Second language education (SLE) must remain open to developments in the world if it is to be relevant to those who have an investment in it: learners, teachers and researchers. However, the broadening of the interdisciplinary nature of SLE that may occur because of this is not without its problems. New areas will bring ideas and terminology that will make SLE as a discipline even more complex. In addition, the ideas and terminology may be disputed in the fields from which they originate thus compounding the problem of complexity. The article looks at the example of the performative in SLE and how it supports an approach that is interdisciplinary and intercultural. It also looks at some of the problems this causes: the implications of implementing an SLE practice that is performative, the fact that there are different performative practices, as well as variance between seemingly similar performative practices because of national and cultural differences. The article concludes with the description of two studies which show the complex nature of performative SLE as praxis.