{"title":"Explaining the relationships among components of intercultural competence: A structural equation modelling approach","authors":"Qing Wang , Timothy Teo","doi":"10.1016/j.ijintrel.2024.101953","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This large-scale study aims to test Byram’s model of intercultural competence (IC) (1997) and examine the relationships among the five IC components – attitudes, knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness. Although different IC models have been put forward each year, little empirical effort has been made to validate the theoretic IC models. The current study thus intends to fill the gap in the literature by testing Byram’s model and examining the relationships among the model’s components. Data were collected from 2599 students enrolled in 11 Chinese universities and colleges. Structural equation modelling was employed, and the reliability and validity of the research model were tested. The results indicated that 53% of the variance in critical cultural awareness was explained by attitudes and skills. Individuals’ attitudes significantly influenced their skills of discovery and interaction, while knowledge significantly influenced their skills of interpreting and relating. In addition, an individual’s cultural knowledge is not directly associated with their critical cultural awareness. This study provides implications for IC cultivation in foreign language teaching in the Chinese higher education context.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48216,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Intercultural Relations","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147176724000221","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This large-scale study aims to test Byram’s model of intercultural competence (IC) (1997) and examine the relationships among the five IC components – attitudes, knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness. Although different IC models have been put forward each year, little empirical effort has been made to validate the theoretic IC models. The current study thus intends to fill the gap in the literature by testing Byram’s model and examining the relationships among the model’s components. Data were collected from 2599 students enrolled in 11 Chinese universities and colleges. Structural equation modelling was employed, and the reliability and validity of the research model were tested. The results indicated that 53% of the variance in critical cultural awareness was explained by attitudes and skills. Individuals’ attitudes significantly influenced their skills of discovery and interaction, while knowledge significantly influenced their skills of interpreting and relating. In addition, an individual’s cultural knowledge is not directly associated with their critical cultural awareness. This study provides implications for IC cultivation in foreign language teaching in the Chinese higher education context.
期刊介绍:
IJIR is dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of theory, practice, and research in intergroup relations. The contents encompass theoretical developments, field-based evaluations of training techniques, empirical discussions of cultural similarities and differences, and critical descriptions of new training approaches. Papers selected for publication in IJIR are judged to increase our understanding of intergroup tensions and harmony. Issue-oriented and cross-discipline discussion is encouraged. The highest priority is given to manuscripts that join theory, practice, and field research design. By theory, we mean conceptual schemes focused on the nature of cultural differences and similarities.