Interculturality Through Picturebooks: Starting Points for Integrating Intercultural Competence and Global Citizenship Into Children’s English Language Learning

Aoife K. Ahern School of Education, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

Any parent or teacher who works with primary school children knows how picturebooks can be the centre of some of the most rewarding and enjoyable moments at home or in classrooms. Picturebooks – defined as books of around 36 pages with illustrations that depict a story or theme, and are usually combined with written text – are widely recognised as powerful objects for children’s enjoyment and learning. One advantage of globalisation is that picturebooks in English have become fairly easy to access around the world.

But can picturebooks offer a focus for ESL lessons, while developing children’s engagement and motivation towards understanding people, practices and artifacts from different cultural backgrounds? Can picturebooks make English learning relevant for developing children’s, and even adolescents’, identities as global citizens? In the Erasmus+ project ICETEMP (Intercultural and Citizenship Education through Teacher Education for the Mediation of Picturebooks, ref. KA220-HED-2024-011), we have read a plethora of articles and books about these questions and offer you here a selection of readings.

• Bland, J. (2023). Compelling stories for English language learners: Creativity, interculturality and critical literacy. Bloomsbury.

Bland’s volume provides a deep discussion on using a variety of stories such as picturebooks, graphic novels, plays and verse novels for the development of interculturality, language competence, visual and critical literacy in English teaching. She exemplifies abundantly how to use these different text types for different student age groups. Among the especially interesting aspects of this work, we would highlight Bland’s arguments in favour of 'multivoicedness', e.g. enaging with a topic using different texts (text ensembles) to understand different perspectives. The book defines culture as a complex and constantly changing construct, and sketches strategies for promoting engagement with story and language, highlighting the role of high-quality and challenging input, formulaic language, phonological repetition, opportunities for retellings and perspective-taking, for example.

• ICEPELL Consortium, (2022). The ICEGuide: A handbook for intercultural citizenship education through picturebooks in early English language learning. Lisbon: CETAPS, NOVA FCSH. Available at: https://icepell.eu/docs/ICEGuide_digital.pdf

In this guidebook, an easy-to-read overview of the key concepts behind intercultural learning, citizenship education, and why and how to develop these areas with children learning English. In addition, a set of kits are provided, consisting of information about relevant picturebooks and lesson plans for working with them.

• Li, S. C., & Adams, B. (2024). Supporting newcomer children's cultural transitions with contemporary Canadian picture books. TESOL Journal, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.802

This article is ideal for finding out about a range of picturebooks that offer potential for helping children adapt to new cultural contexts and for multicultural education. The authors reference 24 of these books and identify which themes are most popular: family relationships, geographical information, single vs multicultural representation, food, helpfulness, confidence, challenging stereotypes, etc. Ideas are proposed for young-learner classroom activities to work on some of these themes.

• Mastellotto, L. (2023). Global citizenship education with picture books in English language learning. Zeitschrift für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht. https://doi.org/10.48694/zif.3613.

The article explores how Global Citizenship Education can be integrated into English language learning for upper primary and middle school children, and how picturebooks can enhance intercultural and citizenship awareness. It offers key concepts to explain why this kind of practices is valuable, such as for helping children develop across cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural domains. It also offers a selection of examples of relevant picturebooks.

• Nordin, N., Lo Fui Senn, J., & Abdul Rashid, M. H. (2024). Usage and trends of picture books in teaching and learning: A literature review. International Academic Research Journal, 10(2), 24-31. https://www.iarjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/IARJ_SS_2024_10_2_24-31.pdf

A nicely synthesised source for finding more studies on how picturebooks play a role in developing literacy, cognitive and social growth, and cultural responsiveness. A selection of recommended books is presented, and outlines how teachers are using picture books in different countries to develop intercultural competence and socio-emotional skills.

To conclude, if you want to know where to begin looking into the theory behind using picturebooks for intercultural learning within English language educational programmes, and how you can begin applying that theory, the texts we’ve listed here will offer you just that. You’ll find practical suggestions, suggested picturebooks and lesson plans, offering a strong basis for reflective practice and inspiration.

Aoife Ahern is a university professor who teaches students specialising in EFL education for primary and secondary. Her research focuses on literacy education, pragmatics and second language acquisition.