Many EFL countries, including Taiwan, emphasize English learning as essential for global communication and competitiveness. English education in Taiwan plays a vital role in promoting international understanding and global citizenship.

The National Development Council (2018) set a goal for Taiwan to become a bilingual nation by 2030, promoting English as a key to global participation.

The 12-Year Basic Education Curriculum (2018) highlights three core competencies:

Schools are encouraged to integrate educational issues into all subjects and to develop their own school-based curriculum that responds to key themes such as international education.

According to Byram’s (1997) Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) model), linguistic competence and intercultural competence are intertwined—learners need both language skills and cultural understanding to communicate effectively.

Picture books allow students to encounter different cultural narratives while improving language comprehension and intercultural competence.

Integrating digital tools such as Padlet, Canva, and Gemini Story can make picture book teaching more interactive, multimodal, and globally connected.

Despite Taiwan’s growing emphasis on English education, many elementary EFL classrooms remain teacher-centered and textbook-restricted. As a result, they may achieve linguistic accuracy but lack intercultural sensitivity and awareness of global issues. Students have few opportunities to compare cultures or reflect on global diversity.

Digital tools are often used superficially for presentation or drilling, rather than for authentic communication or cultural learning.

This integration could help learners not only improve their English skills but also develop intercultural awareness and empathy—key goals of global education.

The purpose of this study is to explore how integrating digital tools into English picture book teaching can enhance elementary school students’ 1. intercultural competence 2. attitudes toward cultural diversity

Research Questions1.How does integrating digital tools into English picture book teaching influence students’ intercultural competence?2.How do digital tools affect students’ attitudes and engagement toward intercultural learning?3.What are students’ perceptions and reflections on learning through digital-tool-supported picture book instruction?

Provides a practical model for combining English picture books and digital tools to promote intercultural learning in EFL classrooms.

Encourages teachers to design student-centered, multimodal, and culturally rich lessons.

Offers teaching insights for educators to effectively integrate digital tools in developing students’ intercultural competence.