Implementing plurilingualism in higher education: Teacher training needs and plan evaluation

Abstract

The incorporation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has given rise to an increase of the level of internationalisation of Spanish universities. Consequently, numerous institutions have started to implement plurilingual plans in order to increase their academic offer in a foreign language, mainly in English. The implementation of these plans requires the design and development of teacher training programs that enable teachers to improve their linguistic and methodological competence. This study aims to analyse the teacher training needs for plurilingual teaching at a state university in Andalusia (Spain) and describe the teacher training programme on plurilingual teaching methodologies implemented at this university during three academic years. Furthermore, the development of the Plurilingualism Promotion Plan implemented at the said university from 2012 to 2015 will be evaluated through a descriptive analysis of 16 indicators related to institutional strategy, internationalization of the curriculum and teaching staff. The results show a positive development of the analysed elements.