Intercultural Teaching Competency of Foreign Language Teachers at a Private University in Guangxi, China: A Needs Assessment Perspective on Structural Characteristics
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This study aimed to investigate the discrepancy between foreign language teachers’ current and desired levels of intercultural teaching competency (ITC), as well as to identify the structural relationships among its dimensions from a needs assessment perspective. Adopting a quantitative research design, data were collected from 138 foreign language teachers at a private university in Guangxi, China, of whom 136 valid responses were included. A structured questionnaire was used to measure both the perceived current and desired levels of ITC. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired-sample t-tests, the Modified Priority Needs Index (PNI Modified), and Pearson correlation analysis. The result of the study found that: 1) Teachers' overall ITC was at a medium level (M=3.34, S.D.=0.49), with both current and desired gaps across dimensions being high level. The largest gap was observed in intercultural teaching reflection (ITR) (PNI Modified=0.467). 2) Significant positive correlations were found among all five dimensions of ITC. In particular, intercultural teaching reflection (ITR) demonstrated strong associations with intercultural teaching knowledge (ITK) (r = .810) and intercultural teaching practice (ITP) (r = .802), suggesting a central and integrative role of reflective competence within the overall structure. 3) Based on gap prioritization and structural relationship analysis, the study constructs a “Progressive Cyclical Integration Model of ITC”, emphasizing the dynamic and cyclical interactions among Intercultural Teaching Beliefs (ITB), Intercultural Teaching Knowledge (ITK), Intercultural Teaching Design (ITD), Intercultural Teaching Practice (ITP), and Intercultural Teaching Reflection (ITR), with ITR playing a central integrative role.
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