Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence in an English‐Medium University in Japan

Abstract Policymakers in Japan have high expectations for English‐medium instruction (EMI) as an effective educational model for developing global human resources. EMI is expected to promote students' English proficiency, content knowledge, and intercultural skills. However, longitudinal studies measuring the actual results of EMI are scarce. To begin filling this gap, this study examined development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among 52 Japanese students enrolled in an English‐language university in Japan. The participants completed a writing task assessing their ability to mediate an intercultural conflict (ICC measure). Students were assessed twice over a period of 1 year. They also completed two measures of intercultural competence (a survey and a behavioral measure) and a standardized English proficiency test (ITP TOEFL). Results revealed significant improvement in overall conflict mediation performance, but only the linguistic aspects of students’ performance improved (grammar, pragmatics). The intercultural aspects (display of empathy, problem‐solving) showed no significant increase. English proficiency had a significant impact on performance in the conflict mediation task, but intercultural competence – whether assessed with a survey or a behavioral measure – had no noticeable impact on performance.