This article explores the roles of local volunteers in developing social connectedness among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) parents seeking to gain English language and cultural confidence in a regional community in Queensland, Australia. Interview data from a case study of nine non-specialist tutor volunteers identified…

In the twenty-first-century working professionals need to possess strong Interactional Competence to handle professional communication in intercultural contexts (PCIC). However, the relationship among the three PCIC constituents -- culture, workplace and interaction -- is undertheorized in current research. This leaves PCIC practitioners…

The spread of English and its increasing importance in intercultural encounters have challenged essentialist perspectives of culture in English language teaching. In addition to using English as a means of communication, students are expected to develop intercultural awareness, which allows them to analyse and reflect on their intercultural…

This article is a narrative case study of language provision for trainee mathematics teachers on a one-year initial teacher training course: a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in London, England. It draws on Heugh's (2018) (Conclusion: Multilingualism, Diversity and Equitable Learning: Towards crossing the 'Abyss'. in The Multilingual Edge of…

Internationally operating professionals in China study business English to develop their language proficiency and transcultural communicative competence. While a variety of business English textbooks are on the market and are used in China, their conceptualizations of culture tend to be nation-based, static, and predictable -- views of culture…

Study abroad is laden with socially constructed expectations informed by discourses of place, people, and culture presented through social media, pop culture, word-of-mouth, and marketing. These discourses can shape how students approach and interpret their host countries and study abroad experiences. To better inform language and culture…

Intercultural competence refers to people's ability to understand and respect each other across all types of cultural barriers, and racial literacy stands out as a fundamental component of this competency. Particularly, in Korea, which has recently rapidly become a multicultural society, understanding diversity and cultivating racial literacy are…

Developing curricula that responds to the demand for internationalisation in higher education institutions (HEIs) has been gaining wide attention around the world. Taiwan, a country that houses more than 100 HEIs, is a keen member in joining the bandwagon of academic internationalisation. This paper explores the learning process and perceived…

This paper presents a comparative analysis investigating how cultural values are represented in two sets of widely used Chinese as a second language (CSL) textbooks published in mainland China (New Practical Chinese Reader, NPCR) and the US (Integrated Chinese, IC) respectively. Using an integrated critical social semiotic approach, we examined…

Language textbooks have been--and still are--the centre of attention of substantial research in the field of applied linguistics, language education and instruction, and language studies, among others. This paper synthesizes results and findings from the current Special Issue 'The language textbook: representation, interaction and learning''. In…

This study examines how immigrants' enculturation/acculturation, language use, and parenting were linked to their oral and written language proficiencies in multilingual Hong Kong (speak English, speak Cantonese, read and write Chinese). Participants in this study included 655 immigrant parents (from Pakistan, Nepal, India, Philippines, Indonesia,…

What images of the world do we find in language textbooks? What countries and continents are favoured, what key problems of the world are mentioned and taken up, what segments of the world's populations are represented and how, what role is given to the understanding of world history, colonialism and imperialism, what role is given to the…

Although the potential of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) for intercultural learning and teaching is acknowledged, few studies have explored the teaching of culture in EMI programmes in higher education contexts. Thus, this study examined the perceptions and practices that six EMI teachers from a variety of disciplines have of culture and…

Integrating twenty-first century competencies into the curriculum has become an important issue for education reform worldwide. This study examines and compares twenty-first century competencies demonstrated in mother tongue curriculum standards in China, the United States and Finland. It identifies key similarities and significant differences…

This study aims to characterise teachers' "integrated" content-language learning pedagogies teaching the skills-focused subject "Global Perspectives" (GP) in Dutch bilingual upper-secondary-schools. Eleven teachers from seven bilingual schools across the Netherlands participated in the study in the school-year 2016-2017. To…