Call for Proposals: Civic Engagement in the Languages

Posted by Pacific University Oregon on February 15, 2016

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Civic Engagement in the Languages: A ‘How-to’ Guide on Developing Service-Learning Curriculum in World Languages Programs

Deadline for 500-word proposals: May 1, 2016

Email proposals to Jann Purdy at purd6219@pacificu.edu

It is a rare occurrence when students ask for more work for a class, but in my course “Teaching Language & Culture in Elementary School”, that’s exactly what I read over and over again in my students’ final reflective essays. Instead of teaching one day/week at the elementary after-school program, for example, some students were advocating for 2 days/week, plus one day in the classroom with me for training. This request stunned me, because many of the same students described in those same reflective essays their hard work required to create lesson plans for the 11-week program. The students’ request demonstrates that the rewards of gaining hands-on teaching experience for a career that many language majors/minors consider, and the rewards of engaging with the community far outweigh the heavy work that goes into it. One student highlights below some of the benefits of service learning:

“Our relationship with [the elementary school] is mutually beneficial. The principal really appreciates us and the students enjoy our introductory-level Spanish class! I think it is one of the best ways to give back to [the community] as a civic engagement project, because it is actually interacting with community members every week for 11 straight weeks. For my major (Education major/Spanish minor), I am learning how to create lesson plans, which is critical for when I become a teacher, and I am getting experience with real students and real problems that may occur in the classroom, something that you cannot teach in a college classroom.”

The aim of this volume of essays is to provide guidance to instructors and administrators at institutions that would like to develop service-learning or civic-engagement courses in their second-language programs. When I created my after-school language program in 2011 for our advanced World Language students at local elementary schools, I searched for guides or advice on how to implement civic-engagement courses for language students. I pieced together information from a variety of sources and, through trial and error, developed a successful program. It is my hope that others who have innovative ideas for harnessing the benefits of civic-engagement learning will find practical information and motivating inspiration from the essays of this volume. With an increasing emphasis on service learning in the over two thousand colleges and universities in the U.S., this guide to civic engagement curriculum in foreign language programs is crucial.

Contributions will include:

–detailed “how-to” information on the service-learning or civic-engagement program that will make implementing such programs more feasible to the readers

–detailed syllabi, including student learning outcomes and course goals

–an account of the evolution of the program (the trials and errors encountered)

–evidence of the impact of the program

Contributions from administrators and instructors are encouraged and will include essays dealing with specific language programs or an ensemble of language programs.

Submitted papers should not have been previously published, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Proposed publication date: Spring 2017