English language teaching at the university level: an analysis of approaches, objectives, and curricular content in a case study from Uruguay

Abstract

Having a wide linguistic repertoire is highly considered among different university actors as this enables, among other things, access to bibliographies produced in different languages, participation in academic instances, and the conformation of an international ethos. At the public university studied, located in Uruguay, English – a vital language in academic and professional contexts – is one of the many foreign languages taught. With the aim of analysing the language teaching approaches, curricular objectives and contents of the English as a Foreign Language courses that were taught in this university between 2019 and 2023, a case study, from a Discourse Analysis approach, was carried out. This was based on the analysis of data collected during classroom observations (n=24 hours), semi-structured interviews to professors (n=3;[F=2]; [M=1]) and students (n=3; [F=3]; [M=0]) from the three areas of knowledge determined by the university (one per area), and the analysis of the syllabi of the courses given in the period under study (n=23). By using discourse analysis techniques (analysis of themes, intertextualities and interdiscursivities), it was determined that although a heterogeneity of approaches characterizes these courses, they are all based on curricular content related to the students’ study programmes. The courses focus on short-term priorities concerning the development of reading comprehension strategies to comprehend authentic texts of diverse genres related to the disciplines being studied. Additionally, the sociocultural functions of the target language are prioritized, and critical thinking is fostered.