The relationship between demotivation and intercultural communicative competence

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between intercultural communicative competence and demotivation to learn a second language. The participants of the study included 60 Iranian EFL learners at the intermediate level of language proficiency. Data were collected through administering the intercultural communicative scale and demotivation questionnaire and also conducting interviews. Data analysis was performed by running Pearson Correlation Coefficient using SPSS 21. The results of Pearson Correlation Coefficient showed that intercultural communication competence was negatively related to demotivation. Analysis of interview data showed that participants believed in negative relationship between intercultural communication competence and demotivation. They also maintained that integrating with other cultures and communicating with people from other cultures are sources of motivation in English language learning. Based on the findings of the study, teachers are encouraged to try to develop learners’ intercultural communicative competence in an effort to reduce EFL learners’ demotivation.