June 13, 2025 – 1:00 p.m. On-site and online session (Room M204, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy). Language: Spanish.

Xavier Mínguez-López

University of Valencia

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, in collaboration of Dr. Pamela Mason (Harvard University), 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.

Bio

Xavier Mínguez-López is Associate Professor in the Department of Didactics of Language and Literature at the University of Valencia. He conducted his Phd on Interculturality in Catalan Literature for Children and Young People. He was Researcher at Yokohama National University in Japan where he carried on a research on comprehension of Japanese animation, and also in the International Youth Library in Munich and Harvard University. His other lines of research are Children’s Literature, Literary Education and Animation. He has published more than a dozen of books for children. He is co-director of the Journal of Literary Education.