Intrinsic Motivation, Language Proficiency, and Intercultural Sensitivity in Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education: Nonlinear Pathways to Intercultural Communicative Competence across Language Immersion Levels

Abstract

The development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is a central goal of internationalized higher education, yet the psychological and contextual mechanisms underlying ICC remain insufficiently understood in Sino-foreign cooperative education (SFCE) settings. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, Byram's ICC model, and Allport's contact hypothesis, this cross-sectional survey study examined 462 undergraduates across three immersion levels at a Sino-foreign joint institution using PLS-SEM and multi-group analysis. Results show that intrinsic motivation is the strongest predictor and key mediator of ICC (β = 0.463, f² = 0.262): language proficiency and intercultural sensitivity operate primarily through intrinsic motivation rather than directly, while intercultural contact frequency showed no significant effect. Language environment moderates these pathways non-linearly — higher immersion amplifies the motivational route to ICC, language proficiency functions as a significant direct predictor only in low-immersion contexts, and intercultural sensitivity exhibits an inverted-U pattern across immersion levels. The structural model accounted for 71.1% of the variance in ICC, indicating strong explanatory power. These findings challenge linear assumptions in ICC research, extend SDT into the SFCE domain, and carry important implications for the design of autonomy-supportive curricula and quality assurance frameworks in SFCE programs, particularly those operating under domestically-based "N+0" delivery models.