Page 11 - Diversity in Action

Introduction: Diversity in Action

languages.An L2,orsecondlanguage,istypicallyunderstoodasanon-native
language that is learned and used within a particular country or region. For
example, South Tyrolean speakers of Austro-Bavarian dialects often consider
Italian as their L2, since it is an official language of the province. An L3, or third
language, is usually learned after two other languages. However, proficiency
is not necessarily a determining factor, as proficiency is not always deter-
mined by the order of acquisition. Factors such as the amount of exposure to
eachlanguageortheirtypologicalsimilaritiescansometimesleadtoahigher
level of proficiency in the L3 than in the L2. English is taught as an L2 to speak-
ers of other languages in an English-speaking environment, while it is often
considered a foreign language (FL) in contexts where it is taught as a sched-
uled subject in a non-English-speaking environment. However, since an FL
has often been understood as a non-native language learned and used in
relation to a specific linguistic community located outside territorial bound-
aries, the term English as an international language, used asalingua franca
among people of different linguistic backgrounds within as well as outside
and across territorial boundaries, provides a more accurate and up-to-date-
description of the status of English.
Speakers who use several languages or linguistic varieties and demon-
strate general communicative competence can be considered multicompe-
tent if they also cultivate social sensitivity to the nuances of different linguis-
tic situations. A multicompetent speaker is ‘an individual with knowledge of
an extended and integrated linguistic repertoire who is able to use the ap-
propriate linguistic variety for the appropriate occasion’ (Franceschini, 2011,
p. 351). In addition to linguistic versatility, multicompetent speakers also have
a heightened awareness of cultural diversity, which is the subject of the next
section.

Cultural Diversity
Languages are closely interconnected with culture, which manifests itself in
a variety of forms in different times and places and has been identified as
one of the most multifaceted and complicated concepts to define (Williams,
1985; Eagleton, 2016). According to Eagleton (2016), culture can refer to ‘(1) a
body of artistic and intellectual work; (2) a process of spiritual and intellec-
tual development; (3) the values, customs, beliefs and symbolic practices by
which men and women live; or (4) a whole way of life’ (p. 1). Because of the
multifaceted and evolving nature of the concept, any attempt to distil the dy-
namics or defining elements of cultural concepts into a brief definition will
inevitably be selective and limited. However, given the frequency with which

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