Introduction

Despite being largely taken for granted in cross-cultural interactional encounters, intercultural communication requires the deployment of diverse context-specific resources for the interactional management of the delicacy of interculturality by attending to cultural differences at every turn at talk. Virtual exchanges manifests one such context that is increasingly recognized for their affordances for providing intercultural speakers with opportunities for intercultural competence development (Byram, 1997Byram, M. (1997) Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.Byram, M. (1997) Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.). This study deals with how pre-service teachers from Türkiye and Poland accomplish interculturality in video-mediated interactions with a specific focus on the intercultural moments that occur when they “initiate a potentially sensitive topic” (Brandt & Jenks, 2011Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11 (1), 41–58. Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11(1), 41–58. , p. 55). Drawing from conversation analytic research on interculturality and closely examining instances of initiations of topics of potential cross-cultural sensitivity in video-mediated ‘critical’ virtual exchange (Hauck, 2019Hauck, M. (2019) Virtual exchange for (critical) digital literacy skills development. European Journal of Language Policy, 11 (2), 187–210. Hauck, M. (2019) Virtual exchange for (critical) digital literacy skills development. European Journal of Language Policy, 11(2), 187–210. , 2023Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023 (Spring), 9–12.Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023(Spring), 9–12.; Klimanova & Hellmich, 2021Klimanova, L., & Hellmich, E. A. (2021) Crossing transcultural liminalities with critical virtual exchange: A study of shifting border discourses. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18 (3), 273–304. Klimanova, L., & Hellmich, E. A. (2021) Crossing transcultural liminalities with critical virtual exchange: A study of shifting border discourses. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18(3), 273–304. ; Nicolaou et al., 2025Nicolaou, A., Sauro, S., Gudmundsdottir, G. B., & Sundqvist, P. (2025) Critical virtual exchange to address teachers’ needs in times of conflict. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 8 , 54–66. Nicolaou, A., Sauro, S., Gudmundsdottir, G. B., & Sundqvist, P. (2025) Critical virtual exchange to address teachers’ needs in times of conflict. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 8, 54–66. ) interactions, the study aims to showcase how the participants carefully manage ‘brave’ topics (Glimäng, 2022Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5 , 61–81. Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5, 61–81. ; Godwin-Jones, 2019Godwin-Jones, R. (2019) Telecollaboration as an approach to developing intercultural communication competence. https://​scholarspace​.manoa​.hawaii​.edu​/bitstream​/10125​/44691​/1​/23​_3​_10125​-44691​.pdf. Godwin-Jones, R. (2019) Telecollaboration as an approach to developing intercultural communication competence. https://​scholarspace​.manoa​.hawaii​.edu​/bitstream​/10125​/44691​/1​/23​_3​_10125​-44691​.pdf. ; Helm, 2016Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.) without causing tension, conflict, or extended disruptions to the progression of the intercultural task and talk at hand even when the legitimacy of the initiated topic is treated negotiable to some extent.

In conversation analytic terms, interculturality is treated as a social concept that is dynamically co-constructed by participants through moment-by-moment orientations to culture-relevant topics and ascribing and resisting/aligning with culture-specific identities in interaction (Nishizaka, 1995Nishizaka, A. (1995) The interactive constitution of interculturality: How to be a Japanese with words. Human Studies, 18 (2–3), 301–326. Nishizaka, A. (1995) The interactive constitution of interculturality: How to be a Japanese with words. Human Studies, 18(2–3), 301–326. ; Mori, 2003Mori, J. (2003) The construction of interculturality: A study of initial encounters between Japanese and American students. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 36 (2), 143–184. Mori, J. (2003) The construction of interculturality: A study of initial encounters between Japanese and American students. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 36(2), 143–184. , 2007Mori, J. (2007) Reconstructing the participants’ treatments of ‘interculturality’: Variations in data and methodologies. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 123–141. Mori, J. (2007) Reconstructing the participants’ treatments of ‘interculturality’: Variations in data and methodologies. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 123–141. ; Day, 2008Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. ; Arano, 2019Arano, Y. (2019) Interculturality as an interactional achievement: Doubting others’ nationality and accounting for the doubt. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 12 (2), 167–189. Arano, Y. (2019) Interculturality as an interactional achievement: Doubting others’ nationality and accounting for the doubt. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 12(2), 167–189. ; Önder & Balaman, 2025Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. ; Siegel, 2016Siegel, A. (2016) “Oh no, it’s just culture”: Multicultural identities in action in ELF interactions. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 26 (2), 193–215. Siegel, A. (2016) “Oh no, it’s just culture”: Multicultural identities in action in ELF interactions. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 26(2), 193–215. ). The participants’ joint social actions while talking about (or co-constructing, Zimmerman, 2015Zimmerman, E. (2015) Conversations about culture: How Korean and Japanese cultural products, practices and perspectives are discussed to co-construct cultural understanding in talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 5 , 28–39. Zimmerman, E. (2015) Conversations about culture: How Korean and Japanese cultural products, practices and perspectives are discussed to co-construct cultural understanding in talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 5, 28–39. ) culture constitute intercultural moments (Bolden, 2014Bolden, G. B. (2014) Negotiating understanding in “intercultural moments” in immigrant family interactions. Communication Monographs, 81 (2), 208–238. Bolden, G. B. (2014) Negotiating understanding in “intercultural moments” in immigrant family interactions. Communication Monographs, 81(2), 208–238. ; Hua et al., 2019Hua, Z., Wei, L., & Jankowicz-Pytel, D. (2019) Intercultural moments in translating and humanising the socio-legal system. Language and Intercultural Communication, 19 (6), 488–504. Hua, Z., Wei, L., & Jankowicz-Pytel, D. (2019) Intercultural moments in translating and humanising the socio-legal system. Language and Intercultural Communication, 19(6), 488–504. ) which create interactional space for attending to sameness and/or differentness (Nishizaka, 1999Nishizaka, A. (1999) Doing interpreting within interaction: The interactive accomplishment of a “Henna Gaijin” or “Strange Foreigner.” Human Studies, 22 (2–4), 235–251. Nishizaka, A. (1999) Doing interpreting within interaction: The interactive accomplishment of a “Henna Gaijin” or “Strange Foreigner.” Human Studies, 22(2–4), 235–251. ; Önder & Balaman, 2025Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. ) in situ based on the assumptions of cultural characteristics (Brandt & Jenks, 2011Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11 (1), 41–58. Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11(1), 41–58. ) and ascribe cultural identities through interactional reworkings of cultural and ethnic otherness (i.e., ethnification, Day, 2008Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. , and; exoticisation, Fukuda, 2006Fukuda, C. (2006) Resistance against being formulated as cultural other: The case of a Chinese student in Japan. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 429–456. Fukuda, C. (2006) Resistance against being formulated as cultural other: The case of a Chinese student in Japan. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 429–456. ). Conversations about culture do not inherently constitute interculturality only due to the differences in the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the participants. Conversely, interculturality emerges from the culture-relevant topic initiations and knowledge gaps among the participants (Mori, 2003Mori, J. (2003) The construction of interculturality: A study of initial encounters between Japanese and American students. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 36 (2), 143–184. Mori, J. (2003) The construction of interculturality: A study of initial encounters between Japanese and American students. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 36(2), 143–184. ; Kim, 2019Kim, Y. (2019) ‘What is stoyr-steruh type?’: Knowledge asymmetry, intersubjectivity, and learning opportunities in conversation-for-learning. Applied Linguistics, 40 (2), 307–328. Kim, Y. (2019) ‘What is stoyr-steruh type?’: Knowledge asymmetry, intersubjectivity, and learning opportunities in conversation-for-learning. Applied Linguistics, 40(2), 307–328. ) and features references to (e.g., ethnic, L2 user, foreigner) identity (Hansen, 2005Hansen, A. D. (2005) A Practical Task: Ethnicity as a Resource in Social Interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 38 (1), 63–104. Hansen, A. D. (2005) A Practical Task: Ethnicity as a Resource in Social Interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 38(1), 63–104. ; Higgins, 2007Higgins, C. (2007) Constructing membership in the in-group: Affiliation and resistance among urban Tanzanians. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 49–70. Higgins, C. (2007) Constructing membership in the in-group: Affiliation and resistance among urban Tanzanians. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 49–70. ; Park, 2007Park, J.-E. (2007) Co-construction of nonnative speaker identity in cross-cultural interaction. Applied Linguistics, 28 (3), 339–360. Park, J.-E. (2007) Co-construction of nonnative speaker identity in cross-cultural interaction. Applied Linguistics, 28(3), 339–360. ), claims of cultural expertise (Zimmerman, 2007Zimmerman, E. (2007) Constructing Korean and Japanese interculturality in talk: Ethnic membership categorization among users of Japanese. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 71–94. Zimmerman, E. (2007) Constructing Korean and Japanese interculturality in talk: Ethnic membership categorization among users of Japanese. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 71–94. ), resources for rapport building (Ryoo, 2007Ryoo, H.-K. (2007) Interculturality serving multiple interactional goals in African American and Korean service encounters. Pragmatics, 17 (1), 23–47. Ryoo, H.-K. (2007) Interculturality serving multiple interactional goals in African American and Korean service encounters. Pragmatics, 17(1), 23–47. ), and so on. The situated accomplishment of interculturality also entails resisting to cross-cultural identities ascribed using these diverse interactional features, e.g., through codeswitching and language alternation (Higgins, 2007Higgins, C. (2007) Constructing membership in the in-group: Affiliation and resistance among urban Tanzanians. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 49–70. Higgins, C. (2007) Constructing membership in the in-group: Affiliation and resistance among urban Tanzanians. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 49–70. ; Higgins, 2009Higgins, C. (2009) Are you Hindu?”: Resisting membership categorization through language alternation. In H. t. Nguyen & G. Kasper (Eds.), Talk-in-interaction: Multilingual perspectives, (pp. 111–136). National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii.Higgins, C. (2009) Are you Hindu?”: Resisting membership categorization through language alternation. In H. t. Nguyen & G. Kasper (Eds.), Talk-in-interaction: Multilingual perspectives, (pp. 111–136). National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii.), alternative formulations, and minimal responsive actions (Day, 2008Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. ; Fukuda, 2006Fukuda, C. (2006) Resistance against being formulated as cultural other: The case of a Chinese student in Japan. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 429–456. Fukuda, C. (2006) Resistance against being formulated as cultural other: The case of a Chinese student in Japan. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 429–456. ). In addition to alignment, affiliation or resistance practices that would explicitly register interculturality in situ, avoidance of certain interactional practices, e.g., avoiding repair initiations to help ascribe a competent L2 user identity (Hauser, 2017Hauser, E. (2017) Avoiding initiation of repair in L2 conversations-for-learning. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 235–256. Hauser, E. (2017) Avoiding initiation of repair in L2 conversations-for-learning. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 235–256. ), can rather implicitly enable the co-construction of language and culture-specific identities. Relatedly, cultural differences do not necessarily pose challenges in conversational progressivity, but they hold the potential to move forward with interactional and institutional goals as resources for the management of interculturality (Ryoo, 2007Ryoo, H.-K. (2007) Interculturality serving multiple interactional goals in African American and Korean service encounters. Pragmatics, 17 (1), 23–47. Ryoo, H.-K. (2007) Interculturality serving multiple interactional goals in African American and Korean service encounters. Pragmatics, 17(1), 23–47. ; Shrikant, 2021Shrikant, N. (2021) Cultural difference as a resource for arguments in institutional interactions. Communication Monographs, 88 (2), 219–236. Shrikant, N. (2021) Cultural difference as a resource for arguments in institutional interactions. Communication Monographs, 88(2), 219–236. ).

The conversation analytic research on how culture is interactionally managed in mundane and institutional talk, therefore, shows that interculturality is a dynamic phenomenon sensitive to the context-specific configurations of any social settings and co-constructed through membership categorization devices (Sacks, 1972aSacks, H. (1972a) An initial investigation of the usability of conversational data for doing sociology. In D. N. Sudnow (Ed.), Studies in social interaction (pp. 31–74). Free Press. https://​cir​.nii​.ac​.jp​/crid​/1570009749827547776Sacks, H. (1972a) An initial investigation of the usability of conversational data for doing sociology. In D. N. Sudnow (Ed.), Studies in social interaction (pp. 31–74). Free Press. https://​cir​.nii​.ac​.jp​/crid​/1570009749827547776, 1972bSacks, H. (1972b) On the analysability of stories by children. In J. J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (Eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication (pp. 325–345). Holt, Rinehart and Winston. https://​www​.taylorfrancis​.com​/chapters​/edit​/10​.4324​/9780203214770​-20​/analysability​-stories​-children​-harvey​-sacksSacks, H. (1972b) On the analysability of stories by children. In J. J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (Eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication (pp. 325–345). Holt, Rinehart and Winston. https://​www​.taylorfrancis​.com​/chapters​/edit​/10​.4324​/9780203214770​-20​/analysability​-stories​-children​-harvey​-sacks; as cited in Schegloff, 2007Schegloff, E. A. (2007) A tutorial on membership categorization. Journal of Pragmatics, Special Issue: Diversity and Continuity in Conversation Analysis, 39 (3), 462–482. Schegloff, E. A. (2007) A tutorial on membership categorization. Journal of Pragmatics, Special Issue: Diversity and Continuity in Conversation Analysis, 39(3), 462–482. ) outlined as “a set of empirical observations of members’ methods in relation to categories, and the resources they use in deploying them” (Whitehead et al., 2024Whitehead, K. A., Raymond, G., & Stokoe, E. H. (2024) Analyzing categorial phenomena in talk-in-interaction. In J. D. Robinson, R. Clift, K. H. Kendrick, & C. W. Raymond (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Research Methods in Conversation Analysis (pp. 541–576). Cambridge University Press. https://​escholarship​.org​/content​/qt1md687jz​/qt1md687jz​.pdf. Whitehead, K. A., Raymond, G., & Stokoe, E. H. (2024) Analyzing categorial phenomena in talk-in-interaction. In J. D. Robinson, R. Clift, K. H. Kendrick, & C. W. Raymond (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Research Methods in Conversation Analysis (pp. 541–576). Cambridge University Press. https://​escholarship​.org​/content​/qt1md687jz​/qt1md687jz​.pdf. , p. 543). Participants, i.e., members, speakers, interlocutors etc., design turns to initiate or respond to actions, and the interactional resources deployed in doing so invoke membership categories (e.g., old/young, teacher/student, Turkish/Polish etc.). Therefore, in conversation analytic terms, cultural categories are bound to the social context in which they were referred to by the participants, and cultural-category-bound activities are what constitute interculturality on a sequential basis (Siegel, 2016Siegel, A. (2016) “Oh no, it’s just culture”: Multicultural identities in action in ELF interactions. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 26 (2), 193–215. Siegel, A. (2016) “Oh no, it’s just culture”: Multicultural identities in action in ELF interactions. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 26(2), 193–215. ). Accordingly, talking about culture does not necessarily warrant but enables participants’ joint meaning making efforts regarding cross-cultural memberships through conversational actions across turns-at-talk, which, in return, create interculturality. In this study, the interactional setting is video-mediated virtual exchanges that increasingly gain popularity as a form of online intercultural exchange among pre-service teachers in geographically dispersed areas (Çolak & Balaman, 2025Çolak, F., & Balaman, U. (2025) Dealing with divergent feedback trajectories in video-mediated, transnational, and collaborative task design meetings. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 54 , 100936. Çolak, F., & Balaman, U. (2025) Dealing with divergent feedback trajectories in video-mediated, transnational, and collaborative task design meetings. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 54, 100936. ; Dooly & Sadler, 2013Dooly, M. A., & Sadler, R. (2013) Filling in the gaps: Linking theory and practice through telecollaboration in teacher education. ReCALL, 25 . Dooly, M. A., & Sadler, R. (2013) Filling in the gaps: Linking theory and practice through telecollaboration in teacher education. ReCALL, 25. ; Dooly & Tudini, 2016Dooly, M. A., & Tudini, V. (2016) ‘Now we are teachers’: The role of small talk in student language teachers’ telecollaborative task development. Journal of Pragmatics, 102 , 38–53. Dooly, M. A., & Tudini, V. (2016) ‘Now we are teachers’: The role of small talk in student language teachers’ telecollaborative task development. Journal of Pragmatics, 102, 38–53. ; Ekin & Balaman, 2024Ekin, S., & Balaman, U. (2024) Video-mediated collaborative lesson planning in virtual exchange among transnational teams of pre-service language teachers. ReCALL, 1–17. Ekin, S., & Balaman, U. (2024) Video-mediated collaborative lesson planning in virtual exchange among transnational teams of pre-service language teachers. ReCALL, 1–17. ; Kurek & Müller-Hartmann, 2017Kurek, M., & Müller-Hartmann, A. (2017) Task design for telecollaborative exchanges: In search of new criteria. System, 64 , 7–20. Kurek, M., & Müller-Hartmann, A. (2017) Task design for telecollaborative exchanges: In search of new criteria. System, 64, 7–20. ; Loranc‐Paszylk et al., 2021Loranc-Paszylk, B., Hilliker, S. M., & Lenkaitis, C. A. (2021) Virtual exchanges in language teacher education: Facilitating reflection on teaching practice through the use of video. TESOL Journal, n/a ( n/a ), e580. Loranc-Paszylk, B., Hilliker, S. M., & Lenkaitis, C. A. (2021) Virtual exchanges in language teacher education: Facilitating reflection on teaching practice through the use of video. TESOL Journal, n/a(n/a), e580. ; Sert & Ishino, 2025Sert, O., & Ishino, M. (2025) Collaborative noticing of multimodality in language classroom interaction: A telecollaboration project between student-teachers of English in Sweden and Japan. TESOL Journal, 16 (4), e70072. Sert, O., & Ishino, M. (2025) Collaborative noticing of multimodality in language classroom interaction: A telecollaboration project between student-teachers of English in Sweden and Japan. TESOL Journal, 16(4), e70072. ; Tudini & Dooly, 2021Tudini, V., & Dooly, M. A. (2021) Complaining for rapport building: Troubles talk in a preservice language teacher online video exchange. Linguistics and Education, 64 , 100941. Tudini, V., & Dooly, M. A. (2021) Complaining for rapport building: Troubles talk in a preservice language teacher online video exchange. Linguistics and Education, 64, 100941. ; Uyar & Balaman, 2025Uyar, G., & Balaman, U. (2025) Claims of teacher learning and retrospective tracing of claimed events in video-mediated transnational virtual exchange interactions. Applied Linguistics. Uyar, G., & Balaman, U. (2025) Claims of teacher learning and retrospective tracing of claimed events in video-mediated transnational virtual exchange interactions. Applied Linguistics. ; Üzüm et al., 2020Üzüm, B., Akayoglu, S., & Yazan, B. (2020) Using telecollaboration to promote intercultural competence in teacher training classrooms in Turkey and the USA. ReCALL, 32 (2), 162–177. Üzüm, B., Akayoglu, S., & Yazan, B. (2020) Using telecollaboration to promote intercultural competence in teacher training classrooms in Turkey and the USA. ReCALL, 32(2), 162–177. ), thus a setting in which talking about culture is commonly the conversational task and an instructed action.

Primarily establishing a strong research and educational practice background widely being known as telecollaboration and for its affordances for linguistic and intercultural development (Belz, 2003Belz, J. A. (2003) Linguistic perspectives on the development of intercultural competence in telecollaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 7 (2), 68–99. http://​hdl​.handle​.net​/1805​/2655. Belz, J. A. (2003) Linguistic perspectives on the development of intercultural competence in telecollaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 68–99. http://​hdl​.handle​.net​/1805​/2655. ; Belz & Thorne, 2006Belz, J. A., & Thorne, S. L. (2006) Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education. Thomson Heinle. https://​cir​.nii​.ac​.jp​/crid​/1130000796710797056Belz, J. A., & Thorne, S. L. (2006) Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education. Thomson Heinle. https://​cir​.nii​.ac​.jp​/crid​/1130000796710797056), virtual exchange has recently been recognized as the umbrella term (O’Dowd, 2018O’Dowd, R. (2018) From telecollaboration to virtual exchange: State-of-the-art and the role of UNICollaboration in moving forward. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 1–23. O’Dowd, R. (2018) From telecollaboration to virtual exchange: State-of-the-art and the role of UNICollaboration in moving forward. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 1–23. ), notwithstanding the ongoing debate on the ‘virtual’ component (Colpaert, 2020Colpaert, J. (2020) Editorial position paper: How virtual is your research? Computer Assisted Language Learning, 33 (7), 653–664. Colpaert, J. (2020) Editorial position paper: How virtual is your research? Computer Assisted Language Learning, 33(7), 653–664. ; Helm, 2024Helm, F. (2024) Intercultural communication in virtual exchange (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. Helm, F. (2024) Intercultural communication in virtual exchange (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. ), to cover the rich sets of activities aiming to provide moderated/facilitated (see, e.g., Helm, 2016Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.) and/or task-enhanced (see, e.g., Moalla et al., 2020Moalla, A., Abid, N., & Balaman, U. (2020) Task-enhanced virtual exchange between University of Sfax, Tunisia, and Hacettepe University, Turkey. In F. Helm & A. Beaven (Eds.), Designing and implementing virtual exchange — a collection of case studies (1st ed., pp. 117–126). Research-publishing.net. Moalla, A., Abid, N., & Balaman, U. (2020) Task-enhanced virtual exchange between University of Sfax, Tunisia, and Hacettepe University, Turkey. In F. Helm & A. Beaven (Eds.), Designing and implementing virtual exchange — a collection of case studies (1st ed., pp. 117–126). Research-publishing.net. ) technology-mediated collaboration opportunities with intercultural speakers (Byram, 1997Byram, M. (1997) Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.Byram, M. (1997) Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.) in digital spaces. Interculturality in virtual exchanges has been investigated in text (e.g., Tudini, 2007Tudini, V. (2007) Negotiation and intercultural learning in Italian native speaker chat rooms. The Modern Language Journal, 91 (4), 577–601. Tudini, V. (2007) Negotiation and intercultural learning in Italian native speaker chat rooms. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 577–601. ; Chun, 2011Chun, D. M. (2011) Developing intercultural communicative competence through online exchanges. CALICO Journal, 28 (2), 392–419. https://​www​.jstor​.org​/stable​/calicojournal​.28​.2​.392. Chun, D. M. (2011) Developing intercultural communicative competence through online exchanges. CALICO Journal, 28(2), 392–419. https://​www​.jstor​.org​/stable​/calicojournal​.28​.2​.392. ) to audio (e.g., Jenks, 2012Jenks, C. (2012) Doing being reprehensive: Some interactional features of English as a lingua franca in a chat room. Applied Linguistics, 33 (4), 386–405. Jenks, C. (2012) Doing being reprehensive: Some interactional features of English as a lingua franca in a chat room. Applied Linguistics, 33(4), 386–405. ) based chat or a mixture of diverse communication channels (e.g., Dooly, 2011Dooly, M. A. (2011) Crossing the intercultural borders into 3rd space culture(s): Implications for teacher education in the twenty-first century. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11 (4), 319–337. Dooly, M. A. (2011) Crossing the intercultural borders into 3rd space culture(s): Implications for teacher education in the twenty-first century. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11(4), 319–337. ), and video-mediated interaction has taken the main stage in the contemporary practices (e.g., Ekin, 2025Ekin, S. (2025) Development of interactional competence in a virtual exchange setting: Focus on diversification of participatory actions. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 24 . Ekin, S. (2025) Development of interactional competence in a virtual exchange setting: Focus on diversification of participatory actions. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 24. ). Although interculturality and the opportunities for intercultural communicative competence development have been the main research interests as well as the expectancies for the outcomes of virtual exchanges (Chun, 2011Chun, D. M. (2011) Developing intercultural communicative competence through online exchanges. CALICO Journal, 28 (2), 392–419. https://​www​.jstor​.org​/stable​/calicojournal​.28​.2​.392. Chun, D. M. (2011) Developing intercultural communicative competence through online exchanges. CALICO Journal, 28(2), 392–419. https://​www​.jstor​.org​/stable​/calicojournal​.28​.2​.392. ; Helm, 2024Helm, F. (2024) Intercultural communication in virtual exchange (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. Helm, F. (2024) Intercultural communication in virtual exchange (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. ; O’Dowd & Lewis, 2016O’Dowd, R., & Lewis, T. (2016) Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice. Routledge. O’Dowd, R., & Lewis, T. (2016) Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice. Routledge. ; Üzüm et al., 2020Üzüm, B., Akayoglu, S., & Yazan, B. (2020) Using telecollaboration to promote intercultural competence in teacher training classrooms in Turkey and the USA. ReCALL, 32 (2), 162–177. Üzüm, B., Akayoglu, S., & Yazan, B. (2020) Using telecollaboration to promote intercultural competence in teacher training classrooms in Turkey and the USA. ReCALL, 32(2), 162–177. ), detailed accounts of how participants co-construct interculturality has been explored to a lesser extent. For instance, Dooly (2011)Dooly, M. A. (2011) Crossing the intercultural borders into 3rd space culture(s): Implications for teacher education in the twenty-first century. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11 (4), 319–337. Dooly, M. A. (2011) Crossing the intercultural borders into 3rd space culture(s): Implications for teacher education in the twenty-first century. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11(4), 319–337. approached telecollaborative exchanges between student teachers as a means of negotiating interculturality as a third space culture co-constructed by the participants’ cooperative actions and as a result of membership categorization shaped around the talked about topic and cultural differences, in a way to align with the conversation analytic perspective towards interculturality. Önder and Balaman (2025)Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. described how virtual exchange participants made sense of sameness and differentness regarding culture in task-based video-mediated L2 interactions using first/second-person pronouns and co-constructed and oriented to interculturality through turns-at-talk by ascribing cultural-category-bound identities. Drixler (2022)Drixler, N. (2022) Features of online second language interactional competence in a German-Israeli virtual exchange. TESOL in Context, 30 (2), Article 2. Drixler, N. (2022) Features of online second language interactional competence in a German-Israeli virtual exchange. TESOL in Context, 30(2), Article 2. , focusing on group-to-group videoconferencing (also see, Oittinen, 2022Oittinen, T. (2022) Negotiating collaborative and inclusive practices in university students’ group-to-group videoconferencing sessions. Linguistics and Education, 71 , 101107. Oittinen, T. (2022) Negotiating collaborative and inclusive practices in university students’ group-to-group videoconferencing sessions. Linguistics and Education, 71, 101107. ; Dooly & Tudini, 2022Dooly, M. A., & Tudini, V. (2022) ‘We should google that’: The dynamics of knowledge-in-interaction in an online student meeting. Classroom Discourse, 13 (2), 188–211. Dooly, M. A., & Tudini, V. (2022) ‘We should google that’: The dynamics of knowledge-in-interaction in an online student meeting. Classroom Discourse, 13(2), 188–211. ) for virtual exchange, argued that epistemic (and word) searches might hinder talk as the participants in the data preferred requesting information from local peers rather than distant peers, which jeopardizes the intercultural communication opportunities at hand. Conversely, Badem and Balaman (2025)Badem, A., & Balaman, U. (2025) Word search sequences in video-mediated task-oriented L2 interactions: Affordances for intercultural exchange. Language and Intercultural Communication, 0 (0), 1–15. Badem, A., & Balaman, U. (2025) Word search sequences in video-mediated task-oriented L2 interactions: Affordances for intercultural exchange. Language and Intercultural Communication, 0(0), 1–15. showed that word search sequences create opportunities for meaning negotiation and lay the ground for intercultural exchange based on the participants’ joint efforts to enable the progression of an intercultural task and talk simultaneously (Pekarek Doehler & Balaman, 2021Pekarek Doehler, S., & Balaman, U. (2021) The routinization of grammar as a social action format: A longitudinal study of video-mediated interactions. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 54 (2), 183–202. Pekarek Doehler, S., & Balaman, U. (2021) The routinization of grammar as a social action format: A longitudinal study of video-mediated interactions. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 54(2), 183–202. ).

Talking about culture also means that topic initiations play a primary role in creating cultural membership categorization, and intercultural topic management becomes a critical issue in virtual exchange settings (Brandt & Jenks, 2011Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11 (1), 41–58. Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11(1), 41–58. ; Çimenli et al., 2022Çimenli, B., Sert, O., & Jenks, C. (2022) Topic maintenance in video-mediated virtual exchanges: Rolling the ball back in L2 interactions. System, 108 , 102834. Çimenli, B., Sert, O., & Jenks, C. (2022) Topic maintenance in video-mediated virtual exchanges: Rolling the ball back in L2 interactions. System, 108, 102834. ). Satar and Çimenli Olcars (2025)Satar, M., & Çimenli Olcars, B. (2025) Online intercultural exchange in language teacher education: Interactional resources for topic transition. Classroom Discourse, 1–29. Satar, M., & Çimenli Olcars, B. (2025) Online intercultural exchange in language teacher education: Interactional resources for topic transition. Classroom Discourse, 1–29. have recently described how participants deploy diverse resources for topic transition and collaboratively manage intercultural communication in doing so. Regarding topic choice, Helm (2015)Helm, F. (2015) The practices and challenges of telecollaboration in higher education in Europe. Language Learning & Technology, 19 (2), 197–217. Helm, F. (2015) The practices and challenges of telecollaboration in higher education in Europe. Language Learning & Technology, 19(2), 197–217. reported that virtual exchange participants largely prefer avoiding potentially controversial topics, and relatedly virtual exchanges widely feature “safe topics such as school systems, food, music, or tourism” (Godwin-Jones, 2019Godwin-Jones, R. (2019) Telecollaboration as an approach to developing intercultural communication competence. https://​scholarspace​.manoa​.hawaii​.edu​/bitstream​/10125​/44691​/1​/23​_3​_10125​-44691​.pdf. Godwin-Jones, R. (2019) Telecollaboration as an approach to developing intercultural communication competence. https://​scholarspace​.manoa​.hawaii​.edu​/bitstream​/10125​/44691​/1​/23​_3​_10125​-44691​.pdf. , p. 11) resulting in “the emphasis ... on phatic exchanges between learners and a concern to avoid tensions and misunderstandings” (Helm, 2016Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.). Although ‘safe’ topics can still provide intercultural communication opportunities to some extent, in this paper, I argue that the true potential of virtual exchanges for interculturality also lies in talking about potentially sensitive topics. Focusing on primary school classrooms, Kardaş-İşler (2025)Kardaş İşler, N. (2025) Dealing with controversial issues in primary school classroom interactions in social studies courses. Learning and Instruction, 96 , 102076. Kardaş İşler, N. (2025) Dealing with controversial issues in primary school classroom interactions in social studies courses. Learning and Instruction, 96, 102076. shows that talking about controversial issues facilitate student participation and create ground for emotive and opinion expressions. As a research and practice concern, the concept of “critical virtual exchange” (Hauck, 2019Hauck, M. (2019) Virtual exchange for (critical) digital literacy skills development. European Journal of Language Policy, 11 (2), 187–210. Hauck, M. (2019) Virtual exchange for (critical) digital literacy skills development. European Journal of Language Policy, 11(2), 187–210. ) fills the niche in virtual exchange scholarship (e.g., Bilki et al., 2023Bilki, Z., Satar, M., & Sak, M. (2023) Critical digital literacy in virtual exchange for ELT teacher education: An interpretivist methodology. ReCALL, 35 (1), 58–73. Bilki, Z., Satar, M., & Sak, M. (2023) Critical digital literacy in virtual exchange for ELT teacher education: An interpretivist methodology. ReCALL, 35(1), 58–73. ; Glimäng & Magadán, 2024Glimäng, M. R., & Magadán, C. (2024) Saying and doing: A multiliteracies analysis of preservice teachers’ virtual exchange at the onset of COVID-19. Language and Intercultural Communication, 24 (3), 241–258. Glimäng, M. R., & Magadán, C. (2024) Saying and doing: A multiliteracies analysis of preservice teachers’ virtual exchange at the onset of COVID-19. Language and Intercultural Communication, 24(3), 241–258. ; Hauck, 2023Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023 (Spring), 9–12.Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023(Spring), 9–12.; Klimanova & Hellmich, 2021Klimanova, L., & Hellmich, E. A. (2021) Crossing transcultural liminalities with critical virtual exchange: A study of shifting border discourses. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18 (3), 273–304. Klimanova, L., & Hellmich, E. A. (2021) Crossing transcultural liminalities with critical virtual exchange: A study of shifting border discourses. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18(3), 273–304. ; Nicolaou et al., 2025Nicolaou, A., Sauro, S., Gudmundsdottir, G. B., & Sundqvist, P. (2025) Critical virtual exchange to address teachers’ needs in times of conflict. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 8 , 54–66. Nicolaou, A., Sauro, S., Gudmundsdottir, G. B., & Sundqvist, P. (2025) Critical virtual exchange to address teachers’ needs in times of conflict. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 8, 54–66. ; Satar et al., 2023Satar, M., Hauck, M., & Bilki, Z. (2023) Multimodal representation in virtual exchange: A social semiotic approach to critical digital literacy. Language Learning & Technology, 27 (2), 72–96. Satar, M., Hauck, M., & Bilki, Z. (2023) Multimodal representation in virtual exchange: A social semiotic approach to critical digital literacy. Language Learning & Technology, 27(2), 72–96. ). Emerging as an effort to systematically incorporate social justice into online intercultural exchanges, critical virtual exchange necessitates maximizing space for brave conversations over safe ones (Glimäng, 2022Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5 , 61–81. Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5, 61–81. ) by making critical intercultural conversations more widely accessible through low-bandwidth technologies, focus on underrepresented contexts, alignment with sustainable development goals, wider stakeholder integration, and room for translanguaging (Hauck, 2023Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023 (Spring), 9–12.Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023(Spring), 9–12.). Although safe topics are often criticized, and brave conversations about cultural differences are increasingly advocated, research on discursive constructions of talking about potentially sensitive topics concerned with cultural differences with a social interactional perspective remains a gap. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by elucidating how interculturality is co-constructed in situ when the pre-service teachers, i.e., the participants of the virtual exchange project, initiate and maintain ‘brave’ topics in video-mediated interactions.

Methods

The data for the current study come from a six-week long virtual exchange project between two universities in Poland and Türkiye. While the students based in Poland pursued MA degrees (13 participants), Turkish ones were senior BA students (12 participants) completing their four-year long English language teacher education program. In groups of 4 or 5, the participants were gathered in an ice breaker meeting (Meeting 1), engaged in collaborative video analysis based on two video clips from real English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms (Meeting 2&3), and collaboratively designed two lesson plans per group so that each Turkish participant can implement these plans as part of their practice teaching in primary school (EFL) classrooms (Meeting 4&5) (see Balaman, 2023Balaman, U. (2023) Conversation analytic language teacher education in digital spaces. Palgrave Macmillan. Balaman, U. (2023) Conversation analytic language teacher education in digital spaces. Palgrave Macmillan. for the translocated language teacher education model that combines virtual exchange with conversation analytic language teacher education). After the teaching practice step, the small groups met for a last time for two purposes: (1) to engage in data-led reflection and post-practice conversations (Kanat Mutluoğlu & Balaman, 2023Kanat Mutluoğlu, A., & Balaman, U. (2023) The use of Video Enhanced Observation in video-mediated post-observation conversations on pre-service EFL teachers’ online practicum teaching. System, 118 , 103151. Kanat Mutluoğlu, A., & Balaman, U. (2023) The use of Video Enhanced Observation in video-mediated post-observation conversations on pre-service EFL teachers’ online practicum teaching. System, 118, 103151. ; Turan & Yiğitoğlu Aptoula, 2025Turan, P., & Yiğitoğlu Aptoula, N. (2025) Managing intersubjectivity through screen-sharing in video-mediated reflective feedback sessions in pre-service language teacher education. System, 103608. Turan, P., & Yiğitoğlu Aptoula, N. (2025) Managing intersubjectivity through screen-sharing in video-mediated reflective feedback sessions in pre-service language teacher education. System, 103608. ; Walsh & Mann, 2015Walsh, S., & Mann, S. (2015) Doing reflective practice: A data-led way forward: ELT Journal, 69 (4), 351–362. Walsh, S., & Mann, S. (2015) Doing reflective practice: A data-led way forward: ELT Journal, 69(4), 351–362. ) based on the video-recordings of the Turkish participants’ teaching of the collaboratively designed lesson and (2) to reflect on the entire virtual exchange process (Meeting 6&7) (Badem-Korkmaz et al., 2022Badem-Korkmaz, F., Ekin, S., & Balaman, U. (2022) Pre-service language teachers’ resistance to teacher trainer advice on task design for video-mediated L2 interaction. Classroom Discourse, 13 (2), 212–230. Badem-Korkmaz, F., Ekin, S., & Balaman, U. (2022) Pre-service language teachers’ resistance to teacher trainer advice on task design for video-mediated L2 interaction. Classroom Discourse, 13(2), 212–230. ; Ekin et al., 2024Ekin, S., Balaman, U., & Badem-Korkmaz, F. (2024) Tracking telecollaborative tasks through design, feedback, implementation, and reflection processes in pre-service language teacher education. Applied Linguistics Review, 15 (1), 31–60. Ekin, S., Balaman, U., & Badem-Korkmaz, F. (2024) Tracking telecollaborative tasks through design, feedback, implementation, and reflection processes in pre-service language teacher education. Applied Linguistics Review, 15(1), 31–60. ). The dataset comprises screen-recordings of all video-mediated meetings (26 hours). The small groups used the videoconferencing tool Microsoft Teams, and the screen-recordings were collected using the built-in recorder of the tool.

Although the pedagogical components of the virtual exchange partnership were shared with the participants through detailed guidelines defining the structure for each meeting (Çolak & Balaman, 2025Çolak, F., & Balaman, U. (2025) Dealing with divergent feedback trajectories in video-mediated, transnational, and collaborative task design meetings. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 54 , 100936. Çolak, F., & Balaman, U. (2025) Dealing with divergent feedback trajectories in video-mediated, transnational, and collaborative task design meetings. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 54, 100936. ; Schmiderer et al., 2025Schmiderer, K., Brocca, N., Guggenbichler, E., & Konzett-Firth, C. (2025) Exploring pre-service teachers’ criteria for evaluating collaboratively designed online tasks. TASK, 5 (1), 57–87. Schmiderer, K., Brocca, N., Guggenbichler, E., & Konzett-Firth, C. (2025) Exploring pre-service teachers’ criteria for evaluating collaboratively designed online tasks. TASK, 5(1), 57–87. ; Uyar & Balaman, 2025Uyar, G., & Balaman, U. (2025) Claims of teacher learning and retrospective tracing of claimed events in video-mediated transnational virtual exchange interactions. Applied Linguistics. Uyar, G., & Balaman, U. (2025) Claims of teacher learning and retrospective tracing of claimed events in video-mediated transnational virtual exchange interactions. Applied Linguistics. ; Uyar & Can Daşkın, 2024Uyar, G., & Can Daşkın, N. (2024) Change of epistemic stance of transnational pre-service teachers in-and-through collaborative data-led reflective dialogues. Bogazici University Journal of Education, 41 (1), 35–51. Uyar, G., & Can Daşkın, N. (2024) Change of epistemic stance of transnational pre-service teachers in-and-through collaborative data-led reflective dialogues. Bogazici University Journal of Education, 41(1), 35–51. ), the interculturality aspect fully emerged impromptu. In other words, the virtual exchange guidelines were strictly drafted to deliver pedagogical instructions for the participants, and the intercultural moments largely occurred as unexpected interactional instances based on the participants’ situated orientations to cross-cultural similarities and/or differences in attending to participant-initiated intercultural topics. The screen-recordings data were examined using the analytic tools of multimodal Conversation Analysis (Sacks et al., 1974Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50 (4), 696–735. Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 696–735. ; Sidnell & Stivers, 2013Sidnell, J., & Stivers, T. (Eds.) (2013) The handbook of conversation analysis. Wiley-Blackwell. Sidnell, J., & Stivers, T. (Eds.) (2013) The handbook of conversation analysis. Wiley-Blackwell. ; Mondada, 2019Mondada, L. (2019) Contemporary issues in conversation analysis: Embodiment and materiality, multimodality and multisensoriality in social interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 145 , 47–62. Mondada, L. (2019) Contemporary issues in conversation analysis: Embodiment and materiality, multimodality and multisensoriality in social interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 145, 47–62. ) without having any a priori insights into the data. Despite varying frequencies of intercultural moments in each meeting, two meetings (the first and the last meetings) featured more instances of intercultural topic initiations. While the diversity of topics and the level of interculturality remains beyond the scope of the study, one specific instance is thoroughly examined in the present study. In one of the groups (ZEY and ECE are the Turkish participants; LEN and ANT are the Polish participants in the group) and during their end-of-project reflection meeting, one of the Polish participants, ANT initiates a religion-related topic (Nowicka, 2022Nowicka, A. (2022) Negotiating religious identity categories in non-professional interviews using English as a lingua franca. Intercultural Pragmatics, 19 (1), 103–131. Nowicka, A. (2022) Negotiating religious identity categories in non-professional interviews using English as a lingua franca. Intercultural Pragmatics, 19(1), 103–131. ) that holds the potential to cause tension (Extract 1). A few minutes later, the same participant initiates another cross-culturally sensitive topic (i.e., war history between the two countries; Extract 2). Both extracts are analyzed on a line-by-line basis and with the micro-analytic lens of multimodal Conversation Analysis (CA) in the following section. The two cases at hand are treated as single and separate cases, although common conclusions are made due to the short gap between the two extracts. Therefore, the single case analysis approach and the lack of a collection of cases that shows other relevant instances in the entire dataset can be noted as limitations of the study.

Analysis and findings: Dealing with potentially sensitive topics across cultures

The first extract comes from the end of the entire project timeline and towards the final minutes of the last video-mediated meeting. Before the extract, the participants mostly discuss the pedagogical aspects of the implementation of the group’s collaboratively designed lesson plan. Although not projected in any ways in earlier turns, ANT informs the co-participants about his willingness to ask a culture-specific question and secures listenership from the team members.

The extract starts with ANT’s preliminary turn (Havadar & Balaman, 2024Havadar, E. E., & Balaman, U. (2024) Preliminaries in paired role play L2 interactional competence assessment tasks. Classroom Discourse, 15 (2), 143–160. Havadar, E. E., & Balaman, U. (2024) Preliminaries in paired role play L2 interactional competence assessment tasks. Classroom Discourse, 15(2), 143–160. ) in line 1 informing the co-participants about an incipient question targeting the Turkish participants’ cultures. The ‘otherness’ of the culture is implicated by ANT with the second person possessive adjective (your), thus invoking a cultural membership category (Önder & Balaman, 2025Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. ). ZEY acknowledges ANT’s pre-questioning and invites continuation with a go-ahead response in line 4. Following 0.7s of silence, ANT initiates the question and inquiries about the differences regarding the ‘hijab’ state of both Turkish participants. In doing so, ANT addresses Zeynep (the Turkish participant wearing hijab) with second-person pronoun ‘you’ while Ece (the Turkish participant not wearing hijab) is not directly addressed but referred to (i.e., person reference vs. individual nomination). Taken together with the earlier cultural membership categorization covering both Zeynep and Ece, the design of the question initiates a topic that is of a potential controversy between the two Turkish participants as well as between the culture-specific member categories, thus could be treated as a cross-culturally sensitive moment.

Towards the grammatical completion of ANT’s question, both Zeynep and Ece start smiling simultaneously, which is followed by a choral laughter for more than 5 seconds. While laughing, ECE also orients to ANT’s question with ‘really’ in line 7. The ongoing choral laughter (fig1) does not allow the production of ‘really’ to be heard as potentially problematizing ANT’s entitlement to ask a (culturally) sensitive question; however, it registers surprise as the responsive action to some extent due to its sequential position. By the end of the choral laughter, ZEY, nominated by ANT and as the hijab wearing participant, takes the turn and initiates the response turn with an explanation. In line 11, ZEY first misaligns with the cultural categorization of ANT’s question, and proposes an alternative categorization instead- that is, religion-relevant membership. ECE nods to acknowledge ZEY’s explanation in line 12, and ZEY’s turn-final ‘yeah’ overlaps with ANT’s acknowledgement in line 14 while LEN also acknowledges with three brief nods.

In what follows, ZEY initiates a third-position repair (Badem-Korkmaz & Balaman, 2020Badem-Korkmaz, F., & Balaman, U. (2020) Third position repair for resolving troubles in understanding teacher instructions. Linguistics and Education, 60 , 100859. Badem-Korkmaz, F., & Balaman, U. (2020) Third position repair for resolving troubles in understanding teacher instructions. Linguistics and Education, 60, 100859. ) with an ‘I mean’ prefaced construction and disclaims a potential implication of her earlier explanation turn with reference to ECE being less religious. Therefore, she pre-empts a potential trouble that might arise due to the alternatively ascribed membership categorization that ties hijab wearing to being religious (and ECE being less religious), which prompts ECE’s laughter in line 16 followed by a laughter trajectory of covering her mouth and then continuing with a smile. While ZEY is completing her turn design with another pre-emptive construction (please don’t get me wrong), LEN joins ECE’s continued (mouth covered with hand) laughter. Possibly due to the exclusion of ECE from ZEY’s declared membership category (i.e., being religious), the post-explanation pre-emptive self-repair turn is followed by a disrupted turn delivery and word search by ZEY in lines 20, 21, and 22. In line 23, ZEY self-resolves her word search and redesigns her explanation in response to ANT’s cross-culturally sensitive question. Unlike the earlier, relatively broad categorization (due to the religion), ZEY designs her turn with a narrower categorization of herself only (I’m a Muslim girl, so I’m wearing hijab). ANT’s acknowledging ‘yeah’ overlaps with ZEY’s continuation in line 25. ZEY reformulates her re-designed explanation in line 25 by maintaining her self-reference (I need to wear hijab), which is followed by another acknowledgement by ANT.

In line 27, ZEY continues her extended response with a but-prefaced turn signaling the delivery of an exception to her just-delivered self-categorization. She invokes new membership categories with reference to Türkiye (my country) and Turkish people (we) and initiates an additional explanation turn. First, in lines 27 and 28, she refers to ‘not wearing hijab’ as the exception (signaled with ‘but’) and explains in the Turkish context ‘wearing hijab’ is not the only defining feature of being a member in the previously constructed religion-relevant membership category. Then, she further topicalizes the individual-oriented nature of religion (it’s their choice) and freedom (no one is forcing them; up to the people) and relates her arguments to diversity in line 32. It should also be noted that she excludes herself from this newly-proposed membership categorization (i.e., their choice, forcing them, between them and Allah). In line 34, ANT displays listenership to invite continuation. ZEY continues her extended explanation with an experience-based account in line 35, while ECE aligns with multiple nods. In this last addition to her explanation, ZEY continues excluding ‘wearing hijab’ as the main indicator of being religious but includes ‘doing other requirements’. She ends her turn by repeating the freedom aspect of the religion in overlap with ANT’s provoking assertion in line 42.

So far in the extract, ZEY’s response to ANT’s cross-culturally sensitive question has been mostly assertive despite being modified across the conversation as it mainly included ZEY’s arguments. She initially disclaimed the question’s relevance to be cultural but argued for religion relevance. She then pre-empted trouble that could trigger the potential controversy implicated in ANT’s question with reference to ECE. She continued with a self-categorization of her own religious membership followed by an exception proposal that is topicalized around the freedom of choice. One thing to note is that ZEY’s extended explanation systematically avoided categorizing ECE as ‘not religious’ through the pre-emptive accounts while carefully involving ECE in a larger category of being religious without wearing hijab but still having to comply with other religious requirements. Therefore, ZEY’s carefully-designed explanation avoided the emergence of a potential conflict, and ECE minimally participated with embodied alignment through nods. ANT’s cross-culturally sensitive question designedly nominated ZEY (‘why are you Zeynep wearing’ in line 6) as the next speaker to explain, and ZEY did so with an extended explanation. Both ZEY and ECE responded with laughter, and there were no conflict-ascribing responses to the question except for ECE’s surprise-marking ‘really’ in line 9.

In line 42, in overlap with ZEY’s turn completion, ANT produces a follow-up, summative account that demonstrates his understanding of ZEY’s extended explanation. I argue that this is a ‘provoking assertion’ because ANT designs the turn addressing ZEY as the recipient (‘you’) but referencing ECE and her religion, thus relating his assertion to ZEY’s telling rather than requesting new knowledge or initiating a new topic in the conversation in a way to hold ZEY accountable for his conclusion. With this follow-up action, we see that ZEY’s response and the co-participants’ participatory actions did not problematize ANT’s cross-culturally sensitive question, which created further interactional space for ANT to pursue or provoke additional responses. ANT’s follow-up assertion elicits ZEY’s laughter, but she does not take the turn or deliver a contribution despite the transition relevance places in lines 43 and 45. ECE, on the other hand, takes the turn and responds to ANT’s assertion with an ambivalent stance (‘sort of’) with a smiley tone of voice that turns into laughter immediately. ECE’s response is followed by LEN’s laughter, and ANT repeats ECE’s response with a questioning contour, thus being a confirmation request. In coordination with ANT’s confirmation request, all participants start smiling. ECE orients to ANT’s confirmation request with a reformulated response (‘kind of’) which prompts the whole-group laughter (fig2). ECE’s reformulated response still maintains her ambivalent stance in a potentially evasive way as it does not signal continuation or invite follow-up turns on the topic. Relatedly, after the end of the extract, the topic is terminated.

Extract 1 has shown that questions that are potentially culturally sensitive (and provocative) can elicit extended responses from co-participants without causing tension or conflict. The participants overtly reacted to the culturally sensitive question with smiling, laughter, and even choral, synchronized laughter. They did not necessarily laugh to avoid responding to the question or to bypass a potential trouble (Petitjean & González-Martínez, 2015Petitjean, C., & González-Martínez, E. (2015) Laughing and smiling to manage trouble in French-language classroom interaction. Classroom Discourse, 6 (2), 89–106. Petitjean, C., & González-Martínez, E. (2015) Laughing and smiling to manage trouble in French-language classroom interaction. Classroom Discourse, 6(2), 89–106. ; Sert & Jacknick, 2015Sert, O., & Jacknick, C. M. (2015) Student smiles and the negotiation of epistemics in L2 classrooms. Journal of Pragmatics, 77 , 97–112. Sert, O., & Jacknick, C. M. (2015) Student smiles and the negotiation of epistemics in L2 classrooms. Journal of Pragmatics, 77, 97–112. ), but more simply they treated the question, potentially the directness of it as well, laughable. The responses to the question included multiple membership categorizations which were made sequentially relevant by the design of the question. While extended responses were encouraged for continuation and pursued by follow-ups, short responses were treated as closing implicative, although both types of responses as well as the initiating turns were largely treated as laughable but legitimate contributions. Overall, the extract has shown that the multiple categorizations and extended responses along with the diverse set of interactional resources in play allowed the participants to deal with a culturally sensitive topic, and thus the topic initiation created interactional space for managing and the task and talk at hand.

The next extract starts two minutes later than Extract 1. After the termination of the religion topic and before Extract 2, ANT asked another question that was culture-specific but not necessarily sensitive (i.e., having Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, photos hanged in every classroom in Turkish schools). The responses by the Turkish participants included sharing the historical background of the Türkiye including pre-foundation years (Ottoman Empire and World War 1) and the foundation of the republic. While ECE is explaining the importance of Atatürk for the Turkish people, she also topicalized the history of modern Turkish republic with reference to a series of wars, which prompted ANT’s assertion at the beginning of the extract:

Extract 2 starts with ANT’s topic initiation that is a potentially cross-culturally sensitive assertion. ANT’s inclusive, first-person plural pronoun use (we) involves all co-participants in the topic. Despite the past reference (at some point in the history) that can mitigate the assertion, the topic is potentially provocative. Like Extract 1, the provoking assertion by ANT creates interactional space and establishes ground for the active participation of all team members. Following 1.0s of silence, ZEY starts laughing and smiles for a prolonged period of time. In line 6, ANT enters into reason-telling (because) in overlap with ECE’s brief laughter followed by smile. ANT initiates the reason-telling in line 8 and, this time, overlaps with ZEY’s loud production of a topic rejection (IT’S IN THE PA::ST) addressed to ANT. Despite the overlap, ANT displays understanding of ZEY’s loud production by claiming knowledge which overlaps again with ZEY’s increment of the topic rejection with a more explicit turn construction (let’s not talk of that). ZEY explicitly rejects the topic; however, she laughs and smiles in doing so, which might be the reason for ANT’s willingness to pursue the topic.

In line 12, ANT restarts his previously disrupted turn and provides an account in response to ZEY’s topic rejection. That is to say, ZEY’s loud production and explicit topic rejection makes ANT’s account giving relevant, and he does so with reference to ancestors (Ottoman Empire and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth) of the contemporary countries (Türkiye and Poland). Interestingly, LEN and ECE temporarily suspend their ongoing smiles while ZEY follows them after ANT’s re-initiation of the topic. After giving an account and the 1.5s of silence, in line 15, ANT deploys a continuation marker and re-enters the topic with a reformulation (we were fighting) of the previous topic initiating assertion. Unlike the earlier initiations, ANT delivers turn-final laughter albeit briefly, which prompts all co-participants to restart smiling. Following 0.5s of silence, ANT produces a teasing turn (not fully intelligible in the recording) which overlaps with ZEY’s turn entry. ANT’s completion of the teasing turn in line 19 is followed by ZEY’s acknowledgment in line 20.

After the ending of ANT’s turn, ECE and ZEY, while continuing smiling, produce overlapping turns in lines 21 and 22. While ECE incorporates ANT’s ‘fighting’ reference (from fighting to working together), ZEY focuses on the ‘collaboration’ frame of the group. Both ECE and ZEY complete their turn with laughter particles, and LEN joins the laughter in line 24. In what follows, despite the brief resolution of the overlap during ZEY and LEN’s laughter, ZEY and ECE produce another round of overlapping turns, both inviting the topic to shift into the ‘collaboration’ by positively evaluating it in coordination (focus on the bright side; it’s a good change). LEN, in line 28, takes the turn for the first time during the focal episodes with a turn-initial continuation marker. She produces a turn teasing ANT’s repetitive initiation of the same topic of potential cross-cultural sensitivity. LEN’s in-progress teasing turn addressing ANT stops ANT’s ongoing smiling. Despite the disrupted delivery, LEN’s turn-final laughter elicits laughter from ECE and ZEY. Subsequently, ANT takes the turn in line 33 and claims owning an armor, thus going back to the earlier topic of ‘fighting’. While ANT restarts smiling in delivering this turn, ZEY and ECE’s prolonged smiling comes to an end, and LEN also stops smiling a few seconds later. ANT’s turn-final laughter is followed by 1.4s of silence, and ANT explicitly informs co-participants about just-completed teasing in overlap with ZEY’s laughter and ECE’s smile. ANT even explicitly cancels his earlier claim (owning an armor) in line 39, and LEN joins the laughter.

Extract 2 has shown that topic initiations that are potentially culturally sensitive (and provocative) can be rejected by the co-participants without causing tension or conflict. Despite the observable and extended misalignment with ANT’s repetitive efforts to maintain the topic, the participants overtly reacted to the culturally sensitive topic with smiling and laughter, while also providing counter arguments in sharp contrast with the proposed topic (i.e., war vs. collaboration). Unlike Extract 1, the topic of war did not elicit extended responses and explanations, but brief, yet explicit rejections of the topic or shifting the topic into a less sensitive one. Another difference than the earlier extract was the membership categories. ‘You’ and ‘We’ subject pronouns invoked membership categories in ANT’s topic proffer, but responsive actions did not maintain this distinction. Even LEN, despite being a member of the same category (being Polish), delivered a teasing turn addressing ANT, thus also indirectly disassociating herself from the membership category that ANT proposed. Interestingly, LEN’s turn was responded to by ANT with a teasing turn, but this time, it was first-person singular subject pronoun, ‘I’ instead of ‘we’. Overall, topic continuation was discouraged, responses remained mostly short, and end of smiling was treated as closing implicative. Although ANT’s persistence to maintain the topic was dealt with laughter particles in the response slots, the lack of extended responses made the culturally sensitive assertion potentially illegitimate. This said, end of smiling, topic rejection, counter arguments, and short responses did not cause an observable tension or conflict within the group, which might indicate the overall positive outcome of the intensive virtual exchange collaboration and the emergent group harmony in due course. I discuss these findings in detail in the following section.

Discussion and conclusion

This study brought new insights into intercultural communication research based on the conversation analytic examination of the co-construction of interculturality during cross-culturally sensitive moments in critical virtual exchange through video-mediated interactions and applied linguistics research for a fuller understanding of the challenges and affordances in digital spaces. The findings of the study showed in both cases that the participants managed the progressivity of the conversation without causing tension or conflict despite the potential cultural sensitivity of the topics initiated (Brandt & Jenks, 2011Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11 (1), 41–58. Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11(1), 41–58. ). The detailed analyses of the extracts enabled presenting a moment-by-moment account for how interculturality is co-constructed in situ (Nishizaka, 1995Nishizaka, A. (1995) The interactive constitution of interculturality: How to be a Japanese with words. Human Studies, 18 (2–3), 301–326. Nishizaka, A. (1995) The interactive constitution of interculturality: How to be a Japanese with words. Human Studies, 18(2–3), 301–326. ; Mori, 2003Mori, J. (2003) The construction of interculturality: A study of initial encounters between Japanese and American students. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 36 (2), 143–184. Mori, J. (2003) The construction of interculturality: A study of initial encounters between Japanese and American students. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 36(2), 143–184. , 2007Mori, J. (2007) Reconstructing the participants’ treatments of ‘interculturality’: Variations in data and methodologies. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 123–141. Mori, J. (2007) Reconstructing the participants’ treatments of ‘interculturality’: Variations in data and methodologies. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 123–141. ; Day, 2008Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. ; Arano, 2019Arano, Y. (2019) Interculturality as an interactional achievement: Doubting others’ nationality and accounting for the doubt. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 12 (2), 167–189. Arano, Y. (2019) Interculturality as an interactional achievement: Doubting others’ nationality and accounting for the doubt. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 12(2), 167–189. ; Önder & Balaman, 2025Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. Önder, Z., & Balaman, U. (2025) Situated orientations to interculturality in video-mediated virtual exchange interactions. In H. R’boul (Ed.), Teaching and researching interculturality in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 203–221). Routledge. ; Siegel, 2016Siegel, A. (2016) “Oh no, it’s just culture”: Multicultural identities in action in ELF interactions. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 26 (2), 193–215. Siegel, A. (2016) “Oh no, it’s just culture”: Multicultural identities in action in ELF interactions. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 26(2), 193–215. ; Bolden, 2014Bolden, G. B. (2014) Negotiating understanding in “intercultural moments” in immigrant family interactions. Communication Monographs, 81 (2), 208–238. Bolden, G. B. (2014) Negotiating understanding in “intercultural moments” in immigrant family interactions. Communication Monographs, 81(2), 208–238. ; Hua et al., 2019Hua, Z., Wei, L., & Jankowicz-Pytel, D. (2019) Intercultural moments in translating and humanising the socio-legal system. Language and Intercultural Communication, 19 (6), 488–504. Hua, Z., Wei, L., & Jankowicz-Pytel, D. (2019) Intercultural moments in translating and humanising the socio-legal system. Language and Intercultural Communication, 19(6), 488–504. ; Zimmerman, 2015Zimmerman, E. (2015) Conversations about culture: How Korean and Japanese cultural products, practices and perspectives are discussed to co-construct cultural understanding in talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 5 , 28–39. Zimmerman, E. (2015) Conversations about culture: How Korean and Japanese cultural products, practices and perspectives are discussed to co-construct cultural understanding in talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 5, 28–39. ).

In the first instance, the topic was initiated with a provoking question (Kim & Silver, 2021Kim, Y., & Silver, R. E. (2021) “What do you think about this?”: Differing role enactment in post-observation conversation. In S. Kunitz, N. Markee, & O. Sert (Eds.), Classroom-based conversation analytic research: Theoretical and applied perspectives on pedagogy (Vol. 46, pp. 303–328). Springer International Publishing. Kim, Y., & Silver, R. E. (2021) “What do you think about this?”: Differing role enactment in post-observation conversation. In S. Kunitz, N. Markee, & O. Sert (Eds.), Classroom-based conversation analytic research: Theoretical and applied perspectives on pedagogy (Vol. 46, pp. 303–328). Springer International Publishing. ) following the pre-sequence (Havadar & Balaman, 2024Havadar, E. E., & Balaman, U. (2024) Preliminaries in paired role play L2 interactional competence assessment tasks. Classroom Discourse, 15 (2), 143–160. Havadar, E. E., & Balaman, U. (2024) Preliminaries in paired role play L2 interactional competence assessment tasks. Classroom Discourse, 15(2), 143–160. ; Maynard & Zimmerman, 1984Maynard, D. W., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1984) Topical talk, ritual and the social organization of relationships. Social Psychology Quarterly, 301–316. Maynard, D. W., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1984) Topical talk, ritual and the social organization of relationships. Social Psychology Quarterly, 301–316. ; Nao, 2015Nao, M. (2015) ‘So you are from England’: Categorization and cultural reduction in first-time conversation lounge encounters between foreign teachers and Japanese students of EFL. Applied Linguistics, 36 (2), 194–214. Nao, M. (2015) ‘So you are from England’: Categorization and cultural reduction in first-time conversation lounge encounters between foreign teachers and Japanese students of EFL. Applied Linguistics, 36(2), 194–214. ). The question is deemed provoking as it immediately categorizes the two Turkish participants as having distinct religious identities and ascribes culture-specific identities. The referential work regarding the within-category identity variances interestingly challenges the nation-associated cultural categorization and relevant cultural assumptions (e.g., Arano, 2019Arano, Y. (2019) Interculturality as an interactional achievement: Doubting others’ nationality and accounting for the doubt. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 12 (2), 167–189. Arano, Y. (2019) Interculturality as an interactional achievement: Doubting others’ nationality and accounting for the doubt. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 12(2), 167–189. ; Brandt & Jenks, 2011Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11 (1), 41–58. Brandt, A., & Jenks, C. (2011) ‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction. Language and Intercultural Communication, 11(1), 41–58. ). Given the conflict/tension potential of religious identity categorization (Nowicka, 2022Nowicka, A. (2022) Negotiating religious identity categories in non-professional interviews using English as a lingua franca. Intercultural Pragmatics, 19 (1), 103–131. Nowicka, A. (2022) Negotiating religious identity categories in non-professional interviews using English as a lingua franca. Intercultural Pragmatics, 19(1), 103–131. ), the initiated topic becomes culturally sensitive, thus creating a delicate situation for participants to collaboratively manage while also initiating an intercultural moment (Bolden, 2014Bolden, G. B. (2014) Negotiating understanding in “intercultural moments” in immigrant family interactions. Communication Monographs, 81 (2), 208–238. Bolden, G. B. (2014) Negotiating understanding in “intercultural moments” in immigrant family interactions. Communication Monographs, 81(2), 208–238. ). Although the provoking nature of the question could cause tension/conflict immediately in the next turn, the recipient’s responsive actions did not bypass the trouble (Petitjean & González-Martínez, 2015Petitjean, C., & González-Martínez, E. (2015) Laughing and smiling to manage trouble in French-language classroom interaction. Classroom Discourse, 6 (2), 89–106. Petitjean, C., & González-Martínez, E. (2015) Laughing and smiling to manage trouble in French-language classroom interaction. Classroom Discourse, 6(2), 89–106. ; Sert & Jacknick, 2015Sert, O., & Jacknick, C. M. (2015) Student smiles and the negotiation of epistemics in L2 classrooms. Journal of Pragmatics, 77 , 97–112. Sert, O., & Jacknick, C. M. (2015) Student smiles and the negotiation of epistemics in L2 classrooms. Journal of Pragmatics, 77, 97–112. ), instead signaled an extended response by primarily registering the directness of the question as laughable. Therefore, smiling and (choral) laughter did not necessarily problematize the question but reduced the potential conflict/tension that could otherwise emerge in a way to mark the legitimacy of the question. Following that, an extended responding episode occurred and was expanded with follow-up questions, thus being a prolonged instance of interculturality in situ. Consequently, the whole episode, despite the borderline tension/conflict potential due to its cultural sensitivity, was closed with responses in varying levels of directness (i.e., extended response by ZEY, short neutral responses by ECE) to the provoking question. The evasive responses further showed that avoiding the production of direct responses also helps to bypass the potential tension/conflict.

The second extract, on the other hand, worked rather differently. Unlike the first extract, the culturally sensitive topic initiation was oriented to by the participants with dispreferred responses, and the topic was explicitly rejected. The topic rejection also entailed resisting the membership category ascriptions (Day, 2008Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. Day, D. (2008) Being ascribed, and resisting, membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in Talk (pp. 151–170). SAGE Publications Ltd. ; Fukuda, 2006Fukuda, C. (2006) Resistance against being formulated as cultural other: The case of a Chinese student in Japan. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 429–456. Fukuda, C. (2006) Resistance against being formulated as cultural other: The case of a Chinese student in Japan. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 429–456. ; Higgins, 2007Higgins, C. (2007) Constructing membership in the in-group: Affiliation and resistance among urban Tanzanians. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 49–70. Higgins, C. (2007) Constructing membership in the in-group: Affiliation and resistance among urban Tanzanians. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), 49–70. ; Higgins, 2009Higgins, C. (2009) Are you Hindu?”: Resisting membership categorization through language alternation. In H. t. Nguyen & G. Kasper (Eds.), Talk-in-interaction: Multilingual perspectives, (pp. 111–136). National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii.Higgins, C. (2009) Are you Hindu?”: Resisting membership categorization through language alternation. In H. t. Nguyen & G. Kasper (Eds.), Talk-in-interaction: Multilingual perspectives, (pp. 111–136). National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii.). Despite the conflict-oriented topic selection (i.e., the war history between the two countries) and the topic rejection by all co-participants and the dispreferred responses, I argue that this instance did not result in tension either. Instead, the participants maintained the smiling and laughter where possible, and jointly worked to change the suggested topic (Satar & Çimenli Olcars, 2025Satar, M., & Çimenli Olcars, B. (2025) Online intercultural exchange in language teacher education: Interactional resources for topic transition. Classroom Discourse, 1–29. Satar, M., & Çimenli Olcars, B. (2025) Online intercultural exchange in language teacher education: Interactional resources for topic transition. Classroom Discourse, 1–29. ) by emphasizing the ‘present day reality’, i.e., the ongoing teacher collaboration at hand, over the ‘past reality’ of conflict between the two countries. Relatedly, the participants interactionally managed to discourage topic continuation with their misaligning responses, counter arguments, and short responses. Therefore, they collaboratively treated the topic as illegitimate but still used this as an opportunity to co-construct interculturality on a turn-by-turn basis by resisting the ascribed membership categorizations.

Although the present study did not seek to argue for improved group harmony with a longitudinal look into the data and the social-interactional history of the group (Ekin, 2025Ekin, S. (2025) Development of interactional competence in a virtual exchange setting: Focus on diversification of participatory actions. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 24 . Ekin, S. (2025) Development of interactional competence in a virtual exchange setting: Focus on diversification of participatory actions. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 24. ), the group’s ability to deal with sensitive issues might indicate such evidence to some extent considering the diversity of interactional resources deployed in response to culturally-sensitive topic initiations. Future research can further investigate the topic initiation and conflict/tension potential with a longitudinal perspective. The findings also showed divergent participant methods for dealing with culturally sensitive topic initiations. This said, the group’s ability also calls for revisiting the ongoing debate on the safe vs. brave topics in virtual exchanges (Glimäng, 2022Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5 , 61–81. Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5, 61–81. ; Godwin-Jones, 2019Godwin-Jones, R. (2019) Telecollaboration as an approach to developing intercultural communication competence. https://​scholarspace​.manoa​.hawaii​.edu​/bitstream​/10125​/44691​/1​/23​_3​_10125​-44691​.pdf. Godwin-Jones, R. (2019) Telecollaboration as an approach to developing intercultural communication competence. https://​scholarspace​.manoa​.hawaii​.edu​/bitstream​/10125​/44691​/1​/23​_3​_10125​-44691​.pdf. ; Helm, 2016Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.Helm, F. (2016) Facilitated dialogue in online intercultural exchange. In R. O’Dowd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Online intercultural exchange: Policy, pedagogy, practice (pp. 150–172). Routledge.). Informed by the paradigm of critical virtual exchange (Hauck, 2019Hauck, M. (2019) Virtual exchange for (critical) digital literacy skills development. European Journal of Language Policy, 11 (2), 187–210. Hauck, M. (2019) Virtual exchange for (critical) digital literacy skills development. European Journal of Language Policy, 11(2), 187–210. , 2023Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023 (Spring), 9–12.Hauck, M. (2023) From virtual exchange to critical virtual exchange and critical internationalization at home. The Global Impact Exchange, 2023(Spring), 9–12.; Klimanova & Hellmich, 2021Klimanova, L., & Hellmich, E. A. (2021) Crossing transcultural liminalities with critical virtual exchange: A study of shifting border discourses. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18 (3), 273–304. Klimanova, L., & Hellmich, E. A. (2021) Crossing transcultural liminalities with critical virtual exchange: A study of shifting border discourses. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18(3), 273–304. ; Nicolaou et al., 2025Nicolaou, A., Sauro, S., Gudmundsdottir, G. B., & Sundqvist, P. (2025) Critical virtual exchange to address teachers’ needs in times of conflict. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 8 , 54–66. Nicolaou, A., Sauro, S., Gudmundsdottir, G. B., & Sundqvist, P. (2025) Critical virtual exchange to address teachers’ needs in times of conflict. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 8, 54–66. ) and using video-mediated multiparty interactions as the data, the findings enabled arguing that the true potential of virtual exchanges for interculturality lies in making more space for braver (Glimäng, 2022Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5 , 61–81. Glimäng, M. R. (2022) Safe/brave spaces in virtual exchange on sustainability. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 5, 61–81. ) conversations about culture (Zimmerman, 2015Zimmerman, E. (2015) Conversations about culture: How Korean and Japanese cultural products, practices and perspectives are discussed to co-construct cultural understanding in talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 5 , 28–39. Zimmerman, E. (2015) Conversations about culture: How Korean and Japanese cultural products, practices and perspectives are discussed to co-construct cultural understanding in talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 5, 28–39. )- that is, by talking about disputable topics. Arguably, such conversations maximized the intercultural communication opportunities and the resources for achieving interculturality- that is, by paving the way for the use of a rich set of interactional resources to deal with culturally sensitive topics-, which showed these topic role in aiding conversational progressivity rather than impeding it by causing tension (Ryoo, 2007Ryoo, H.-K. (2007) Interculturality serving multiple interactional goals in African American and Korean service encounters. Pragmatics, 17 (1), 23–47. Ryoo, H.-K. (2007) Interculturality serving multiple interactional goals in African American and Korean service encounters. Pragmatics, 17(1), 23–47. ; Shrikant, 2021Shrikant, N. (2021) Cultural difference as a resource for arguments in institutional interactions. Communication Monographs, 88 (2), 219–236. Shrikant, N. (2021) Cultural difference as a resource for arguments in institutional interactions. Communication Monographs, 88(2), 219–236. ).

These findings also bring rich implications for the design and implementation of virtual exchange projects. Virtual exchange practitioners can entertain the possibility of encouraging brave conversations more widely. However, it should be noted once more that the participants in the virtual exchange project at hand were adult pre-service teachers who spent substantial time together with a shared pedagogical focus, which requires approaching the generalizability of the findings with caution. Nevertheless, the affordances of the digital spaces and the virtual exchange structure proved to positively impact on the participants’ skills for the interactional management of interculturality, even when the intercultural topic was potentially sensitive. That is to say, the translocated teacher education structure (see Methods, Balaman, 2023Balaman, U. (2023) Conversation analytic language teacher education in digital spaces. Palgrave Macmillan. Balaman, U. (2023) Conversation analytic language teacher education in digital spaces. Palgrave Macmillan. ) required the participants to co-construct shared interactional histories by regularly meeting over a period of six weeks possibly creating ground for engaging in brave conversations without being instructed to do so. The fully online collaboration project was, therefore, the means to establish such histories, thus paving the way for initiating intercultural topics and displaying interactional competences to manage sensitive issues.