Roles and Agricultural Support Mechanisms of University Foreign Language Volunteers: A Case of Maoming’s Lychee Industry

Against the rural revitalization backdrop, integrating university talents into local signature industries boosts industrial upgrading and internationalization. This study, focusing on Maoming’s lychee industry, globally the largest lychee production base, explores university foreign language volunteers’ roles in its internationalization, offering actionable university-industry collaboration models for agricultural development with significant theoretical and practical value. Despite its scale, the sector faces key challenges: insufficient international brand influence, cross-border marketing/multilingual talent shortages, and cultural barriers to overseas market entry. To address these issues, this study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Primary data were collected through interviews and questionnaire with three stakeholder groups: 28 university foreign language volunteers (English majors from Maoming-based universities with experience in lychee industry support), 30 lychee growers/cooperative representatives from major production areas (Gaozhou, Dianbai, Genzi Town), and 15 managers from local lychee e-commerce and foreign trade enterprises. The findings reveal that foreign language volunteers play four roles in the entire industry chain (pre-production, production, post-production): international marketing facilitators, cross-cultural communication bridges, digital content creators, and agricultural knowledge dissemination intermediaries. Their practical supports include developing multilingual e-commerce platforms, conducting cross-border live-streamed sales and managing international social media accounts, translating and localizing product documentation/certification materials, and organizing cross-cultural agricultural tourism activities. Additionally, current practices exhibit limitations in sustainability, professionalism, and coordination mechanisms. To optimize these efforts, this study proposes a Triple Helix Model: establishing a long-term collaborative mechanism among universities, local governments, and enterprises; enhancing the professionalism and sustainability of volunteer services; and refining the integration of foreign language expertise into agricultural industrial development. This research offers theoretical and practical insights for university participation in local industries under rural revitalization.