Journal of Studies in Language, Culture and Society (JSLCS)

Intercultural Competence Among International Students In Nysa, Poland: An Exploratory Study

Auteurs : Boualem Benghalem . Małgorzata Kamińska .

Résumé

International student adjustment has been extensively studied in Anglophone destination countries, yet considerably less is known about how adjustment processes unfold in small-city, non-Anglophone contexts where internationalization is relatively recent. This study contributes to international student research by examining adjustment processes in such underexplored settings. This exploratory study investigates how intercultural competence (IC), conceptualized as both individual intercultural capabilities and perceived host-environment responsiveness, is associated with academic adjustment, social integration, sense of belonging, and well-being among international students in Nysa, Poland. The study adopts an exploratory, cross-sectional design and draws on data from twenty-two international students enrolled at a university of applied sciences in Nysa, Poland. Data were collected via an online questionnaire composed of open-ended questions addressing academic experiences, intercultural communication, social participation, inclusion and exclusion, and psychological adjustment. Participants’ narrative responses were transformed into construct-specific indices using a theory-driven, manually curated lexicon-based coding procedure. Associations between intercultural competence and adjustment outcomes were examined using Spearman rank-order correlations and Mann–Whitney U tests, with an emphasis on effect direction and magnitude. Intercultural competence was positively associated with all examined adjustment outcomes. The strongest and most consistent patterns were observed for social integration and sense of belonging, followed by moderate associations with well-being and confidence. The relationship between intercultural competence and academic adjustment was positive but weaker and less precise. Group comparisons indicated that students with higher intercultural competence reported greater social integration and stronger feelings of belonging than their lower-competence peers. Given the exploratory design and small sample size, findings are interpreted as indicative patterns rather than inferential conclusions. Overall, the findings suggest that intercultural competence aligns more strongly with relational and psychosocial dimensions of adjustment than with academic adjustment in small-city, non-Anglophone higher education contexts. These results provide a foundation for future longitudinal and comparative research examining how institutional and community-level intercultural responsiveness shapes international student belonging and well-being.

Mots clés

Intercultural competence ; International students ; Lexicon-based analysis ; Poland, ; Sense of belonging ; Social integration ; Intercultural competence ; International students ; Lexicon-based analysis ; Poland ; Sense of belonging ; Social integration