Promoting intercultural competence through picturebooks: An exploration of Phil Bildner & Jesse Joshua Watson's The Soccer Fence and John Marsden & Shaun Tan's The Rabbits

Abstract

The primary focus of this master´s thesis is to explore how the two picturebooks The Soccer Fence, written by Phil Bildner, and The Rabbits, written by John Marsden, might help promote intercultural competence in English language teaching in upper elementary school. Both picturebooks contain narratives addressing cultural topics such as colonial invasion, grief, power dynamics, and racial segregation. These narratives are explored in the context of theories like theory of mind and empathy, tolerance of ambiguity, as well as skills of interpreting and relating, knowledge, and attitudes. To analyze the chosen picturebooks, I have used a combination of elements from narrative theory, described by Nikolajeva (2003), Nikolajeva & Scott (2006), along with insights from social semiotics as described by Painter (2018, 2019). The findings of the study suggest that these picturebooks are complex training grounds that have the potential for intercultural learning in English language teaching. They provide opportunities for learners to empathize with the characters and put themselves in the characters´ shoes. The books may invite young learners to gain the knowledge and attitudes they need to have when living in a diverse and multicultural society. Regardless of how the stories are told, the books offer stories that may help promote intercultural competence through their intercultural encounters. The books serve as valuable tools that can be used for educating young learners about different cultures and how to behave in the world when encountering others, as well as the personal development in terms of becoming interculturally competent. In an educational context, this also relates to the core elements in the English subject (ENG01 04), titled Working with texts in English. Here, the curriculum specifically clarifies that different English texts, should be used to develop intercultural competence. The lack of an explicit definition of the term intercultural competence in the curriculum, as well as a lack of a method for implementing the term into teachers day-to-day teaching, makes this master´s thesis about intercultural competence and literary texts important in the research field. This thesis has provided an insight into what intercultural competence is, and it could facilitate teachers with a selection of suitable materials that could inspire them to work with literary texts that deal with cultural topics in the English subject to develop intercultural competence