LSP and Guidelines for Language Teaching: the case of European Portuguese

Portuguese higher education institutions are currently attended by an increasing number of international students in various fields of knowledge. Languages for specific purposes are a necessity in terms of language and communication for these students, promoting their academic success and access to the professional market. The question is whether there will be sufficient investment on the part of these institutions in offering language courses for specific purposes, and if languages for specific purposes are well-represented in the guiding documents for the teaching of foreign languages (from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages to the Portuguese reference documents), fundamental texts for the description and assessment of language skills. Based on this analysis, it is the purpose of this communication to reflect on what the absence of a language for specific purposes guiding document tells us about its status in the context of language policies and teaching, besides its consequences for the teaching and learning of languages for specific purposes, namely in the provision of Portuguese for specific purposes courses, their certification, the variety of teaching materials and the training of teachers of Portuguese as a foreign language.