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

Abstract

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.