Intercultural sensitivity (IS) is considered as a prerequisite factor for successful intercultural communication among people from different cultures as people with intercultural sensitivity appreciate cultural diversity and hence are able to overcome the potential problems associated with it (Bennett, 2017). This entails that IS might be a key factor to consider for the development of foreign or second language learners’ communicative competence. Bearing this in mind, the researchers in this study investigated whether there is a relationship between intercultural sensitivity, language proficiency, years of learning, and gender of English as Foreign Language learners (EFL). To this aim, a total of 300 EFL learners were selected through convenience sampling procedure. The sample comprised of 146 female and154 male learners. Next Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (Chen & Starosta, 2000) and the TOEFL Junior Standard test were administered to the two main study groups. The analyses verified that the correlation between the EFL learners’ IS and their English proficiency was not statistically strong enough. On the other hand, the correlation between IS and the years of English learning was statistically strong and positive. The analyses also showed that there was not a significant difference between female and male participants in their intercultural sensitivity. An implication of the findings might be that EFL learners’ intercultural sensitivity develops through extended years of both exposure to the foreign language and authentic interactions in the same language.
