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Incorporating ServiceLearning Into ESOL ProgramsJames Minor

experiential learning to address the issue of social responsi-bility. Kezar and Rhoads (2001) suggest that the recentsurge of interest in service learning over the past 2 decadesmay be a reaction to an ivory tower mentality in educa-tional institutions in which teachers and students havebecome disconnected from the outside world and from aconcern for the public good. There are a growing numberof voices charging that educational institutions have animportant role to play in the promotion of the public goodand of good citizenship. Johnson and Notah (1999), forexample, assert that it is the responsibility of educationalinstitutions to provide their students with opportunities toapply their knowledge to benefit their surrounding com-munities. Service learning has therefore emerged as a wayto reconnect educational institutions (their students andfaculty) with their communities and to promote meaning-ful learning experiences.

Effects of Service LearningResearch over the past 2 decades suggests that servicelearning can, indeed, yield social as well as psychologicaland academic benefits for students. Carter (1997) observedthat service learning promoted good citizenship, humanevalues, and active learning among participating adolescents.Similarly, Scales, Blyth, Berkas, and Kielsmeier (2000)studied a large group of middle schoolers and concludedthat those involved in service learning developed a strongerconcern for the welfare of others. Conrad and Hedin(1982) also found that service learning enhanced personaland social responsibility as well as self-esteem, moralreasoning, and problem solving. Furthermore, Calabreseand Schumer (1986) noted that involvement in commu-nity service seemed to result in significant decreases in theparticipants’ sense of alienation and isolation.

Service Learning and ESOLSeveral of the social, personal, and psychological effects ofservice learning mentioned above are very relevant tolanguage learning. It has long been recognized, for ex-ample, that social and affective factors (e.g., self-esteem,empathy, alienation, and social distance) have a significantimpact on language learning (cf. Gardner & Lambert,1972; Schumann, 1975). Socially engaged, active learnerswith high levels of empathy and self-esteem and low levelsof alienation and isolation tend to be good language

P icture this: A group of English language students,along with their teacher, are volunteering at a localsoup kitchen (a facility that provides low-income

people with free meals). Some of the students are workingin the kitchen. They are talking with native-English-speaking volunteers as they wash dishes, chop vegetables, orserve meals over the counter. A few students are working inthe dining area with their teacher, going from table to tablepouring coffee. Following their teacher’s example, theyengage in casual conversations with the people who areeating. Some of these people visit the soup kitchen regu-larly and recognize the students. The students sit and chatwith them for a while. After about 2 hours of this activity,the students and teacher depart. The drive home is filledwith lively discussion. “How do you say . . . ?” “What does. . . mean?” The students’ next class is equally energized asthe teacher begins by asking them what they think mightbe some reasons why people need to get their meals at asoup kitchen. After some brainstorming, students read anddiscuss an article on the subject. Then they begin to write,connecting their recent experiences with the ideas theyhave read. They look forward to the following class inwhich they will hear a guest speaker talk about the causesand effects of poverty in the United States.

These are scenes of service learning in Sacred HeartUniversity’s Intensive English course, in which studentsfind that community service and language learning can becombined in very productive ways. Whereas service learn-ing has been gaining popularity in many academic disci-plines and in many parts of the world, its use in Englishlanguage learning contexts appears relatively unexplored.Yet service learning and ESOL curricula can be a powerfulcombination, yielding significant benefits for students.

Service LearningService learning is a union of community service andformal learning. It involves students going into theircommunities and using what they learn in class to helppeople, and then bringing what they learn in their commu-nity service back into the classroom to enhance theiracademic learning. It is service with learning objectives andlearning with service objectives.

Service learning may be understood as an outgrowth ofwhat John Dewey (1938) referred to as experiential learn-ing, which recognized the importance of combiningknowledge and experience. Yet service learning goes beyond

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learners. Therefore, one can expect that as ESOL studentsbenefit socially, personally, and psychologically from theirservice learning involvement, their language learningexperience will benefit as well.

Another way in which service learning benefits ESOLstudents may be the meaningful in-class learning contextsit provides. It is well established in the field of languagelearning that to learn a language well, learners needcontexts that are real and meaningful. This, in fact, is aprimary principle behind communicative language teaching(CLT). When in-class learning is connected to andcomplements students’ experiences in the real world, thelearning is more motivating and meaningful to them. Thisis exactly what service learning can provide ESOL students.In service learning, ESOL students participate in commu-nity service, genuinely interacting with speakers of English.Back in the classroom, they read, write, listen, and discussrelated themes, connecting this content with their personalexperiences of service. The result of this pedagogicalcombination is meaningful and motivating languagelearning.

An obvious benefit of service learning for ESOLstudents in English-speaking countries is the real-lifepractice of English that it provides. Students ask andanswer questions, engage in conversations, and simplypractice their English language skills with real people inreal situations. This English-speaking practice can takeplace in contexts very different from those of the classroomor school, so students experience a diversity of Englishlanguage communities.

Finally, the enhancement of students’ sense of personaland social responsibility, although not particularly anESOL curricular objective, is clearly a positive outcome ofservice learning (Carter, 1997; Conrad & Hedin, 1982;Scales et al., 2000). Any ESOL program would welcome,even if only as a by-product of its curriculum, the nurtur-ing and development of concern for the welfare of othersin its students.

Recent Uses of Service Learning inESOL ContextsThere has been very little written about service learning inESOL contexts. Reitzel (1999) has described the effectiveuse of service learning in teacher training programs. Shefound that involvement in literacy and after-school pro-grams enhanced intercultural communication skills anddeveloped a sense of social responsibility in studentteachers. Heuser (2000) combined the content of asheltered sociology course with a weekend of communityservice with a group of Japanese university studentsstudying in a 10-month academic program in the UnitedStates. She observed that the service learning seemed toenhance students’ language development by increasingtheir motivation, confidence, and performance in meaning-ful preservice language tasks. However, she found that the

exploratory and short-term nature (only a weekend) of theparticular service activities chosen did not afford students’enough personal interaction for adequate authentic lan-guage use.

A Pilot ESOL Service Learning Courseat Sacred Heart UniversitySacred Heart University has long believed in the value ofservice learning. The university has had a full-time directorof service learning for many years. Nevertheless, untilrecently, the incorporation of service learning into theuniversity’s ESOL program had consisted of one-time visitsto local elementary schools in which ESOL students talkedabout their countries with children. Although this serviceactivity was consistently a very positive experience for theESOL and elementary school students, it lacked thepedagogical impact discussed above because it was notintegrated into the course curriculum. Also, as withHeuser’s experience, its short-term duration limited thedegree to which students benefited.

In the summer of 2000, Sacred Heart’s ESOL programstaff decided to incorporate service learning into thecurriculum of their intensive ESOL course. Eleven students(three beginning-, four intermediate-, and four advanced-level) from seven different countries enrolled in the initial8-week course, which consisted of 21 hours per week oforal and written communication and U.S. culture. Thefaculty selected six sites to give students exposure to a widevariety of service activities. The six sites included a con-struction project for Habitat for Humanity (an interna-tional organization that builds decent, affordable housing),a soup kitchen, a nursing home, a retirement home, ayouth drug prevention agency, and a youth computertraining program. The students participated in serviceactivities weekly, accompanied by their teachers, visitingeach of the six sites one time over the 8-week session. Atthe same time, in the classroom, the students studied unitson welfare systems, affordable housing, treatment of theelderly, and substance abuse. For each of the units, studentsengaged in level-appropriate reading, writing, speaking, andlistening tasks that encouraged them to reflect on andcompare their personal experiences of service with thecontent of the units.

As a final writing task, teachers asked the students tocompose responses to the themes discussed in the course,drawing from the research they had done and from theirexperiences. As a final speaking task, students wrote reflec-tions on their service learning, sharing their impressions ofthe ways in which the service learning had affected them.All of the students reported that their overall servicelearning experiences were positive. The following reflectionsexpress these attitudes.

“I have got not only the knowledge in my class, but also Igot experience through service-learning . . .” (student fromThailand)

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“We not only improved our language, but we became a partof the culture, country and society. It was very meaningfulbecause we put our souls and our effort to help a family.After this tiring day under the sun, I felt so satisfied . . .because I felt I did something really good.” (student fromTurkey)

“[Service learning] makes me grow in my spirit and mymind and in my way of seeing the things.” (student fromColombia)

There were, however, one or two comments from studentsthat were somewhat critical of some of the service learningactivities. For example, one reflected that not all of theactivities contributed equally to language development.Activities that included oral interaction with speakers ofEnglish (especially those involving participation withEnglish-speaking volunteers) were perceived to be the mostbeneficial to them linguistically. In addition, facultymembers who coordinated the service learning observedthat visiting a social service agency only once during thecourse tended to foster a fish-bowl mentality, with studentsnot being given the time to connect with people, and thatsome activities required more frequent participation inorder to be more effective for the language students andthe agencies being served.

Evolution of the ESOL ServiceLearning CourseSince this initial 8-week experiment in the summer of2000, Sacred Heart University has continued to incorpo-rate service learning into the intensive ESOL course,implementing changes based on student and teacherfeedback and continual reevaluation. Currently, students inthe course have the opportunity to engage in communityservice every Friday. Service is presented as a kind of fieldresearch to enhance students’ in-class work. Participation isstrongly encouraged, yet remains voluntary. On average,about 10–15 students participate in these weekly activities.

Community Service ActivitiesThe activity described at the beginning of this article is onein which students continue to participate. Three or fourstudents volunteer at a local soup kitchen for 3–4 consecu-tive Fridays, preparing and serving food to clients. TheESOL students and teacher are joined by a few native-English-speaking volunteers, some of whom may be U.S.students from the university. Some of the ESOL studentscirculate in the dining area, serving coffee and talkingcasually with the people who are eating. Others engage inconversations with fellow volunteers. All of the ESOL

Sample Lesson Plan for ESOL Service LearningLanguage Learning Objectives• develop academic reading skills (e.g., reading for main ideas, critical reading, guessing meaning of new words

from context)• develop summary writing skills• develop journal writing skills (e.g., writing about personal experiences)• develop conversation skills (e.g., initiating conversations, casual talk)

Sequence of Activities1. Have students read an article on poverty in the United States (e.g., see Reilly, 2002). Prereading activities include

having students discuss their ideas and preconceptions about poverty. Postreading activities include havingthem comprehend main ideas and identify key supporting details.

2. Assign students to write a brief summary of the article.3. Have students discuss questions on the topic: How big is the problem of poverty in the United States? What can

be done to solve the problem? Who is responsible? Ask students to discuss ideas in the article, comparing themwith situations in their own countries.

4. Invite a guest speaker, such as someone from a local facility that operates a soup kitchen, to give a presentationto students. Ask students to prepare questions for the speaker.

5. Have students role play in preparation for an actual service learning visit. Ask them to discuss appropriate topicsof conversation, strategies for initiating conversations, and other interactions they may encounter.

6. Arrange for students to participate in a service learning visit. Ask them to keep a journal of their experiences.7. Have students engage in a postservice evaluation. Ask them to discuss their observations, experiences, and

questions.

These activities may span a week (e.g., three or four 2-hour classes). Students could be asked to read more articles iftime allows. In addition, teachers could assign short reaction papers based on the issues addressed. After anotherweek (following an additional service learning visit), teachers could assign a writing project in which students write atwo- to three-page paper on a topic that is informed by the articles they have read and by their discussions andpersonal experiences (as recorded in their journals). Discussions could also continue electronically via designatedonline chat rooms, e-mail, and discussion boards.

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students have many opportunities to practice their Englishlanguage skills while engaging in this kind of service.

Another popular service activity involves ESOLstudents visiting a local elementary school on 2–3 consecu-tive Fridays. They talk about their cultures, read stories, orsimply get to know the children. Some ESOL studentseven engage in panel discussions with 4th-grade students inthe gifted and talented program. On occasion, ESOLstudents also represent their countries at elementary schoolinternational fairs or other similar events. By sharing theircustoms and cultures through these activities, ESOLstudents provide a valuable service to children and elemen-tary school teachers. At the same time, ESOL students haveopportunities to practice their English.

Other community service activities in which ESOLstudents might engage include informally mentoringchildren, tutoring adults and children in math or computerliteracy, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity (along withEnglish-speaking volunteers), and visiting retired elderlypeople, perhaps helping them with their grocery shopping.There is a wide range of service possibilities, and studentsare often asked to contribute their own suggestions.Students tend to perceive that the most beneficial activitiesare those that give them abundant opportunities to practicetheir English.

In-Class Activities

Connecting students’ community service experiences andtheir in-class activities is very important. If there is no clearconnection, then the pedagogical potential of the service

activities is not fully realized. The in-class activities inwhich Sacred Heart ESOL students engage are designed toexpand upon the students’ service experiences. Studentsgoing to a soup kitchen, for example, read articles regard-ing homelessness, the working poor, affordable housing,welfare, attitudes toward the poor, and other relatedthemes. They keep journals about their experiences andwrite and give oral presentations based on the themes.They also do research and listen to guest speakers or tapedlectures on these themes. All these activities give studentsopportunities to make connections between the academicexercises and the myriad feelings, thoughts, and experiencesthey have had as a result of the service activities. In fact,the students themselves often initiate and direct thediscussions and themes. This is meaningful learning.Rather than being sterile or isolated, the language tasksbecome authentic responses to important issues, in whichthe students learn and express their thoughts and ideas.Additionally, students broaden their perspectives as theydevelop qualities of humanitarianism and civic mindedness.

Preservice Preparation

Before students embark on their first service activity, theirteachers explain the objectives behind the communityservice activities:

• speaking, listening, and practicing English languageskills

• observing and learning about diverse social groupsthrough interaction with their members (therebyenhancing their in-class research)

• serving the people of the community

Understanding these objectives is essential because thismethod of language learning is very different from whatmost students are used to. Therefore, at the outset, teachersassure students that these service activities can help themachieve their ultimate goal—improving their Englishlanguage skills—and that the service will be connecteddirectly to their classroom activities.

In addition to providing this pedagogical framework,teachers also prepare students by helping them developdiscourse strategies. They might talk about how to initiateconversations, what kinds of questions to ask, and how tokeep a conversation going. For example, students who willbe working alongside U.S. teenagers might prepare before-hand by discussing appropriate topics of conversation withteenagers. Students going to a retirement home mightprepare interview questions for their first meeting with theelderly residents. Students might also engage in role playsto try to simulate the kinds of interactions that might beexpected during their service activities. These kinds ofactivities not only help students make the most of theircommunity service experiences, but also increase theirconfidence and comfort levels and reduce any fears theymay have about venturing into unfamiliar settings.

ESOL students volunteering at a local soup kitchen as partof the ESOL service learning course at Sacred HeartUniversity. Photo used with permission.

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Adaptations for ESOL Programs inNon-English-Speaking CountriesAlthough Sacred Heart’s program is set in an environmentin which English is the native language, service learningcan also be a powerful pedagogical tool for ESOL programsin countries in which English is not the native language.Students might not be able to practice their Englishlanguage skills during their service activities, but the social,personal, and psychological benefits of this methodologycan still impact their language learning. In addition, servicelearning can imbue the EFL classroom with meaningfuland motivating learning contexts. For example, in theJapanese classroom, EFL students could read, write, anddiscuss care for the elderly while making regular visits tonursing homes. EFL students in Turkey could studychildhood education or literacy while tutoring young,economically disadvantaged children. As students engage inacademic exercises that connect with community serviceactivities, they enhance their learning.

SummaryClearly, service learning can be a powerful pedagogical toolfor L2 learning. With its social, psychological, and personalbenefits, along with its infusion of meaningful languagecontexts, service learning can be highly motivating. Addi-tionally, service learning experiences can foster the kinds ofhumane values that will help students be more caring,global citizens.

References

Calabrese, R. L., & Schumer, R. (1986). The effects of serviceactivities on adolescent alienations. Adolescence, 21, 675–687.

Carter, G. R. (1997). Service-learning in curriculum reform. In J.

Schine (Ed.), Service learning: Ninety-six yearbook of theNational Society for the Study of Education, Part I (pp. 69–78). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Conrad, D. E., & Hedin, D. (1982). The impact of experientialeducation on adolescent development. Child and YouthServices, 4(3/4), 57–76.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Collier.Gardner, R., & Lambert, W. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in

second language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Heuser, L. (2000). Service-learning as a pedagogy to promote the

content, cross-cultural, and language-learning of ESLstudents. TESL Canada Journal, 17, 1.

Johnson, A., & Notah, D. (1999). Service learning: History,literature review, and a pilot study of eighth graders. TheElementary School Journal, 99, 453–467.

Kezar, A,. & Rhoads, R. (2001). The dynamic tensions of servicelearning in higher education: A philosophical perspective.The Journal of Higher Education, 72, 148–171.

Reilly, G. (2002, April 5). Reforms still leave many workingpoor. Retrieved November 18, 2002, from Connecticut PostOnline: http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96%257E3750%257E509323,00.html.

Reitzel, A. C. (1999, June/July). Service learning, real experi-ences, and teacher training in intercultural communication.TESOL Matters, 9(3), 15.

Scales, P., Blyth, D., Berkas, T., & Kielsmeier, J. (2000). Theeffects of service-learning on middle school students’ socialresponsibility and academic success. The Journal of EarlyAdolescence, 20(3), 332–358.

Schumann, J. (1975). Affective factors and the problem of age insecond language acquisition. Language Learning, 25, 209–235.

Author

James Minor is professor and director of ESOL programs at SacredHeart University, in the United States. He has been active in ESOLteaching and program development for 12 years and service learningfor 2 years.