The level of intercultural communicative competence of Saudi Postgraduates in the UK and KSA (Comparative Study)

Abstract

This doctoral thesis presents a longitudinal, comparative and mixed methods investigation of the level of intercultural communicative competence (ICC hereafter) of a Saudi sample of postgraduate students undertaking one-year taught MA degrees in English Language and Linguistics at universities in the UK and the KSA (N = 82). It also considered whether students’ study abroad motivations (SAM hereafter) influenced their ICC. Despite a considerable body of empirical research assessing students’ ICC abroad and at home, comparative mixed methods studies are rare. Furthermore, the association between SAM and ICC is seldom discussed. Therefore, the current study combined a quantitative questionnaire based approach with a qualitative interview-based approach. The quantitative element explored the associations between a set of contributory factors (gender, prior overseas experience, occupational status, motivations to study abroad). The qualitative element was designed to monitor students’ self-reported level of ICC relative to their intercultural experiences. Data-collection took place over 8 months in three stages: Stage one (September-October) was a self-report survey to elucidate the students’ ICC and SAM; after which interviews (N = 16 volunteer participants) followed. Stage two (February) involved a second wave of interviews with the same participants. Stage three had been intended to take place at the end of the taught component (July), however, due to the potential impact of Covid-19 social restrictions on the participants’ ICC this was put forward to April/early May. For this third stage, the participants were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire to assess their ICC at the end of the academic year; they were then interviewed. The study revealed the malleability and dynamic nature of ICC, and revealed how the participants’ ICC had evolved in their 9 months in the UK, contrasting it with the cohort who studied at home. An association between the participants’ SAM and their ICC was found.