2021/05/11 by Amelia Barili, Michael Byram
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Global Education and Multiculturalism #Second Language Learning and Teaching #Service-Learning and Community Engagement
paper · doi:10.1111/flan.12526
crossref issued 2021/05/11 · crossref published 2021/05/11 · crossref published-online 2021/05/11 · openalex publication_date 2021/05/11 · crossref created 2021/05/12 · crossref published-print 2021/10/01 · crossref deposited 2023/08/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Abstract Globalization and internationalization have created a need for dialog among people of different persuasions in our own societies and beyond. Language teachers can meet this challenge through the concepts of intercultural citizenship and intercultural service learning, renewing emphasis on educational and humanistic aims as well as instrumental. Students in an advanced Spanish course volunteered in a school and a legal center, interacting one‐on‐one with unaccompanied minors and immigrants fleeing Central America. The evaluation focused on the impact on learners’ understanding of the society in which they live, and perceptions of their own language learning during their work as active citizens. Data from students' academic blogs and diaries were analyzed thematically. They show a heightened awareness of language competence, as students use their knowledge of Spanish in their voluntary work, and increased intercultural competence in students' reports on their critical evaluation of perspectives and practices in their own culture and those of others.