Do Multicultural Books Foster Intercultural Competence? Students and Teachers Beliefs about Interculturality

The main goal of this research is to examine whether multicultural books help improve the intercultural competence of students. We focus on intercultural competence because it is a more enduring skill that encompasses knowledge, abilities, and attitudes, contributing to a better understanding of cultures beyond specific conflicts or situations centered on particular groups or minorities.

To achieve this, we designed an intervention using multicultural picture books in two charter schools. Picture books are a specific type of book that, due to their brevity, allow teachers to conduct reading and activities in a single session, and they contain illustrations that can be analyzed as part of the whole message or independently.

We provided six multicultural picture books and worked with four groups of the same level (K3) in two different schools, using different activities. We administered a pre-test before commencing the intervention (September 2024) using the Intercultural Competence Test (CIAP, Hernández Bravo, 2011). After completing the intervention, a post-test was administered to the students (December 2024).

The results show little increase in intercultural competence, but they provide interesting insights into students' and teachers' beliefs about interculturality.

Speaker: Xavier Mínguez-López  (Associate Professor in the Department of Language and Literature Education at the Teachers Training Faculty of the University of València; member of ERI-Lectura, an interdisciplinary hub focused on reading).

Sponsors: RCCHU; University of Valencia; Harvard University.