Exchange and internationalization under the lens of the Global South

Learning Spanish and other knowledge

Abstract

This article presents the analysis of autobiographical narratives referring to exchange experiences lived by two professors-researchers in their doctorate at a university in Spain in the context of learning and appropriation of the Spanish language and other knowledge.In this sense, the planning and execution of this work took place, initially, in the dialogue of the researchers on internationalization, through a mini-course, with students of Letters - Spanish Language, and, during a roundtable conference in a University Week, with students from different courses and educational institutions, in addition to the general public, during the year 2021. To encourage the recording of these dialogues and the realization of this study, we used the methodology of autobiographical narratives, of informative-descriptive character, to collect the reports of international experiences through the field diaries of the two professors-researchers in question, addressing the dimensions of entry and permanence in doctoral training abroad. The research results indicate, among other aspects, that the financing of academic training abroad is an important dimension, as it interferes in different ways, in particular, in the choice of destination, especially for low-income academics. In addition, the narratives of students from the Global South refer to different learning experiences during the exchange (foreign language, curriculum, history, geography, culture, etc.), as well as constituting a reference point for analyzes of public policies and internationalization practices.