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This systematic review assessed the requirements and importance of intercultural communication competence (ICC) in human life in the 21st Century, focusing on its practical aspects and elements. The results reported in the current study are from a review of 45 papers published from 2000 to 2023 in 16 different Web of Science and SCOPUS-indexed journals. To record and select the related and required papers, an online search was done using two key terms, "intercultural competence" and "intercultural communication competence," and through the use of WoS and SCOPUS databases. A total of 87 items were recorded from the online search, and after a quick review of all records, 45 papers were selected and reviewed thoroughly. Based on the results from the reviewed papers, ICC is one of the main requirements of human life in today's globalized world, especially in modern education and international business. Findings indicate that the absence of ICC is a crucial reason for failure in many modern professionals. Based on the results, cultural awareness and intercultural sensitivity, language proficiency, empathy, flexibility, and some other traits and skills are among the main components of ICC. The results indicate that staying and studying in multicultural environments, participating in cultural programs, observing felling and emotions, flexibility, and other factors, discussed in the current work, help individuals improve their ICC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, self-report measures are the primary assessment tool for anxiety disorders. Since they have some limitations, alternative measurements, such as language-based measures, are worth investigating. This paper explores which language markers signal anxiety in fictitious stories written in response to four Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) cards. Participants (n = 492) from a non-probabilistic convenience sample were asked to write a short story next to each TAT card after completing the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. We used RoLIWC2015 to conduct the text analysis and applied the LASSO method to identify which language markers predict anxiety. The results showed that the respondents scoring high on anxiety also tend to use more words expressing negative emotions, and fewer words expressing positive emotions. Moreover, their language contained a higher frequency of words that implied semantic differentiation (i.e., but, else) and a lower frequency of words indicating leisure. In conclusion, this paper aims to shed new light on the multimethod assessment of anxiety, mainly focused on specific language signatures as reliable predictors of anxiety symptoms. Further research using more extensive text data is recommended to discover more linguistic markers and improve prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to report on Chinese college students' emotions in English as a foreign language (EFL) speaking classrooms, including the trajectory of their emotions, and their perceived impacts of these emotions on their performances in class. Through conducting a case study among 12 Chinese college students and qualitatively analyzing the reflections and interview data collected over a semester, the present research, adopting the Positive Psychology perspective, reveals diverse emotions experienced by students in their EFL speaking classrooms. The emotions students felt were both complex and dynamic throughout the semester, and were found to interact with the changing internal and external factors, displaying a transition from the mixed emotions of excitement and anxiety to lower-intensity emotions (i.e., relaxation and boredom), and finally becoming inter-individually varied. As for the impacts of students' emotions, students believed that both positive and negative emotions were associated with their performances in class. The present study suggests that much attention should be paid to EFL college students' emotions in speaking classrooms both by themselves and by their teachers, and provides some possible sources of their emotions. In order to enhance students' psychological well-being and achieve better teaching effects, this study also recommends pedagogical practices that boost positive emotions and reduce negative emotions to be incorporated into EFL speaking classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has indicated that students' academic engagement is related to their emotional support from teachers. However, there is scarce evidence on how teacher emotional support relates to students' academic engagement. Given the potential role of positive academic emotions in learning, this study investigated the mediating role of students' positive academic emotions in the relationship between teacher emotional support and academic engagement among Chinese college students. Additionally, this study examined how mastery-approach goals moderated positive academic emotions. A survey instrument containing teacher emotional support, positive academic emotions, mastery-approach goals, and academic engagement was administered to 464 Chinese college students. The results demonstrated that students' emotional support from their teachers positively influenced their academic engagement. Positive academic emotions mediated the relationship between teacher emotional support and students' academic engagement. Furthermore, the mastery-approach goals moderated the mediating role of positive academic emotions. Finally, the implications for teachers in teaching for practice and the application prospects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rekindled interest in emotions and individual differences in second language acquisition (SLA) under the influence of positive psychology, the interrelationships among regulatory focus, L2 grit and achievement emotions remain underresearched. Drawing on structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, this study aimed to examine the predictive effects of regulatory focus on L2 grit through the mediation of achievement emotions. A total of 1043 non-English major undergraduates from a comprehensive university in central China participated in the study. Data were collected with a questionnaire adapted from three published scales and analyzed using multiple regression and multiple mediation analysis with a 1000-bootstrap method. Results showed that all three psychological constructs under investigation were correlated with each other and regulatory focus had an indirect predictive effect on L2 grit, which was mediated by achievement emotions. As with the mediating effect of achievement emotions, enjoyment and boredom had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between promotion focus and L2 grit, whereas hope and anxiety had a full mediating effect on the relationship between prevention focus and L2 grit. The findings are discussed in relation to the identified mediating mechanism for regulatory focus and L2 grit in boosting L2 learning motivation among Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been a surge of studies on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' emotions and identities in research engagement, limited attention has been paid to how they integrate teacher and researcher identities and negotiate different emotions in research practice over time. Drawing on data from a variety of sources over a decade, this longitudinal selfnarrative study investigated how an EFL academic (the author) negotiated and navigated conflicting identities and emotions in the process of becoming a teacher-researcher in a changing context. The findings unfolded the changes in her emotions and professional identity development over the course of her 10-year research journey, beginning as a discontented and perplexed performer with weak emotional resilience, progressing to a pressured and strenuous follower with moderate emotional resilience, and finally becoming a relentless and resolute integrator with strong emotional resilience. Her final integration of teacher and researcher identities represented her redemption on this bumpy journey. Implications for EFL teachers, school leaders, and education policymakers on how to help EFL academics integrate professional identities were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pandemic era, online learning has become the standard mode of learning in China where lockdowns were in place. However, in lockdowns, the roles of guardian, teachers and learners transform and change traditionally-accepted responsibilities and roles as well as relationships, thus warranting an examination of the third space of learning and its implications for the stakeholders' learning practices and emotions. A review of literature demonstrates a dearth of research on issues of role and practice shifts and power relations changes within the Chinese online English as Foreign Language (EFL) learning context. Using close ended and open-ended questionnaire data from teachers at Chinese school learners studying English as a foreign language, this study inquiries into the (i) changes in roles and emotions of teachers and guardian in the third space of learning in the Chinese online learning context, (ii) changes in the practices of the teachers, and (iii) transformations of power relations between guardian and teachers. The findings of the study contribute to literature on emergent online pedagogical practices and the emotions and roles and relationships of key stakeholders, namely teachers and guardian in the third space of learning mediated by technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]