MOVING BEYOND US VS. THEM: A CASE STUDY ON USING MULTICULTURAL PICTURE BOOKS IN UNIVERSITY CHINESE COURSE

Abstract

This study explores the perceptions of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) learners using multicultural picture books as Comprehensible Input (CI) for language acquisition and their influence on learners’ multicultural awareness. Drawing on Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and Optimal Input Hypothesis, as well as Nieto’s framework for multicultural education, this study fills a gap by integrating multicultural picture books into a university-level beginning CFL course to examine their instructional potential.A qualitative case study approach was employed, involving 12 CFL learners at a Southwestern university in the United States. Two research questions guided the study: “In what ways do CFL learners perceive the use of multicultural picture books as Comprehensible Input for their language acquisition?” and “In what ways do multicultural picture books influence CFL learners’ multicultural awareness?”. Data were collected through surveys, exit tickets, and journal reflections to explore learners’ perceptions of how multicultural picture books support language learning and their impact on multicultural awareness. Findings revealed that CFL learners perceived multicultural picture books as valuable instructional tools that provided contextualized, engaging, and visually supported input for language acquisition. Beyond language learning, multicultural picture books significantly influenced learners’ multicultural awareness, fostered a deeper understanding of cultural complexity, and broadened their perspectives in a multicultural world. These findings highlight the potential of multicultural picture books as instructional resources for both language and cultural education.