Speaker
ABSTRACT
The use of English-language picture books may not only foster linguistic skills but can also offers a means of introducing various cultural concepts. This presentation focuses on an ongoing exploratory action research project to investigate the integration of picture books into an intercultural understanding course for pre-service teachers. Picture books were used in two main ways. First, topics including perspectives and perceptions, accepted and familiar, and Japan’s changing demographics were introduced using picture books. This represents the educator’s autonomy and agency in terms of choosing resources that are most likely to engage the students in each theme. A second activity enabled students to use picture books in their future teacher persona. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) prescribes the integration of intercultural understanding in both primary school and secondary school foreign language classes. Thus, this activity represents autonomy and agency in terms of selecting and using additional teaching resources for future teachers and introduces them to options beyond prescribed textbooks. The activities using picture books highlight the process of being autonomous (as well as adventurous and creative) in selecting interesting resources and putting new ideas into action.
KEYWORDS
intercultural understanding picture books teacher development
| TITLE | Two ways of using picture books to foster intercultural understanding |
|---|---|
| RELEVANT SIG | Intercultural Communication in Language Education |
| FORMAT | Practice-oriented Oral Face-to-face presentation (25 minutes, including Q&A) |
