Intercultural education and communication in second language interactions

This article analyses intercultural education outcomes which are produced in the setting of teaching Italian as second language (ISL), in an Italian school. Intercultural education is produced in interactions which are based on specific cultural presuppositions, i.e. expectations regarding learning, role hierarchy, and evaluation of students’ performances. Intercultural education deals with the issue of cultural diversity, which is based on different cultural presuppositions emerging in communication. 16 hours of interactions of ISL teaching in a multicultural classroom were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed. The analysis highlights three ways in which cultural diversity becomes meaningful. First, cultural diversity is constructed as one task of learning. Second, cultural diversity is constructed as conflictive interaction. Third, cultural diversity is constructed as a point of departure towards positive school performance. These three ways of giving meaning to cultural diversity reveal a prevailing ethnocentric form of ISL teaching, as a consequence of educational presuppositions which do not take the difficulties of intercultural communication seriously. Recently, “dialogue” has been invoked to dissolve ethnocentrism; however the conditions of effective intercultural dialogue are uncertain.