Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of English Language Teaching, Imam Khomeini International University, Iran

Abstract

As the world evolves into more globalized, ethnically, and linguistically mixed societies, Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) stages itself as a crucial asset. This fact holds particularly true when it comes to increasingly globalized healthcare academic milieux, where cultivating ICC is crucial for healthcare professionals to interact effectively with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. The present study, employing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design, explored the development of ICC among nursing, as the control group (27 participants), and medical students (32), as the experimental one through explicit ICC training at Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in Zanjan, Iran. Hence, targeted ICC training effectiveness in enhancing the cultural empathy (CE), flexibility (F), social initiative (SI), open-mindedness (OM), and emotional stability (ES) of medical students was investigated employing the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) as a key tool to gauge learners' ICC before and after the training. The findings showed a significant improvement in the participants' all ICC sub-scales, indicating the positive impact of explicit training on the development of CE, F, SI, and OM.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Alghizzi, T. M., & Alshahrani, T. M. (2022). An investigation of multicultural personality traits of EFL learners in English as a medium of instruction setting: The case of Saudi Arabia. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article e1000235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1000235
Alred, G., Byram, M., & Fleming, M. (2020). Intercultural communication: Globalization and social justice (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Bachman, L. F. (2005). Statistical analysis for language assessment (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Bektaş, Y. (2020). The role of multicultural personality traits in predicting psychological adaptation of international students in Turkey. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 21(2), 463-479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-020-00713-1
Bennett, M. J. (1993). Basic concepts of intercultural communication: Selected readings. Intercultural Press.
Bennett, M. J. (2009). Developing intercultural sensitivity: An integrative approach to global and domestic diversity. Intercultural Education, 20(5), 459-478. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980903371272
Bennett, M. J. (2014). Developing intercultural competence through training: A competitive advantage in the global marketplace. International Journal of Training and Development, 18(1), 43-56. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2419.12024
Breugelmans, S. M., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Boendermaker, W. J. (2021). Enhancing open-mindedness through cultural exchange: An experimental study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 81, 151-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.02.005
Burch, F., & Ng, G. (2018). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A cross-cultural study. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1772. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01772
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M. (2020). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence: Revisited. Multilingual Matters.
Chen, G. M., & Starosta, W. J. (2000). Communication competence in intercultural encounters. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24(3-4), 301–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(00)00012-0
Cohen, J. W. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Deardorff, D. K. (2006). The identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315306287002
Deardorff, D. K. (2009). Implementing intercultural competence assessment. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence (pp. 477-491). SAGE Publications.
Deardorff, D. K. (2018). Intercultural competence: A definition, model, and implications for education abroad. In V. Savicki & E. Brewer (Eds.), Assessing study abroad: Theory, tools, and practice (pp. 32-52). Stylus Publishing.
Deardorff, D. K. (2020). Intercultural competence in higher education: International approaches, assessment and application. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003054847
Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2019). The predictive power of multicultural personality traits, learner and teacher variables on foreign language enjoyment and anxiety. Language Teaching Research, 23(5), 640-659. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818795971
Fantini, A. E. (2009). Assessing global competence. The M.A. TESOL Program, School for International Training. Retrieved from https://www.sit.edu
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Field, A. (2017). Discovering statistics using SPSS (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Fitzgerald, H. E., & Kappra, J. (2020). Intercultural competence in social work education: A mixed-methods study of a bridge program. Journal of Social Work Education, 56(2), 265-278. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2020.1732157
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.
Ghorbani, V., & Dowlatabadi, H. R. (2023). Examining the role of language, emotion, and culture as three basic needs in intercultural communication based on Iranian language teachers' viewpoints. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 15(32), 104-125. https://doi.org/10.22034/elt.2023.57251.2549
Godwin-Jones, R. (2019). Intercultural communication and digital spaces. Language Learning & Technology, 23(2), 18–25. https://doi.org/10125/44690
Griffith, C., Shepherd, D., & Woods, C. (2022). Intercultural dialogue and its impact on students’ intercultural attitudes: An experimental study. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 43(5), 395-409. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1944471
Gudykunst, W. B. (2005). Anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory: Current status. In W. B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 281-322). Sage.
Gudykunst, W. B., & Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Cross-cultural and intercultural communication (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Guo, Y., & Qian, Y. (2019). Fostering intercultural competence through community service learning in ESL curriculum. Journal of Service-Learning in Higher Education, 9(1), 1–20.
Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Hu, L., & Kim, K. H. (2015). Cross-cultural validation of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire in Korean and Chinese samples. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 46, 29-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.02.004
Huber-Kriegler, M., Lázár, I., & Strange, J. (2003). Mirrors and windows: An intercultural communication textbook. Council of Europe Publishing.
Jackson, J. (2019). Promoting intercultural communicative competence through reflective practices. Language Teaching Research, 23(6), 725–746. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818760673
Jiang, Y., Garcia, H., & Willis, A. S. (2019). Multicultural personality traits and English language learning: The mediating role of intercultural competence. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(1), 117-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1510362
Kearney, T., Raddats, C., & Qian, L. (2024). Enabling international student engagement through online learning environments. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2024.2413435
Khalili, A., Zohrabi, M., Dobakhti, L. & Gholami, J. (2025). Convenience editing in medical sciences: Professional expertise vis-à-vis linguistic virtuosity. Language Related Research, 16(1), 161-189. https://doi.org/10.29252/LRR.16. 1.7
Khalili, A., Zohrabi, M., Dobakhti, L. & Gholami, J. (2025). Convenience editing in medical sciences: Professional expertise vis-à-vis linguistic virtuosity. Language Related Research, 16(1), 161-189. https://doi.org/10.29252/LRR.16. 1.7
Kim, Y. Y., & Lee, Y. S. (2021). Enhancing multicultural personality in homogeneous settings: The South Korean experience. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 16(2), 105-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/17447143.2021.1926953
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Lázár, I., Huber-Kriegler, M., Lussier, D., Matei, G. S., & Peck, C. (2007). Developing and accessing intercultural communicative competence: A guide for language teachers and teacher educators. Council of Europe.
Leone, L., Van der Zee, K. I., & Van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2018). The importance of multicultural personality traits for predicting the experience of disadvantage among international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 65, 69-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2018.04.002
Lustig, M. W., & Koester, J. (2019). Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures (8th ed.). Pearson.
Malek, M. A., Moghaddam, F. M., & Harre, R. (2020). Developing cultural empathy through sensitivity training: Experimental evidence. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 51(3), 193-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022120985942
Matsuda, A. (2003). Incorporating intercultural communicative competence in language teacher education. ELT Journal, 57(4), 390-399. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/57.4.390
MDPI. (2022). The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (SF-40): Adaptation and validation of the Spanish version. Journal of International and Multicultural Studies, 10(3), 122–140. https://doi.org/10.3390/jims1030122
Miville, M. L., & Ferguson, M. (2009). The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A study of its validity and reliability in a diverse population. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 15(4), 375-382. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016282
Moghaddam, F. M., Harre, R., & Lee, N. (2021). Role-playing exercises in cross-cultural communication: An experimental approach. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 84, 45-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.12.003
Moeller, A. J., & Nugent, K. (2014). Building intercultural competence in the language classroom. Available online at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1160&context=teachlearnfacpub
Murray, N., & Scarino, A. (2020). Teacher intercultural competence: A synthesis of research and practice. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 40, 25–45. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190519000154
Norouzi, N., Amirian, Z., & Amiryousefi, M. (2022). Intercultural communicative competence of Iranian university students studying abroad: Exploring key components. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 14(30), 209-229. https://doi.org/10.22034/ELT.2022.52030.2495
Pallant, J. (2013). SPSS survival manual: A step-by-step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS (5th ed.). Open University Press/McGraw-Hill.
Peacock, M., & Harrison, N. (2018). Developing intercultural communicative competence: A framework for language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 22(2), 123–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816658325
Pedersen, P. B., Pope-Davis, D. B., & Coleman, H. L. K. (2022). Empathy training and its effects on intercultural competence: Experimental findings. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 28(1), 84-93. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000379
Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(5), 751-783. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751
Roberts, B. W., & Mroczek, D. (2008). Personality trait change in adulthood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(1), 31–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00543.x
Roberts, R., Coomber, S., & Sanghera, P. (2019). The role of emotional stability in multicultural competence: An experimental investigation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 50(4), 394-409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022119831427
Sercu, L. (2017). Intercultural competence in foreign language education: Questions of nature, paradigm and assessment. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 30(1), 19-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2016.1238371
Sercu, L., Bandura, E., & Lauridsen, K. M. (2023). Digital simulations in intercultural competence development: An experimental study. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), 32-45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00344-w
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2014). Using multivariate statistics (7th ed.). Pearson Education.
Van der Zee, K. I., & van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2001). Investigation of the structure of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A three-factor model of multicultural effectiveness. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 25(4), 375-397. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(01)00009-0
Van der Zee, K. I., & Van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2013). The multicultural personality questionnaire: A multidimensional approach to intercultural effectiveness. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence (pp. 283-303). Sage Publications.
Van der Zee, K. I., & Van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2022). Social initiative in multicultural contexts: Training effects on proactive intercultural behavior. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 85, 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2022.03.004
Van der Zee, K., & van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2000). The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A multivariate approach to the assessment of multicultural effectiveness. Journal of Research in Personality, 34(3), 321-344. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.2000.2298
Van Hemert, D. A., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Poortinga, Y. H. (2021). Training adaptive strategies for intercultural flexibility: Experimental results. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(3), 428-441. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000530
Ward, C., Bochner, S., & Furnham, A. (2001). The psychology of culture shock (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Weber, M., & Döring, N. (2020). Reflective journaling as a tool for enhancing intercultural awareness: An experimental study. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 53, 22-35. https://doi.org/10.18307/jic20-2021
Wilberschied, L. F. (2015). Intercultural communicative competence: Literature review. Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions, 2(1), Article 4. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cecr/vol2/iss1/4
Ziegler, N., & Moeller, A. J. (2018). Teaching intercultural competence: Examining the impact of instructional intervention on students’ intercultural sensitivity. Foreign Language Annals, 51(3), 601-624. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12362