Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides evidence that both classroom and in-the-field approaches are important in language learning. It presents an overview of tandem learning, its origins, principles and role within the language learning curriculum. The book explores background analysis of native speaker (NS) and non-native speaker (NNS) conceptual frameworks through discussion of the word association tasks undertaken by a sample of English and Spanish NS participants. It takes a close look at the conversations using a microanalysis of the word meaning tracking through a number of case studies of conversations, informed by applied conversation analysis and mediated discourse analysis. The book examines a strong case is made for a move from the foregrounding of native speaker paradigms to incorporate processes of becoming intercultural. It offers a summary across all of the data with regard to the purposes for which culture is raised as relevant.