1、1Investigation of the International Students， Language and Culture Exchange ProgramAbstract：The purpose was to investigate the international language and culture exchange program between Dali University（DU） ， China and Burapha University（BUU） ， Thailand. By using a naturalistic approach， the setting
2、 involved purposive sampling identified fifty-nine participants who had experiences of participation in the program. The study recommended the need for increased accountability and commitment and to pay more attention to the continuity and sustainability of the program. Keywords：Program Evaluation E
3、xchange Program Language Culture 中图分类号：G640 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1003-9082（2012）12-0042-02 Introduction With the growth of globalization and the internationalization of higher education， international exchange and cooperation have played a critical role between the two different institutions. DUs motto is “
4、Converging 2Cultures to Shape the Spirit of University”. It has developed international exchange and cooperation with BUU for several years. The two universities have made great progress regarding international cooperation of education. With the creation of the international exchange program， they w
5、ere moving towards meeting the need for becoming globally and internationally-focused universities （Li， Shi， & Liu， 2008）. Research Design The present study employed a descriptive qualitative research approach. The researcher focused on describing the experiences of Chinese students who joined the p
6、rogram， which included attitudes， opinions， values， beliefs， and feelings. Fifty-nine purposive participants were invited to participate in an in-depth interview. Data Collection and Analysis The researcher generated the interview questions by following the interview guide of Patton （2002）. The 60-9
7、0 minute semi-structured tape-recorded interview was conducted by using open-ended questions in the interview guide. For this study， the data was read， reread， and then coded into meaningful phases. Findings and Discussion 3The findings were initially open coded and then developed as following categ
8、ories： （1） Life Experience Issue， （2） Learning Experience Issue， （3） Impression Issue， （4） English Communication Issue， （5） Culture Issue， （6） Problem Issue， （7） Suggestion Issue， （8） Motivation Issue， （9） Benefit Issue， and （10） Comparison Issue. “What are the strengths and weaknesses of the progra
9、m between DU and BUU？” Five categories of findings related with this research question will be integrated： life experience， learning experience， impression， and benefit and problem issue. It is obvious that the program provided participants with an exceptional educational opportunity to develop a un
10、ique perspective of the world. In another word， the program contributed substantively to participants individual development and international understanding （Sowa， 2002）. In view of existing situation， it is necessary for the two universities to enhance these weaknesses in order to keep the sustaina
11、ble development of the program in the future. “What are the Chinese students experiences of English communicative proficiency？” Another two categories of findings： English communication and culture were integrated. Generally speaking， the participants realized the great 4importance of English after
12、they joined the program. In terms of the improvement of English， the participants expressed with their positive and negative attitudes under the condition of the certain language environment. Simultaneously， affected by the factors of intercultural communication barriers and cultural shock， the part
13、icipants interacted with the people from different languages and cultures， they also gained an increased awareness of differing cultural values which facilitated greater tolerance of others and an understanding of how challenging life might be for members of minority ethnic groups（Green， 2008）. “Wha
14、t improvement could be done from both universities？” The suggestion and comparison issue of findings were discussed in responding to this question. The suggestions of participants could be summarized and explained by four interrelated themes which are to enhance general administration， to set up com
15、plete selection and evaluation system， to provide enough economic support， and to extend the length. With regard to the comparison issue， the participants found that a big gap existed between two universities， such as learning environment， teaching facilities and equipments， teaching systems， admini
16、strative levels and so on. Therefore， the 5participants suggested overall that DU should try to reduce the gap between two universities to sustain the program in a long-term development on a more coordinative stage. Recommendations First， this research was only conducted by collecting data from fift
17、y-nine Chinese participants in DU. Another in-depth case study conducted with Thai participants in BUU， might enhance the overall evaluation of the program. Second， even though the participants experienced and acknowledged considerable support from both their home and host universities， there were i
18、nstances where was insufficient to meet the needs of some of the participating students. Third， the shared responsibility with partner institutions to ensure that the program was well planned and adequately prepared was not always realized. A well planned program increases the readiness of the respo
19、nsible parties in launching a new program and will enhance the level of success of the project （Sakulkoo， Tubsee & Nonthasak， 2008）. Fourth， the program enabled the participants to develop both personal and professional developments of engaging with unfamiliar cultures， different educational systems
20、， and mastering new challenges （such as speaking a foreign or second language）. 6Further research is needed in these areas to fully understand how these changes take place. References Green， B. F. （2008）. Studying abroad： A multiple case study of nursing students international experiences. Nurse Edu
21、cation Today （2008） ， 28（1） ， 981-992. Li， X.， Shi， L. M.， & Liu， M. （2008）. Converge cultures to shape the universitys spirit in quest of development， Journal of Dali University， 7（4） ， 65-69. Patton， M. Q. （2002）. Qualitative evaluation and research methods （3rd ed.）. CA： Sage Publications. Sakulk
22、oo， S.， Tubsee， C.， & Nonthasak， S. （2008）. The experience of primary school teachers of an integrated English curriculum in selected schools of Eastern Thailand. 7th Asian human resource development conference， Bangkok. Sowa， P. A. （2002）. How valuable are student exchange programsDirections for Higher Education. 117， 63-70. 作者简介：肖友兴（1978-） ，男，云南华坪县人，硕士研究生，大7理学院教育科学学院讲师，主要从事国际交流、大学英语教学与研究。
