mahboubeh akbari

While the issue of intercultural competence has received considerable attention in second language learning and teaching over recent decades, the lack of a practical, valid, and dependable instrument to cross-culturally measure intercultural competence is strongly felt. For this reason, the current study aimed at developing and validating an inventory to examine EFL learners’ intercultural competence within the context of Iran. Following a qualitative-quantitative descriptive method research design, an instrument consisting of items adapted from intercultural competence-based survey instruments was generated. Accordingly, the study recruited 200 Iranian EFL learners to fill out the inventory. Furthermore, nine Iranian university professors in Applied Linguistics received an earlier draft of the Intercultural Competence Inventory (ICI) after it was prepared. The experts were requested to provide feedback on the developed Inventory’ content and face validity. After expert/content validation, the construct validity of the inventory was checked using R software running Mokken Scale Analysis. The analyses aimed to determine the structure of the inventory and verify the effectiveness of a five-point Likert response scale. The results concerning item attributes and the quality of the response scale provided confirmation of the scale's internal validity. Hopefully, the presence of this inventory in the Iranian context, characterized by strong internal consistency, internal validity, and construct validity, can contribute valuable insights to the study of intercultural competence among language learners.

"Health for All by 2000" was launched by WHO in 1978 and is based on primary healthcare availability worldwide. During the month of Safar, many people from neighboring cities and countries travel to Mashhad. Since the qualitative approach can lead to a better understanding of access to healthcare from the perception of consumers, this study aimed to assess the perception of Pilgrims and healthcare providers of healthcare services and gain more profound knowledge about healthcare consumers’ experiences.  This qualitative study was conducted in Mashhad during Safar based on conventional content analysis from September 20-27, 2022. This study used a semi-structured in-depth interview on 36 participants, including pilgrims (n=27) and healthcare providers (n=9) such as medical doctors, nurses, and health experts selected through purposeful sampling. The interviews were transcribed word for word. The MAXqda software and Graneheim and Lundman’s qualitative content analysis were used for data analysis.  Data analysis revealed three categories, including 1. Understanding the challenges of the treatment services in terms of three subcategories: A. Lack of medical doctors, drug shortages, and higher prices of medicines, B. Experiencing the diseases (skin, cardiovascular diseases, poisoning, and digestive problems, musculoskeletal pain and asthma), and C. Lack of an appropriate place for patient examination and serum injection. 2. Understanding the challenges of health services, including three subcategories: A. Time and place insufficiency of services, B. Lack of access to sanitary detergents, C. Improper cleaning of resting spaces and places, and finally, 3. Understanding the challenges of welfare services, including two subcategories: A. Inadequacy and lack of access to the appropriate rest place, and B. poor quality and sortage of food.  The results indicated that access to healthcare, treatment, and welfare is more than just these services. Health policymakers’ commitment to improving healthcare equity, hopefully, leads to positive changes in the healthcare system. Therefore, enhancing social participation in the healthcare system and providing comprehensive education on the optimal use of healthcare services is necessary to empower pilgrims to access better healthcare.