Developing Cross-Cultural Awareness at the Introductory Level Through Stereotypes and Digital Storytelling

This article proposes to promote learners’ cross-cultural awareness through activities that support the critique and assessment of cultural stereotypes across the target and native culture. Designed for the early stages of French language instruction, the teaching module alternates between collaborative and individual activities to guide learners in collectively identifying images and stereotypes of the French culture present in their native culture and of American culture present in French culture. The activities provide opportunities to engage into critical reflections on the sources of stereotypes to prepare learners to undertake the design and production of a digital story confronting cultural stereotypes.