This qualitative study examines how Chinese EFL teachers position their identities when teaching Intercultural Communication (IC), an interdisciplinary subject. With data collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis of three experienced EFL teachers at Chinese universities, thematic analysis revealed: (1) Teachers adopt strategic roles as “organizers,” “guides,” “transmitters,” and “midwives” in IC pedagogy; (2) Their identity evolution progresses from casual taster to IC promoter, apprentice to independent practitioner, and student to creative professional; (3) Sustained IC teaching expands their identities beyond EFL teachers to encompass IC instructors, learners, and researchers. Findings highlight a reciprocal relationship between IC expertise development and identity formation, with pedagogical growth shaping identity and vice versa. The study offers insights for EFL teacher development in intercultural education and specialized content teaching contexts.

Intercultural competence (IC) is a vital capability in higher education, yet limited opportunities for authentic intercultural interaction in many Asian EFL contexts constrain its development. This study examined the effectiveness of a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-integrated Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum in enhancing IC among Taiwanese university students. The intervention combined global problem-solving activities with virtual peer feedback on Virsody, a web-based 3D exhibition platform that supports intercultural exchange. Using a mixed-methods design, 107 participants completed the Intercultural Competence Scale (ICS) at three time points, and 23 students participated in semi-structured interviews. Repeated-measures ANOVA results revealed significant improvements in students’ IC scores, while qualitative findings indicated that anonymous virtual peer feedback promoted reflection, empathy, and openness to diverse perspectives. The integration of SDGs (content), PBL (process), and Virsody (medium) operationalized IC development through collaborative, experiential, and technology-enhanced learning. The study contributed to intercultural education theory by demonstrating how sustainability-oriented and digitally mediated pedagogies can foster measurable intercultural growth. Practically, it offers a replicable model for incorporating global citizenship education into EFL curricula through authentic, reflective, and collaborative learning experiences.

Integrating intercultural activities in English language textbooks that foster intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is crucial for promoting global awareness and tolerance in young learners. However, previous studies have identified persistent gaps in ICC representation, especially in textbooks designed for international use. In the context of Indonesia’s Kurikulum Merdeka, which highlights global diversity as one of the Profil Pelajar Pancasila values, ICC integration becomes essential. This study investigates how ICC is reflected and to what extent it is integrated in an internationally published English textbook for Grade 1 students in Indonesia, Explore English Stage 1. A content analysis design was adopted, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. A modified ICC checklist, adapted from Byram and Masuhara (2013), consisting of 19 indicators across four components, Knowledge, Awareness, Attitudes, and Skills, was applied. The findings indicate that the intercultural content is limited, with only 8 indicators appearing across all 58 pages. The overall ICC presence reached 60.34%, categorized as Moderate Integration based on Mishan and Kiss’s (2024) adapted scale. Moreover, the analysis of illustrations, character names, situational contexts, and classroom activities shows that the textbook mainly features observable cultural elements without fostering deeper reflection or intercultural awareness. These results align with previous research, suggesting that English textbooks often meet linguistic goals while overlooking intercultural dimensions. Therefore, textbook developers are encouraged to incorporate more explicit exposure to diverse cultures to meet curriculum expectations better and support the development of ICC in young learners.

The present study explores cultural and linguistic aspects of diversity in the context of universities with English-medium instruction (EMI) in Arabic-dominant Kuwait. As with other Arabian Gulf countries today, Kuwait is experiencing a rise of linguistic and cultural diversity not only due to the use of English as a lingua franca by the multi-ethnic, multilingual society, but also because of the adoption of EMI in higher education. The present study focuses on multilingualism at EMI universities in Kuwait and the impact of cultural and linguistic diversity on the educational process. The mixed-method approach combines a survey with undergraduate Kuwaiti students (N = 483) and semi-structured interviews with international faculty (N = 11) at two EMI universities in Kuwait. The survey results indicate that young Kuwaiti bilinguals regularly engage in multilingual interactions characterized by fluid use of multiple languages both within the educational environment and at home. The patterns emerging from interviews with educators indicate that pedagogical approaches in a range of academic fields also reflect linguistic and cultural diversity in the context of higher education with EMI in Kuwait.

Intercultural contact (IC), affording interactions between individuals from different cultures, should be an accessible goal in promoting intercultural (communicative) competence (ICC) in additional language learning context. IC happened either directly through in-person interaction or indirectly through exposure to cultural elements such as media. This study explored ways of direct and indirect IC, the levels of ICC, and their dynamic association. Data were collected from 425 participants at a Chinese university with an IC-ICC survey. Results revealed limited availability of direct in-person intercultural contact and a moderate level of ICC, with indirect IC being the primary means. The interplay between IC and ICC were reciprocal. Based on Byram’s (2021) model of ICC components, in the present study direct contact through intercultural activities within the home country and online written exchange on social media predicted the variance of knowledge of self and others, as well as skills of discovery. Indirect contact through personal connections and media, influenced intercultural attitudes and awareness, as well as skills of interaction and interpretation. Indirect contact through reading only enhanced knowledge of other cultures, while general English and cultural courses demonstrated no significant effects on ICC. Conversely, higher ICC facilitated IC, with knowledge of other cultures emerging as a particularly influential predictor of both direct and indirect IC, while intercultural attitudes mainly had an impact on indirect IC. The findings of this study highlighted the importance of indirect intercultural contact in the development of intercultural competence and the virtuous cycle of IC and ICC development.

This article focuses on one example of intercultural musicking (IcM) - when mostly non-Jewish music students experience unfamiliar methods to learn to perform klezmer which for most of them is an unfamiliar music culture - and the value later attached to this experience. We briefly introduce klezmer as a music culture and our teaching of it. We then describe the combination of visual and narrative methods - also unfamiliar to participants - which we used to explore former students’ experience of performing klezmer. We discuss illustrative data from these ensemble alumni. We review our learning from this alumni-based practice-evaluation study regarding student development of transmusicality and intercultural personhood. We conclude with our insights into the use of visual and narrative methods in exploring the value of intercultural music education.

With the intensification of globalisation and international exchange, intercultural communicative ability has become a focal point in English as a foreign language education in Chinese secondary schools. However, recent studies have indicated that the developmental construct of intercultural awareness is sometimes conflated with intercultural communicative competence. This leads to ambiguity in defining appropriate learning objectives. Using a sequential explanatory research design, this study surveyed 200 learners, followed by an interview with three learners. Questionnaire data were summarised using descriptive statistics, and thematic coding was used for analysing the interview transcripts. The results indicate that learners have positive attitudes towards cultural diversity (mean = 4.12) but fairly poor cultural knowledge (mean = 2.73) and low behavioural engagement (mean = 2.45). The thematic analysis highlights three barriers: a persistent grammar–translation orientation reinforced by exam pressure, fragmented “culture bites” offering little communicative value and showcase lessons disconnected from daily practice. The results highlight a disconnect between what the national curriculum aspires to achieve and what actually happens in classrooms. The material should include dialogue and recommendation-based materials and need to be supplemented with reflective journals and performance-based tasks to enable reflection and to promote aspects of authentic cultural interaction. Thus, it can enhance the development of intercultural awareness and provide some practical implications for promoting intercultural learning in Chinese secondary education.

Globalization has increased the demand for English proficiency and intercultural competence. However, English instruction in Indonesia often focuses on grammar and vocabulary, with limited emphasis on cultural understanding. Although AI tools are commonly used to support language learning, their potential to promote intercultural learning remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate how Indonesian EFL students use AI-powered conversational agents to explore cultural perspectives and what cultural insights they gain. The research employed a descriptive phenomenological design involving 15 undergraduate students from five regions in Indonesia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. The results showed that students moved from retrieving simple cultural facts to engaging in deeper conversations that supported reflection and critical thinking. They described AI as a non-judgmental partner that allowed them to ask sensitive cultural questions. The students learned to distinguish between surface-level cultural practices and deeper values. They also habitually questioned AI-generated content and verified it through other sources. This process helped them build critical AI literacy. The findings suggest that AI tools can support intercultural learning if used with guidance. Teachers are encouraged to design activities that help students reflect on cultural content and develop critical awareness during AI interaction.

In the context of globalisation, classrooms have become meeting places for learners from an increasing variety of backgrounds. Intercultural education, anchored in many national curricula, is considered a key approach to doing justice to this growing plurality among students. In relation to fostering learners’ intercultural (communicative) competence, language education plays a particularly important role. As textbooks determine much of the current teaching practice, it is vital to examine what kind of intercultural student engagement they can promote. While existing research has largely focused on cultural representations, less is known about how language activities support intercultural learning. This paper reports on a study that examined 897 activities included in the three most widely used Austrian English as foreign language (EFL) textbooks, based on a specifically developed 21-item criteria catalogue. Dichotomous coding was applied, allowing for individual and overall conclusions about the textbooks’ potential for intercultural learning. The findings indicate that, beyond frequent references to regional studies and occasional prompts for self-reflection, implementation remains limited and tends to be superficial. Unexpectedly, the oldest textbook in the sample demonstrated the strongest integration of intercultural learning. However, the consistently rare engagement with difference, prejudice, and ethnocentricity across all three textbooks underscores the urgent need for a more future-oriented and equity-focused revision of EFL materials.

This paper presents research on the potential of classroom dialogues to facilitate greater intercultural communication between undergraduate home students in the UK studying Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) and Master’s level students from China. The project put both cohorts together to discuss culture-related topics in Mandarin Chinese. Nine CFL students and 18 international students from China participated in the study. Five meetings were arranged, with the discussions being led by the students. The data collection includes videos of the group discussions and recordings of individual student reflections obtained after each discussion. Byram’s intercultural competence framework was used to analyse the data. The findings indicate that social interaction enables the participants to demonstrate intercultural competence in several dimensions (attitudes, knowledge and skills of discovery and interaction), with skills of interpreting and relating and critical cultural awareness being more limited. The reflections also showed that the participants expressed varying degrees of anxiety about the discussion. CFL students reported their foreign language anxiety, and Chinese students were mainly concerned about potential prejudice against China. Intracultural competence was also discussed in this study.