Information taken from FELAFACS, 1986-88. Projections are used for number of students and teachers.

In November, a general plan was structured with basic criteria for gathering information in the three regions. A general questionnaire to be sent to all the communication schools of Latin America was designed in order to unify information and facilitate its comparison and systematization.

Progress reports were received from the three regions and a preliminary summary was prepared for the IAMCR/AIERI Steering Committee in Berlin, March, 1990 which included a preliminary list of 120 books most often used. This list was then sent to all the Communication Schools asking them to mark the ones each school used.

The methodological definitions that resulted from the meeting in Berlin allowed us to prepare guidelines for the information to be included in the general report of each region. The present report is the summary of the information and analysis received from each region in Latin America.

In the case of Latin America, the area of Communication Theories and Research is the strongest; therefore we made three subdivisions, adding the area of 'languages and aesthetics' which includes linguistic and semiotic studies which are very important in our schools. We included in Media Management the aspect of 'communication process administration' since it is closer to our teaching approach. We considered the last item under the concept of 'culture' which is an important trend that our schools have been following for this past decade. The books under Readers are also included in the corresponding thematic area.

Although in the research plan we expected to obtain fresh and direct information from all the communication schools of Latin America, this was not possible. The questionnaire format was sent in November 1989 but not many were returned by January 1990. There are many reasons that help explain the lack of response. Most schools finish semesters in November, therefore many teachers had left on vacations and forgot to answer the questionnaires when they returned to school, if they returned. Due to political situations - especially in Central America - many schools do not even have textbook resources. In other cases, planning and administration processes are interrupted by strikes and/or economic problems. Additionally, it is possible that the questionnaire which asked for summaries and evaluation of the materials seemed too complicated for some teachers. In any case, answering surveys is not one of our most common cultural practices.

Of the 244 schools, only 90 responded the questionnaire or checked the list previously prepared by the research coordination. These schools belong to 11 of the 20 Latin American countries where communication schools exist. Only 22 schools belong to the nine missing countries (Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Paraguay).

This means, of course, that the data obtained are not representative of the region studied, but considering the other sources used and the experience of all the members of the research team in relation to educational conditions of communication schools of Latin America, we believe that the texts chosen represent the basic and most important bibliographical materials (texts) used throughout the continent.

It is also important to underline some conceptual limitations regarding our particular conditions as a continent. The basic research project limited the information to officially published textbooks; this left out the most fundamental and basic resources for our schools: articles and general documents such as congress papers and mimeographed materials. Due to continuing advances in the field, these materials are preferred by teachers because they offer updated information. We are aware that these materials are of a more sub-regional use. Additionally, the use of a 'textbook' as a main guideline for a specific subject is rarely considered in our schools.

The difficulties in sharing materials and information also have to be considered. Many very well used materials in some countries, specially those of local authors are not widely known. There are, nevertheless, some journals (such as Dia-Logos, Signo y Pensamiento, Contratexto, Communicacao e Artes, Cuadernos del Ticom, etc.) which are of permanent use.

The enormous differences among countries, even within regions, make generalizations very difficult. In Central America, for example, there are 10 countries, but 70 % of the schools belong to Mexico. In South America, Brazil alone has 48 % of the schools. Some countries such as Cuba and Nicaragua due to their very special political development use bibliographic material that is rarely shared by others. The influence of those countries with a solid publishing background (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and now Colombia) is well-known.

Although the thematic categories proposed by the Steering Committee for the classification of the textbooks probably has a wider scope, these do not reflect the curricular approaches of our schools. The topics were adjusted with some changes which were required in order to respond to the objectives of this investigation.

A total of 130 books has been chosen as representative of the textbooks most widely used in communication schools of Latin America. An annotated bibliography of these 130 titles has been compiled in English and is attached as Appendix II. Table 2 shows their distribution by subject areas.

TABLE 2

Distribution of Texts by Thematic Areas

Thematic Area	Total	%
1. Print Media	16	12.3
2. Electronic Media	14	10.8
3. Advertising and Public Relations	10	7.7
4. Media Management	3	2.3
5. Media History	9	6.9
6. Media Law, Ethics and Policies	4	3.1
7. Communication Theory and Research
- Communication Theory	22	16.9
- Language and Aesthetics	20	15.4
- Research Methodologies	10	7.7
8. Communication and Development	7	5.4
9. Communication and Culture	15	11.5
[10. Readers *	27	20.8]
TOTAL	130	100

* Readers are also included in the corresponding thematic category.

It is evident that the greatest strength of the communication curricula in Latin America is in the theoretical and methodological areas, and this is clearly reflected in the number of common books in this category, namely a total of 52 books, or 40 % of the titles analyzed. This curricular approach in which research and theoretical background are considered essential for communication studies has been discussed in many international meetings; therefore, it is an area where agreement among countries has been possible. Also, this area has many commercial publishing ventures in Spanish, both of translations and of Latin American authors.

The special stress on 'language and aesthetics' has been a tradition since the decade of the seventies, especially in Argentina and Chile due to the Italian and French linguistic and semiotic influence. It has now regained an important place in communication studies with regard to its creative and artistic possibilities.

There is also an increasing interest in studies which refer to the relationship between communication and culture. Many of the books classified under Communication and Development may very well also be considered in this category since development is now framed in questions of dependence, identity, difference, and not of social change according to a common economic development model.

The categories corresponding to specific professional training areas show a growing interest in bibliographic materials, but not many books are available within a broader perspective that takes into account cultural aspects, and not merely technical or functional information. Most of these materials are written by foreign authors as shown in Table 3. Although Latin American theoretical production has been developing, this area still relays on international thought, especially in what pertains to language and sign analysis.

It is important to underline that there is a strong tendency to use Readers (books which contains articles from many authors) which include different perspectives on specific topics. Readers are most appropriate when discussing theoretical views. The Reader format is preferred by Latin American researchers due to its flexibility which allows for systematic analysis of research in progress as well as comparison with other points of view

TABLE 3

Distribution of Texts by Nationality of Authors and Latin American Themes

* Readers are also included in the corresponding thematic category.

The North American influence which predominated until the early seventies has been replaced by European thought and by the increasing production of Latin American authors.

The topics cover mainly general problems. Only 29 % of the books (37) refer to particular situations of the continent. Specific Latin American themes have been considered in books only very recently. This interest in the local situation and thought is a tendency of most communication schools, but as has been mentioned these themes are better covered by articles and non-printed materials.

Undoubtedly there is an emerging Latin American perspective which is nourishing the present world debate within the Social Sciences. Latin American production has only recently been accepted by international publishing companies. This is evident in the high percentage (49 %) of translated books, that is of books originally written in English, French, Italian and German. Although some of the books placed under Spanish language come from Spain and not from Latin America, it is worth noting that more than half of books were written in the languages used in Latin America.

TABLE 4

Distribution of Texts by Language

The fact that in most countries of the continent Spanish is spoken, has made publishing possible in Spain and principally in those Latin American countries whose editorial capacity allows international relations with important publishing houses such as Paidos, Gili, Alianza, Siglo XXI. Those books published by local companies usually belong to research or academic institutions such as CIESPAL, FELAFACS, ILET or DESCO, or Universities in the case of Brazil, which has remained publishing on its own, since Portugal is not a leading country in this field.

TABLE 5

Distribution of Texts by Place of Publication

More than half of the books (54 %) currently used in the teaching of communication in Latin America have been published during the past decade. It is worth noting that many books written fifteen or twenty years ago are still in use. New materials referring to media and to professional approaches such as Advertising and Public Relations are scarce. This is not the case with theoretical and methodological topics which have been developing during these last years, especially within a Latin American perspective. In the areas of 'language and aesthetics', materials produced in the seventies are still very useful since they represent 'classical' thought in these fields.

TABLE 6

Distribution of Texts by Year of Publication

Although there has been increasing interest in producing our own materials, most areas need new books that can really be used as textbooks in the teaching of communication, that is as educational materials that give general guidelines facilitating wider perspectives as well as more up-to-date professional information.

Definitely there is a need to support a wider publishing program that will enable local production to be known throughout the continent and hopefully overseas. As general information we are including a tentative plan of materials that have been prepared by Latin American authors as result of research projects and that may be ready for publication.

CONCLUSION

This research project has been of great importance for communication schools in the Latin American region considering that one of the bases of education is the use of bibliographic materials. Analysis of the information obtained has allowed identification of the main theoretical tendencies, the influence of local or external productions, the aspects which are mainly stressed and the areas which need more or new resources. These data are fundamental for the definition of research and publication policies, as well as for integrated curricular revisions that take into consideration not only the goals and objectives desired but also an analysis of the teaching-learning process.

The tentative plan of new publications listed in Table 7 (above) shows once again the priority which is currently given to theoretical studies in Latin America: ten out of the 24 publications planned are in that area. Equally significant is the fact that not major work is anticipated on the theme of Communication and Development, yet three on Culture. This confirms the shift in orientation from development to cultural emancipation (which has been explained earlier).