Language Matters!: From Folktales to Webtoons: Empowering Students through Intercultural Competence and Multiliteracies

Joins us for Prof. McCoy-Bae from the Department of Asian Studies' presentation From Folktales to Webtoons: Empowering Students through Intercultural Competence and Multiliteracies. The presentation explores how a collaborative digital storytelling project, "From Folktales to Webtoons," fosters students' intercultural competence through the adaptation of Korean folktales into digital webtoons. Grounded in Byram's (1997) Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC), Deardorff's (2006) Process Model of Intercultural Competence, and The New London Group's (1996) Multiliteraciesframework, the project positions language learning as a dynamic process of meaning-making across linguistic, cultural, visual, and digital modes. By reimagining traditional Korean folktales from the perspectives of non-hero characters, students critically engage with the socio-historical contexts, cultural values, and collective consciousness embedded in Korean narratives while developing empathy, critical thinking, and collaborative communication. This presentation discusses the project's design, implementation, pedagogical challenges, student reflections, and the potential of digital storytelling to cultivate intercultural competence and multiliteracy in advanced Korean language classrooms.