Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Research in Social Sciences
Year: 2022
DOI:
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Factors Affecting Chinese Students’ Intention to Use Mobile Apps for Intercultural Competence Development
Xiaotian Zhang, Mingming Zhou
ABSTRACT:
This study sought to uncover reasons explaining factors determined learners’ acceptance of intercultural Apps. Individual interviews were conducted with six Chinese university students who interacted with three recommended intercultural Apps. Results of content analysis showed that external factors included (a) good access to technological systems, (b) extensive interaction with mobile Apps, (c) attendance to computer courses, (d) trust sources of advice. App-related factors included (a) high interactivity, (b) user-friendly features, (c) personalized user service, (d) culturally authentic content, (e) up-to-date content, (f) perceived threat to user privacy. Internal factors included (a) lack of foreign language proficiency, and (b) psychological preparedness. In addition, desired competence achieved was reported as a factor that may discontinue their use of an App.
Keywords: Intercultural competence, mobile Apps, technology acceptance.