Introduction

Since the communicative turn in foreign language teaching, one of the biggest classroom aims (and difficulties) has been to teach language as a dynamic system of meaning potential rather than simply as a structural system. To teach ‘meaning’ is an incredibly complex affair in many respects. Within the context of communication, meaning is something which must ultimately be constructed by individuals as they pay close attention to each other’s verbal and non-verbal cues and mobilize background knowledge and assumptions to interpret utterances within the flow of discourse. Moreover, such interpretation must take into account the sociocultural context in which utterances are exchanged, including the relationships between participants and what is being conveyed, not simply in terms of information but also in terms of the identities of the speakers and their social positioning vis-à-vis one another (Kramsch, 2009). The situation is even more complex in the case of intercultural communication, as ways of reading sociocultural context and the weighting given to particular aspects of context can be interpreted very differently, as can ideas about how speakers are expected to behave in view of their social and interpersonal roles (Spencer Oatey, 2008). Language learners, too, are actively engaged in interpretative processes right from the beginning of learning. Learners engage with the foreign language on the basis of existing assumptions about the nature of the social world, the way individuals interact in a range of social and interpersonal contexts, and what communicative behaviours are considered preferable over others. Within the foreign language classroom there is much potential for promoting intercultural learning by drawing attention to the ways in which participants in interaction, including learners themselves, construct and interpret meanings. However, whether this potential is realized or not is ultimately dependent on how the links between language and culture, as well as the learners' awareness of these links, are conceptualized.