From a Cultural to an Intercultural Approach

This chapter examines the concept of culture and intercultural as used in the tandem context, and reflects on the implications of the move from a culture=language comparative approach to a more complex, process-oriented approach. Tandem learners themselves are influenced by a range of cultural, linguistic and personal contextual factors, which do not always align with one country/language only; and they bring a range of cultural and idiolectical experiences to the tandem encounter. The implications of a more fluid approach to language and culture are discussed, and alongside this, a shift from the native to the intercultural speaker model is proposed.