Investigating the Impacts of an Experiential Service‐Learning Course

Abstract

This study investigated the impacts of an undergraduate experiential service‐learning course on the development, attitudes, and perceptions of the co‐learners involved in the experience. The context of the study was the American University in Cairo (AUC), and the participants in both groups were Egyptian native speakers of Arabic. The participants in the first group (N = 74) were undergraduate students enrolled in LING268: Principles and Practice of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Participants in the second group (N = 19) were AUC workers (e.g., custodians, security guards, and housekeepers). The researchers used qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis to answer the research questions. Although the findings showed that the service‐learning experience had both positive and negative impacts on both groups, the study provides evidence that service‐learning is a valuable pedagogy that is worth implementing in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts.

Translating community development stories: When anEFLwriting course meets service learning

“…With its emphasis in reflection, the philosophy of service learning concurs with writing experts’ call to develop students’ reflective learning skills (e.g., Cheng, ; Lam, ). At the end of students’ community service, students must also evaluate their own experiences, and ideally, community partners can also be invited to respond to students’ work (Baca, ; Kassabgy & El‐Din, ). According to Baca, writing courses are ideal contexts to implement service learning because components like reflection and evaluation can be done in the written format.…”

Service‐Learning in the Second Language Writing Classroom: Future Directions for Research

“… ESL‐specific: service‐learning in which international, undergraduate ESL students enrolled in colleges or programs in the United States or Canada perform some type of community service as part of an ESL‐specific course (Askildson et al., ; Heuser, ; Perren et al., ; Wurr, , ) ESL‐specific at 2‐year colleges: service‐learning in which ESL‐specific courses at a 2‐year college include a service component (Bippus & Eslami, ; Elwell & Bean, ) Graduate student or preservice TESOL: service‐learning in which ESL graduate students or preservice, native‐English‐speaking, and/or nonnative‐English‐speaking TESOL teachers conduct service‐learning, often by providing ESL instruction to local community members (Crossman & Kite, ; Kassabgy & Salah El‐Din, ; Moore, ; Rueckert, ; Smolen et al., ) …”

“…The research has found that service‐learning can help to train TESOL teachers in three main ways: by helping preservice teachers grow personally, by helping them better understand the experiences of their ESL students, and by helping them develop a stronger sense of social responsibility (Kassabgy & Salah El‐Din, ; Rueckert, ; Smolen et al., ). For example, Kassabgy and Salah El‐Din () investigated the impacts of a service‐learning experience on undergraduate EFL students at the American University in Cairo (AUC). The students were Egyptian‐native speakers of Arabic enrolled in LING268, “Principles and Practice of Teaching English as a Foreign Language.” For their service‐learning project, these students tutored AUC workers, such as custodians, security guards, and housekeepers, in English.…”

“…Given the prevalence of service‐learning models across higher education in the United States, graduate and undergraduate ESL students are likely to be required to complete service‐learning at some point during their academic careers in the United States and Canada. Service‐learning is also being employed as a pedagogy in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts outside of North America (Bickel, Shin, Taylor, Faust, & Penniston, ; Kassabgy & Salah El‐Din, ). Service‐learning is a popular pedagogy in first‐year composition courses as well as in professional and technical writing classes (Baca, ).…”

“…In the introduction to that special issue, Adrian Wurr () noted that “although service‐learning in TESOL is in the early stages of development compared to other disciplines … research on service‐learning in TESOL is maturing rapidly” (p. 397). Recent scholarship has examined service‐learning in undergraduate ESL‐specific courses (e.g., Askildson, Kelly, & Mick, ; Bippus & Eslami, ; Elwell & Bean, ; Heuser, ; Minor, ; Perren, Grove, & Thornton, ; Wurr, , 2009), service‐learning and preservice TESOL teachers (e.g., Kassabgy & Salah El‐Din, ; Moore, ; Rueckert, ; Smolen, Zhang, & Detwiler, ), and service‐learning and ESL graduate students (Crossman & Kite, ).…”