Assessing Intercultural Competence in the Digital Age: A Chinese Scale Development and Validation

Abstract

For young adults, developing intercultural competence (IC) is essential, yet assessing their needs remains difficult due to a lack of validated instruments. Drawing on Deardorff’s and Byram’s IC models and Ng’s digital skills framework, this study developed the 22-item Chinese Intercultural Competence Scale (CICS) to assess Chinese students’ IC across knowledge, attitudes, skills, and digital dimensions. Developed through four phases—literature-based design, piloting, validation, and replication—the scale demonstrated strong internal consistency and validity through confirmatory factor analysis and face validity checks. By incorporating digital skills, the CICS addresses the increasing need for students to engage effectively in intercultural interactions across online platforms, which are now integral to global education initiatives such as virtual exchange and collaborative online learning. This integration enhances the scale's relevance and distinguishes it from existing tools, offering a practical instrument to help institutions evaluate and strengthen IC development in digitally mediated educational settings.

Keywords

intercultural competence assessment higher education scale development scale validation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Avgousti

M. I.

(2018). Intercultural communicative competence and online exchanges: A systematic review. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 31(8), 819–853. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2018.1455713

Boateng

G. O.

Neilands

T. B.

Frongillo

E. A.

Melgar-Quiñonez

H. R.

Young

S. L.

(2018). Best practices for developing and validating scales for health, social, and behavioral research: A primer. Frontiers in Public Health, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149

Browne

M. W.

Cudeck

(1992). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. Sociological Methods & Research, 21(2), 230–258. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124192021002005

Byram

(2021). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. In Multilingual matters eBooks. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410251

Chen

Gabrenya

W. K.

(2021). In search of cross-cultural competence: A comprehensive review of five measurement instruments. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 82, 37–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.02.003

Chong

Y. H.

Grzymała-Moszczyńska

(2015). The Chinese perspective of intercultural competence models revisited. Journal of Intercultural Management, 7(1), 23–41. https://doi.org/10.1515/joim-2015-0002

Clark

L. A.

Watson

(1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development. Psychological Assessment, 7(3), 309–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.309

Deardorff

D. K.

(2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315306287002

Dervin

(2010). Assessing intercultural competence in language learning and teaching: A critical review of current efforts. New Approaches to Assessment in Higher Education, 5(5), 155–172.

10.

Dervin

(2014). Exploring “new” interculturality online. Language and Intercultural Communication, 14(2), 191–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.896923

11.

Dooly

Darvin

(2022). Intercultural communicative competence in the digital age: Critical digital literacy and inquiry-based pedagogy. Language and Intercultural Communication, 22(3), 354–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2022.2063304

12.

Gregersen-Hermans

, & Lauridsen, K. M. (Eds.). (2021). Internationalising programmes in higher education: An educational development perspective. Routledge.

13.

Griffith

R. L.

Wolfeld

Armon

B. K.

Rios

Liu

O. L.

(2016). Assessing intercultural competence in higher education: Existing research and future directions. ETS Research Report Series, 2016(2), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12112

14.

Hamid

M. R. A.

Sami

Sidek

M. H. M.

(2017). Discriminant validity assessment: Use of Fornell & Larcker criterion versus HTMT criterion. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 890, 012163. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/890/1/012163

15.

Helm

Guth

(2010). The multifarious goals of telecollaboration 2.0: Theoretical and practical implications. In Guth

Helm

(Eds.), Telecollaboration 2.0: Language and intercultural learning in the 21st century (pp. 13–35). Peter Lang.

16.

Hinkin

T. R.

Tracey

J. B.

Enz

C. A.

(1997). Scale construction: Developing reliable and valid measurement instruments. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 21(1), 100–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/109634809702100108

17.

Bentler

P. M.

(1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

18.

(2012). Can we teach digital natives digital literacy? Computers and Education/Computers & Education, 59(3), 1065–1078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.04.016

19.

Paran

Sercu

(Eds.). (2010). Testing the untestable in language education (Vol. 17). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692672

20.

Peifer

J. S.

Meyer-Lee

Taasoobshirazi

(2023). Developmental pathways to intercultural competence in college students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 27(2), 257–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/10283153211052778

21.

Peng

Fan

(2015). A comprehensive evaluation of Chinese college students’ intercultural competence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 47, 143–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.04.003

22.

Sercu

(2004). Assessing intercultural competence: A framework for systematic test development in foreign language education and beyond. Intercultural Education, 15(1), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/1467598042000190004

23.

Sercu

(2010). 2. Assessing intercultural competence: More questions than answers. In Multilingual matters eBooks (pp. 17–34). https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692672-004

24.

Sercu

(2022). Internationalization at home as a factor affecting intercultural competence. A study among Belgian university students. European Journal of Higher Education, 13(4), 536–557. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2094815

25.

Sinicrope

Norris

Watanabe

(2007). Understanding and assessing intercultural competence: A summary of theory, research, and practice (technical report for the foreign language program evaluation project).

26.

Spitzberg

B. H.

Changnon

(2009). Conceptualizing intercultural competence. In The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence (pp. 2–52). SAGE.

27.

Fan

Peng

(2013). 中国大学生跨文化能力维度及评价量表分析 [An analysis of the assessment tools for Chinese college students’ intercultural communicative competence]. *Waiguo Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu*, 45(4), 581–592.

28.

Zhang

(2022). 跨文化外语教育新发展研究 [Research on new developments in intercultural foreign language education]. Tsinghua University Press.

29.

Zhong

Bai

Fan

(2013). 中国大学生跨文化交际能力自测量表构建的先导研究 [A pilot study on the construction of a self-assessment scale for intercultural communication competence of Chinese college students]. *Waiyu Jie*, 3(3), 47–56.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.02 MB