Enhancing intercultural communicative competence through cultural workshops in a Chinese as a foreign language classroom: a mixed methods study protocol

As universities increasingly prioritize global citizenship through study abroad programmes, intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has become central to Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) education. Whilst blended study abroad provision is expanding, culturally responsive pedagogies remain underexamined in Irish higher education contexts. This study protocol outlines a single-case, one-group pre–post design investigating within-cohort changes in ICC associated with experiential Chinese cultural workshops in an 11-week blended CFL study abroad course at an Irish private university. The study adopts a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design (QUANT → qual). In Phase 1, the full cohort (estimated n = 20–30) will complete pre- and post-course administrations of the Students' Intercultural Communicative Competence Self-Assessment (SISA). Quantitative analyses will report descriptive statistics, paired-samples t -tests (or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests where assumptions are not met), and effect sizes (Cohen's d or rank-biserial correlation), alongside internal consistency for the target sample. In Phase 2, purposive sampling (approximately 10–12 participants) will support qualitative data collection through semi-structured interviews, reflective blogs, and Zoom classroom recordings, analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Integration will occur by using quantitative patterns to inform qualitative sampling and interview foci, and by merging findings in interpretation. The protocol is theoretically grounded in Byram's (1997) ICC model and Kolb's (1984) . Experiential Learning Theory, mapping workshop objectives to Byram's five savoirs and structuring learning through experience–reflection cycles. Given the one-group design, the study will avoid causal attribution and is expected to generate transferable insights into how experiential cultural pedagogy can be operationalised and evaluated in blended CFL study abroad settings.