A expansão do mandarim e a internacionalização universitária: um estudo de caso em uma universidade pública federal brasileira

Abstract

The advances in the process of globalization throughout the 20th century brought new scenarios for higher education institutions, including internationalization. With the growing Chinese presence in the world and in Latin America, Mandarin has gained relevance as a strategic instrument for cooperation and academic training. Thus, This study aimed to analyze the incorporation of Mandarin teaching into the internationalization strategies of the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), taking as reference its language policies, institutional documents, and academic cooperation actions established with Chinese institutions. The study assumed that the presence of Mandarin at the university results from a new perspective on Sino-Brazilian relations and also to the international context in which China’s cultural and educational projection strategies are embedded. Methodologically, the research is qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive in nature, grounded in documentary research. The analytical corpus consists of resolutions, institutional policies, cooperation agreements and other documents produced by UFPB related to internationalization and language policies. The discussion is supported by theoretical frames addressing the internationalization of higher education, language policy and planning, soft power, and academic diplomacy. The results found indicate that, although UFPB’s internationalization resolution is relatively recent, it has established normative conditions that favor the expansion of the institution’s linguistic repertoire, especially through the institutionalization of the International Cooperation Agency (ACI) and the subsequent Language Policy resolution at UFPB. Through the International Cooperation Agency (ACI), the documents have established normative conditions that favor the expansion of the institutional linguistic repertoire and the incorporation of new languages into teaching, research, and outreach activities. In this context, the offer of Mandarin emerges as an articulation between the university’s institutional demands and cooperation initiatives developed with Chinese universities, highlighting the role of language as a strategic element in internationalization processes and reflecting current friendly Sino-Brazilian relations. So, in this study we can conclude that the expansion of Mandarin at UFPB represents a manifestation of language policies aimed at university internationalization, contributing to the diversification of training opportunities, and that Mandarin emerges as an alternative for building a multilingual university and as a means of strengthening South-South relations, reinforcing academic cooperation networks and expanding the institution’s international reach beyond the American-European axis.