Identifying and contextualising the key issues

This chapter reviews current research on the intercultural component of language education and discusses its relevance for Chinese language teaching and learning. Basic concepts such as culture, identity and the very word ‘intercultural’ are problematised. The chapter highlights four aspects of Chinese language education: Chinese language ‘worlds’, diverse contexts, identities of learners and identities of teachers. Based on these diverse and changing elements within Chinese language education a perspective of ‘interculturality’ is advocated. Other chapters in this volume investigate and address, in turn, questions pertaining to Chinese language education in relation to ‘interculturality’