, the relevance of the
selected content, and the ethical use of
community knowledge. Therefore, these
resources should not be understood as isolated
technological tools, but as didactic means that
can strengthen linguistic learning, intercultural
awareness, and student participation in virtual
environments. Document analysis reveals that
integrating ancestral knowledge into English
language teaching through virtual platforms can
generate significant pedagogical contributions
in three dimensions: linguistic, intercultural,
and technological.
Results and discussion
Ancestral knowledge, in the linguistic
dimension, provides access to working through
vocabulary, grammatical structure, reading
comprehension, writing production and oral
forms of the language through content related to
the experience of the student. Such a use of
language will allow for meaningful learning as
it is used for communication of one's own
reality. In the intercultural dimension, the
proposal will enhance one's identity, cultural
appreciation and foster the conversation
between local and global knowledge through
inter-relationship. The reviewed studies on
intercultural education in Ecuador demonstrate
a positive valuation of ancestral knowledge,
although greater curricular institutionalization
is still needed. Virtual platforms serve as a
technology-based resource to organize,
distribute, and create cultural artefacts from an
English language perspective. Considerations
for using technology include connectivity,
accessibility, and relevance to teaching and
learning.
Learning cannot occur through the use of
technology alone; it is dependent on planning,
support, and assessment developed by the
teacher. Based on the dimension analyzed,
results indicate how English language
instruction, ancestral knowledge, and the use of
virtual platforms intersect. This finding is
consistent with studies on online foreign
language teaching, which emphasize that
teacher mediation, instructional design and
formative assessment are essential for
sustaining learning in digital environments (Hu,
2024). These results demonstrate that the
proposal not only contributes to the
development of linguistic skills but also to
strengthening cultural identity, student
participation, and pedagogical mediation in
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digital environments. The table below
summarizes the major findings you obtained
when carrying out an analysis of the documents
you reviewed. It lists how each of these
dimensions relates to its pedagogical
implications. Using the dimensions found in
the documentary review, one can create a
summary of the main findings of the analysis as
they relate to; language, culture, technology,
ethics and curriculum. This will assist with
understanding how; it all relates together into a
pedagogical approach toward integrating;
Traditional Knowledge, Teaching of English,
and Virtual Learning. In this sense, Table 4
presents a summary of the most relevant results
and their corresponding pedagogical
implications.
Table 4. Summary of results.
Dimension
analyzed
Main result
Pedagogical implication
Linguistics
Ancestral knowledge offers authentic content for
practicing English
It allows you to work on speaking, writing, reading, and listening
using local themes.
Interculture
Cultural identity and respect for diversity are
strengthened.
Using English as a vehicle to communicate your own culture
Tecnological
Expanding access to resources and activities through
virtual platforms.
Requiring an instructional design & teacher support infrastructure.
Ethics
Risks surrounding misappropriation or superficial use of
knowledge
Consent, respect, and community participation are needed.
Curriculum
Coordinating integration with language objectives
Designing as an ongoing theme versus separate events..
Source: Own elaboration.
One primary conclusion is that when students
integrate their traditional heritage with learning
through virtual means, they are more likely to
become engaged and active learners. As
students conduct research focusing on their
family’s cultural traditions, collect family
narratives, interview people in their community,
and create digital products in English, they
transform from passive receivers of knowledge
into active producers of knowledge. This form
of learning promotes autonomy, participation,
and situated experiences in which the linguistic
content is connected to lived experiences within
their social and cultural contexts. In this way,
the use of ancestral knowledge in virtual
English learning environments strengthens not
only communicative competence, but also the
students’ connection with their cultural identity
and community memory.In addition to actively
engaging students in the learning process, the
use of virtual technologies creates a more
diverse and richer collection of learning
artefacts. When students provide evidence of
their progress in acquiring English language
skills through a variety of methods (e.g.,
forums, videos, podcasts, infographics, digital
glossaries and interactive presentations), there
is not only a measure of how well they are using
vocabulary and constructing grammatically
correct sentences but also how clearly,
respectfully and appropriately they are
conveying cultural information to others. As a
result, the assessment process will be more
formative than summative, more intercultural in
nature, and more contextual in nature.
Ultimately, this analysis indicates that this
proposal has potential to improve the
connection between education, technology and
culture. If virtual technologies are used with
sound pedagogical and ethical principles, they
can serve as sites for the preservation, exchange
and reinterpretation of traditional cultural
knowledge. In this sense, the results suggest
that English language teaching can move
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beyond a purely instrumental view of the
language and be geared toward a more holistic
approach, where learning a foreign language
also involves recognizing, valuing, and
projecting one's own cultural identity.
The findings allow us to affirm that the teaching
of English can be significantly enriched when it
is linked to ancestral knowledge through virtual
platforms. This integration breaks with the idea
that learning English implies moving away
from the local culture. Instead, it allows
students to use the foreign language to name,
describe, and project their cultural identity.
Furthermore, the discussion allows us to
recognize that the incorporation of ancestral
knowledge in the teaching of English should not
be understood as a simple thematic adaptation,
but as a transformation of the pedagogical
approach.
When the student works on content linked to his
culture, his community and his collective
memory, language learning takes on a deeper
meaning. In this context, English is no longer
perceived solely as a foreign language
associated with external realities and becomes a
tool to communicate experiences, knowledge
and own values (Pinhanez et al., 2024; Mothe,
2024). This strengthens the relationship
between linguistic learning and cultural
identity. In this sense, teaching English from
local cultural knowledge allows students to
negotiate global communication without
weakening their connection to their own
cultural memory and community identity
(Setiawan, 2025). Likewise, it is important to
point out that virtual platforms can promote the
visibility of ancestral knowledge, as long as
they are used from a critical and pedagogical
perspective. Digital environments make it
possible to preserve, organize and share stories,
images, audios, videos and bilingual
productions created by students. However, this
possibility also requires responsibility in the
management of cultural information. Not all
community knowledge should be publicly
exposed, so the teacher must guide the ethical
use of the content, promoting respect for the
sources, the bearers of knowledge and the
communities of origin. The ethical use of digital
resources should therefore be guided by
principles of protection, recognition,
community participation and respect for
Indigenous voices in digital spaces (Llanes y
Huiza, 2023).
The negotiations illustrate that The Proposal
contributes to the re-conceptualisation of the
significance of English Language Teaching in
intercultural contexts. The majority of foreign
language teaching resources have historically
placed a high degree of emphasis on scenarios,
characters, and cultural practices that are
extraneous to the lived experiences of their
students. The integration of ancestral
knowledge from one’s own geographical,
cultural, and social context to create a more
situationally and culturally appropriate way to
teach also maintains that while learning a global
language is significant; it extends its purpose as
a mode for interacting with other cultures, while
still retaining one’s own culture.
The negotiations further illustrate that Virtual
Platforms should not only be viewed as
technological tools but should also be
considered as pedagogical and cultural
environments. There should be a clear
educational purpose and consistent planning
involved in their use. The evidence of Virtual
Platforms used in English Language Teaching
suggests that interaction, motivation and other
elements are positively influenced by teacher
mediation and well-designed purposeful
activities. Ethical considerations should be
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integrated into the process of teaching English,
especially in terms of including Indigenous
cultural knowledge in the curriculum. This
includes not only transferring content from the
local Indigenous community onto digital
platforms, but also recognizing the spiritual,
historical and collective dimensions of the
knowledge included within the community. To
this end, digital initiatives that utilize and
promote this knowledge must include
community participation and involvement.
Finally, the article concludes that presenting
English language instruction through this lens
can also contribute to the continued
development of a more inclusive,
contextualized and intercultural approach to
English language instruction in the broader
context of First Nation and Indigenous people.
Instead of working solely with examples
unrelated to the student's context, teachers can
design activities where local culture serves as
the starting point for developing communicative
competence in English.
Conclusions
The integration of ancestral knowledge in the
teaching of English through virtual platforms
constitutes a pertinent pedagogical proposal to
strengthen meaningful learning, cultural
identity and communicative competence of
students. Ancestral knowledge offers authentic
content to develop linguistic skills in English,
especially when worked through stories,
interviews, glossaries, infographics, videos,
collaborative projects and digital storytelling
activities. Virtual platforms allow these
contents to be organized and disseminated, but
their effectiveness depends on the instructional
design, teaching mediation, technological
accessibility and the cultural relevance of the
activities. The role of the teacher is
fundamental as an intercultural mediator, since
they must articulate the linguistic objectives of
English with respect for community knowledge,
avoiding superficial, folklorizing or extractivist
practices. The proposal requires ethical and
curricular planning that considers community
participation, consent for the use of cultural
knowledge and the protection of sensitive
knowledge. In summary, teaching English from
ancestral knowledge through virtual platforms
allows us to train students capable of
communicating in a foreign language without
disconnecting from their history, territory and
cultural identity.
Furthermore, the integration of ancestral
knowledge in the teaching of English shows that
the learning of a foreign language can be
developed from a more human, contextualized
and culturally significant perspective. This
proposal allows students not only to acquire
vocabulary, grammatical structures or
communication skills, but also to recognize the
value of their history, their traditions and the
knowledge transmitted by their communities. In
this way, English becomes a tool to express
cultural identity and project it in broader
educational settings. Likewise, it is concluded
that virtual platforms represent a strategic
resource to organize, socialize and evaluate
intercultural learning experiences. Its use
allows the integration of multimedia resources,
collaborative activities, bilingual glossaries,
forums, videos, digital stories and infographics
that encourage the active participation of
students. However, its implementation must be
accompanied by adequate teaching planning,
ethical criteria and accessibility strategies that
consider the real technological conditions of
students and their communities.
Finally, this proposal opens new possibilities
for future research aimed at the design,
application and evaluation of didactic
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experiences that integrate ancestral knowledge,
English teaching and virtual environments. It
would be pertinent to develop field studies that
analyze the impact of these strategies on
motivation, linguistic performance,
intercultural competence and the appreciation
of cultural identity. This would allow us to
strengthen the construction of more inclusive,
situated and coherent pedagogical models with
the demands of intercultural education in the
digital age.
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Creative Commons Reconocimiento-No Comercial
4.0 Internacional. Copyright © María Teresa Albán
Defilippi, Silvia Beatriz García Estupiñán, y Karla
Estefanía Crespo Guttler.