ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Assessment, Testing and Applied Measurement
Psychometric tools for assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence: A case study for evaluating ICC in Kazakhstan
Provisionally accepted
- 1Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
- 2Head of the Department of Translation Theory and Practice Eurasian National University, Astana University, Astana, Kazakhstan
- 3Psychometric Labaratory, National Testing Center, Astana University, Astana, Kazakhstan
- 4Head of the Department, Master of Economics, RSE at PSV National Testing Center of the Ministry of Internal Internal Affairs, Astana University, Astana, Kazakhstan
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Background: The aim of the study is to adopt and validate psychometric instruments for assessing intercultural communicative competence and to examine the relationship between ICC and English language proficiency among the bachelor's degree students at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU). The study is based on Bennett's (1993) Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) and Byram's (1997) model of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). Methods: A mixed-method approach was employed, involving a Likert-scale questionnaire, situational case studies, and an ICC knowledge test. The sample consists of 118 students aged between 18 and 25 years (M = 3.54, SD = 0.61 on the ICC scale). The qualitative component of the research involved 28 English language instructors, who participated only in interviews aimed at exploring viewpoints on language evaluation, assessment of intercultural competence and usage of psychometric tools. Reliability (Cronbach's alpha), construct validity, and factor analysis were performed. This structure was confirmed through CFA indices ( χ²/df = 2.31, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.067, SRMR = 0.056). Conclusion: The results indicate a statistically significant moderate positive correlation between ICC and English language proficiency suggesting that linguistic competence and intercultural competence may develop in parallel.
Keywords: assessment, developmental model of intercultural sensitivity, DMIs, ICC, Intercultural communicative competence, Psychometric Assessment
Received: 18 Oct 2025; Accepted: 08 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Serikbayeva, Akizhanova, Shinetova and Altybayeva. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Assiya Serikbayeva
Diana Akizhanova
Lyazzat Shinetova
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