A peer-reviewed research journal Journal of Intercultural Communication published since 1999 – ISSN 1404-1634 Founding Editor: Prof. Jens Allwood View Editorial Board | Article Processing Charge (APC) The Journal of Intercultural Communication (JICC) is an international, double-blind, peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by ICR Publications Ltd, UK ↗. The journal encourages submissions from diverse cultural and intercultural and communication perspectives, welcoming original research, theoretical and experimental studies, systematic reviews, conceptual essays, and case studies […] Read more ↗ Journal Metrics ? Understand Journal Metrics › 2.5 CiteScore (2025) 20% Acceptance Rate 7 days Submission to First Decision 1–2 months Peer Review Time 4 months Submission to Publication Indexed in Scopus, WOS RC, EBSCO, Proquest, ERA Q1 SJR Journal Ranking 0.804 SNIP Score (2025) View all metrics >
This journal provides immediate and free open access to all its content and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as proper attribution is given. This policy is consistent with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access.
Forced-Migrant Women’s Intercultural Communicative Competency Development in German as a Second Language
The development of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) has become a central component of successful second language (L2) use and social participation for all L2 learners. This is especially relevant for minoritized groups and forced migrants (i.e., refugees), as the social spaces they navigate produce challenges that traditional L2 learners may not face, and the stakes for their ability to effectively communicate are extremely high, including accessing food, medical care, and housing, and understanding their rights and responsibilities in a brand new environment. For these learners, appropriate communication is an existential feature of life. This study investigates how the development of ICC among forced migrant women living in Germany influenced the success of their interactions with German speakers. Data were collected within the framework of the InQua – Integrative Qualifikation für Frauen als Multiplikatorinnen project through surveys that examined participants’ ability to navigate everyday communicative tasks and to reflect on the impact of their growing cultural knowledge of German society. The findings indicate that increased cultural awareness and its integration into communicative strategies improved interactional outcomes, enabling participants to achieve their communicative goals. The results underscore the importance of ICC development as a critical resource for migrants’ language learning, integration, and social participation.
Copyright (c) 2026 Bohdana Heick (Labinska), Daniel Walter https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Graduation in Editorials: Force and Focus in Saudi and American Persuasive Discourse
This study presents a contrastive analysis of the Graduation subsystem within Appraisal Theory, examining the strategic deployment of Force and Focus resources in newspaper editorials from two sociocultural contexts: Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat, Arabic) and the United States (The New York Times, English). While existing Appraisal research has largely emphasized Attitude and Engagement, the role of Graduation in shaping persuasive discourse remains insufficiently explored, particularly in cross-cultural media contexts. To address this gap, the study adopts a qualitative-dominated mixed-methods design, analyzing a corpus of 30 editorials (15 Saudi Arabic and 15 American English) published between 2024 and 2025. Quantitative analysis is conducted using normalized frequencies and Mann–Whitney U tests to identify statistically significant differences, while qualitative discourse analysis is employed to interpret the rhetorical functions of these resources. The findings reveal a systematic divergence in evaluative scaling strategies across the two corpora. Saudi editorials exhibit a Force-dominant profile, characterized by intensification and expansive quantification that amplify collective narratives and reinforce institutional legitimacy. In contrast, American editorials demonstrate a Focus-dominant profile, relying on sharpening and precise quantification to construct categorical clarity and support adversarial accountability. These differences are statistically significant and indicate distinct patterns of persuasive calibration. The study concludes that evaluative scaling operates as a context-sensitive, institutionally situated rhetorical mechanism shaped by the interaction among media ideology, genre conventions, and sociocultural orientations. By foregrounding the Graduation subsystem, this research advances Appraisal Theory and refines cross-cultural discourse analysis. Furthermore, it provides practical implications for translation studies, media literacy, and intercultural communication by highlighting the importance of recalibrating evaluative strategies across linguistic and cultural contexts.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Alzahrani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Negotiating Cultural Values in Pesantren as Islamic Educational Institutions: A Case Study from Eastern Indonesia
The Publisher [1] has retracted this article in agreement with the Editor-in-Chief. Upon investigation, we identified serious concerns regarding the integrity of the submission and the reliability of the publication record. Specifically, the journal found serious irregularities in the supporting documentation submitted for the article, including materials concerning institutional verification and ethical approval that could not be accepted as authentic. The review also identified serious concerns regarding authorship changes that appeared to involve authorship-for-sale issues and unresolved issues relating to image rights and permissions. In addition, when the authors were asked to provide copyright documentation for images included in the article, the images were replaced rather than the requested documentation being supplied. Taken together, these matters led the journal to conclude that it can no longer maintain confidence in the integrity of the submission and the publication record associated with this article. For this reason, the article is hereby retracted. We regret that these issues were not identified during the standard quality-control procedures. We have since implemented additional editorial safeguards and strengthened verification checks to ensure the highest standards of research integrity. The corresponding author, acting on behalf of all listed authors, was given the opportunity to state their agreement or disagreement with this retraction. We have kept a formal record of all responses received. This retraction is issued in accordance with the COPE Retraction Guidelines and forms part of ICR Publications’ commitment to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record. The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v26i1.1258
Copyright (c) 2026 ICRP Editorial Office https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Education as a Strategic Domain of National Security Culture in the Information Age: A Qualitative Scoping Review
National security culture has emerged as an important factor shaping state behavior in contemporary international relations. In the current geopolitical environment, culture increasingly functions as a dimension of warfare and of national security, including information security. Drawing on a qualitative scoping review and grounded-theory-informed coding within a constructivist framework, this article examines the role of culture in the formation of nation-states’ security visions and behaviors, with particular attention to education as a mediating domain in these processes. The analysis shows that security-related patterns are increasingly embedded in educational discourses, while education itself is evolving into a distinct site of ideological formation that influences the broader culture of national and information security. Particular attention is given to identity, the securitization of education, and the risks associated with this process, including over-securitization, constraints on academic openness, and vulnerabilities within higher education and distance-learning environments. The article also proposes a conceptualization of the securitization landscape as contributing to the emergence of an inertia-based self-developing system in education. The study contributes to the literature by advancing the understanding of education as an underexplored yet strategically important domain of national security culture in the information age.
Copyright (c) 2026 Olena Makarchuk, Olena Нrechanovska, Liudmyla Hetmanenko, Viktor Rovnyi, Nina Petrukha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Emotional Culture, Communication Climate, and Creative Idea Withholding: A Curvilinear Perspective
Creative idea withholding constitutes a significant yet insufficiently examined obstacle to organizational innovation, as unexpressed ideas cannot be evaluated or implemented. Although previous research has generally depicted emotional environments as uniformly advantageous for creativity and voice, recent perspectives indicate that emotional norms may also restrict expression by fostering self-censorship. Drawing on emotional culture theory, the present study investigates how shared norms of emotional expression influence employees’ intentional withholding of creative ideas and introduces a curvilinear framework to reconcile these divergent views. Survey data from 451 employees in Islamic banking institutions in South Punjab, Pakistan, supplemented by contextual information from managers, were analyzed using a moderated curvilinear model in Mplus. The findings reveal a U-shaped relationship, with creative idea withholding being highest when emotional culture is either weak or excessively strong, and lowest at moderate levels. Furthermore, the communication climate was found to moderate the relationship between emotional culture and creative idea withholding. By reframing creativity from a cognitive capability to a strategic behavioral choice, this study advances emotional culture theory, extends research on voice and silence, and underscores the paradoxical influence of emotional norms on the expression or suppression of creative ideas. The results suggest that organizations should foster balanced emotional cultures that support emotional norms without imposing excessive pressure for conformity. Additionally, the importance of open and dialogic communication practices in mitigating employees’ tendency to withhold creative ideas is emphasized.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Adeel, Sajid Mohy-ud-din, Kaleem Ahmed, Kamel Dhay https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Intercultural Sensitivity Among In-Service Teachers in Greece: A Nationwide Survey Using the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale
This study aims to examine the intercultural sensitivity (IS) of in-service teachers in Greece by providing a nationwide profile across the five dimensions of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS). Addressing a gap in previous Greek research, which has largely focused on pre-service teachers, specific specializations, or geographically limited samples, the study investigates whether Greek teachers’ intercultural sensitivity is balanced across dimensions and how selected demographic factors relate to their IS levels. Methodologically, the study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 409 in-service teachers working in primary and secondary education across all 13 administrative regions of Greece, using the ISS and a supplementary demographic questionnaire. The findings revealed that teachers reported a generally high level of overall intercultural sensitivity. However, the dimensional analysis indicated a clear values–confidence imbalance: participants scored highest on Respect for Cultural Differences but lowest on Interaction Confidence. This suggests that, although teachers demonstrate strong positive attitudes toward cultural diversity, they report comparatively lower confidence in managing intercultural interactions. Furthermore, postgraduate qualifications and non-urban residency were associated with higher levels of intercultural sensitivity, while other demographic variables showed more limited or inconsistent effects. The study concludes that Greek in-service teachers possess a strong affective foundation for intercultural education, but practical interactional confidence remains less developed. These findings imply that teacher training and professional development should move beyond reinforcing positive attitudes and place greater emphasis on experiential, skills-based approaches that strengthen teachers’ confidence and effectiveness in culturally diverse classrooms.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ioannis Karras, Ioannis Themelis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Destination Image, Cultural Intelligence, and Tourist Loyalty: Insights From a Tunisian Ecotourism Destinatio
This research aims to investigate the structural mechanisms underlying tourist loyalty in emerging ecotourism destinations. Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, it examines how cognitive and affective dimensions of destination image influence loyalty intentions, while exploring the mediating role of cultural intelligence. A quantitative design was deployed, based on a survey of 720 ecotourists in Tunisia, with Structural Equation Modeling used to test the hypothetical relationships. The empirical analysis confirms that while both image dimensions promote loyalty, cognitive image appears to be an important predictor of cultural intelligence. Results demonstrate that cultural intelligence serves as a significant partial mediator, linking knowledge-based perceptions of the local context to loyalty intentions. Contrary to approaches prioritizing pure emotion, this study reveals that ecotourism loyalty is strongly dependent on cultural learning processes. For Destination Marketing Organizations, these findings suggest placing greater emphasis on cognitive positioning within existing destination marketing strategies. Strategies must invest in strengthening the cognitive image through rich educational content (traditions, ecology, local norms) and active learning experiences that foster cultural adaptation. Developing visitors' cultural intelligence thus constitutes a lever for competitive differentiation and sustainable loyalty. This research offers a threefold contribution to tourism marketing literature. First, it extends destination image theory by validating cultural intelligence as a psychological mediator that clarifies the perception-behavior relationship. Second, it repositions cultural intelligence as a dynamic, situational capability shaped by tourist experience. Finally, it fills an empirical gap by validating the SOR framework in a North African context, providing contextual legitimacy for sustainable tourism theories in emerging destinations.
Copyright (c) 2026 Malek Kohli, Sameh SKHIRI, Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih, Ahmed. E. Abu Elnasr https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Language Anxiety as a Perceived Central Factor in ESL Speaking Difficulties: A Mixed-Methods Study of Low-Proficiency Undergraduates
This study, grounded in a mixed-methods framework, examines the hindrances affecting the speaking skills of low-proficiency ESL undergraduates at a public university, with a specific focus on the perceived role of language anxiety. The study collected quantitative data by using a well-structured questionnaire, whereas qualitative insights were captured through semi-structured interviews to examine learners’ reported classroom experiences. Speaking proficiency has long been a persistent challenge, given its importance for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, who need extended exposure yet have limited opportunities within formal language instruction, particularly in non-Anglophone higher education contexts. Descriptive statistical analysis indicated that psychological factors, especially presentation anxiety, fear of making mistakes, and low speaking self-confidence, were reported as key barriers alongside classroom-related and linguistic challenges. The thematic analysis of the interview data further suggested that English-only instructional approaches, teacher-dominated pedagogical practices, linguistic insecurity, and crowded classrooms were perceived to heighten learners’ anxiety and reduce their readiness or willingness to communicate. From a pedagogical perspective, the current study highlights the significance of affectively sensitive teaching strategies, including carefully scaffolded collaborative interaction, helpful feedback, and flexible language use, for developing communicative self-confidence.
Copyright (c) 2026 Misbah Shahid, Muhammad Zammad Aslam, Rabia Mahmood, Shaidatul Akma Adi Kasuma https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Speech Acts of Suggestion in Social Media Communication: A Pragmatic Analysis of Instagram Comments
This study examines the use of suggestion speech acts in Instagram comments, with particular attention to how Saudi EFL users demonstrate pragmatic competence in digital communication. Drawing on Martínez Flor’s taxonomy of suggestion strategies, the study analyzes 103 suggestion-oriented comments selected from an initial dataset of 150 Instagram comments. A mixed-methods design was adopted: qualitative analysis was used to classify suggestion strategies into direct, conventionalized, and indirect forms, while quantitative frequency analysis was applied to identify their distribution across the dataset. The findings show that indirect strategies were the most frequently used, accounting for 40 instances, followed by conventionalized forms (33) and direct strategies (30). At the sub-strategy level, impersonal constructions were the most dominant form, indicating users’ preference for mitigating imposition and reducing face-threatening effects in online interaction. The qualitative analysis further reveals that Instagram users employ suggestions not only to advise or recommend actions but also to express critique, negotiate social distance, and maintain politeness in public digital discourse. The study contributes to research on interlanguage pragmatics and computer-mediated communication by showing how suggestion speech acts are shaped by platform-based interaction, sociocultural norms, and digital politeness practices. However, the findings should be interpreted within the limits of the selected dataset and the specific Instagram context examined.
Copyright (c) 2026 Sami Saad Alghamdi, Dhaif Alzahrani, Muhammad Akbar Khan, Asad Ali https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Experiences and Agency of South African Black Rural Women of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa
This article seeks to highlight the experiences and agency of KwaZulu-Natal women through the theoretical lenses of African Feminism and the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA), foregrounding intersectional dynamics of gender, class, and rurality. The paper explores how rural women negotiate structural poverty, climate vulnerability, gender inequality, and socio-cultural constraints while exercising agency in livelihood strategies. Hence, it focuses on rural women’s ability to survive in environments beset by poverty and limited resources, and deems this laudable. The study adopted a qualitative approach and was guided by a phenomenological research design. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with eighteen (18) participants who were purposively selected. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings reveal that rural women articulate diverse self-definitions and community roles shaped by intersecting socio-economic and environmental factors, and that climate change exacerbates livelihood insecurity, gendered labour burdens, and resource scarcity. The findings also revealed that although climate change negatively affected rural women, they demonstrated agency through collective and individual livelihood strategies, including stokvel participation, informal women’s credit clubs, craft and agricultural micro-enterprises, and adaptive water-harvesting practices. The study contributes empirically to African feminist scholarship by illustrating how rural women’s agency is embedded in relational, communal, and ecological contexts, and extends the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach by integrating feminist insights on power, patriarchy, and gendered resource access. Policy implications include the need for gender-responsive rural development, support for climate adaptation, and recognition of informal women-led economic institutions in national development planning.
Copyright (c) 2026 Thenjiwe Meyiwa, Thabisile Bellinda Maphumulo, Madoda Cekiso https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Multifunctionality of mʕliʃ in Jordanian Arabic: A Discourse-Pragmatic Perspective
The present study explored the pragmatic functions of Mʕliʃ in Jordanian Arabic. The data consisted of 175 tokens of Mʕliʃ compiled from naturally occurring interactions among speakers in the sample. The objective of the present research was to investigate the pragmatic functions of Mʕliʃ through a qualitative discourse-analytic approach, supported by descriptive quantitative analysis. Findings revealed that the Jordanian speakers in the sample utilized this discourse marker to perform 11 pragmatic functions: reassurance, politeness marker of requests, consolation, apology, disapproval, disagreement, asking for permission, conflict-calming, threat-making, turn-taking, and conversational closing. The data also showed that some functions, such as consolation, politeness markers of request, reassurance, and apology, were produced more frequently than others (e.g., disapproval and disagreement), which may reflect broader cultural values of harmony, solidarity, tolerance, and empathy. The study also suggests a possible association between gender and the distribution of these functions. The study indicates that women tended to use Mʕliʃ to perform politeness and supportive functions more than men did. Using a three-domain framework (facework-oriented functions, interactional management functions, and stance-marking and evaluative functions), the analysis of the research outcomes demonstrates that Mʕliʃ serves as a multifunctional pragmatic marker and that its interpretation depends on the situation or context.
Copyright (c) 2026 Murad Al Kayed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Perceived Expressive Reduction in German: Identity, Affect, and Social Relations among Highly Educated Hungarian Migrant Women in Vienna
This article examines how highly educated Hungarian migrant women living in Vienna perceive the differences between the expressive possibilities available to them in Hungarian and the communicative possibilities they experience in German and how these differences relate to their identity, emotions, social relationships, and tendencies toward self-segregation. The study is based on a qualitative secondary discourse analysis of 25 anonymised in-depth interviews collected in 2023 as part of a broader research project on women’s social and labour market integration involving participants with self-reported German proficiency of at least B2 level. The results identify three recurring patterns. Women often associate the German language with feelings of shame, insecurity, and an inability to express themselves. In the participants’ narratives, this experience is linked to identity-related tensions, a diminished sense of competence, and a subjective loss of status. Ultimately, these experiences are associated with more selective social networking, more cautious participation in German-language contexts, and a preference for Hungarian-language networks as emotionally safer spaces. The article introduces the concept of code reduction to describe this identity-related experience of expressive narrowing, interpreted not as an objective linguistic decline but as a subjective experience in which one is unable to reproduce one’s usual native-language repertoire in the second language. The study argues that the linguistic experience of migration should be understood not only as a matter of language proficiency, but also as an emotional and identity-related dimension of social integration.
Copyright (c) 2026 Eszter Balogh, Zsuzsanna Szvetelszky, Virág Hajnal, Jázmin Szonja Ábrahám, Judit T. Nagy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/