Justification

• The Technological University of Pereira projects, as part of its current challenges, the establishment of a close relation with the environment; such relationship includes community, business and government sectors. This is done so that it allows a positive projection through teaching, research and extension activities in an efficient and effective way.
• Globalization processes, economic openness, intercultural communication as well as rapid economic and scientific progress, create new challenges in people’s lives and demand the development of communicative competences in one or more foreign languages so that language users are able to participate and become part of the global culture, without losing the sense of belonging to the Colombian one.
• From its beginning, the College of Humanities and Languages led the initiative for the creation of the Foreign Language Institute at U.T.P., considering that English has become a valuable professional asset for cultural and economic development in our country.
• Foreign languages play an important role as a factor for the development and training of human capital overseas. This is evidenced by the number of scholarships that are offered by foreign governments and/ or international foundations. In order to successfully apply for one of these programs, it is usually required to demonstrate proficiency levels in a foreign language, which is usually English. The language requirement may vary according to the offering country and scholarship program. Unfortunately, a considerable number of scholarships are not granted given the fact that many applicants do not meet the language requirements.  

Antecedents

• The Department of Humanities and Languages of the Technological University of Pereira has been the academic office in charge of offering language courses, primarily in English, to all the students from different undergraduate and graduate programs that have required proficiency in this language. English Language courses were traditionally taught under the approach of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), with the aim of preparing learners to read texts in English.
• The Department of Humanities and Languages has restructured its Language syllabi. As part of the restructuring process, the need to teach Language courses under an integral perspective came to light; namely, one in which all language skills (listening comprehension, oral production, reading and writing) are integrated with the sociolinguistic and pragmatic skills of the language.
• The extension department at ILEX has also been offering courses in English as well as other languages. Any member of the university community (students, professors, and staff) can take these courses at special fees. People who do not have direct affiliation with the university, and who wish to take the language courses can also do so.