INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AT PAN AFRICAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE FOR BASIC SCIENCES, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Purpose: The objective was to determine the impact of inter-cultural communication competence on academic performance of postgraduate international students at PAUSTI, Kenya. Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive study design. The target population was PAUSTI international students hosted at JKUAT. The study considered 240 postgraduate international student who form 80% of the total postgraduate students at PAUSTI. A questionnaire was employed in this study to gather primary data. The study used both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The information was analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) Version 21 computer software. Frequency, mean, standard deviation, variance, R square, t-tests, F-tests and Analysis of Variance were used to analyse the data. The study results were presented in tables and graphs Findings: The study found out that academic performance factors relating to developed positive interpersonal relationships with others,  ppositive response to culturally different counterparts during interactions, knowing what to say when interacting with people from other cultures and asking whenever one encounter anything that she or he doesn't understand or when he or she lack the necessary cultural knowledge, a clear understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of a culture in relation to history, values, beliefs and practise were the most prevalent effects of PAUSTI international students. There is a significant relationship between inter-cultural knowledge, inter-cultural attitude, inter-cultural communication skills, inter-cultural awareness and academic performance among international postgraduate students at PAUSTI. Unique contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study therefore recommends that the findings be used to fashion policies in the institutions of higher learning to put structures in place that promotes development of inter-cultural communication competence as this affects   academic performance for international students