Abstract

Informal intercultural learning is frequently assumed to emerge naturally once formal assessment is removed. However, little attention has been paid to what must occur before learners are able to participate meaningfully in informal contexts. This qualitative study interrogates the pre-learning phase of an informal intercultural activity to theorize psychological readiness as a foundational condition for participation. Drawing on interviews, participant observation, and written reflections from international university students engaged in a non-assessed, board-game-based cultural activity, the study examines how learners transition from assessment-oriented identities to informal learning roles. Findings reveal that learners initially entered the informal setting as “assessed subjects,” carrying internalized evaluative logics—particularly linguistic anxiety—that constrained participation despite the absence of formal grading. Psychological readiness did not emerge through reassurance alone, but through deliberate facilitation practices that visibly suspended evaluative authority and allowed learners to experience non-judgment in action. This process enabled a shift from performance-based self-monitoring to participatory engagement. The study reconceptualizes psychological readiness not as motivation or confidence, but as an epistemic and identity-based condition that permits engagement without self-protection. By foregrounding what happens before learning begins, the study offers a temporal reordering of informal and intercultural learning theory and highlights the critical role of pre-learning design in enabling meaningful participation.

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