Assessing the Impact of Erasmus Teaching Mobility on Internationalization in Portuguese Higher Education: A Case Study

This article explores the significance of Erasmus teaching mobility within the Portuguese higher education landscape, particularly within the framework of internationalization. Scholarly research has revealed that Portuguese universities recognize the crucial role of internationalization in ensuring long-term sustainability and prioritize English proficiency, along with other languages, within language education policies. Despite this prioritization, a notable gap remains in the implementation of these policies, especially regarding academic and intercultural interactions. Within this context, this article describes and discusses an investigation on the usefulness of an academic writing short course at the University Nova School of Science and Technology in Lisbon, Portugal, conducted under the Life Long Learning Program (LLP)/ Socrates/Erasmus “teaching staff mobility (TSM)” activities. Feedback from 11 Master’s students enrolled in the department of Applied Social Sciences revealed high satisfaction with the course content, with preferences for specific academic writing skills including understanding the nature of literature reviews, formulating research questions, structuring arguments, and critically evaluating them. Suggestions for improvement include restructuring the course into shorter modules for better comprehension and simplifying course materials to enhance learning experiences. Students’ comments also underscored the influence of Portuguese cultural norms on learning. Initial implications highlight the need to blend pedagogical flexibility with cultural responsiveness in educational strategies, facilitating the necessary intersectionality to bridge language policies with internationalization efforts. Erasmus teaching mobility emerges as a key facilitator in achieving this blend.