Using the constructs of capabilities, cosmopolitan citizenship and intercultural communication as theoretical frameworks, in this paper I present a case study concerning the teaching and learning of ESOL in Higher Education in which the following research question is posited: “In what ways can the language classroom be seen to contribute to the formation of learners’ cosmopolitan and learning identities, which affect their capability to live and act in the world?” In order to answer this broad question, a subset of questions is appended, which includes, inter alia: a) how and to what extent do students critically engage with the theme of globalisation (which is central to a learning module used for this case study) and is there evidence of this engagement leading to cosmopolitan understanding? b) is there evidence of epistemology becoming ontology, where ‘knowing’ becomes ‘being’? And, finally, c) in what ways is agency evoked and how does it affect the students’ perceptions of themselves and their place in the world?

The term cosmopolitanism is used here in the sense originated by Diogenes the Cynic (Nussbaum 1997) in which “[I]t would appear that these [cosmopolitan] concerns focused on the worth of reason and moral purpose in defining one's humanity” (Ibid, 6). In such a worldview, nationality, ethnicity, gender, class and other identity attributes are considered to be of lesser importance compared with a moral affiliation with rational humanity. This perspective complements theories of intercultural education, which posit a development of positions from cross-cultural awareness in the short tem, through intercultural competence in the medium term to global citizenship as a long-term goal (Bennett 2009). In the context of foreign language education, in the last two decades, the development of intercultural competence as an adjunct to communicative competence has become prevalent (Byram 1997; Council of Europe 2001) but only more recently have notions of global citizenship and moral purpose as desired ends been introduced to the field (Byram 2008; Risager 2007).

This study, concerning the development of cosmopolitan citizenship, draws on theories of human development and capabilities (Sen 1999; Nussbaum 2000) from a social justice perspective, where individual wellbeing is articulated as having the freedom to live a valued life of one’s choosing. In the context of an ESOL classroom this involves paying attention to pedagogical strategies, power dynamics and curriculum content as a means of developing valued beings and doings (or capabilities and functionings as they are described in the literature). Issues of social justice are discussed at two levels: the micro level of the classroom where students work together in multicultural groups and develop peer-teaching sessions, and at the macro level of global social, cultural, political and economic contexts, which form the content of learning. In this paper, sample activities are presented and evaluated to see to what extent they achieve the desired end. These include critical pedagogical interventions, students’ artefacts and extracts from focus group interviews, class reports and reflective journals.

Bennett, M., 2009. Defining, measuring, and facilitating intercultural learning: a conceptual introduction to the Intercultural Education double supplement. Editorial. Intercultural Education. Vol 20, Suppl. Nos. S1-2. Byram, M.,1997. Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Byram, M., 2008. From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Council of Europe, 2001. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment.Cambridge University Press. Nussbaum, M., 1997. Kant and Stoic Cosmopolitanism, The Journal of Political Philosophy: Volume 5, Number 1, pp. 1-25. Nussbaum, M., 2000. Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach. Cambridge University Press. Risager, K., 2007. Language and Culture Pedagogy: From a National to a Transnational Paradigm. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Sen, A., 1999. Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.