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Languages without Borders Program: the new directions in internationalization (invited)

The Language without Borders Program (LwB) has been created to address the linguistic preparation of university students who wish to study abroad through Science without Borders Program. The LwB involves 8 different languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, Mandarin and Brazilian Portuguese for foreigners. Even though the main idea was originally to help students to be successful in their foreign experience, the LwB also sets up a new environment to the Brazilian language specialists involved. With the need to create and establish a new paradigm in teachers’ education and language policy for the country, the Central Management Group, along with the local coordinators of the Program, has organized a management and communicating system that integrates all Program´s actions. In this lecture, the design and development of the Program in relation to its 3 primary actions (placement and proficiency tests, self-instructional online courses and face-to-face courses) will be addressed. These actions have been organized with partners from many different countries and initiatives, composing a new perspective of partnership between public and private sectors.
The outcomes of the Program have shown the importance of relying on language teaching specialists from different institutions and regions to strengthen and empower solutions for the linguistics challenges that Brazilian universities face in their internationalization process.

Author(s):

Denise Abreu e Lima    
Ministério da Educação - Secretaria de Educação Superior (SESu)
Brazil