Intercultural encounters through two picturebooks in the lower primary EFL classroom in Denmark
Intercultural encounters are important sites for intercultural learning. Hence the teaching of English as a
foreign language should include possibilities for learners to engage in such encounters. It is theoretically suggested and
empirically supported, that encounters with texts and images can be fruitful for intercultural learning. Picturebooks constitute
one form of literary text that is suitable for teaching foreign languages to children. This study suggests that purposefully
selected picturebooks can create affordances for intercultural encounters in the early English as a foreign language classroom,
thus contributing to intercultural learning from an early age. Selected learner data collected in a qualitative multiple case
study with learners from 8 to10 years old, interacting with two English language picturebooks, were analyzed using deductive,
qualitative content analysis. The analyses showed that learners displayed awareness of several intercultural encounters with and
between characters in the picturebooks, especially encounters that included the two child protagonists. These encounters were
based on multiple cultural group affiliations, including affiliations based on a more traditional as well as an extended view of
culture, which included non-human groups. It is concluded that, based on a non-essentialist view of culture, the selected
picturebooks and their teaching sequences created affordances for learners’ awareness of different cultural affiliations, which is
considered a prerequisite for engagement in intercultural encounters.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical background
- 2.1Intercultural learning for young learners
- 2.2Intercultural encounters and intercultural learning
- 2.3Intercultural encounters through picturebooks
- 2.4A conceptualization of intercultural encounters through picturebooks
- 3.Methodology
- 3.1Context and participants
- 3.2Ethics
- 3.3Procedure
- 3.4The picturebooks
- 3.5Data collection
- 3.6Data analysis
- 4.Findings
- 4.1Awareness of intercultural encounters in the picturebooks
- 4.2Awareness of cultural affiliations (CA) — sites for intercultural encountering (IE)
- The refugee experience as a site for intercultural encountering
- Family situation as a site for intercultural encountering
- Children’s everyday life as a site for intercultural encountering
- Expression of similarities and individual perspectives
- 5.Discussion
- 5.1Saliency
- 5.2Emotional engagement
- 5.3The state of being children
- 6.Conclusion and recommendations for practice
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References