In the increasingly interconnected world of the 21st century, frontiers are more and more blurred: border-crossers and in-betweeness, both real, imaginary and virtual are becoming the new norm. There is also a tendency to value the local in the interests of preserving the planet and, in certain cases, for protectionism leading to the building of new walls and barriers, along with fear and mistrust of “the other”. In the field of education, the notion of inbetweeness, in the interstices or faultlines between languages and cultures, is often posited as a positive opportunity for intercultural learning. The potential gaps or « rupture points » between words and the logic behind them, provide a symbolic space for questioning one’s own taken for granted assumptions (Zarate 1986), for negotiating a “Third place” between one’s own voice and the appropriation of new voices (Kramsch 1993), for finding common solutions through “interity”, between identity and alterity (Demorgon 2005) or for building mediational bridges where empathy, decentring and openness can counter xenophobia and stereotypes (CEFR 2018; Sablé & Gourvès-Hayward 2017). However, inbetweeness can also lead to alienation, or feelings of being lost in translation and real or virtual cultural contact can reinforce existing stereotypes or create new ones. Building on the literature and our own 30 years of research on intercultural learning, telecollaboration and student and staff narratives, this conference will explore different forms of inbetweeness and ask the question: are they utopia or between the devil and the deep blue sea?
References
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. companion volume with new descriptors (2018) Strasbourg: Council of Europe publishing.
Demorgon, J. (2005). Critique de l’Interculturel. L’horizon de la sociologie. Paris: Anthropos
Economica
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sablé, C. A., & Gourvès-Hayward, A. M. (2017). La médiation pédagogique: Un atout dans la formation des ingénieurs. In P. Gréciano (Ed.), La médiation dans un monde sans frontières (pp. 73-88). Paris: Mare et Martin.
Zarate, G. (1986). Enseigner une culture étrangère. Paris :Hachette.