ABSTRACT
Several interpretations of intercultural mediation co-exist in language education and they have changed over time. In the world language classroom, intercultural mediation has traditionally been associated with the management of cultural differences. This emphasis on mutual understanding between speakers of languages-cultures is inscribed in educational discourses for the world language classroom. A growing body of work on interculturality and language in applied linguistics and other disciplines, as well as scholarship in learning theory from a sociocultural perspective have further expanded this view. Intercultural mediation is also understood as interpretive and meaning-making practices, and as action. In addition, informed by post-structuralist approaches to language, culture, and learning, intercultural mediation takes on additional dimensions and is also approached as a set of emerging and situated practices. This chapter describes and interrogates the notion of intercultural mediation for the world language classroom, by taking historical and analytical perspectives to locate intercultural mediation in the ideological, conceptual, and pedagogical landscape of language education.
