This study explores the sociopragmatic interactional principles (SIPs) intervening in intercultural communication between English Language Assistants (ELAs) and their ‘mentors’ in French primary and secondary schools. Using a methodology based on Sinclair and Coulthard's oral discourse analysis, this study identifies specific move sequences that demonstrate the link between political and cultural factors, SIPs and sociopragmatic communicative breakdown in Anglo-French intercultural communication.