In anticipation of the European Union (EU) Year of Intercultural Dialogue, 2008, Clarissa Menezes Jordao interviewed Jose Eustaquio Romao, Director of the Paulo Freire Institute in Brazil. Her edited translation of that interview is presented here. In the interview Romao, guided by the legacy of Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, discusses the…

The events that occurred during the Crusades, the encounter of Western and Eastern civilisations, led to certain modes of thinking and representations that are still evident today, overtly or subliminally. By revisiting some of the Western and Eastern chronicles of the first Crusade, we hope to capture the source of some of these images and to see…

Starting with the question "why do we need professional public service interpreters?" this paper offers an overview of the present situation regarding the provision of public service interpreters (PSIs) in the UK to public service clients and touches on the main obstacles to the professionalisation of public service interpreting so far…

This paper investigates language learners' negotiation of their social selves in the target language community of practice from a narrative perspective. In order to do this, I draw from post-structuralist and sociocultural approaches to language learning and L2 identity (e.g. Belz, 2002; Kinginger, 2004; Norton, 1997, 2000; Pavlenko, 2002, 2003)…

This paper examines the sociopragmatic character of intercultural communication between English Language Assistants (ELAs) and their "mentors" in French primary and secondary schools. With reference to Levinson's notion of "activity type", it argues that judgements by mentors as to what constitutes "allowable contributions" on the part of ELAs are…

Chinese translation to and from Japanese and English verifies the hypothesis that power differentials influence the flow and reception of translations. The Chinese tradition of translation has been characterised by fluency, but some scholars have recently advocated foreignisation for English to Chinese translation, and domestication for Chinese to…

In the Maghreb, the struggle for independence was the starting point for a new relationship between people and institutions. Three different ways of developing a new state--in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco--are the result of a new social and political landscape that is being designed in the Mediterranean basin: from a monarchy in Morocco…

The aim of this paper is to make the contention that there is a connection between the phenomena of recognition, identity and social integration. My hypothesis is based on interviews with several groups of refugee children who have come to Norway at different times--Jewish children (1938), Hungarian children (1956), a Tibetan group (1964) and a…

The present paper analyses press releases, news reports and health plans to show how health communication functions in perpetuating dominant racist structures. The paper is mainly concerned with how normal science and health practices can become an instrument for justifying racism and reproducing it in our societies. The examples demonstrate that…

This paper shows how Koranic Law was enshrined in the Moroccan Family Code (the "Mudawwana") in its first draft between the years 1957 and 1958. The changes that were included in 1993 and especially in 2004 partially modify the philosophy of Islamic resources and give more freedom of action to women. At present, the "Mudawwana Code"--as well as…

Starting from the assumption that interpreting is a norm-governed type of communication and that within this communicative "pas de trois" or "situated activity" (Wadensjo) which is "socially bounded" (Inghilleri), the interpreter's presence appears as a defining feature, this paper tries to identify preliminary and operational norms intervening in…

The paper reviews the current state of research into the long-disputed concept of intercultural competence by evaluating its varying definitions in German debates. The superficial clarity of the concept is unmasked to reveal fundamental differences in the answers given to questions like: what is the goal of intercultural competence; is…

The premise of much intercultural communication pedagogy and research is to educate people from different cultures towards open and transformative positions of mutual understanding and respect. This discourse in the instance of its articulation realises and sustains Intercultural Communication epistemologically--as an academic field of social…

Communication technologies and cheap air travel have profoundly reshaped the patterns of international circulation and migration, blurring the distinction between travellers, tourists and migrants. Some tourists have selected their former recreational area as permanent place of residence while other people are choosing or are being forced into…

This study juxtaposes current approaches to intercultural communication competence (ICC) with Chinese students' learning and communication experiences in a New Zealand pluricultural classroom. Fifteen first-year Chinese university students were interviewed and participated in focus groups. The findings indicated that the Chinese students' rules…