Representations of the Other and Stereotypes in the Process of Intercultural Learning

This paper examines how communication has been influenced by the process of globalization and how each speaker, by means of intercultural learning, built his identity. The globalization of the economic market and the growing number of population this implies has made crossculturality to become a controversial topic. The process of economic globalization means that we cannot function in isolation, but must interact with the rest of the world for satisfying our needs, achieving our goals, maintaining our security. And because important decisions in business, politics, education, health, and culture these days usually affect citizens of more than one nation, the question of whether communication between people of different nations is effective and whether all parties emerge with the same understanding is of crucial importance. This is when the intercultural learning makes its appearence. From a cultural point of view, the purpose of teaching foreign languages is to encourage the harmonious shaping of the learner’s personality and identity. In the process of learning/teaching foreign languages, it is essential to make the ones who are learning become aware of the interculturality. The learner is then shown how to be tolerent and how to accept the other who is next to him, how to accept cultural and linguistic diversity. Thus, the values and competences acquired by means of the intercultural process are what is most profound in a human being: his self image, his beliefs, the ability to distinguish wrong from right, the very definition of reality.