The Faculty of Communication Sciences strengthens its support for Catalan with preparatory courses for first-year students
The initiative, a pioneering one among Communication faculties in Catalonia, makes it possible to identify students’ language gaps and provide them with targeted support before they take the Catalan course.
The Faculty of Communication Sciences (FCC) at the UAB has once again launched its preparatory Catalan courses for first-year students this year. The initiative, which began in the 2025–2026 academic year as part of the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Interlingua programme, aims to identify the main language gaps among new students and offer them specific support to help them approach the Catalan course included in the different degree programmes offered by the FCC with greater confidence.
The Faculty is currently the only institution offering Communication studies in Catalonia that provides this type of preparatory training in Catalan. The initiative is part of the Faculty’s commitment to the linguistic competence of future communication professionals, particularly in a field where oral and written command of the language is a fundamental tool for professional practice.
The process begins during the Welcome Days, with a Catalan language placement test for first-year students enrolled in the Faculty’s five degree programmes: Journalism, Communication in Organisations, Advertising and Public Relations, Audiovisual Communication, and Interactive Communication.
Last academic year, 438 of the 485 students invited took the test, which combined a reading-aloud exercise with a pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary test. The tests were adapted to the specific field of each degree programme. The results identified 215 students with language gaps that could be addressed through a preparatory course. Of these, 130 enrolled in the preparatory courses and 116 completed them.
The data from the first year show a positive trend in academic results. Across the different degree programmes where the courses were offered, there was an increase in average grades and a reduction in the number of students who failed or had to retake the course. One of the most significant indicators is that 110 of the 116 students who completed the preparatory courses subsequently passed the Catalan course, while only six failed it. The data therefore point to a positive impact of language support on students’ academic performance.
This academic year, during the Welcome Days, the Faculty’s Catalan teaching staff repeated the diagnostic tests with new first-year students, with the aim of once again identifying their support needs and directing them towards the most appropriate learning resources. The courses, also taught by the same teaching staff under the name Català, Ara Sí, are designed to work on the most basic aspects of the Catalan language, with particular emphasis, as noted above, on pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. The aim is to help students reach a level close to C1, which is the level of language proficiency expected in the Catalan course included in the different degree programmes.
With the continuation of these courses, the Faculty, in collaboration with the Vice-Rectorate for Culture and Language Policy, the UAB Language Service and teaching staff from the Department of Catalan Philology, is consolidating an initiative that combines early identification, language support and monitoring of academic results. Its aim is to ensure that students who arrive at university with greater difficulties in Catalan have, from the outset, the tools they need to improve their language skills and approach their Communication studies with greater confidence.