Developing Mutual Intelligibility and Conviviality in the 21st Century Classroom: Insights from English as a Lingua Franca and Intercultural Communication

& Due to ongoing increases in global mobility and migration, global citizens consistently find themselves in contact with a range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Zhu, 2011).Through a growing focus on multilingualism in second language (L2) research (i.e., Ortega, 2013), greater recognition has been given to the complex multilingual repertoires of language users across the globe (Blommaert, 2010).However, a primarily pedagogical focus on the linguistic components of interaction overlooks the role that cultural differences may play in mis-and nonunderstandings between speakers (Scollon, Scollon, & Jones, 2012).Blommaert (2013) prioritized a recognition of complexity over multiplicity and plurality when considering the cultural components of global contact, arguing that current investigations are limited to individual zones of contact, without consideration of how what begin as distinct cultural units are transformed and carried over into subsequent global contact.As such, Blommaert is following up on Leung's (2005) argument for conviviality between global English users, where linguistic and cultural distinctions are not immediately evaluated due