The linguistic aspect of the internationalization of education at the higher level. The relevance of English as a foreign language.

Abstract

Society has been transformed with the development of digital technologies and the internet. It has undergone changes of all kinds and education does not escape this transformation. One of these changes is educational globalization or internationalization of education. In this context, the relevance of communicative competence in foreign languages is recognized as one of the determining factors of internationalization processes, mainly communicative competence in English, given its predominant role as a lingua franca. The aim of the article is to analyze the communicative competence in English of the undergraduate students who apply for the outgoing mobility programs of the National University of the South, and observe if said level acts as a bridge or barrier that facilitates or limits internationalization processes. The results obtained indicate that students enter the higher level of education with a low level despite the fact that the Argentine educational system establishes that foreign languages should be taught at previous educational levels.