Exploring Chinese International Students’ Intercultural Competence in Australian University Classrooms: Challenges and Opportunities

ABSTRACT With the increasing number of Chinese international students in Australian universities, intercultural competence has become a critical factor influencing their interactions with Australian tutors in university classroom settings. Existing research often examines students’ intercultural competence from a single‐method or single‐perspective approach, typically focusing solely on students with limited attention given to the perspectives of tutors in classrooms. This study aims to explore Chinese international students’ intercultural competence in classroom interactions with their tutors. It has adopted a mixed‐method design incorporating dual perspectives from both students and tutors in classrooms, and aims to examine: (1) the extent to which demographic factors and personality traits predict Chinese international students’ intercultural competence, (2) the challenges faced by Chinese international students and (3) opportunities there are for them to develop intercultural competence in Australian classrooms. Data were collected from 328 Chinese international students in the survey, and 21 Chinese international students and 17 Australian tutors participated in the semi‐structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and correlation analysis, mean comparison and multiple regressions. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings reveal tensions between Chinese international students’ positive attitudes and proactiveness, compulsive affective adaptation, insufficient knowledge of intercultural classroom norms, asymmetrical and improper language interactions and adherence to previous classroom norms. On the other hand, Australian tutors demonstrated high levels of intercultural sensitivity towards the Chinese international student's cohort which gave opportunities for Chinese international students to develop their intercultural competence. However Australian tutors’ efforts remain largely guided by personal experience, with a persistent lack of systematic and structured institutional support.