Enhancing Cultural Intelligence and Interpersonal Communication: Multi-Authenticity Exposure in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Context

The current study focuses on authentic exposure, specifically whether multi-authentic tasks affect the nature of L2 learners’ cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context of Iran. To this end, sixty learners at an English language institute were assigned to control and experimental groups to carry out the M-A tasks. M-A was manipulated by assigning visual, aural, and printed tasks. Descriptive and inferential analyses of data, a comparison of the control and experimental groups over a four-month period, revealed that the implementation of authentic materials was successful in raising the cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication of EFL learners in the post-test. A subsequent ANOVA analysis showed that among M-A materials, visual was the most and aural was the least effective one increasing EFL learners’ cultural intelligence. Moreover, the printed material was the most effective one to make a moderate change in interpersonal communication of the participants.

purpose of the present study to investigate the authentic exposure; the following research questions guided our study: 1) What effect do authentic materials have on learners' cultural intelligence?
2) How can authentic materials affect learners' cultural intelligence when the exposure has been multi-glossed?
3) What effect do authentic materials have on learners' interpersonal communication? 4) How can authentic materials affect learners' interpersonal communication when the exposure has been multi-glossed?

Literature Review
Culture affects individuals' behavior and reaction in social interactions (De Mooij, 2011). Thus, individuals follow different ways of behaving and thinking based on the cultural norms and values of their home country (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010). Lin, Chen and Song (2012) mention that cross-cultural misunderstandings easily affect people who are not aware of cultural diversities.
Therefore, an understanding of such differences plays an essential role in social interactions especially for ones with limited intercultural exposure. Studies on CQ have mostly centered on showing CQ importance and its dimensions in adapting to different cultures (Ljubica & Dulcic, 2012;Rohmetra & Arora, 2012). Some of these studies have investigated the personal characteristics of openness to experience, risk orientation and need for control (Engle & Nehrt, 2012), self-efficacy (MacNab & Worthley, 2012), language skills or living in culturally different environments (Triandis, 2008), parental and educational experiences (Shannon & Begley, 2008), or the personality of the individual (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008;Ang, Van Dyne, & Koh, 2006;Shaffer & Miller, 2008). However, according to literature very few studies have examined how CQ can be acquired especially in EFL contexts.
Foreign language researchers have long believed that language and culture should be integrated in the language classroom (Cummins, 1979;Prodromou, 1992). Part of the reason for this integration is the fact that culture is inseparable from language. In like manner, Omaggio (1984) points out many EFL students find it difficult to develop good language skills because of cultural problems. Brooks (1968) looking into the relationship between language and culture, states that "non-native speakers of a language cannot completely understand what the new language means to the native speaker until they understand the cultural meaning he attaches to the words and phrases he uses" (p. 206). By the same token, Shanahan (1997, p. 168) states that "cultural content provides exposure to living language that foreign language students lacks". The reason for the use of cultural content in classroom is the idea that this exposure will also increase learners' motivation (McKay, 2000).
In view of this issue, it is necessary to understand why and how some individuals act successfully in an intercultural environment, while others do not. Sharma and Hussain (2017) believe that CQ has become an important skill for anyone to survive in intercultural contexts. CQ refers to the skill to behave effectively in intercultural settings, and subsequently to understand how to respond to a new cultural environment (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008). This definition of CQ highlights an individual's ability to understand the challenges of a wide range of intercultural contexts (Ang et al., 2015). CQ comprises four components (Ng & Earley, 2006;Van Dyne & Ang, 2005) of metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral. The metacognitive dimension is a higher-order cognitive process. It is the mental ability of the individual to notice and understand cultural knowledge (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008;Ang et al., 2007;Earley, Ang, & Tan, 2006). Individuals with a high metacognitive component are aware of cultural differences and the cultural beliefs of different environments (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008;Ang et al., 2007). The cognitive dimension is an individual's general knowledge and the structure of their cultural knowledge regarding the standards, practices and values of different cultures (Ang et al., 2007;Ng & Earley, 2006). Ones with a high cognitive component understand cross-cultural similarities and differences (Brislí n, Worthley, & McNab, 2006). The motivational dimension refers to the individual's interest and intention to adapt to an unfamiliar cultural environment (Deci & Ryan, 1985).
The motivational component is a source of action that activates the force necessary to function effectively in situations characterized by cultural diversity (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008;Ang et al., 2007;Earley et al., 2006). The behavioral dimension is defined as the individual's ability to perform appropriate and effective verbal and non-verbal actions when interacting with people from diverse cultures (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008;Ang et al., 2007). In intercultural interactions, both verbal and non-verbal behaviors are important as they make a major part of the meaning interpreted by the other (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008). Those with a high level of CQ show flexibility in their intercultural relations and interact competently with ones from different cultures (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008;Ang et al., 2007;Earley et al., 2006;Ng & Earley, 2006;Thomas, 2006). All things considered, to be culturally intelligent, a person must possess all four components of CQ (Earley & Peterson, 2004;Van Dyne, Ang, & Livermore, 2010). Additionally, some authors have highlighted the need for further research into CQ to better understand both its antecedents and consequences (Ang, Van Dyne, & Tan, 2011;Arora & Rohmetra, 2010).
In effect, there has been increasing theoretical and empirical interest in the study of intercultural experience (Carpenter, Sanders, & Gregersen, 2001). Many of these intercultural studies look at the results of international experience at both personal and professional level (Carpenter, 2002).
Intercultural experience helps individuals to acquire knowledge, skills and behaviors that are essential for living and working in different cultural settings (Gudykunst, Ting-Toomey, & Chua, 1988). Since there is no chance of such intercultural experience in EFL environments, authentic materials can be used to expose the learners to target culture norms and standards. Kelly, Offner and Vorland (2002) mention that authentic materials are useful means to bridge the gap between classroom and the real world environment. This is also mentioned by MacDonald et al. (2006) who state if there is a correspondence between the texts used by teachers in the classrooms and kinds of texts used in the real world, in this case, these texts can be regarded authentic.
To recognize better the complexity of authentic materials, McGrath (2002) Styati, 2016;Castillo Losada, 2017), there are some scholars who argued against these materials as they believed educational materials should be simplified. For instance, Kilickaya (2004) claims that authentic materials add a burden on teachers, as they may contain difficult vocabulary and structures which need more effort to be simplified and explained to make them appropriate for their learners. In contrast, Maghsoudi (2014) concludes that authentic materials have benefits for EFL classrooms considering the lack of real opportunities that existed for learners to be encountered with while learning.
Moreover, Zhafarghandi (2014) confirms that using authentic materials make students interested in language learning. The students' positive attitudes toward language learning were based on the advantages of authentic materials brought into instruction context.
Reviewing the literature, it can be found that the advantages of using authentic materials in teaching learners in EFL classrooms outweigh the disadvantages. Authentic English materials bring the real situations to the class that may differ among other cultures, and motivate students to learn and value the differences. Consequently, motivated learners who know the norms of a country will behave more appropriately in desired situations. For the reasons outlined above, the area of second or foreign language acquisition (S/FLA) would clearly benefit from the examination of multi authenticity exposure.

Theoretical Framework of the Study
Based on the above literature, Lave' situated learning theory (1988)

Instruments
To assess the learners' cultural intelligence, we used the 20-item CQ questionnaire developed by Ang et al. (2007). This questionnaire includes five items for motivational CQ, six items for cognitive CQ, four items for metacognitive CQ and five items for behavioral CQ. A five-point Likert scale was used, where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree. A high score indicated that an individual could better understand new cultures, and behave appropriately and effectively in other cultures outside his or her own accustomed environment. The Cronbach's alpha reliability of the four dimensions of CQ in the present study ranged from 0.78 to 0.86.
The interpersonal communication scale was adopted from Steinwachs (2010). A total of 24 IC items were incorporated in this scale. All items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). And the Cronbach's alpha of the interpersonal questionnaire was 0.82 that showed the high internal consistency and reliability of the questionnaire.Both questionnaires were translated into Persian in order to avoid misunderstanding for the students, and back-translation was conducted to ensure reliability and validity. Before data collection began, a pilot study was undertaken to examine the appropriateness of the wording and the meaning of items in the questionnaire. For the pilot study, 10 students attending the classes of one of the authors of the present study were invited to answer the questionnaires, and these 10 pilot test samples were excluded from the final study.

Research Procedure
Participants completed the cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication questionnaire at the beginning and the end of their semester (four months). We collected data only from two time points because the study period was short. Over one semester (four months), the experimental groups were given daily tasks in addition to their assigned course book. During this period, the control group was given instructional teacher-made tasks. Each task corresponded to the topic and language of one unit of the course book. Progress was evaluated by comparing the cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication of experimental and control groups. Following steps were implemented during the course in the experimental groups:

Pre Exposure Stage
At the beginning of the activity, the teacher introduced the topic and gave the students clear instructions on what they had to do at the exposure stage. The students discussed the topic following different ways of behaving and thinking based on the cultural norms of their home country.

Exposure Stage
This stage began by presenting the tasks. During this step, the teacher asked the learners just to watch or read the materials. The researcher used the aural materials like news and podcasts in A-authentic class, the visual materials like magazines or newspapers pictures and mute video clips in V-authentic class, and printed materials like newspaper and website texts were used in P-authentic class.

Post Exposure Stage
The teacher encouraged the students to freely discover the similarities and differences between their own and other cultures. The students conversed about the changes that had taken place in their attitudes and beliefs, and these discoveries provided time for learners to consider, evaluate, and understand cross-cultural similarities and diversities.

Results
A basic quantitative research design was adopted to collect and analyse the data in the present study.
First we present descriptive statistics of all the variables examined (Table 1). To identify whether a significant change occurred in the cultural intelligence of each group between the beginning and the end of the study, we conducted paired samples t-tests. The result of the paired samples t-test analysis (Table 2) (Table 3). Regarding the result, (F = 0.57, df 1 = 3, df 2 = 56) (P-Value = 0.6), it can be said that the cultural intelligence of experimental groups (Aural, Printed & Visual) and control group wasn't significantly different in the beginning of the study. To investigate the difference between cultural intelligence of experimental groups (Aural, Visual & Printed) and control group at the end of the study, (P-Value of Test of Homogeneity of Variances = 0.1 > α = 0.05) One-way ANOVA Test was used (Table 3). Regarding the result, (F = 12.18, df 1 = 3, df 2 = 56) (P-Value = 0.0005), it can be said that the cultural intelligence of experimental groups (Aural, Printed & Visual) and control group was significantly different at the end of the study.
To investigate the cultural intelligence differences between groups, Post Hoc Test (turkey HSD) ( Table   4) was used. According to the results, the cultural intelligence in printed experimental group (ΔM = -7.40, P-Value < 0.01) and visual group (ΔM = -10.53, P-Value < 0.01) was different. Also the cultural intelligence between the experimental groups of aural and visual (ΔM = -7.93, P-Value < 0.01) was significantly different.

Discussion
As mentioned earlier, the present study investigated the effectiveness of implementing a multi-authentic model in EFL classes. Regarding the first and second research questions-What effect do authentic materials have on learners' cultural intelligence/How can authentic materials affect learners' cultural intelligence when the exposure has been multi-glossed-the results in Tables 1-4 contributed to shed some light that using the M-authentic materials can boost cultural intelligence of EFL learners. The positive improvement in the cultural intelligence of the experimental groups in this study supports findings in Garcia (1991) and Sherman (2003), according to which learners' cultural knowledge significantly improves after being exposed to authentic input which is a window into other cultures. Teaching culture in EFL classrooms helps the learners achieve a better understanding of the English language and also motivates them toward learning and using the language in social interactions.
It means through using authentic materials, the learners will not encounter only the artificial language of the classroom but also the real world language. A subsequent ANOVA analysis revealed that among the M-authentic materials, visual was the most and aural was the least effective one increasing EFL learners' cultural intelligence. The present study illustrated that the use of pictures helps students to see clearly the cultural aspects found in the countries of the target language since the visual cues found in pictures are greatly informative and enhance EFL learners' cultural comprehension.
Regarding the third and fourth research questions-What effect do authentic materials have on learners' interpersonal communication/How can authentic materials affect learners' interpersonal communication when the exposure has been multi-glossed-survey findings in Tables 1-5-6 showed moderate effects on interpersonal communication of EFL learners. Teaching culture guarantees a successful cultural communication in real social situations and this happens when learners are exposed to authentic materials that are organized for native speakers. The present study in line with some other studies (nuttal, 1996;Vale, 1999;Guariento & Morley, 2001;Moule, 2008;Zavertnik et al., 2010;Berg et al., Hence, individuals need to develop cultural intelligence (CQ) to behave more effectively in new cultural settings (Kim, Yamaguchi, Kim, & Miyahara, 2015;Ward, Wilson, & Fischer, 2011). The statistics in this study show that the learners get something outside the controlled language learning environment since authentic materials bridge the gap between the classroom and the world outside. The results of this study offer significant insights into how multiple authenticity exposure can increase EFL learners' CQ and IC. In today's globalized world, geographical location is no longer a barrier for people from different cultures to interact with one another. In addition, the emergence of information technology emphasizes the significance of CQ in ELT especially in EFL environments.
Although this study successfully investigated the demanded topic, the findings should be viewed in light of its limitations. According to the rules and regulations of the institute, it wasn't possible for the researcher to choose all students randomly as the study participants. Additionally, some students were biased towards learning English culture and persuading them to cooperate with the teacher was not ethical. Accessing and finding right authentic materials with the same subject and the same level for some topics was not appropriately conducted.The findings of this study are limited to self-report instruments. In order to measure CQ and IC more accurately, interviews and observations need to be included as well. As this is one of the few empirical studies to examine the multi-authenticity exposure, a great deal of future research is necessary to determine if the findings of this study will be sustained.
This study offers initial evidence that the multi-authenticity exposure do indeed enhance the cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication of learners and provides a starting point for further research on cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication within the EFL contexts. Future studies should also test the generalizability of the effects among other populations.