Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills and Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency are concepts that help to differentiate language used for every day conversational interactions and language used for academic purposes. The students enrolled in the program of International Studies at the Universidad del Azuay, demonstrate they have the necessary skills to achieve tasks involving interpersonal communication; but at the same time, they have revealed the problems they encounter when dealing with academic situations in which more specialized vocabulary and expressions are needed. Lack of CALP was identified to be one of the problems that are represented by the low grades registered on students files. Research was carried out to demonstrate a relationship between lack of CALP and low performance in students of the second year of International Studies. Thirty two students received a 12-week instruction program based on the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Approach (CALLA) to improve their Cognitive Academic Language skills and as result their scores in the English subjects of the program. A pre-test and a post-test determined difference in scores, and in first and second year grades. These differences were statistically analyzed showing a significant increase. The results of the research demonstrate that the development of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency can be a promising method for improving students performance in University contexts where English is the means for instruction.Magíster en Lengua Inglesa y Lingüística AplicadaCuenca