Contents | Presentation | I Introduction | II Current situation | III Strategic proposals | IV Implementation of the programme

II CURRENT SITUATION

1. Knowledge of foreign languages among students entering university | 2. Foreign languages in the universities | 3. Legal framework

2.3 University language services

2.3.1. Activities of the university language services

University language services carry out a variety of activities, basically in the fields of teaching and language assistance.

In addition to general language teaching, there are courses for specific or professional needs. Preparatory courses are also offered for outside general examinations and examinations for specific or professional needs.

There are also language services with self-access centres. In terms of assistance, the language services offer translation, correction and general language advisory services.
Some universities have an on-line language assistance service for students.

The table below shows the activities of the university language services.

Legend
BEC: Business English Certificates;CAE: Certificate in Advanced English; CPE: Certificate of Proficiency in English; FCE: First Certificate in English; KET: Key English Test; PET: Preliminary English Test

2.3.2. Total number of students enrolled in university language services

The total number of students enrolled in university language services during an academic year is less that 10% of the total students of the respective universities, and in the UG and URV it is around 5%.

These figures correspond to students enrolled on ordinary courses - which, depending on the language school, consist of between three and six levels - for example, courses in oral fluency, technical language, preparation for outside examinations, etc.

However, to correctly evaluate these data, which may, at first sight seem unsatisfactory, it must be noted that the university language services are performing an extremely relevant and high quality task, and that they are working at full capacity . This means that, given their present characteristics and size, they cannot take on the task of teaching a vast number of students.

Data correspond to academic years and do not include summer courses.

2.3.3. Number and type of students in the SIM (Service of Modern Languages of the UAB) and in the EIM (School of Modern Languages of the UB)

The various schools of sciences both in the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Barcelona , have the highest percentage of students taking advantage of the language services of their respective universities.
At the UAB, 12.7% of science students use these services which is practically doublethe number studying languages at the SIM, which is 6.6.
At the UB, the School of Chemistry stands out, with 25% of its students studying with the EIM. Experimental sciences and mathematics, division III, also stand out, with 16% of students studying English, in other words, almost double the total percentage of UB students studying foreign languages, 8.77%.

2.3.3.1. SIM: Service of Modern Languages of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Data provided by the SIM

2.3.3.2. EIM: School of Modern Languages of the University of Barcelona (UB)

Data provided by the EIM

2.4. Student mobility

European exchange programmes operate in all the universities, which in general terms, are satisfied with the mobility projects. Nonetheless, the incidence of this mobility is extremely low, and it should be promoted. Thus it is both important and necessary to support all the initiatives undertaken by the European Union to improve and foster co-operation between the European universities, in terms of students coming to Catalonia and our students going abroad.

The presence of foreign students in our universities provides an incentive and opportunity for students here to practice foreign languages and share experiences, and favours personal and professional enrichment. Students who go to universities abroad find it a particularly positive experience since not only does it involve the acquisition of written and oral skills in a foreign language but also attainment of an advanced level in that language. Here we consider student mobility only within the framework of the Erasmus Programme, although Catalan universities also participate in many other programmes with Latin America, Asia , the United States and Canada and with countries all over the world through other programmes and bilateral agreements. However, the Erasmus Programme is responsible for the greatest number of exchanges and is most uniformly established in all the universities.

During the 1999-00 academic year, 2,840 students from our universities benefited from Erasmus grants to study abroad, this number accounts for 1.88% of the total of 150,825 students at the Catalan universities that participated in the programme during the same academic year.

The most popular countries were Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. The United Kingdom and France received the largest number of Erasmus students, 556 and 549 respectively.

The table below shows the mobility of students from Catalan universities who studied abroad
on the Erasmus Programme during the 1999-00 academic year.

Data provided by the corresponding universities. Directorate for Universities. February 13, 2001.

2.5. Language of doctoral theses

At present, university doctoral theses are generally written in Catalan, Spanish or English. The Pompeu Fabra Universityproduces the highest percentage of theses in English.

Languages used in doctoral theses (data for 1998)

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