Examining Intercultural Communication as a Condition for Societal Advancement in the Twenty-First Century Among Students of Federal Polytechnic Wannune, Benue State-Nigeria

This study examined intercultural communication as a condition for societal advancement in the twenty-first century among students of Federal Polytechnic Wannune, Benue State. The study was guided by three objectives and anchored on Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory. A descriptive survey design with a correlational component was adopted. The population comprised 3,461 students, from which a sample size of 359 was determined using Yamane's formula. Proportionate stratified random sampling was used to select the respondents. Data were collected using the Intercultural Communication and Societal Advancement Questionnaire (ICSAQ), adapted principally from the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale. The instrument recorded Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.70 for the Intercultural Communication Scale and 0.86 for the Societal Advancement Scale. Data were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and simple linear regression at the 0.05 level of significance. The results showed a high level of intercultural communication among students, with a grand mean of 3.99 and standard deviation of 0.84. Respondents also reported a high contribution of intercultural communication to social cohesion, tolerance, cooperation and conflict resolution, with a grand mean of 4.09 and standard deviation of 0.81. Pearson correlation revealed a positive and significant relationship between intercultural communication and societal advancement (r = 0.680, p < 0.001). Regression analysis further showed that intercultural communication explained 46.2% of the variance in societal advancement (R² = 0.462; F(1,357) = 307.12, p < 0.001). The study concludes that effective intercultural communication is an important condition for promoting societal advancement through tolerance, cooperation, social cohesion and peaceful coexistence.