Call for Proposals: Strengthening Service-Learning in TESOL

Posted by Common Ground on July 7, 2014

Call for Proposals
Learning the Language of Global Citizenship: Strengthening Service-Learning in TESOL

The literature on service-learning in TESOL has developed over the last two decades to include over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and several edited collections (see the bibliography below from the September 2013 special issue of the TESOL Journal). Collectively, the research to date indicates that service-learning gives English Language Learners (ELLs) insight on U.S. culture, provides authentic speaking and listening situations, enhances literacy skills, and has a positive effect on retention. When incorporated into TESOL teacher education programs, service-learning enhances pre-service teachers’ understanding of ELLs, language learning theories and practices, and the communities in which they serve.

Service-learning scholarship in TESOL has not only increased our collective understanding of engaged teaching and learning in diverse settings, but also demonstrates increased theoretical maturity by systematically applying empirical methods to examine a range of assorted research phenomenon. Key articles in the existing research base tell us powerful stories about language, culture, race, nationality, and contribute to public discourse on immigration, globalization, education, and civic engagement, to name a few of the issues to which English Language Learners and their teachers can contribute.

Proposals for innovative applications of service-learning TESOL research and practice are encouraged. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
 Best practices in TESOL service-learning research and praxis
 Service-learning and TESOL teacher education
 TESOL, service-learning, and Second Language Acquisition theory
 Service-learning in Intensive English Programs
 Service-learning with ELLs in PreK-12, higher education, adult education, and international settings.
 Assessment of TESOL service-learning, with particular emphasis on language and cultural learning outcomes (e.g., reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, and culture)
 Intercultural communication, multilingualism, and TESOL service-learning
 Interdisciplinary service-learning projects with ELLs focusing on environmental and social issues such as immigration, global warming, poverty, animal welfare, and eldercare.

Prospective authors should email proposals up to 600 words in length (not including citations) in .doc, .PDF, or. RTF format to James M. Perren (jperren@emich.edu) and Adrian Wurr (adrian-wurr@utulsa.edu) by September 1, 2014. Selected authors will be invited to submit full-length manuscripts by Jan. 1, 2015. The collection will be published by Common Ground Publishers in fall, 2015.