Standard e ‘requisiti minimi’ di competenza della lingua inglese. Il Progetto Inglese all’interno delle lauree triennali all’Università di Genova

This essay provides an account of the development and implementation of a language assessment and training programme focused on the English language within the University of Genoa, the so called ‘Progetto inglese’, i.e., ‘English Project’. Initially launched as an experiment in 2019, the project (in its second edition in 2021-2022) has had a two-fold aim: first, define and share a language standard on the English language (at B1 level) to assess freshers enrolled in a variety of first-degree courses; and second, create a guided path to enable freshers who do not already have it to reach a level of language proficiency matching the B1 of the CEFR. From the reasons behind the definition of a standard and its adaptation to local and national needs and contexts, we move on to statistical data namely, to present an analysis of the Assessment Test data and a mapping of strengths and weaknesses relative to the tested language skills of the more than ten thousand freshers who took the test in the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. The study concludes by dwelling on current and future developments of the project, e.g., raising the standard to level B2 in first-degree courses; enhancing further action towards internationalization and the Erasmus programme requirements; and, finally, introducing ESP (English for Specific Purposes) to encourage the learning of core disciplines’ content in the vehicular language (English) within the various degree courses – as a follow up on the CLIL teaching and learning scheme offered in the Italian secondary schools.