IEFInternational Education Forum3083-49022981-8605Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/IEF.v4i10.16116ArticleAI-Empowered Strategies for Cultivating Intercultural Communicative Competence in High School English Teachinghttps://artdesignp.com/journal/IEF/4/10/10.26689/IEF.v4i10.16116ZhangJinghua,LiuJing20264102026-11-11High school English cross-cultural teaching has long faced real challenges like teachers only understanding things superficially, students lacking initiative, and a gap between learning and practical use, while the widespread use of AI has brought new possibilities to tackle these issues. This article focuses on high school English teachers and, using a mix of literature review, surveys, interviews, and case studies, identifies factors limiting the effectiveness of cross-cultural teaching across three dimensions: teachers, resources, and assessment. It also builds a strategy system around textbook use, activity design, resource integration, AI-assisted teaching, and student assessment, which is finally tested with the “Festivals and Celebrations” unit from all three volumes of the PEP textbook series by People’s Education Press.AI, High school English, Intercultural communicative competence, Cultivation strategies

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