CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The long-standing status of English as a lingua franca has impacted on several facets of academia, crucially including higher education (HE) institutions. This is evidenced, for instance, by its growing use as a medium of instruction across the globe, its undisputed position as the leading language of research, and its predominance in a context of massive international mobility. Therefore, understanding how English is framed at macro- and micro-organizational levels proves crucial to assess and improve relevant resources in national HE systems. Several research efforts have made progress in this direction by focusing on numerous regions and countries the world over. However, no study has yet offered a structured overview of the topic in the Argentine context, a scenario that hinders the identification of existing possibilities and challenges towards the internationalization of the country?s educational capacity and its harmonization with global trends. To bridge this gap, the present report documents an unprecedented investigation on the role of English in Argentine HE. In particular, we aim to shed light on five major dimensions, namely: (i) English competencies across the system, (ii) the role of English in the learning and teaching of field-specific contents, (iii) the role of English in research, (iv) the role of English in international mobility schemes, and (v) the general standing of English in HE.The study was undertaken by six professionals with specific roles, namely: a Principal Investigator (Dr. Adolfo M. García), an Associate Investigator (Dr. Agustín Ibáñez), a Quantitative Data Analyst (Dr. Eugenia Hesse), a Qualitative Data Researcher (Prof. Boris Kogan), a Professional Language Assistant (Certified Translator Clara María Filippini), and an Executive Secretary (Mrs. Sheila Sánchez). Collectively, the team brought together a vast skill set that allowed for the design of a comprehensive research framework, the construction of specific data-gathering instruments, the collection and organization of massive amounts of information, the implementation of convergent qualitative and quantitative analysis pipelines, the integrative interpretation of diverse empirical patterns, and the identification of potential lines of action therefrom.Over the course of four months, data were gleaned through a multi-methodological approach encompassing (a) systematic analyses of over 100 official documents from 40 faculties belonging to 20 universities, (b) quantitative and qualitative data from a large-scale survey administered to 755 participants from 57 universities (including the previous 20), and (c) 12 semi-structured interviews with key actors across the system. Qualitative information was organized and interpreted via standard content-analysis approaches. Quantitative outcomes were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, together with machine-learning methods. All findings were jointly assessed in the quest of (i) general tendencies across the system as well as patterns of similarity or differentiation between (ii) public and private institutions and (iii) faculties with humanistic and natural/exact orientations. The study yielded several core findings for each analytical dimension, as summarized next:Regarding English competencies:Levels of (self-reported) competence are generally high, especially for receptive skills.A widespread desire exists to increase English competencies and expand relevant actions.English courses are generally useful, but impressions are mixed concerning their quantity and quality.Overall (self-rated) English competence proves greater in private than public universities.Engagement in curricular English courses is more prevalent in public than private universities and in faculties with natural/exact than humanistic orientations.Regarding the role of English in the learning and teaching of field-specific contentsThe HE community is aware that leading bibliography is predominantly published in English. However, English-language materials are underrepresented across syllabi.Opinions are divided on whether curricular English materials prove sufficient.English sources are more common in faculties with natural/exact than humanistic orientations.Comprehension of English-language texts is mainly based on direct reading.Though not massive, the use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) seems more common in private than public universities. The community calls for an expansion of this practice.EMI classes are typically taught by non-native users with varying proficiency.Regarding the role of English in researchEnglish skills are recognized as highly important to forge a scientific career.Yet, there is a dearth of English courses tailored to research grantees and researchers.Scientific writing skills in English are varied, proving higher in researchers than other groups.English texts are predominant in research documentation, but their accessibility varies widely across the system.Publishing in English is associated with more international visibility, greater chances of reaching high-impact journals, and increased likelihood of success in funding applications.Regarding the role of English in international mobilityAbundant resources are available to encourage academic trips to English-speaking countries.Engagement in international mobility is high, especially for authorities, teachers, and researchers.Anglophone destinations are predominant and more widely favoured in private than public universities and in faculties with natural/exact than humanistic orientations.These activities are consistently positive, and the community calls for their expansion.Regarding the general standing of English in Argentine HERecurrent objectives include the internationalization of curricula.Yet, no guidelines are available to holistically regulate the role of English in the HE system.English competencies are deemed key to the country?s scientific and technical growth.As revealed by machine-learning analyses, the top features discriminating between public and private universities mainly concern the teaching of English and the role of EMI.Regarding the contrast between faculties with humanistic and natural/exact orientations, the top discriminating features are mainly related to the role of English-language bibliography.No biases against the development of English are apparent across the system.These findings carry a number of implications. As regards English competencies, relevant courses are allotted comparatively few hours, with class time proving similar between university and faculty types. Thus, the high proficiency levels reported throughout the system, as well as the differences between institutions, are likely driven by system-external factors. Also, the desire to improve English competencies reflects awareness of the ensuing benefits for training, working, collaborating, and publishing across fields. Yet, considering that existing courses are generally deemed useful for academic development, calls for their expansion likely reflect their insufficiency more than their inefficiency.Regarding the role of English in learning and teaching, four outstanding points emerge from our data. First, the Argentine system mirrors global trends in its need for explicit language policies, the predominant impression that EMI is promoted across institutions, the uneven proficiency levels observed in teachers using such a resource, and the stronger presence of English in classes from private compared to public universities. Still, the latter pattern reflects a missed opportunity for internationalization, since English-speaking students are more numerous in public than private institutions. Second, considering their appraisal of and actual contact with English bibliography, students are mainly exposed to materials that they know (or at least believe) to be below the highest worldwide standards. Yet, a reversal of this tendency is not univocally claimed across the system. Third, the greater presence of English materials in faculties with natural/exact than humanistic orientations might partly reflect a differential tendency to target relatively universal and culturally situated phenomena, respectively. Finally, the unsystematic presence of EMI in the HE system might be partially explained by the low proportion of non-Spanish speakers in Argentine universities (currently estimated to represent less than 0.2% of all students).In terms of research, the widespread promotion of international collaborations echoes global trends, likely reflecting awareness of the weight of scientific output in university rankings. However, varying accessibility of English-language sources across the system suggests that some institutions may be handicapped by reduced opportunities for top-level documentation. This challenge for the system is mirrored and extended by the heterogeneous levels of scientific writing skills in English, for which relevant courses are inexistent or poor.International mobility seems to be the system?s best-developed area. In fact, Argentina seems to be on a par with worldwide tendencies regarding available resources, levels of engagement, the predominance of anglophone destinations (mainly the United States and the United Kingdom), and the greater proportion of relevant actions in private over public universities.More generally, English figures prominently among internationalization objectives at an institutional level. However, those objectives, as laid out in official documents, do not fully reflect the priorities of the community with regards to English policy in HE. In particular, as compared to institutional documents, stakeholders place heavier emphasis on the importance of accessing top-level bibliography and broadening the visibility of local scientific outputs. Unfortunately, as in several other countries, standardized and publically available guidelines on how to achieve proposed goals are wanting. Also, the main points of contrast between public and private universities are related to the teaching of and in English, whereas those yielding the greatest discrimination between humanistic and natural/exact faculties are principally related to the importance English-language bibliography across academic activities. Finally, despite isolated opinions, there is no sign of bias against English-related initiatives ? which could have been expected given the rejection of English culture that pervades certain sectors of Argentine society. A fertile path thus lies ahead to implement relevant actions.Looking ahead, the present study offers firm empirical foundations for wider investigations across the country while paving the way for concrete interventions at several levels. These include dissemination campaigns to raise awareness of existing resources to profit from English across the system, scalable nation-wide courses to foster urgently required abilities (including workshops on scientific writing, EMI, and English-based distance-learning education), and focalized fora for generating consensual regulatory frameworks. Finally, a concerted replication of this research across Latin American countries would prove crucial to characterize the convergences and divergences in the role of English throughout the region, laying the groundwork for harmonized actions.