1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Language Teaching for Young Learners
  4. Volume 6, Issue 2
  5. Article
Volume 6, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2589-2053
  • E-ISSN: 2589-207x
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

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.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ltyl.00056.sog
2024-10-04
2025-06-21

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/ltyl.00056.sog
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alter, G.
    (2018) Integrating postcolonial culture(s) into primary English language teaching. Children’s Literature in English Language Education Journal, 6(1), 22–44. https://clelejournal.org/article-2-grit-alter-integrating-postcolonial-cultures/
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Arizpe, E., Bagelman, C., Devlin, A. M., Farrell, M., & McAdam, J. E.
    (2014) Visualizing intercultural literacy: engaging critically with diversity and migration in the classroom through an image-based approach. Language and Intercultural Communication, 14(3), 304–321. 10.1080/14708477.2014.903056
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.903056 [Google Scholar]
  3. Arizpe, E.
    (2021) Migrant shoes and forced walking in children’s literature about refugees: Material testimony and embodied simulation. Migration Studies, 9(3), 1343–1360. 10.1093/migration/mnz047
     https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnz047 [Google Scholar]
  4. Barrett, M., Byram, M., Lázár, I., Mompoint-Gaillard, P., & Philippou, S.
    (2013) Developing intercultural competence through education. Council of Europe.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Barrett, M.
    (2018) How schools can promote the intercultural competence of young people. European Psychologist, 23(1), 93–104. 10.1027/1016‑9040/a000308
     https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000308 [Google Scholar]
  6. Bland, J.
    (2016) English language education and ideological issues: Picturebooks and diversity. Children’s Literature in English Language Education Journal, 4(2), 41–64. https://clelejournal.org/article-3-picturebooks-and-diversity/
     [Google Scholar]
  7. (2022) Compelling stories for English language learners: Creativity, interculturality and critical literacy. Bloomsbury Publishing. 10.5040/9781350190016
     https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350190016 [Google Scholar]
  8. Browne, A.
    (2013) Gorilla (A. Browne, Illus.; 30th anniversary ed.). Walker Books. (Original work published 1983)
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Byram, M.
    (2008) Intercultural competence and foreign language learning in the primary school. From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections. Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781847690807‑007
     https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847690807-007 [Google Scholar]
  10. (2021) Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Revisited. Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781800410251
     https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410251 [Google Scholar]
  11. Byram, M., & Barret, M.
    (2022) Autobiography of intercultural encounters: Context, concepts, and theories (2nd ed.). Council of Europe.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Byram, M., & Wagner, M.
    (2018) Making a difference: Language teaching for intercultural and international dialogue. Foreign Language Annals, 5(1), 140–151. 10.1111/flan.12319
     https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12319 [Google Scholar]
  13. Cameron, L., Rutland, A., Brown, R., & Douch, R.
    (2006) Changing children’s intergroup attitudes toward refugees: Testing different models of extended contact. Child Development, 77(5), 1208–1219. 10.1111/j.1467‑8624.2006.00929.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00929.x [Google Scholar]
  14. Council of Europe
    Council of Europe (2013) Images of the other: Autobiography intercultural encounters through Visual Media. Council of Europe Publishing.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science
    Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (2014) Danish code of conduct for research integrity. https://ufm.dk/en/publications/2014/the-danish-code-of-conduct-for-research-integrity
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Danish Ministry of Education
    Danish Ministry of Education (2019) Faghæfte for engelsk [National Curriculum for English]. https://emu.dk/
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Dervin, F.
    (2016) Interculturality in education. A theoretical and methodological toolbox. Palgrave Macmillan.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. (2023) Every child is an interculturalist... the problem is: how to remain one?InE. Jacobsson, H. Layne & F. Dervin, Children and interculturality in education (pp.10–50). Taylor and Francis.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Dolan, A. M.
    (2014) You, me, and diversity: the potential of picturebooks for teaching development and intercultural education. IOE Press and Trentham Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Driscoll, P., & Simpson, H.
    (2015) Developing intercultural understanding in primary schoolsinJ. Bland, (Ed.), Teaching English to young learners critical issues in language teaching with 3–12 year olds. Bloomsbury Academic.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Driscoll, P., & Holliday, H.
    (2019) Cultural threads in three primary schools. Introducing a critical cosmopolitan frame. AILA Review, 321, 64–90. 10.1075/aila.00021.dri
     https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00021.dri [Google Scholar]
  22. Dypedahl, M.
    (2022) Exploring the systematic use of intercultural encounters in the English classroom. InM. Dypedahl (Ed.), Moving English language teaching forward (pp.91–115). Cappelen Damm Akademisk. 10.23865/noasp.166.ch5
     https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.166.ch5 [Google Scholar]
  23. Ellis, G., & Brewster, J.
    (2014) Tell it again! The storytelling handbook for primary English language teachers (3rd edn.). British Council.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Flyvbjerg, B.
    (2006) Five misunderstandings about case-study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219–245. 10.1177/1077800405284363
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405284363 [Google Scholar]
  25. Hoff, H. E.
    (2016) From ‘intercultural speaker’ to ‘intercultural reader’: A proposal to reconceptualize intercultural communicative competence through a focus on literary reading. InF. Dervin & Z. Gross (Eds.), Intercultural competence in education: alternative approaches for different times (pp.51–71). Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/978‑1‑137‑58733‑6_4
     https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58733-6_4 [Google Scholar]
  26. (2022) Reimagining the role of literature in intercultural language education: New approaches and future perspectives: Introduction to the special issue. Intercultural Communication Education, 5(3), 64–67. 10.29140/ice.v5n3.850
     https://doi.org/10.29140/ice.v5n3.850 [Google Scholar]
  27. Holliday, A.
    (2011) Intercultural education and ideology. Sage. 10.4135/9781446269107
     https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446269107 [Google Scholar]
  28. (2016) Doing and writing qualitative research (3rd ed.). Sage.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Jacobsson, A., Layne, H., & Dervin, F.
    (2023) Children and interculturality in education. Taylor and Francis.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Ibrahim, N.
    (2020) The qualitative and Quantitative rise of literature on teaching English to young learner. ELT Journal, 74(2), 202–225. 10.1093/elt/ccaa019
     https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa019 [Google Scholar]
  31. Jacobsson, A.
    (2023) Interculturality and children: A global film and media perspective. InE. Jacobsson, H. Layne & F. Dervin, Children and interculturality in education (pp.10–50). Taylor and Francis.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Knudsen, R. K., Lindberg, S., & Kampmann, J.
    (2009) 5. delrapport: Erfaringer med børneinterview i forskningssammenhæng. [5th sub-report: Experiences with child interviews in a research context] Roskilde Universitet.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Maldonado, S.
    (2014) Ali’s Story — a journey from Afghanistan. (A. Glynne, illus.). Wayland.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Mayring, P.
    (2014) Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution. Klagenfurt. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-395173
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J.
    (2015) Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Mourão, S.
    (2023) Picturebooks for intercultural learning in foreign language education: A scoping review. Zeitschrift für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht, 28(1), 1–11. 10.48694/zif.3620
     https://doi.org/10.48694/zif.3620 [Google Scholar]
  37. Nikolajeva, M.
    (2014) Reading for learning. Cognitive approaches to children’s literature. John Benjamins. 10.1075/clcc.3
     https://doi.org/10.1075/clcc.3 [Google Scholar]
  38. Piipponen, O., Karlsson, L., & Kantelinen, R.
    (2024) From ambivalent spaces to spaces of reciprocal encountering: developing classroom culture in an intercultural story exchange. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(2), 613–630. 10.1080/01434632.2021.1920027
     https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1920027 [Google Scholar]
  39. Punch, S.
    (2002) Research with children: The same or different from research with adults?Childhood, 9(3), 321–341. 10.1177/0907568202009003005
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568202009003005 [Google Scholar]
  40. Risager, K.
    (2018) Representations of the world in language textbooks. Multilingual Matters.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Scoffham, S.
    (2019) The world in their heads: children’s ideas about other nations, peoples and cultures, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 28(2), 89–102. 10.1080/10382046.2019.1529712
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2019.1529712 [Google Scholar]
  42. Sindland, L. K. F., & Birketveit, A.
    (2020) Development of intercultural competence among a class of 5th graders using a picturebook. Nordic Journal of Modern Language Methodology, 8 (2), 113–139. 10.46364/njmlm.v8i2.785
     https://doi.org/10.46364/njmlm.v8i2.785 [Google Scholar]
  43. Sowa, E.
    (2014) Addressing intercultural awareness-raising in the young learner EFL classroom in Poland: Some teacher perspectives. InS. Rich (Ed.), International perspectives on teaching English to young learners. Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9781137023230_6
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137023230_6 [Google Scholar]
  44. Stathi, S., Cameron, L., Hartley, B., & Bradford, S.
    (2014) Imagined contact as a prejudice reduction intervention in schools: The underlying role of similarity and attitudes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(8), 536–546. 10.1111/jasp.12245
     https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12245 [Google Scholar]
  45. Svarstad, L. K., & Risager, K.
    (2023) A cycle model of intercultural learning: educating the global citizen. Language, Culture and Curriculum. Advance online publication. 10.1080/07908318.2023.2267611
     https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2023.2267611 [Google Scholar]
  46. Søgaard, K.
    (2024a) Interkulturel læring for yngre elever: selektionskriterier til billedbøger i den tidlige engelskundervisning [Intercultural Learning for young Learners: Selection Criteria for Picture Books in Early English Education] Manuscript submitted for publication.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Søgaard, K., & Daryai-Hansen, P.
    (2024) Intercultural encounters through picturebooks — a theoretically and empirically based conceptualization for the primary EFL classroom. Manuscript in preparation
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Tomé-Fernández, M., Senís-Fernández, J., & Ruiz-Martín, D.
    (2019) Values and intercultural experiences through picture books. The Reading Teacher, 73(2), 205–213. 10.1002/trtr.1813
     https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1813 [Google Scholar]
  49. Yin, R. K.
    (2018) Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th edn.). Sage.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ltyl.00056.sog
Loading
Intercultural encounters through two picturebooks in the lower primary EFL classroom in Denmark
Language Teaching for Young Learners 6, 173 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00056.sog
/content/journals/10.1075/ltyl.00056.sog
/content/journals/10.1075/ltyl.00056.sog
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): English as a foreign language; intercultural encounters; intercultural learning; picturebooks; primary language learners

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error