The Central Concepts: Culture, Language, Intercultural Competence and Interculturality

Abstract

This chapter presents the basic concepts, such as culture, language and culture, intercultural competence and interculturality with a brief discussion of earlier and recent perspectives and frameworks. The chapter starts with various definitions of culture and draws on linguistic anthropology followed by dimensional and analytic frameworks of culture. Then, the relationship between culture and language is presented through linguistic, pragmatic, and sociolinguistic viewpoints. Such a interwoven link between language and culture brings up the discussion of the role of intercultural communication and interculturality accompanied by a set of both earlier and recent frameworks. Then, the concept of interculturality is briefly reviewed tapping on some critical issues, such as diversity and power dynamics in intercultural communication. This is followed by implications of interculturality for language teaching and relevant practices.