Student perceptions and attitudes toward Communicative Language Teaching and Intercultural Communicative Competence cultivation at Zhejiang Industrial Polytechnic College

The objective of this research is to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of students towards Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), as well as their perspectives on the cultivation of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) at Zhejiang Industrial Polytechnic College. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey, this study examined 370 freshman EFL students’ perceptions of CLT and ICC through an online questionnaire distributed via social media. . Data analysis was done using SPSS, which involved descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and linear regression tests. The results indicated an advantageous association between perceptions of CLT and attitudes towards the cultivation of ICC, as well as the degree of participation in ICC activities. Despite the problems that arose in implementing CLT, it increased the level of participation in pro-intercultural activities. Therefore, the students’ attitudes towards CLT made a significant contribution to their intercultural learning experiences. Promoting a favourable attitude towards CLT affects students’ ICC. The study’s limitations include its cross-sectional design, reliance on respondent data, and limited participation to first-year EFL students. These issues limit the study’s validity, generalisability, and causal implications. Future research should follow people over an extended period, employ objective methods more than self-reported data and involve a more varied population.