From barriers to breakthroughs: communicating Chinese culture to Irish learners with a multimodality online course

Findings show that cultural instruction focused on four domains: traditional heritage, contemporary society, Chinese culture in global contexts, and cross-cultural comparison. These were enacted through activities such as drama, artefact analysis, digital storytelling. Multimodal approaches – using image, video, narrative, and task-based work – supported learners’ engagement with cultural knowledge, understanding, attitudes, and intercultural awareness. Limited but purposeful use of AI tools enabled personalisation and feedback, highlighting the importance of teacher mediation. The article argues that language educators should curate authentic resources and design multimodal sequences to foster intercultural understanding.