An Intercultural Competence-Based Analysis of Learning Activities in Korean Culture Class Textbooks for International Students

This study aims to analyze the learning activities in Korean cultural textbooks used in universities to enhance international students’ intercultural competence. The researchers categorized intercultural competence-based learning activities into four stages ―cultural knowledge acquisition, cultural analysis, cultural evaluation, and cultural creation―then defined detailed learning activities within each stage. Based on the analysis of intercultural learning activities in nine Korean cultural textbooks following this stage-based framework, it was found that cultural knowledge acquisition activities accounted for over 90% of total intercultural learning activities. Cultural analysis activities comprised 8%, while activities within cultural evaluation and creation stages combined exceeded just 1%. The findings indicate that learning activities in textbooks are overfocused on cultural knowledge acquisition, with a significant lack of activities that encourage interaction between multicultural learners, limiting opportunities for learners to develop cultural attitudes and skills. This highlights the need to reinforce activities related to cultural evaluation and creation for balanced intercultural education. The results of this study can serve as the foundation for future cultural textbook development.