Identity development through pedagogy of hospitality: a conceptual framework for language teaching in intercultural education

Purpose Settlement-oriented language education reduces language learning to technical integration, sidelining identity negotiation and belonging. This paper aims to develop the Pedagogy of Hospitality to address this gap: critical pedagogy, ethics of hospitality and intercultural education make important individual contributions but have not been synthesized into actionable guidance for settlement-oriented language education. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper uses theory-building synthesis, connecting three analytical units: ethical-relational concepts of hospitality, critical and intercultural accounts of identity negotiation and language-education practices as sites where belonging is enabled or constrained. Frameworks were selected against explicit criteria addressing relational, ethical and epistemological dimensions of educational encounter. Findings This paper produces an original synthesis comprising five interconnected pedagogical principles and a three-phase developmental model – welcome and recognition, pedagogical questioning and knowledge dialogue – specifying how educational relationships support identity development. Central is migrant (postmigrant) citizenship as an analytical lens for practices of belonging shaped by migration regimes and institutional language education. Research limitations/implications As a conceptual framework, empirical validation is needed. Development through primarily English-language scholarship risks reproducing Eurocentric structures, and interdependence dynamics between principles remain theoretically underspecified. Practical implications The framework provides actionable guidance for educators, curriculum developers and policymakers, illustrated through phase-specific classroom examples. Social implications The framework contributes to understanding belonging and democratic participation in superdiverse societies, with relevance to combating xenophobia and promoting social cohesion. Originality/value The framework offers the first integrated synthesis connecting critical pedagogy, hospitality ethics and intercultural and decolonial education into actionable principles and a process model for settlement-oriented language education, where identity negotiation and belonging are systematically sidelined.