Self-reported intercultural communication competence in a Chinese international high school

Abstract

International high schools in mainland China are important pre-mobility settings, but evidence on students’ intercultural communication competence (ICC) remains limited. This study examined the profile of self-reported ICC and its associations with selected contextual indicators in one international high school in Suzhou, China. Guided by the Unity of Knowledge and Practice model, we conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study. A preliminary teacher consultation informed the selection of five contextual indicators; we did not analyse it as a qualitative dataset. We analysed valid responses from 210 mainland Chinese students using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, group comparisons, and multiple regression. Because the six dimensions contained different numbers of items, we compared their profiles using item means. Among the six dimensions, mean item scores were highest for intercultural communication attitude and strategies, and lowest for intercultural knowledge. The six-dimensional measurement structure received partial and mixed support. International exchange experience and students’ reports of teachers’ overseas backgrounds were associated with the composite score and several dimensions, whereas gender showed sample-specific associations. The models explained modest proportions of outcome variation, and the communication-skills model was not statistically significant. The findings provided context-specific evidence of multidimensional self-reported ICC prior to overseas university entry, but they did not establish causal effects or directly observe competence.