Abstract:

As increasingly diverse and globalised labour markets require managers to be interculturally competent, the managerial education at universities needs to adapt to these new trends. The study examines the role of critical thinking skills in intercultural communicative competence (ICC) development in Business English courses at the tertiary level. Business English courses at present are expected not only to develop linguistic proficiency but also to cultivate critical thinking with the focus on the reflective awareness of one’s own thinking and communication processes as a part of ICC development. Metacognition, as the ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate cognitive and communicative strategies, emerges as a key mediating component that supports both critical thinking and intercultural competence. The study uses a literature review method to conceptualise the links between critical thinking and ICC models and the important role of metacognition in foreign language teaching. This theoretical base is complemented by a case study using the qualitative and quantitative analysis of feedback collected from international master’s students enrolled in the Business English course at a Slovak university. First-year Master´s foreign students enrolled in the courses of Business English in 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 commented on their cultural experiences via questionnaire surveys. The paper argues that Business English courses offer a particularly suitable environment for connecting critical thinking, ICC, and metacognition due to their practice-oriented and interculturally oriented design. It concludes with pedagogical recommendations highlighting the integration of reflective frameworks, structured feedback mechanisms, and culturally diverse materials to support metacognitive development.

Keywords:

Critical thinking, intercultural communicative competence, tertiary education, managerial education, Business English.