Investigating the Impacts of an Experiential Service-Learning Course

Language Teacher Research

Investigating the Impacts of anExperiential Service-Learning

Course

NAGWA KASSABGYThe American University in Cairo

YASMINE SALAH EL-DINCairo University and The American University in Cairo

This study investigated the impacts of an undergraduate experi-ential 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 Egyptiannative 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 ForeignLanguage (TEFL). Participants in the second group (N = 19)were AUC workers (e.g., custodians, security guards, andhousekeepers). The researchers used qualitative and quantita-tive methods of analysis to answer the research questions.Although the findings showed that the service-learning experi-ence had both positive and negative impacts on both groups,the study provides evidence that service-learning is a valuablepedagogy that is worth implementing in English as a foreignlanguage (EFL) contexts.doi: 10.1002/tesj.92

Although significant studies point to the value of service-learning, Furco and Root (2010) claim that “the field needs moreexperimental research to firmly establish the value of thisapproach” (p. 16). Furthermore, most of the research hasfocused on the impacts of service-learning on the providers of theservice and little attention has been given to the recipients of theservice.

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In addition, despite the fact that the use of service-learning isgaining popularity as a teaching methodology, teachers maysometimes employ it without thoroughly evaluating underlyingassumptions and beliefs about its impact on the served and theservers. Teachers need to avoid turning this cornerstone of civicengagement pedagogy into a mechanical routine. Critical reflectionis needed if teachers are to use service-learning effectively.

Accordingly, this study sought to investigate the impacts of theservice-learning component of an undergraduate course on theco-learners involved. Specifically, the study sought to answer thefollowing research questions:

1. What was the impact of the service-learning component of the course on thestudents’ academic enhancement?

2. What was the impact of the service-learning component of the course on thestudents’ concept of civic engagement?

3. What was the impact of the service-learning component of the course on thestudents’ personal growth?

4. What were the attitudes and perceptions of the university workers of theexperience?

BACKGROUND LITERATUREService-learning specialists maintain that students’ academic levelimproves when they engage in activities that allow them to use thecourse content to perform tasks that serve the needs of thecommunity (Bringle & Hatcher, 1995; Furco, 2001). They alsomaintain that reflection is a key element involved in the practice ofservice-learning. Jacoby and Associates (1996) write, “As apedagogy, service-learning is education that is grounded inexperience as a basis for learning and on the centrality andintentionality of reflection designed to enable learning to occur”(p. 9).

Brody and Wright (2004) second this view, adding that thedistinguishing factor between service-learning and other kinds ofcommunity service is the fact that both service and learning areintentionally integrated, and that both the student and thecommunity are reciprocally involved. Holland (2001) further addsthat service-learning requires the time and the experience of

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faculty, planning, willingness to devote time to the community byboth faculty and students, and funding for the necessary materials.

Jay (2008) also distinguishes between service-learning andvolunteering, stating that service-learning clearly focuses on theacademic part of a course. The experience the students go throughhas to be strictly related to the course content and must enhancestudents’ learning. Jay argues that in order to achieve that goal, apedagogy of dialogue across differences has to be part of thecurriculum and help connect issues of multiculturalism, race, andsocial justice to service-learning (p. 256).

Billig (2004) indicates that the positive impacts of service-learning are clear in four areas: academic or cognitive (heads,higher order thinking skills or content students are learning);civic (hands, connection/giving back to the community); personal/social (hearts, e.g., self-confidence, respect for diversity, youthempowerment); and career exploration skills (knowledge of careeropportunities).

Considerable research has shown the positive impacts ofservice-learning on students and faculty. At a Glance synthesizesresearch between 1993 and 2000 on the different areas whereservice-learning was found effective (Eyler, Giles, Stenson, & Gray,2001). The research findings show that service-learning haspositive social outcomes, including a positive effect on reducingstereotypes and facilitating cultural and racial understanding(Curran, 1999; Pickron-Davis, 1999), as well as perennial outcomessuch as a positive effect on students’ personal and spiritualgrowth, moral development, and personal identity. As for learningoutcomes, service-learning was found to have a positive impact onstudents’ academic learning (Ward, 2000, cited in Eyler et al.,2001). Students develop the ability to apply what they havelearned in the real world (Holland & Shinnamon, 1998, cited inEyler et al., 2001; Nigro & Wortham, 1998) The amount ofengagement in service-learning tasks is another point; Heuser(1999) maintains that the more frequent and regular the exposureis, the more profound the experiences become.

However, Eby (1998) notes the one-sided nature of the researchto date: “Service-learning has potential to transform teaching andlearning in the academy and to call a generation of students to

Investigating the Impacts of an Experiential Service-Learning Course 573

develop social responsibility and an ethic of service. There are,however, important questions which must be examined on theservice side of the equation” (p. 1). In other words, service-learning research should focus not only on the academic andpersonal gains of the providers of the service but also on theimpacts on the recipients of the service, which is what this studysought to investigate.

PROCEDURESThe 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 wereundergraduate students enrolled in LING268: Principles andPractice of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). In thiscourse, students are introduced to some theories and techniques ofTEFL, and they are given practice not only by engaging in peerteaching but also in service-learning by tutoring the AUC workers(custodians, security guards, and housekeepers). Most LING268students were familiar with the concept of service-learningbecause they had participated in service-learning projects in boththeir schools and in courses they took at AUC. They came from ahigh socioeconomic background with minimal encounters withunderprivileged levels of society. The purpose of the service-learning component of the course was for students to apply theknowledge gained in the classroom to address an issue identifiedas a need by the community outside their classroom, and then tocritically reflect on and evaluate the service-learning experience.For the purpose of this study, the word community is defined asthe campus community, that is, the AUC community. Thiscommunity includes a large number of workers who hadexpressed the need to be able to communicate with non-Arabicspeakers on campus. This is also in line with the mission of theUniversity to engage students as active members of the AUCcommunity and to promote their awareness of what it means to bea member of this community.

The participants in the second group were AUC workers—forexample, custodians, security guards, and housekeepers; all ofthem were from a lower socioeconomic background than the

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students. The AUC Office of Training and Development workedclosely with the LING268 coordinator on the logistics of theworkers’ foreign language (FL) course. This included designingthe schedule of classes, administering the language proficiencyplacement test, preparing the class lists and the attendancerequirements, informing the workers about their schedule, andassigning the LING268 students to the different classes.

The students tutored the workers in pairs. This helped assuagesome worries and apprehension they expressed at the idea ofhaving to tutor the university workers. Classes had 8–10 workersand met twice a week starting the third week of the semester, afterthe students had been introduced to some principles of TEFL intheir class, and extended until the end of the semester. Thestudents were given their schedule, teaching materials, and classlists by the Office of Training and Development.

The material consisted of a textbook that was developedaccording to the needs and the proficiency level of each group. Itmainly included activities designed to improve different languageskills, basically reading and speaking. Besides the textbook,student-teachers developed their own material to supplement thetextbook, planning exercises that aimed to enhance the students’listening and speaking skills. Since the student-teachers wereproficient in English, they were not given training in the materialitself; however, they were guided in how to use the textbook andthe material they developed.

The student-teachers used communicative language teaching(CLT) because the main aim of the course was for the learners to beable to communicate well in their surrounding environment, whichis the goal mentioned by Harmer (2003). At the end of the course,the workers-learners took a final exam to determine whether theywere eligible to move to the next proficiency level. Although therewere reports of some variation in the proficiency levels of student-teachers in some classes, using CLT helped bridge the gap inproficiency level between students in some situations.

The first 10–15 min of every LING268 class was spentdiscussing the service-learning experience. The students exchangedexperiences and discussed problems encountered. They had a lot toreport on, which they then wrote in their reflection papers.


The undergraduates wrote three reflection papers throughoutthe course: the first at the end of the first month of the course onthe academic benefit and the extent to which they were applyingwhat they were learning in class to their actual FL teachingoutside the class; the second at the end of the second month of thecourse on the social benefits, including their awareness of theneeds of the community outside the classroom and to what extentthe civic engagement experience was contributing to theirlearning; and the third at the end of the course on the effect of theexperience on their personal growth. Three months after thecourse, the undergraduates responded to an online questionnaireand participated in focus group interviews. At the same time, theworkers who had taken the course participated in focus groupinterviews that elicited their attitudes towards and perceptions ofthe advantages and disadvantages of being tutored byundergraduate students. The interviews with the workers wereconducted in Arabic.

RESULTSThis study used both qualitative and quantitative methods ofanalysis. We triangulated and analyzed the students’ reflectionpapers (N = 74), their responses to the questionnaire (N = 19; seeAppendix A), and focus group interview questions (N = 17; seeAppendix B) based on both preset and emergent categories. Presetcategories were identified from the guidelines for the students’reflection papers. Emergent categories were any other themes thatemerged after analyzing the students’ reflection papers. We thentallied categories and converted them to percentages. We analyzedthe workers’ (N = 19) responses to the interview questions, whichwere open-ended questions (Appendix C), based on emergentcategories. We also tallied the most frequently recurring themesreported in the students’ papers. Figure 1 presents the number ofstudents and the most frequently recurring themes in the students’reflection papers on the impact of the service-learning on theiracademic enhancement. The top five themes identified were:developing a connection between the classroom and the realworld, learning about the characteristics of a good student,learning about the characteristics of a good teacher, developing a

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good lesson plan or course, and awareness-raising of theprinciples and practice of teaching a foreign language. The mostfrequently recurring theme mentioned by 94% of the students waslearning about the characteristics of a good teacher, followed bymaking the connection between the classroom and the real world,reported by 82% of the students. Along the same lines, 84% of thestudents indicated that they were able to identify thecharacteristics of a good lesson or course.

Figure 2 presents the themes that recurred in the students’reflection papers on civic engagement. The most commonrecurring theme was awareness-raising of their role in theircommunity, of their sense of civic responsibility, and of their senseof civic pride, which was reported by 93% of the students. Thesecond most common recurring theme was the challenges theyencountered in the experience of teaching the workers a foreignlanguage, which was reported by 80% of the students. The thirdtheme was empathizing with the university workers, including thenecessity to use the workers’ first language (L1) in class, to dealwith different levels of proficiency in the class, and to develop a

Figure 1. Common themes of students’ reflection papers on academicenhancement

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sense of trust and rapport with the workers, reported by 59% ofthe students.

Figure 3 presents the recurring themes in the students’reflection papers on their personal growth as a result of theservice-learning experience. The most frequently recurring theme,reported by 87% of the students, was the positive attitudesdeveloped toward the workers, whom many students reportedthey had hardly noticed before they had to tutor them in aclassroom. The second most recurring theme, reported by 69% ofthe students, was becoming aware of their own personal strengths.These included tolerance, patience, self-esteem, responsibility, andrespect for the underprivileged. The third theme, reported by 63%of the students, was the development of skills, includingleadership and communication skills. It was quite interesting andsignificant that no negative attitudes were reported by thestudents. All the students reported positively on their experienceof tutoring the workers of the university.

Three months after the end of the course, we emailed aquestionnaire to the participating undergraduates. The 15 items in

Figure 2. Common themes of students’ reflection papers on civicengagement

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the questionnaire were based on the claims made by the studentsin their reflection papers, given that the purpose of thequestionnaire was to validate those claims. The questionnaireasked the students to express their agreement or disagreementwith each statement on a 5-point Likert scale. Figure 4 presentsthe means of the level of agreement with the statements in thequestionnaire (Appendix A). The statements were grouped intothose relating to academic enhancement (Statements 1, 2, 3, 4,5, and 6), those relating to civic engagement (Statements 7, 8, 9,and 11), and those relating to personal growth (Statements 10,12, 13, and 14). Statement 15, with which only one studentindicated agreement, was about whether the students haddeveloped any negative attitudes towards this poorer segment ofthe community. This explains why the mean for civic engagementagreement is lower than those of academic enhancement andpersonal growth.

In other words, the data from the questionnaire validated thedata obtained from the reflection papers. The students indicatedthat the service-learning experience had positive impacts on theiracademic enhancement, civic engagement, and personal growth.

Figure 3. Common themes of students’ reflection papers on personalgrowth

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The 17 students who were interviewed also reported positiveimpacts of the service-learning experience, expressing willingnessto go through the experience again, awareness of their role in thecommunity, and their obligation towards civic engagement andservice. We also analyzed the workers’ responses to the interviewquestions (Appendix C) qualitatively and identified and talliedemergent themes. Results showed positive perceptions andattitudes towards the experience of being tutored by AUCstudents. Most of the workers reported that they had beeninformed about the program by their supervisors; this was thesecond EFL course for most of them; they had begun at level zero;they thought the course was good; they had different motivationsfor learning EFL; the course helped them both inside and outsidethe university; what they liked the most was that they establisheda good relationship with their tutors. One negative aspect aboutthe experience was that they perceived their tutors as studentsrather than as experienced FL teachers, but that overall theyenjoyed and benefited from the experience.

Figure 4. Means of the level of agreement with the statements in theonline survey (Appendix A)

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The findings showed a number of positive impacts of theservice-learning experience on the academic, social, and personaldevelopment of the undergraduates. In response to ResearchQuestion 1, which investigated the impact of the service-learningcomponent of the course on the students’ academic enhancement,the data indicated that the students were able to a) link theoreticalto experiential learning; b) develop effective teaching and learningskills; c) identify the characteristics of a good teacher, student, andlesson; and d) experience the challenges/difficulties teachersnormally encounter while teaching. In other words, the service-learning experience did help students achieve the learningoutcomes of the academic course.

In response to Research Question 2, which investigated theimpact of the service-learning component of the course on thestudents’ concept of civic engagement, the study found that thestudents engaged and empathized with the workers and becameaware of their role in the society. The experience enhanced theirsense of civic responsibility.

In response to Research Question 3, which investigated theimpact of the service-learning component of the course on thestudents’ personal growth, the data indicated that studentsdeveloped positive attitudes toward the experience. The positiveattitudes they reported included tolerance, patience, self-esteem,and trust. They also reported that certain personal skills weredeveloped—for example, self-confidence, organization,communication skills, and time management skills.

In response to Research Question 4, which investigated theperceptions of the workers and their attitudes towards theexperience of being tutored by AUC students, the responses of the17 university workers were mostly positive. The workersexpressed eagerness to continue learning English, satisfaction withthe relationship established with the AUC students, their ability touse the FL both inside and outside the class, and that they wouldrecommend the FL course to other university workers. The onlynegative aspect expressed was that they perceived the students asteacher trainees rather than “real” teachers. They also suggestedthe course be offered after working hours because leaving their


work to attend the class was not always possible, so theysometimes missed their class.

REFLECTIONThe findings of this study lend support to the research on thepositive impacts of service-learning as a teaching/learningpedagogy, and extend these findings to EFL contexts. Bothgroups who participated in the service-learning experiencereported positive impacts, indicating that it was a valuablecolearning experience, particularly as an awareness-raisingactivity for the undergraduate students, some of whom hadreported that they had hardly ever noticed those workers theynow had to teach.

Service-learning was found to be specifically valuable in thecontext of this study where civic engagement and citizenship areemerging as important themes in education. The use of service-learning pedagogies is in line with AUC’s stated mission andvalues, one of which is social responsibility, defined as follows: “Weare committed to exploring the challenges that confront Egypt, theregion, and the world and to using our intellectual and creativecapabilities to address these challenges, serve our communities,and have a positive and sustainable impact on development,business, the environment, and society.” The following quotationsfrom the reflection papers of the participants in this study provideevidence that their service-learning experience had enhanced theirfeelings of social responsibility:

• “It’s time we moved out of the AUC bubble where everything is selectiveand very high standard. If every student can teach one worker in AUC, wewould make a great achievement to Egypt.”

• “My civic engagement ethic has been nurtured by this exercise and I aim tocontinue to develop it after this activity ends.”

• “One last thought to share is that although I took this course as an electiveand many told me it’s easy, I have found that it’s not like any other course.I think the real purpose of the course is to play a role in changing others’lives.”

Because the LING268 student-teachers were asked to writethree reflection papers throughout the semester—the first on theimpact of the service-learning experience on their academic

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enhancement, the second on civic engagement, and the third ontheir personal growth—the first reflection paper came ratherearly in the semester. In that paper, the students were asked toreflect on the connection between course content and the service-learning experience after they had been doing their service-learning for one month. Results could have been different if theyhad been asked to write the paper at the end of the course. Itwould be interesting to reorder the assignments to see if resultswould be different.

Research findings, teacher educators, teachers, and service-learning participants all suggest that service learning can be apowerful learning tool, and this study adds to those findings.Although, according to Anderson (1998), there are manychallenges to its successful use in teacher education—including analready overcrowded curriculum, the difficulties of arrangingsuccessful service-learning opportunities, and linking service-learning to students’ learning outcomes—as more teachereducators take on these challenges, innovative and successfulapproaches may emerge. Teachers of EFL and English foracademic purposes (EAP) are encouraged to improvise activitiesthat link the learning outcomes of academic study withexperiential community service. Just as the participants in thisstudy expressed eagerness to go through this kind of civicengagement learning experience again, their EAP teachers sharethe motivation to use this pedagogy to achieve the learningoutcomes of their course.

THE AUTHORSNagwa Kassabgy teaches EAP in the English Language Institute atthe American University in Cairo (AUC). She obtained her MA inTEFL from AUC. She is involved in mentoring and teachertraining, and her research interests lie in the areas of service-learning, EAP methodologies, and assessment.

Yasmine Salah El-Din teaches linguistics at Cairo University andacademic reading and writing at the American University inCairo. She has an MA in TEFL and a PhD in applied linguistics.Her research interests include service-learning, alternative


assessment methods, cross-cultural pragmatics, andsociolinguistics.

REFERENCESAnderson, J. (1998). Service-learning and teacher education.

Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and TeacherEducation.

Billig, S. H. (2004). The research on K-12 service-learning. Denver, CO:RMC Research Corporation.

Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (1995). Innovative practices inservice-learning and curricular engagement. Michigan Journal ofCommunity Service-Learning, 2(1), 112–122. doi:10.1002/he

Brody, S. M., & Wright, S. C. (2004). Expanding the self throughservice-learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning,11(1), 14–24.

Curran, J. M. (1999, April). College students’ attitudes towards mentalretardation. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society forResearch in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM.

Eby, J. W. (1998). Why service-learning is bad. Retrieved fromhttp://www.greatlakesed.net/Resources/documents/WhyServiceLearningIsBad.pdf

Eyler, J. S., Giles, D. E., Jr., Stenson, C. M., and Gray, C. J. (2001).At a glance: What we know about the effects of service-learning oncollege students, faculty, institutions and communities, 1993–2000(3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.compact.org/resources/at-a-glance/928/

Furco, A. (2001). Advancing service-learning at researchuniversities. New Directions for Higher Education, 114(Summer),67–78. doi:10.1002/he.15.abs

Furco, A., & Root, S. (2010). Research demonstrates the value ofservice learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 91(5), 16–20.

Harmer, G. (2003). The practice of English language teaching. Harlow,England: Longman.

Heuser, L. (1999). Service-learning as a pedagogy to promote thecontent, cross-cultural, and language-learning of ESL students.TESL Canada Journal, 17(1), 54–71.

Holland, B. (2001). A comprehensive model for assessing service-learning and community–university partnerships. New

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Directions for Higher Education, 114, 51–60. doi:doi.org/10.1002/he.13.abs

Jacoby, B., & Associates. (1996). Service-learning in higher education.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Jay, G. (2008). Service learning, multiculturalism, and thepedagogies of difference. Pedagogy: Critical approaches to teachingliterature, language, composition, and culture, 8(2), 177–194. doi:10.1177/1541344612470974

Nigro, G., & Wortham, S. (1998). Service-learning through actionresearch. In R. G. Bringle & D. K. Duffy (Eds.) Collaborating withthe community: Psychology and service-learning (pp. 517–534).Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

Pickron-Davis, M. C. (1999). Black students in community service-learning: Critical reflections about self and identity (Unpublisheddissertation). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

APPENDIX A

Students’ Online Questionnaire

Dear LING268 Students,Please respond to the following statements by indicating to

what extent you agree with each:

• SA = Strongly agree

• A = Agree

• N = Neutral

• D = Disagree

• SD = Strongly disagree

1. Teaching the AUC workers helped me make the connection between theclassroom and the real world.

2. I learned how to write a good lesson plan.3. I know that different learners have different learning styles.4. I know what makes a good student.5. I know what makes a good teacher.6. I have become a better student myself.7. Teaching the AUC workers was a challenging experience.8. I feel I have become more tolerant.9. I am now aware of the poorer segment of the community.

10. It made me a more self-confident person.


11. I feel I can make a difference in my community.12. The course helped me develop my communication skills.13. Teaching the workers made me perceive the world in a different way.14. I am willing to go through this experience again.15. I have developed some negative attitudes towards this poorer segment of

the community.

APPENDIX B

Students’ Interview Questions

1. Why did you enroll in LING268?2. What do you think were the most important teaching skills you developed

as a result of the experience?3. How did the experience change you as a person? What particular skills/

traits have you developed?4. How would you describe the relationship between you and the workers?5. What was the most interesting thing about the service-learning part of the

experience?6. What difficulties/challenges did you encounter?7. How did the CBL experience change you as a person?8. How would you assess the whole experience?

APPENDIX C

Workers’ Interview Questions

1. How did you enroll in the program?2. How many courses have you completed?3. What level did you start with?4. What do you think of the courses?5. Have they helped you at work? What about outside the University?6. How do/did you feel about the fact that your teachers are actually

students, not professional teachers?7. What did you like the most about these courses?8. What did you like the least?9. What are your suggestions to improve the courses?

10. Do you recommend these courses to your colleagues?

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Documents

Investigating the Impacts of an Experiential Service-Learning Course