Utilizing digitally mediated warm-up activities for developing intercultural literacy in young EFL students: An exploratory study

Abstract

According to recent research, incorporating intercultural elements into digital learning resources used in English-language activities is considered one of the most efficacious approaches for improving intercultural literacy among young learners. However, there is limited knowledge available regarding the utilization of digital materials in developing intercultural literacy during lead-in phrases for young learners. The present study aims to fill this gap by investigating how technology can be used to create intercultural literacy among young EFL students in typical Vietnamese international elementary schools during EFL warm-up activities. This study was carried out in three stages: (1) an informal interview conducted by the researcher with two EFL teachers from two different internal schools about their teaching contexts and knowledge of intercultural literacy; (2) sixteen observations of English lessons over a semester using warm-up activities to enhance young learners’ intercultural literacy (n=65), and (3) in-depth interviews with the same two teachers. The teachers’ interactionally oriented narratives derived from the interviews and the intervened-lesson observations in their classrooms were thematized to specify the types of warm-up activities using digital resources and their functions on activating young learners’ prior knowledge of intercultural features. Meanwhile, the observation checklist was employed to determine whether these embedded features had made changes to the teachers’ teaching methodology. The paper also discussed the implications for enhancing EFL young learners’ intercultural literacy via digital learning paths informed by the teacher’s intercultural language communicative teaching approach.