The interpretative and analytical models dealing with intercultural (communicative) competence have not so far fully exploited the linguistic dimension of intercultural communication. Conversely, work dealing with plurilingual competence and plurilingual communicative situations has also neglected their intercultural dimension. An exception could perhaps be the analysis of intercultural clashes based on problematic linguistic resources (linguistic opacity) or on unshared linguistic codes, but other possibilities of this relationship (beyond clashes and problems) might also be highlighted. It was this framework that gave rise to the theme of this special issue, which includes some of the papers presented at the 14th Annual Conference of the International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication, entitled Linguistic resources and intercultural (communicative) competence: bridging a theoretical and empirical gap.
The submissions to this first issue of LAIC Volume 16 are the outcomes from this Conference, which took place in the University of Aveiro, Portugal, 28–30 of November 2014. In this special issue, we include papers that look closely at the intricate relationship between the uses, distribution and sharing of linguistic resources and intercultural communication achievements which underlie the constitutive role of language in communication and go far beyond any instrumental or intermediate purpose. Attention is also drawn to the intercultural dimension of plurilingual encounters, without essentializing cultural differences and keeping in mind the co-construction of communication in situated contexts.
The first paper, by Ben Rampton, addresses some classroom episodes in order to analyse the way in which linguistic ethnography can unpack the layered processes that collide in the breaking of silence in the classroom. Drawing on evidence from two case studies – a Turkish language class in a Greek-Cypriot secondary school, and a discussion of Standard English in an inner London comprehensive school – it demonstrates how linguistic form and practice, individual positioning, local institutional history and national education policy development work towards the breaking of classroom silences, and it discusses the value of situated interactional data for teacher development.
Featuring the importance of knowing and working with the reciprocal images of University students both in Portugal and in Turkey, Daniel Basílio, Maria Helena Araújo e Sá and Ana Raquel Simões present and discuss the reciprocal images in (inter)cultural mediation of University students from two different countries. According to the role that Foreign Language Education might play in terms of the relationship of individuals with the target language and country, whether rapprochement or distancing, one can easily understand the role of these images in the promotion of intercultural dialogue. The present study demonstrates from evidence drawn from the content analysis of the responses given to a questionnaire survey how self- and hetero-images may influence: (i) the construction of the individuals’ identity, (ii) the attitudes and awareness towards the other, as well as (iii) language learning motivation. According to the results obtained, the role of foreign language education in the (re)construction of these images, particularly at University, level is also discussed.
Also within a University context, we have in this issue a work on the development of intercultural awareness using Digital Storytelling. Sandra Ribeiro presents a study which highlights the importance of mobility and of mastering intercultural awareness and intercultural communication skills according to the existing digital agenda. Since there is the recognition of students’ positive involvement when using ICT, this study shows how digital storytelling was implemented in an undergraduate degree in Business Communication, where students discuss and reflect on key issues in Intercultural Communication. The results, drawn from the qualitative analysis of 140 student questionnaires, indicate that students were engaged in Digital Storytelling activities and tasks, enabling them to (re)construct new personal and group meanings and improve their intercultural awareness. These results, as well as their discussion, provide considerable insight into some language teaching activities and resources.
It is indeed undeniable that foreign language education is important in the development of learners’ intercultural and plurilingual capabilities. Although there is an abundance of research on intercultural and plurilingual education, there is still work to be done in terms of the role that heritage languages play in the promotion of an intercultural and multilingual education. Rosa Faneca, Maria Helena Araújo e Sá and Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer present a case study on the multilingual repertoires of young people from a linguistic and cultural minority and on the role and the place of heritage languages in the development of a multilingual and intercultural competence in Portuguese schools. Focusing on students from a migrant background attending primary and secondary schools and according to the analysis of students’ responses to an online questionnaire, it is concluded that students value their heritage languages, perceiving them as identity construction, social interaction and affirmation instruments. However, although the students’ linguistic and cultural capital is recognized by both students and teachers, teachers still do not promote activities considering heritage languages. This shows that there is still work to be done concerning the use of these languages in education, as pedagogical and didactic projects, as well as in the promotion of educational language policies that value their role in intercultural and multilingual education.
The need to rethink some teachers’ understandings is also discussed in a paper by Anna Czura on the student teachers’ views on intercultural communicative competence, where it is shown that an L2 teacher needs to have a clear understanding of the role of intercultural communicative competence and how to develop it in a classroom. Since, the undergraduate student teachers of English in this study came from three departments at the University of Wroclaw, student teachers’ perception of ICC is analyzed and compared in order to verify whether their opinions are influenced by their major field of study. The author argues that despite providing relatively accurate definitions of ICC, the student teachers still see culture in a language teaching classroom in a traditional, knowledge-oriented way. It is also concluded that the major field of study affects students’ approaches to Intercultural Communicative Competence in the classroom.
Finally, Raquel Matias, Nuno Oliveira and Alejandra Ortiz present a case study of adult immigrants’ experience in Courses of Portuguese for Speakers of Other Languages. This case study addresses the problem of adult immigrants with little or no schooling, who have been neglected by the main official programmes offered. According to data provided by the interviews to teachers and public officials, the paper discusses the main official programmes offering Portuguese for Speakers of Other Languages to adult immigrants and gives some insight into the possible recommendations to this type of education.
This issue also includes two book reviews by Eulàlia Borràs Riba and Adriana Raquel Díaz. We also want to thank Malcolm MacDonald for his unconditional support as Executive Editor, as well as our Editorial Assistant, Jennifer Tunstall, for her continuous work; and our Production Editor, Katherine Williams, for her involvement in all the production details.