Diversifying Authentic Kinesthetic Academic Activities in Foreign Language Classrooms to Foster Students Intercultural Communication Competence

<p>In the integrated and global era, Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) has become a crucial goal that higher education aims to achieve. Consequently, numerous pedagogical approaches have been suggested to improve ICC among students. This article examines how students majoring in English at a university in Vietnam assess the importance of authentic kinesthetic academic activities (AKAA) in the ICC classroom, investigates how AKAA influence students’ ICC, and explores students’ suggestions for overcoming challenges in learning the ICC course through AKAA. Employing a mixed-method research approach utilizing questionnaires, interviews, and observations, the study found that AKAA offer multiple pedagogical benefits to ICC classroom. The integration of AKAA into cultural teaching positively impacts students’ ICC. Consequently, comprehensive solutions for both teachers and students are proposed to effectively implement the course with the assistance of AKAA. This article provides insightful information to the existing theory of kinesthetic learning and offers further recommendations for incorporating ICC practice in foreign language classrooms to accommodate diverse learning styles and foster innovative teaching approaches.</p>