The two opposing paradigms of the researcher in didactics of languages-cultures: personal conceptions and convictions

Abstract

In this conference I argue that the idea that the "good" researcher in didactics of languages-cultures (DLC) must be "specialized", "sharp", and "deep"; "cutting edge" and "innovative"; "objective" is a one-size-fits-all thinking, in this case a conception of research that cannot and should not be the only one. In a polemical way, to make people think, I argue why a "good" researcher must be equally "superficial", "traditionalist", and even, if necessary, "opportunist" and "polemical". The thesis that I seriously defend in this conference is that "the researcher's posture is in tension between opposing logics", and at the same time complementary, as the epistemology of complexity requires. As the French artist Georges Braque said: "It always takes two ideas: one to kill the other". (Novembre 2022)

French version available (2019a).