This study investigated the intercultural inclusion of international students in Saudi universities, especially the language and culture barriers while interacting with local peers within and beyond classroom settings. Qualitative data gathered through interviews with 12 international students revealed that the Arabic language, shared human…

The issue of representation has polarised public discourse and in recent years the decolonisation of research methodologies has entered the field of interculturality. However, universalistic discourses of dialogue and tolerance can be harnessed to silence certain voices by construing them as 'other'. With this paper I confront this conceptual knot…

This paper investigates the role of interpreters in addressing cultural differences in the context of a cross-cultural collaborative teacher professional development project. Based on positioning theory, this study employed interpreter-mediated interactions and interviews to reveal the complex roles that interpreters played when interpreting…

SNS (Social Networking Sites) are a ubiquitous social space for many, often involving the use of English as a lingua franca in highly multilingual and multicultural settings. This article presents an ethnographic investigation of communication among a group of international students on a popular SNS. The data illustrates the fluid and complex…

The 'intercultural turn' in foreign language education has brought to the fore the need to foster intercultural competences. Yet in contexts where virtually all intercultural communication is mediated by English as a foreign language (hereafter EFL), proficiency in that language determines to a large extent access to intercultural experiences,…

Instructional practices are fundamentally influenced by teacher beliefs. Cultural and pedagogical belief differences in EFL teachers can fuel a lack of professional understanding among teachers with contrasting perspectives about effective teaching practices. The present study examined the alignment between the beliefs of Chinese English teachers…

Translingual practice is an emergent theoretical perspective which emphasizes the capacity and disposition for meaning-making across linguistic boundaries. Following on studies of globalized workplaces that have focused on lingua franca English, this article explores translingual practice as represented in interview and blog narratives recounted…

The internet affords its users an unprecedented level of contact with people from other cultural and social groups. It is often assumed that because of this it can facilitate intercultural communication and reduce the perceived distance between cultures. This article will examine this assumption by exploring two questions. Firstly, do the…

Learning new languages potentially gives people vital skills to build more successful relationships, and understanding the social influences at work today may help us to know which type of language education is most beneficial. This article explores three social influences--globalisation, localisation and glocalisation--from the perspective of…