Campus Compact » Program Models Service-Learning In Foreign Languages

French language and civilization combined with community service

tdomf_26a6d — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 00:00:00 +0000

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“”Beyond El Gran Capoquero”": high school students learn Spanish skills via Drama while providing community service to K-2 Spanish students

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“”Beyond El Gran Capoquero”" (The Great Kapok Tree) extends SAIL’s 1997-98 interdisciplinary project whereby high school students acquire conversational Spanish skills via Drama while providing community service to K-2 Spanish students. That project’s success, our desire to capitalize on the strong oral presentation/drama skills of SAIL students and the support of our school improvement plan (expansion of hands-on, applied experiential learning and a greater emphasis on community service for our students) encouraged us to continue.

First semester included joint lesson planning, student training in Spanish, Drama, and Early Childhood Education teaching techniques, and development of student-produced curriculum implementation activities. SAIL students met with Ruediger second-grade students four times (informal “”icebreakers”", discussion of rainforest animals and habitats, and painting murals used as scenery for the first-grade students’ second-semester performance). Second semester included SAIL students meeting ten times with the first-graders, teaching Spanish dialogue, drama and movement techniques, mask making, and performance preparation. There were four performances: one, early in the project, with SAIL students showing the Ruediger students “”how it’s done”"; one, near the end, with all the students, for Ruediger parents and students; and two joint-cast productions, one for the “”Celebrate the Arts Festival”" at Gretchen Everhart School for Exceptional Students and one opportunity to entertain and exchange ideas with visitors from the Ecuadorian rainforest.

SAIL students provided approximately 700 hours of community service (including travel and preparation) and helped develop replicable curriculum materials. All students stayed enrolled in the program and took seriously their responsibilities as teachers and role models. There is positive anecdotal feedback from Everhart, Ruedigerand SAIL staff and plans to continue the Spanish/Drama curriculum and Ruediger/SAIL relationship. We may also pursue ways to replicate and use this Learn and Serve project as a model to implement the Sunshine State Standards for Foreign Language instruction for high school and elementary students and for using authentic assessment for evaluation.

Service learning partnership with the Mallett School French Program

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In light of the Learning Results in Modern and Classical Languages which mandate second language acquisition from grades K-12 in the State of Maine, UMF embarked on a service learning partnership with Mallett School, to teach French in the elementary grades, and help Mallett school develop and sustain a foreign language curriculum.

Several options were considered at the start of the program. French was selected because of local expertise and geographical setting, and also in light of costs involved and ease of running a second language program. Every classroom in each grade is involved, but the program was implemented in stages: first grade only in Spring 1998, first and second grade in 1998-99, and grades one through three in 1999-2000. This gradual approach made it possible to develop one year of curriculum at a time and to grow gradually.

It is hoped that the school that will receive these children in grades 4-6 will continue teaching French in grades 4-6. UMF students teach French for 10 weeks each semester, once a week for about 30 to 40 minutes, which is not sufficient but can be reinforced the rest of the week by the classroom teacher.

Everyone benefits: UMF students are immersed in a real classroom and learn teaching through practice. Mallett school benefits from a pool of eager volunteers to start a French program on a shoe string. The children benefit the most, since research has proven that early second language acquisition enhances brain functions for life.

This program depends on the efforts of many. UMF developed a new French course and practicum to train students linguistically and pedagogically for this project (French for the Elementary Grades). Students are requested to register for these classes and reflect upon their practical experiences as part of the project. 23 UMF students (several working as teams) participated in the program this year, which is remarkable considering that UMF is a small liberal arts college with no French major. The local PTA and Community raised over $10,000 a dazzling sum for rural Maine to make the program a reality. Mallett School Principals implemented the project and continue to support it wholeheartedly. First and second grade teachers at Mallett are mentoring UMF students and reinforcing lessons during the week. They are learning French with the students and their enthusiasm plays a crucial role. The Mallett School French Program Coordinator receives a small stipend to develop the curriculum with Professor Sylvie Charron of UMF, who coordinates the program and teaches one class in every grade. She is an indispensable chain in this tightly woven fabric. In terms of funding, this program has benefited from two $500 Service Learning Grants to purchase books and other materials, and from a $250 donation from The Department of Humanities to purchase a series of books.

All in all, this program has been immensely successful and continues to grow. It could definitely serve as a service-learning model for other universities and communities.

Contact person: Sylvie Charron, Assoc. Professor of French, scharron {at} maine(.)edu

ESL and speech communications students deliver government services to new immigrant populations

tdomf_26a6d — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Minneapolis Community and Technical College has engaged in a number of exciting service learning projects. One recent project placed ESL and speech communications students in the Hennepin County Volunteer Services Office. The goal of the project was to give the students a first-hand opportunity to deliver government services while educating county workers in the culture of new immigrant populations.

All of the students who participated in the six-month project were refugees who had completed basic ESL classes and had relatively good English-language skills. The students were required to provide a minimum of eight hours of service per month by assisting county social service workers with a variety of tasks, including:

The county s social services agencies benefited by having refugees from a number of different countries working with them. Hennepin County is experiencing a dramatic growth in the number of refugees seeking services. Through their interaction with our students, the county workers were able to gain insight into the culture, values and traditions of these new clients. The students, through interaction with the county staff and their clients, learned different speech patterns, intonation and slang and significantly improved their language skills.

At the end of the project, and as the final requirement for the speech class, students were required to give a speech about their experience. Staff and supervisors from Hennepin County attended, as did faculty and administrators from the college.