A prolegomenon to Ethics in Foreign Language Education

The aim of this article is to confirm the importance of ethical dimension in the fields concerning the teaching and learning of foreign languages. This ethical dimension might be intimately related in a complex way to several specific areas on the part of teachers and learners. In fact, it is legitimized to insist on the importance of the ethical components of foreign language education because of the ethical nature of human communication and natural language in general.To underline the ethical nature of language, the author refers to the profound thoughts of the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. In such way, this study pursues two joint objectives providing a humanistic overview of the reflection carried out on the question of ethics in the didactics of foreign languages in the first place, and formulating a few proposals for developing this reflection in the second place. Our historical analysis has allowed us to illustrate the fact that the question of ethics in the teaching and learning of foreign languages is traditionally based on a maximalist conception of morality, as well as a political project far removed from the actual practices of language teachers.removed from the actual practices of language teachers.removed from the actual practices of language teachers.