CULTURE(S) ET ÉDUCATION AU DIALOGUE INTERCULTUREL

After a brief incursion into different definitions of “culture” and “intercultural communication”, this paper examines their impact on communicative interactions and practices. Then we discuss the balance between universal human givens and cultural specificity; this balance legitimates hopes to peaceful coexistence, mutual understanding and interacting in order to build up common projects. It is this double dimension of the individual which appears to be responsible for accepting or blocking conversational negotiations - in which actors seek to exceed the boundaries of their values (attitudes, rules, etc.) imposed by the tradition of their community of origin and try to build together a common reference system that allows them to work in synergy. From an educational perspective – aimed at the level of interpersonal skills, especially general attitudes (openness to cultural diversity, respect for the work and ethic, intellectual rigor...) ( Galisson R., C. Puren, La formation en questions , Clé International, 1999) – teaching and learning languages and cultures is a privileged opportunity to stir up the openness towards the Other, understanding and interacting with the Other, who is different from oneself. In an intercultural dialogue – especially when the aim is to achieve a professional team project – we learn how to listen to others, how to integrate their cultural specificity and, at the same time, we discover how we can create cultural bridges together, in order to aid our synergistic actions