Development of intercultural competence among a class of 5th graders using a picture book

Anna Birketveit,Lydia Kristin Furnes

doi:10.46364/njmlm.v8i2.785

Abstract

This paper presents a study in a Norwegian English as a Foreign Language class of 5th graders aimed at investigating the learners' ability to decentre - a skill within intercultural competence, - through the use of the picture book The Soccer Fence by Phil Bildner. Based on Byram's theory on intercultural competence and Piaget's theory on decentring, a literary context was created around a one-group pretest-posttest design. The participants' ability to decentre was measured before and after an intervention period which consisted of reading the story and the pupils' investigating the characters' different perspectives through different tasks. The results were then checked for statistical significance, which is presented in the first part of the article. The second part of the article includes results from group interviews, which were carried out to either strengthen or challenge the pretest and posttest findings. Results showed statistical significance, indicating that the ability to decentre did increase after the intervention. This was also supported by the interviews

Highlights

The development of learners' intercultural competence and understanding is an important goal in education
This definition reflects the view that language cannot be taught independently from culture and the communicative situation. It is not a question of why intercultural competence should be taught, but rather what exactly intercultural competence is, and how should it be taught. This current study reports on how the picture book The Soccer Fence by Phil Bildner was used to influence the pupils' ability to address the different perspectives of fictional characters
They discussed the questions first in pairs and contributed with their answers in a plenary conversation. This conversation was based on the same four questions. These activities were based on both Feffer's first measure of decentring, the Role Taking Task (RTT) and the Thematic Apperception Task (TAT), which focus on retelling a story in different ways and from different angles (Leeper et al, 2007, p. 151)

Summary

Introduction

The development of learners' intercultural competence and understanding is an important goal in education. The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (NDET) has explicitly formulated aims for the English subject regarding intercultural competence, about exploring ways of living and traditions of different societies in English speaking countries (NDET 1, 2020). The new curriculum of 2020 divides the English subject into the focus areas "communication", "language learning" and "meeting English speaking texts," specifying the need for competence within intercultural understanding and citizenship (NDET 2, 2020). The core curriculum emphasizes the importance of knowledge about other cultures and people, which in turn gives us the chance "to foster mutual understanding and respect" (NDET 3). In the English subject curriculum, the aims regarding culture, society, and literature after year 10, include developing specific knowledge, and discussing, describing, and reflecting on the current situations in English speaking countries (NDET 4). We can see that being active, seeing things from different perspectives, as well as being critical, is quite central

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