Evaluating the Impact of a Sino-Portuguese Exchange Programme on Portuguese-major Students Personal Development in Chinese Higher Education

This dissertation investigates the impact of a Sino-Portuguese exchange program on the personal development of Chinese undergraduate students majoring in Portuguese who have participated in the programme for a semester or a year. Generally, students aim to enhance language proficiency, expand cultural perspectives, and establish new social networks during exchange study. However, the topic of what specific activities during exchange study made the students more competent was less discussed. Therefore, to better understand the role of exchange experiences, the research adopts a qualitative approach grounded in interpretivism, utilizing semi-structured voice interviews with seven participants. and the thematic analysis is adopted to process the interview transcripts, the findings demonstrate overall positive attitudes toward the program. Notably, socio-cultural immersion significantly improved exchange students oral expression, increased social resilience, enhanced independence, and greater cultural awareness. This study offers insights into Chinese students' international exchange experiences in higher education and it can probably contribute to improving the design, operation, and management of exchange programs.