ABSTRACT
Alongside words largely shared ownership of word meaning, there is a tendency to seek consensus in the conversation. The interactional strategies utilised by interlocutors in the conversations on word meaning offer a rich opportunity for consideration of processes which, in the course of conversations between speakers of different languages, probably go unnoticed. Movement of position can also provide evidence of decentring, a central element in intercultural competence and the strategies provide evidence of how such decentring is taking place. The strategies undertaken by interlocutors are discussed in relation to the notion of decentring, a central process in the development of intercultural competence. In conversation anna clearly associates the word more strongly with sports than her partner does. Gill and Eva's experience is of particular interest here as it shows how Eva uses some of the same examples in English which Lily was using in the Spanish conversation on cooperar.
