University Of São Paulo Report Depicts Demands And Proposals For Language Policy At The University

Representatives of 21 USP units participated in the discussions promoted by the 1st Seminar on Language Policies at the University of São Paulo , which took place on October 10 and 11, 2022, on the creation of a plurilingual, inclusive and international language policy for academic environments and administration of the University. At the end of the year, the report with the proposals was released, forwarded to USP’s central administration, and available at this link . The central line is to include languages ​​with an integrating function and permanently in the political-pedagogical project of the courses. In addition to training in languages ​​other than Indo-European languages, this policy establishes the teaching of Portuguese as central.

The seminar was organized by the working group (GT) Interunits on Language Policies for USP (PoLinguas-USP), from the Faculty of Education (FE) and the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences (FFLCH) of USP. For María Teresa Celada, professor at FFLCH and member of the WG, the data and reports brought by the units confirmed what was already imagined about the situation of languages ​​at USP. “University practices are permeated by a diversity of languages ​​and this requires a policy, a work that sustains this academic and administrative functioning, ” she says.

The works were carried out from two tables , with the themes The role of languages ​​in the constitution of academic excellence at USP and The role of languages ​​in the construction and diffusion of knowledge , and the discussion of proposals to compose policies based on the theme Languages in each unit in the various segments – undergraduate, graduate, research, innovation, extension, internationalization and inclusion and belonging .

In a report, the participants of the seminar highlight that the question of languages ​​cannot mean only the offer of courses, from an instrumental perspective. The concept should be expanded to include experiences, experiences and socialization between people, cultures and languages. Another point emphasized is that starting from plurilingualism means contemplating diverse knowledge, recognizing African, Asian, indigenous and Brazilian languages, including Libras.

It was found that the situation of languages ​​at the University is diverse: according to their linguistic needs, each unit has established different agreements and agreements. At the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics (FMVZ), for example, the most used languages ​​are English, Spanish, Italian and French. At the Polytechnic School (Poli), because it has more partners in internationalization, there are German, Italian and French, and there are teachers who speak Chinese and Japanese.

At the graduate level, the language policies of the programs are more similar to each other than those directed at graduation, and the range of languages ​​studied, spoken and in which publications are made is greater — Arabic is accepted, among others. , Armenian, Hebrew, Russian and Swahili (African language). When entering the graduate program, language skills (in many cases, English) are explicit and mandatory requirements.

Institutionalization of language policy

A perception that prevails among the participants of the seminar is that the aspects discussed are structural, within the scope of all sectors of the University, and, therefore, should undergo an institutionalization process. One suggestion is to create a Superintendence of Language Policies, or another transversal body centralized by the Rectory, focusing on language, documentation, dissemination, translation, websites, notices and agreements, and that considers the specificities of the different campuses.

Based on the principles of plurilingualism and interculturality, all measures would be institutionalized so that they would not be one-off or sporadic, or be left to the units alone, in addition to organizing existing initiatives so that they work in synergy. With short, medium and long-term planning, actions, such as the translation of institutional websites into several languages, will contribute to “strengthen USP’s self-determination as an institution and, thus, languages ​​would no longer be presented as ‘a problem ‘ and would become a point of solution and convergence”, say the WG rapporteurs.

In order for interventions to be efficient and, above all, continuous, another proposal is to evaluate the capacity and reach of the University’s Language Centers to expand the service, in addition to articulating them to the demands of the units in order to compose the academic projects. Problems of lack of funds should be avoided from this planning.

Another structural point is the institutionalization of the International Relations Commissions (CRInt) of the units, so that they have a status similar to the Statutory Commissions and avoid problems such as the accumulation of functions of technical-administrative servants and the lack of operational structure.

Proposals for each area

In the field of research, the rapporteurs attest that the culture of the impact factor of journals that publish scientific articles in many cases restricts the language, accepting only works in English. But, according to the WG, it is necessary to encourage production in more languages, the circulation of publications in other languages ​​and the translation of reference books, documents and promotional materials from Portuguese into other languages.

For students and their language training, the report brings several proposals. Among them, effectively implementing Resolution No. 7,110/2021 and Graduation Ordinance No. 7,667/2021 , which provide for funding grants for students in language activities, not just in the form of face-to-face classes. For the iFriends program, create a linguistic version, based on the TeleTandem system, which unites, for example, someone who knows Italian and French and needs Spanish with a student from the table or from another unit to establish a language exchange in moments like a coffee hour .

This and other programs, such as iPoli, by Poli, and VetFriends, by FMVZ, are also means of integrating Brazilian students with exchange students, and can be encouraged to value dissemination and socialization. It is also suggested that guidelines be articulated with the Dean of Undergraduate Studies (PRG) and the Dean of Graduate Studies (PRPG) on the curricularization of these activities as Complementary Academic Activities (AAC) or another type of credit.

Such actions are complementary to the courses, for which a central proposal is to offer subjects in a foreign language for Brazilian students and subjects in Portuguese for foreign students, with the condition that they are part of the curriculum, being mandatory, free optional or elective, to stimulate interest in language learning. It is likely that, if they are optional, the demand will be high, which will require selection criteria. At the Lorena Engineering School (EEL) and at the University Hospital (HU), for example, there are no courses offered in languages ​​other than Portuguese.

Experiences from universities abroad can be taken as a basis and, within USP, summer and winter courses, which encourage reading and scientific production in languages ​​such as English, French and German. For English, the rapporteurs recall that it is also necessary to consider that many of the students who enter the University based on inclusion policies do not have sufficient prior knowledge of the language to attend graduation, requiring courses. In addition, these students face financial difficulties in achieving internationalization.

Regarding foreign language proficiency certifications , it is necessary to continue the preparatory courses of the USP Agency for National and International Academic Cooperation (Aucani), in addition to expanding them. Within the agreements, the group also suggests creating a discussion on the concept of certification and insisting on the acceptance of certificates issued by Brazilian universities, considering that, for an Aucani scholarship, given the limited number of recognized certificates, there is the problem of the cost of exams .

Among other considerations, the WG considers that language training should also reach all employees of the USP community, not just those directly linked to the internationalization commissions, since they normally come into contact with foreign students to answer questions about routines and procedures from the University.

language quiz

The results of the seminar were forwarded for reading by the Rectory and other USP bodies. Now, the GT is working on analyzing the university community’s responses to the Languages ​​at USP questionnaire and, focusing on graduation, with the Teaching Initiation and Improvement Program (Proiad) on the production of courses, workshops and teaching materials in nine languages (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, French, English, Italian, Portuguese and Russian) until September 2023, with 20 undergraduate and graduate scholarship holders, supervised by professors from FE and FFLCH.