Posted by Katie Butler on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 in SLA, Motivation, and Service-Learning.

Second Language Acquisition, Academic Service-Learning, and Learners’ Transformation | National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.

In her article, “Service-Learning and Language-Acquisition Theory and Practice,” Jeanne Mullaney highlights the areas where service-learning experience is compatible with recent developments in second language acquisition theory and current educational theory, and concludes that her service-learning project not only succeeded in achieving all four areas of communicative competence but also had an unexpected outcome: “a heightened cultural awareness on the part of the students” (56). I would argue, however, that this should not come as a surprise. William Tierney’s question, “How do we engage in practices that enable us to understand the Other?,” leads him to explain his concept of “cultural learning”, “the development of, and engagement in, dialogues of support and understanding across differences” (144). His three-step process leading to “cultural learning” – “the ability of an individual to step out of his or her geographic and temporal spheres of influence and into the spheres of others; the individual’s desire and ability to listen; the internalization of the Other’s needs, wants, and desires (in order to) understand different people’s views of the world so well that we incorporate these views in our own outlook” (145) – can only be carried out within the context of a hands-on experience. In this article I am interested in presenting the results of integrating service-learning into a content-based second language acquisition course, highlighting its bearing on the issues of cultural awareness and, above all, on its effects on the learner’s attitudes toward the Other. [author]

Tags: community engagement, language learning, reading list, student motivation, teaching