Vietnamese EFL Students’ Perspectives on Factors Influencing the Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence

Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Research in Humanities and Social Sciences

Year: 2026

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Vietnamese EFL Students’ Perspectives on Factors Influencing the Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence

Quyen Thuc Chau

ABSTRACT:

In recent years, interest in intercultural communication competence (ICC) has been growing worldwide due to its significant role in enabling individuals to interact effectively and appropriately across cultural boundaries. However, little attention in the existing literature has been given to the crucial factors influencing Vietnamese EFL students’ perspectives on ICC development. Addressing this gap, the present study was conducted at a private university in Vietnam to identify the aspects contributing to students’ ICC development. A mixed-methods approach was employed. A total of 350 3rd year English majored students were asked to participate in this study. A questionnaire was delivered to participants to collect their quantitatively perspectives on ICC development. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were later conducted with 15 students for deeper insights into the personal and contextual factors that affect their learning. The results revealed 3 mains categories, including teacher’s based, learner-based, and learning material-based factors that substantially affected the ICC development of Vietnamese EFL students. Based on these results, pedagogical recommendations have been specified to intentionally integrate cultural components into curriculum design, classroom instruction, and learning materials for effective engagement of tertiary students in intercultural communication competence.

Keywords: Mixed-Methods Inquiry; Cultural Integration in Language Teaching; Intercultural Communication Competence; Students’ Perspectives; Vietnamese Tertiary Education