Includes Bibliographical references and index

Acknowledgements; Preface; Introduction; Dubious dichotomies and deceptive symmetries; The importance of context in language education; A discourse perspective; Notes; 1. Educational challenge; Of challenges and conditions; Challenge as action; Challenge as paradox; Challenge as dialogue; Double-voiced discourse; Dialogic breakthrough; Notes; 2. Contexts of speech and social interaction; What's in a context?; Discourse and culture; Contextual shaping; Conclusion; Notes; 3. Teaching the spoken language; Five case studies; Problems and paradoxes; Teaching language as (con)/text; Notes; 4. Stories and discourses; Dimensions of particularity; Understanding of particularity; Conclusion; Notes; 5. Teaching the literary text; Current practices; Defining the reader; Teaching the narrative; Teaching poetry; Post-teaching activities; Conclusion; Notes; 6. Authentic texts and contexts; What is cultural authenticity?; The communicative proficiency approach; The discourse analysis approach; The challenge of multimedia; Notes; 7. Teaching language across the cultural faultline; Cultural reality and cultural imagination; C2, C2': reconstructing the C2 context of production and reception; C1, C1': constructing a context of reception in the learner's native culture; C1, C2: in the eyes of others; Of bridges and boundaries; Notes; 8. Looking for third places; A popular culture; A critical culture; An ecological culture; Conclusion; Notes ; Appendices; Bibliography; Index

This is an attempt to redraw the boundaries of foreign language study. It focuses attention not just on cultural knowledge as a necessary aspect of communicative competence, but as an educational objective in its own right, as an end as well as a means of language learning. Winner MLA Kenneth W Mildenberger Prize