Cultural Intelligence, Cultural Identity and Iranian EFL learners' use of Politeness Strategies

Human beings are defined as an embodiment of social and cultural understanding which can develop by engaging in various social contexts. Cultural intelligence and cultural identity are thus accounted noteworthy in learning particular aspects of language which are culture-specific. The present study intended to investigate the interaction effect of cultural intelligence and cultural identity on Iranian EFL learners’ use of politeness strategies. To this end, the participants were divided into two groups of high and low cultural intelligence and cultural identity. Moreover, regardless of their membership in the two groups, the participants were included in the assessment of the relationship between cultural intelligence and politeness strategies. Fifty two intermediate language learners whose proficiency level was determined through Oxford Quick Proficiency Test were required to fill out the questionnaires of Cultural Intelligence, L1 Cultural identity and Discourse Completion Tasks. Two-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the research questions. The results of the two-way ANOVA proved no interaction effect of cultural intelligence and cultural identity levels on the use of politeness strategies. Moreover, the analysis of the relationship between the four factors of cultural intelligence and the use of politeness strategies yielded no significant relationship. The findings can inform of imminent obliterating L1 cultural identity among EFL learners. Broaching the subjects such as globalization, cultural homogeneity and English linguicism, the study calls for the need for further inquiries to revise already established findings such as the role of home culture, L1 and attitudes towards target culture in EFL domain.