AI Literacy and Intercultural Competence among English Majors: Current Levels, Possible Pathways and Pedagogical Implications

Abstract

This study explores whether English majors’ AI literacy is associated with their intercultural competence as measured through established self-report scales. By applying an AI literacy scale and an intercultural competence scale, this study collected questionnaire data and analyzed them through descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, median-based group comparison, and an independent-samples t-test. After excluding invalid responses, 40 of the 101 collected questionnaires were retained as valid responses for analysis. The results show that both AI literacy and intercultural competence were at moderately high levels but showed uneven patterns across dimensions. In terms of AI literacy, AI ethics scored highest, whereas AI knowledge was relatively lower. In terms of intercultural competence, attitudes received the highest score, while knowledge of foreign cultures and intercultural cognitive skills were comparatively lower. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was observed between AI literacy and intercultural competence (r = 0.57, p < 0.001), and the high-AI-literacy group scored higher in overall intercultural competence than the low-AI-literacy group, especially in knowledge of foreign cultures and attitudes. Hence, the positive correlation between AI literacy and intercultural competence suggests that higher AI literacy may be associated with higher scores in knowledge of foreign cultures and more positive intercultural attitudes; however, the relatively limited difference in intercultural cognitive skills indicates that AI tool use does not automatically lead to deeper intercultural understanding. Accordingly, the study calls for integrating AI literacy education with intercultural competence training in foreign language education.