Resumen en español

This report describes the internship accomplished at the University of Cordoba in the Foreign Language Teaching Program under the Student Academic Accompaniment and Mentoring Program. It is intended to prevent student dropout and to bring down the level of desertion to maintain and stimulate the permanency of the students in the program. 15 learners who were studying Grammar and Communication from novice to upper intermediate level enrolled from first to fifth semester, were identified and presented academic needs mainly regarding study habits which affected their academic performance; they lacked a plan to study appropriately to improve their communicative skills, they also had some difficulties concerning the use of grammar in writing and listening tasks. Add to this, students had personal problems which caused them to stop paying attention in class or to attend classes. As many of them worked sometimes they did not have time to get home to study and they simply could not concentrate in class due to external problems. The methodology applied was principally founded on professional development to measure the different needs teachers encounter at different stages of their career; collaborative and cooperative learning which let the mentor and the mentee work together to achieve a common goal; also, the development of study habits which lead the learners to create and domain a set of behaviors to study more proficiently, and the implementation of adapting methodologies. The results confirmed that mentees could not only improve their communicative skills, but also their academic records in some way, likewise they realized the importance of having a plan to track progress and set goals.