ABSTRACT
The 2010s have been so far a significant period for the multifaceted field of language and intercultural communication pedagogy. The specific geopolitical and economic characteristics of these years-repeated economic woes, ‘migrant crises’, increasing social injustice, etc.—mark an era where renewing debates as well as epistemological, theoretical and methodological discussions about interculturality is fundamental. As one of the main educational channels for reflecting on and acting upon interculturality, language and intercultural communication pedagogy should be at the forefront of these discussions and lead to further dialogues between and among researchers, practitioners, ‘users’, decision makers and the general public. Too often intercultural communication has been treated as a neutral transactional encounter, during which different groups face language barriers and cultural misunderstandings while interacting with each other. This view often ignores the fact that the ‘intercultural’ also encompasses and contributes to both unbalanced power relations between these groups based on gender difference, social class, religion, etc., and differential treatment based on origins, languages and skin colour of the people involved. Also at work here are different kinds of ‘-isms’ such as racism and culturalism, or the use of a solid form of culture as the only explanation for what people do and think (Holliday, 2010 ; Hoskins & Sall ah, 2011).
