Leanne Cameron, IRC/ELI Service Learning Presentation 2013

Socially Responsible Citizens: !Service-Learning as a Language Learning Motivator Leanne Cameron, M.A.

•  Introduc)on to Program

•  Interna)onal Rescue Commi5ee in Sacramento

•  English Language Ins)tute & Service Learning

•  Review of Past Research

•  Research Project

•  Discussion of Results

•  Applica)on & Discussion

Presentation Overview

International Rescue Committee

  www.rescue.org

  Nonsectarian, non-‐profit US-‐based NGO

  Founded at the request of Albert Einstein to support the refugees fleeing the Third Reich in the 1930s

  Interna/onal work (44 countries): disaster relief, educa)on, rights advocacy: women, vic)ms, and human rights, etc.

  Domes/c work (22 US ci)es): refugee rese5lement

  Logo and informa,on used by permission

Refugee Resettlement

  Matching Grant Program: 6 months of support through a rese5lement agency   Job placement

 Apartment, schools, transporta)on  English language instruc)on

o  Refugee status & op)ons available o  14 million worldwide o  2010: 203,000 need rese5lement (UNHCR); only 80,000 places existed, 72,914 were placed

IRC in Sacramento

  Volunteer-‐run ESL Program started in 2011

  Twice a week: 1.5 hours with an ESL instructor, 1.5 hours of tutoring

  Challenge #1: Volunteer reten)on

  Challenge #2: Training volunteers to work with very low-‐level speakers

English Language Institute

•  Intensive English Program at Sacramento State, primarily interna)onal F-‐1 students

•  Eight week sessions, five sessions/year

•  Eight levels from literacy to low-‐advanced, pre-‐university

•  Popula/ons: Korean, Saudi Arabian, Chinese, Taiwanese, various other groups

•  Current popula/on approx. 175

  10-‐15 hours required as a part of Level 6/7 Listening & Speaking

  Reflec)on through two presenta/ons and on-‐going discussion

Service Learning & ELI

“Service-‐learning is a form of experimental educa)on in which students engage in ac/vi/es that address human and community needs together with structured opportuni)es inten)onally designed to promote student learning and development.”

Jacoby, 1996, p. 5

Service Learning

ELI Tutors at IRC

  52 ELI students have served as tutors since August 2011

  All completed a minimum of four tutoring sessions (1.5 hours each)

  Also hosted short-‐term groups as tutors (Korean university students and Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows)

Service-Learning

"Community service...can be a transforming experience. Many students, growing up in middle class homes in suburban neighborhoods, have had li5le to do with the world revealed to them when they embark on programs taking them into social-‐service organiza)ons, hospitals, and inner-‐city schools, and they can derive deep sa/sfac/on from combining their own studies with the well-‐being of their communi)es.

They can also learn new ways of looking at the world, and through the formal language learning process, share their experiences with others."

(Tonkin et al, 2004, p. 5)

Service-Learning Advantages

Concrete Advantages

  Hands-‐on skill building: develops “the ability to synthesize informa)on, crea)ve problem solving, construc)ve teamwork, effec)ve communica)on, well-‐reasoned decision making, and nego)a)on and compromise” (Jacoby, 1996, p. 20)

  Resume building: Work within the field can be listed along with coursework to demonstrate real-‐world experience

Service-Learning Advantages

Abstract Advantages

  Interpersonal skills: “develop students' apprecia)on of human differences and commonali)es and to teach individuals to live peacefully and produc)vely in communi)es”

  Global ci/zenship: “helps par)cipants develop a deeper understanding of the issues, as well as how values and norms are socially constructed and the causes of social injus)ce” (Jacoby, 2004, p. 22)

ESL & Service-Learning Research   Visible gap in the research

  Gap #1: Primarily anecdotal (Russell, 2007)  Applica)on of service-‐learning as an opportunity that "allows students to address complex problems in complex semngs" (p. 771)

  Gap #2: Exis)ng research presents situa)ons that don’t involve direct contact between ELLs and target popula)on

Connection to Motivation

  Gardener & Lambert (1972): Instrumental vs. integra)ve mo)va)on

  Dornyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Mo)va)onal Self System

 “Future” or Possible selves: what one might become, what he/she wants to become, and is afraid to become

  Norton (2002): Investment  Learners are “constantly organizing and reorganizing a sense of who they are and how they relate to the social world” and this L2 iden)ty “is constantly changing over )me and space” (p.11)

  What abstract or concrete results did par)cipants report based on the experience?

•  In what ways, if any, did these results appear to relate to language learning mo/va/on?

• Applica'on: What factors of the experience can be recreated in different contexts for similar results?

Research Questions

Population & Methodology

  45 tutors contacted; did their service between August 2011 and January 2013

  36 were my past students

  Contacted by email with Survey Monkey page

  Results reported as anonymous

  Open February-‐April 2013

  57% response rate (n = 26)

Survey Questions

  Likert Ques/ons [4]  5 point scale  Measured for mean and standard devia)on then plo5ed

  Open-‐Ended Ques/ons [4]  Analyzed through the constant compara,ve model (Glaser & Strauss, 1967)

 Coded and combined into 11 foci to comment on the perceived value/lack of value in the experience

Demographics (n =26)

  Saudi Arabia (11)

  South Korea (9)

  Taiwan (2)   China (2)

  Iran (1)

  Albania (1)

  Male (14)

  Female (12)

  Average age of 21   No past volunteer work (8)

  Past volunteer work in US or abroad (18)

Length of Service at IRC

Question #1

  1. "Overall, volunteering at IRC was a posi)ve experience for me.”  Mean: 4.5 (n = 26, SD = 1.1)

Questions #2-4

2. "Volunteering at IRC mo)vated me to work hard at learning English.”

Mean (n = 26, SD = 1.2)

3. "Volunteering at IRC improved my own understanding of English.”

Mean (n = 26, SD = 1.2)

4. "Volunteering at IRC improved my perspec)ve on learning English.” Mean (n = 26, SD = 1.2)

Open-Ended Response Foci 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Impacted personal English learning

Impacted thinking about learning

Developed skills or abili)es

Impacted social awareness or perspec)ve

Lacked change or results

Impacted reason to improve English

Impacted personal "inspira)on"

General comments on experience

Impacted self-‐expression or confidence

Impacted thinking about value of English

Concrete Results: Language

  Focused on the results of their own language use (including remembering, prac)cing, or learning) and improving or refreshing their English skills

  Men)oned by all 26 respondents

  Connec/on to Jacoby (2004)  Hands-‐on skill building  Resume building

Concrete Focus: Personal English

Concrete Results: Skills

Abstract Results: Perspective

  Focused on internal change in perspec/ve: change in beliefs, mo)va)onal factors, ability to cri)cally analyze a situa)on, while helping refugees claim this as well.

 

  Connec/on to Jacoby (2004)   Interpersonal skills  Global ci)zenship

Abstract Results: Confidence

Abstract Results: Global Citizenship

“They are constantly organizing and reorganizing a sense of who they are and how they relate to the social world. Thus, an investment in the target language is also an investment in a learner’s own social iden/ty, an iden)ty which is constantly changing across )me and space.”

(Norton, 2000, p. 18)

Limitations

  Posi/ve bias within respondents (more likely to respond to the survey request)

  Researcher bias as instructor and IRC ESL Program Coordinator

  Limita/ons of using the Likert scale (i.e.

Research Ques/on for Applica/on

What factor of the experience can be recreated in different contexts for similar results?

My answer: INTERACTION allows for investment

Application for Different Contexts

Interaction: Requires English Usage

  “Before I did it, English was just one way to get good grade. However, I realized English is the way to communicate with each other.”

  “Teaching or transferring the informa)on I have to someone else improves my own understanding of the thing.”

Interaction: Confidence

  “Since I am not a na)ve speaker, I considered myself as a small person in the US. The people who I met grew me up internally. They needed me and there was something I could help them with my English skills even though my English was not perfect… Now I can show my opinion by speaking a second language. The immigrants always showed me their respecta)on and it made me so much proud of myself.”

Interaction: Investment in the “Other”

  “I felt the li5le effort I put made someone’s life a li5le bit easier.”

  “It was my first )me to meet refugees. I had scary image of them… But through this experience, it was totally changed. They were just common people.”

Get Involved!   Learn more about the IRC at www.rescue.org.

  Join TESOL’s Refugee Concerns Interest Sec)on for ongoing news about refugees & English: h5p://tesol.org/connect/interest-‐sec/ons/refugee-‐concerns

  Contact me at [email protected].

References   Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second

language acquisi)on. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

  Gardner, R.C., & Lambert, E.E. (1972). A?tudes and mo,va,on in second language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury.

  IRC at a Glance. Interna)onal Rescue Commi5ee. (2013). Rescue and refugee support. Interna,onal Rescue CommiDee (IRC). Retrieved from h5p://www.rescue.org/irc-‐at-‐a-‐glance

  Jacoby, B. (1996). Service learning in higher educa,on. San Francisco: Jossey-‐Bass Publishers

  Norton, B. (2000). Iden,ty and language learning. Harlow, England: Longman Pearson.

  Norton Piece, B. (1995). Social iden)ty, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), p. 9-‐31.

  Number of refugees at an all-‐)me high (2013). EuroNews. Retrieved from h5p://www.euronews.com/2013/06/19/world-‐refugee-‐day/

  Russell, N. (2007). More than teaching: Connec,ng ESL students to their community through service learning. Phi Delta Kappan: June.

  Tonkin, H. (Ed). (2004). Service-‐learning across cultures: Promise and achievement. Portland, OR: Interna)onal Partnership for Service-‐Learning and Leadership.

Leanne Cameron, IRC/ELI Service Learning Presentation 2013

Education

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