This in-progress study analyzes the literacy needs of students that have been returned and inserted into the Mexican higher educational system upon completing their previous studies in the United States. The purpose is to identify academic areas of improvement, so they develop their Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency in Spanish.
This in-progress study analyzes the literacy needs of students that have been returned and inserted into the Mexican higher educational system upon completion of their previous studies in the United States. In order to access this public university system, participants must sit an examination that requires them to prove their abilities in reading and writing in Spanish. The analysis of the results of this standardized admission exam show that there are specific areas where students need to improve in terms of academic development. In addition, the fact that these students come from a different educational system also influences their academic success as most of them have developed what Cummins (2008) describes as Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) in Spanish. Nonetheless, they have developed Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) in English. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify the academic areas of improvement, namely literacy skills in Spanish so that students can be offered mentoring in Spanish resulting in the successful insertion in the higher education system in a public university in central Mexico. Factors such as identity, motivation, and reason for their return will be considered in order to provide a sociolinguistic and sociocultural profile of students, which will allow researchers to take specific actions into how to guide these students into the path of academic success in university life. Cummins, J. (2008). BICS and CALP: Empirical and theoretical status of the distinction. Encyclopedia of language and education, 487-499.
