China hosts a large and growing population of Bangladeshi international students, representing one of the most significant South Asian student communities in East Asian higher education. Despite this, limited research has examined how these students develop intercultural communication competence (ICC) through everyday communicative experiences, particularly within digitally mediated environments. Existing studies have largely remained descriptive, offering limited theoretical explanation of how ICC evolves and shapes cultural adjustment over time. This study develops and empirically examines a Dynamic Intercultural Communication Competence Development and Cultural Adjustment Model that integrates intercultural communication competence, acculturation, cross-cultural adaptation, and Anxiety/Uncertainty Management theories into a unified process-oriented framework. The model conceptualizes ICC as a dynamic capability developing through five interconnected encounter contexts: academic interactions, social engagement with Chinese peers, negotiation of Islamic identity and religious practices, digitally mediated communication through platforms such as WeChat and co-national online communities, and everyday encounters involving language and institutional systems. Using a concurrent mixed-methods design combining survey data from Bangladeshi international students in Chinese universities with semi-structured interviews, the findings demonstrate that digital communication simultaneously provides emotional support and cultural continuity while facilitating engagement with host-culture communities. Intercultural encounters reduce communication anxiety and uncertainty, strengthen ICC, and improve psychological, sociocultural, and academic adjustment. By identifying digital communication as a central mechanism of ICC development, this study advances intercultural communication scholarship and provides practical insights for universities seeking to strengthen intercultural learning and digital support for international students.

Authors:
Tahera Akter, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Md Nurus Safa, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

About the Presenter(s)
Tahera Akter is a PhD candidate at the School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research focuses on intercultural communication, digital media, and ICC development among Bangladeshi international students in China. Curren

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