Article: Assessing intercultural communicative competence: a survey-based needs analysis of Thai university students Journal: International Journal of Innovation and Learning (IJIL) 2026 Vol.40 No.5 pp.1 - 25 Abstract: Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) remains underexplored in Thai EFL university contexts. This study investigated the ICC levels of 159 third-year English-major students at a public university with an aim to identify their intercultural communication needs. A survey questionnaire developed based on Byram's (1997, 2021) ICC model, which demonstrated good reliability (α = 0.81, ω = 0.82), was used in data collection. Students had a high level of ICC across all five components; emotional tasks were the most frequently encountered while knowledge-based tasks were the least frequent but among the most difficult. Explaining their own culture's history or politics to a foreigner was the only item rated as a high-priority need. Online gaming and social media were the most common contexts for intercultural contact; linguistic skills were the most urgent training need. These findings highlight the need for teachers to incorporate more specific learning activities to promote language learners' ICC in addition to language skills. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Assessing intercultural communicative competence: a survey-based needs analysis of Thai university students

Authors: Kamolphan Jangarun

Addresses: Department of Language Sciences and Cultures, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand

Abstract: Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) remains underexplored in Thai EFL university contexts. This study investigated the ICC levels of 159 third-year English-major students at a public university with an aim to identify their intercultural communication needs. A survey questionnaire developed based on Byram's (1997, 2021) ICC model, which demonstrated good reliability (α = 0.81, ω = 0.82), was used in data collection. Students had a high level of ICC across all five components; emotional tasks were the most frequently encountered while knowledge-based tasks were the least frequent but among the most difficult. Explaining their own culture's history or politics to a foreigner was the only item rated as a high-priority need. Online gaming and social media were the most common contexts for intercultural contact; linguistic skills were the most urgent training need. These findings highlight the need for teachers to incorporate more specific learning activities to promote language learners' ICC in addition to language skills.

Keywords: intercultural communicative competence; ICC; needs analysis; Thai university students.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2026.154771

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2026 Vol.40 No.5, pp.1 - 25

Received: 06 Apr 2026
Accepted: 11 May 2026
Published online: 13 Jul 2026 *

Title: Assessing intercultural communicative competence: a survey-based needs analysis of Thai university students

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