Investigating The Correlation Between The Intercultural Competence Of Persian language Teachers To Non-Persian Speakers And Their Persian Learners’ Performance

With the expansion of global communications, flexibility towards different cultures and the ability to manage intercultural interactions have become particularly important. Language, as the most important means of transmitting culture, requires specialists who are familiar with cultural differences and similarities. The main objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between intercultural competence in Persian language teachers (teaching to non-Persian speakers) and the performance of their Persian language learners. To conduct this research, the Ang (2004) Intercultural Intelligence Questionnaire with four components (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral) was employed. Then, each teacher was asked to provide the grades of their last term’s Persian language learners. The correlation between the questionnaire-derived scores and the average student grades for each teacher was calculated with the Pearson's correlation coefficient formula. The results of this study demonstrated a direct relationship between teachers’ intercultural competence and their teaching quality. In other words, the more teachers were knowledgeable about diverse cultures and respectful toward them, having the motivation in intercultural interaction, being respectful for cultures, incorporating this awareness into their teaching methods and maintaining an open-minded approach in their educational environment, the higher the expected improvement in learning outcomes and grades from students with different cultural backgrounds will be. Furthermore, this study indicated that these teachers exhibited a high level of intercultural competence. At the end of the study, strategies and recommendations were proposed to create an inclusive Persian language classroom environment that embraces cultural diversity instruction and also increases the intercultural intelligence in teachers.
Extended Abstract:
Introduction
Today mutual understanding and intercultural competencies are vital as they help us overcome prejudice, discrimination, and misunderstandings among individuals from different cultural backgrounds. Language and culture are interconnected and interact with their environment (Van Lier, 2004). The ability to continuously adapt with people from diverse cultures and manage intercultural communications is crucial. In the global workplace, particularly in foreign language education, it is essential to have individuals who are familiar with various cultures and can communicate effectively (Fayazi, Jan-NesarAhmadi, 2006). Thus, 21st-century teachers must possess multicultural perspectives and intercultural competencies. They should be flexible and tolerant towards different lifestyles, respect the rights of other citizens, and take a strong stand against discrimination (Pederson, 2001). Conflicts and differences in opinion are likely to arise when teachers and learners come from diverse cultural backgrounds (Israth, Thatcher, and Galley, 2008). Lack of adequate knowledge about a nation's culture can lead to negative and sometimes false positive prejudices in people's minds (Beischel et al., 1999). These intercultural communication skills in foreign language education enable teachers to successfully communicate with representatives of the target language's culture (Reid, 2015). Moreover, intercultural teaching competencies in educators serve as a model for students to engage comfortably and respectfully in global cultural discussions in the classroom. Competent intercultural educators are open to various ways of knowing (Archibald, 2008; Heig-Brown, 2008), reflect on their approaches to curriculum design and evaluation (Page, 1996), and promote multiple perspectives when selecting content and conducting educational activities (Dardorff, 2011).
This research answers these two questions:

What is the level of intercultural competence in Persian language teachers to non-Persian speakers?
Is there a correlation between the intercultural competence of Persian language teachers to non-Persian speakers and the performance of their Persian students at the end of the semester?

The hypothesis is that Iranian Persian language teachers to non-Persian speakers should have a high level of intercultural competence. Also, there seems to be a correlation between the intercultural ability of these teachers and Persian learners.
Methodology
In this study, a questionnaire developed by Ang and colleagues (2004) was used to assess intercultural intelligence. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions designed on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree".
The selection process for teachers (participants) involved several steps: initially, licensed Azfa centers across the country were identified through the Student Affairs Organization portal. Then, Azfa teachers from these centers were identified via their specialized websites, and the questionnaire was sent online to those accessible. Out of 74 available teachers, 27 teachers were interested and completed the questionnaire. This questionnaire evaluates participants' ability to communicate better in a different culture through four components: metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral.
Additionally, each teacher was asked to enter the grades of their students from the last term they taught into the questionnaire. Given that the maximum score in assessments varied among teachers, with grades being either out of 100 or out of 20, all scores were normalized to a 20-point scale for the analysis of this study.
Results
So far, the correlation between the intercultural competence of Persian language teachers to non-Persian speakers and its four factors with the quality of education and their language learners was investigated by the 4-component intercultural intelligence questionnaire of Ang et al. (2004). The first component was metacognitive, which had 4 questions and measured the mental model of teachers and their understanding of different cultural norms. With the correlation coefficient of this component, which was reported as 0.82, it can be concluded that the ability of Azfa teachers in planning, predicting, evaluating, revising mental models and understanding the cultural norms of people of different countries in multicultural situations has a great impact on the quality of their teaching and increasing the scores of Persian learners. The next component, knowledge, which consisted of 6  questions, measures the level of teachers' knowledge and information about values, laws, vocabulary and grammar, marriage system, artistic industries, and generally the economic, legal, and social systems of different cultures. The correlation coefficient of this component with the teaching quality of Persian language teachers to non-Persian speakers was 0.67, which can be concluded that Azfa teachers' knowledge and awareness of cultures, norms, values, cultural similarities and differences, and even the source language of their Persian students, is effective in learning and improving the grades of Persian students. The third was the motivational component with 5 questions that measure the motivation and amount of energy that teachers spend to interact with different cultures and learn about them. The correlation coefficient of 0.65 in this component shows that this component is also considered as one of the influential and important components in increasing intercultural intelligence and as a result intercultural ability. So, the more teachers are motivated to interact with the different cultures of their Persian students and the more they enjoy and even control their emotions and behavior when there is a cultural difference, the better the quality of teaching. Finally, the behavioral component with 5  questions that measures the ability to adapt behavior to intercultural knowledge and the degree of flexibility in facing different cultures and, in general, verbal and non-verbal actions appropriate to the situation in front of Persian learners who were from different cultures, has a moderate correlation with quality had teaching and its coefficient was 0.41. It can be concluded that it is important to show appropriate behavior to intercultural conditions; But the potential change and correction of the worldview and views is more important than the actual and explicit change in behavior. Also, at the end, the correlation level of the whole test with the language learners' scores was reported as 0.72, which indicates that there is a positive correlation between the intercultural competence of Azfa teachers and Persian learners. Then; According to the findings of this research, the average score of all the components of intercultural intelligence of the teachers is 101.4, which is higher than the average of the sum of the scores of all the components (80), so it is a confirmation that the teachers have intercultural ability. Also, the highest score is related to the motivational component with an average of 28.3 and the lowest score is related to the metacognitive component with an average of 21.5, which shows that teachers of Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers have a great desire to interact in different cultures and a high motivation to know cultures. Therefore, it can be concluded that these teachers of Persian language, unlike non-Persian speakers, generally have a high intercultural competence.
Conclusion
This article examines the correlation between the intercultural competence of Iranian Persian language teachers for non-Persian speakers and the performance of their students. It aims to answer two main questions: the extent of teachers' intercultural competence and the significance of its relationship with teaching quality and their student performance. Using a quantitative approach based on theoretical frameworks from Cross (1989), Dimitrov (2014), and Earley and Ang (2003), the study employs Ang's (2004) cultural intelligence measurement tool, focusing on four components: metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral. Data were collected through student score averages after Persian language courses and an online questionnaire on cultural intelligence for teachers. Findings indicate that Iranian teachers possess high intercultural competence, aligning with previous researches such as Eslami (1399), Kazazi (1401) and Sadeghi (1394). The data reveal a positive correlation between teachers' intercultural competence and student performance, particularly in the metacognitive component, suggesting that effective intercultural communication enhances learning outcomes which was in line with the researches of Egitim (2022), Tzoli (2023) and Guler and Karabiner (2013), who believe that teachers' intercultural competence has a positive effect on the quality of their teaching. The study emphasizes that understanding diverse cultural backgrounds and having the motivation to apply this knowledge can significantly improve student engagement and achievement. This identifies intercultural competence as a crucial factor in enhancing the quality of Persian language instruction. Additionally, the article offers strategies for teachers to improve their cultural intelligence, including reflective practices, cultural education, fostering curiosity, and adapting behaviors to various cultural contexts. Overall, strengthening intercultural competence can lead to more effective teaching and better management of diverse classrooms.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.