LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.

Community	  Outreach	  From	  Within:	  Bringing	  Service	  Learning	  to	  Language	  Classrooms	  via	  Peer	  Tutoring
Sarah LeeThis paper describes how a successful peer-tutoring program served as the framework for a service
learning project, with implications for potential use in Japan. The case discussed is a service
learning program at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. The program, initiated in 2006 andcontinuing today, aims at matching the needs of lower-proficiency language learners with moreexperienced learners in a peer-tutoring program. Experienced learners are introduced to theproject within the framework of a service learning project, encouraging reflection on their own
experiences and journey as language learners, while reinforcing the importance of service learning.
This model can be used as a transition to larger service learning projects while also reinforcing
language learners’ needs.
この論文は、ある成功したピア・チュータリングのシステムがどのようにサービスラーニングのフ レームワークとして役立ったか、そしてその日本での将来的な適用の可能性について論じる。議論さ れるのは、イリノイ州シカゴのデポール大学において実施されたサービスラーニングのプログラムで ある。2006年に始まり今日も続くこのプログラムは、ピア・チュータリングにおいて、熟達度の高い 言語学習者が熟達度の低い学習者の必要に応じることを狙いとしている。熟達学習者はサービスラー ニングの枠組みの中でこのプロジェクトに参加し、サービスラーニングの重要性を補足されるととも に、自分自身の経験と言語学習者としての遍歴の内省が促される。このモデルは、言語学習者のニー ズを強化するとともに、より大きなサービスラーニングのプロジェクトへの橋渡しとしても用いるこ とが出来る。

Introduction: The Importance and Relevance of Service Learning for ELLs
Increasingly, Service Learning (SL) programs are being implemented in higher education as a means ofproviding hands-on, experiential learning. These programs typically aim to bridge the gap between theacademic experience and real world experience outside of the classroom. In an SL program, students typicallywork and interact with a diverse population outside their academic frame of reference. SL programs generallySpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 2015

1LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
involve organized volunteer (service) activities, which take place in a variety of venues, such as schools, seniorassisted living communities, food pantries (centers where donated food is collected for redistribution to those inneed), or community gardens. Among the expected outcomes are that SL experience will open students' minds,
promote respect for service and community involvement, and offer a broader range of contexts for learning andapplying knowledge.
The National Youth Leadership Council stresses that an effective SL program should provide a context-richexperience which is appropriate, accessible, meaningful and enriching. The experience is appropriate in thesense that the requirements for the activity should match the students’ language level and confidence incommunicating. An SL program for English Language Learners (ELLs) should be accessible in that it suits
their context, schedule and lifestyle. In terms of relevance, the project should correspond, on some level, to thestudents' interests and their course of study. Finally, the SL project should provide some degree of intrinsic
satisfaction, which could lead to deeper investment in the project as well as a more meaningful experience.
Incorporating SL methodology in the field of ESL/ EFL is becoming more common. Where in the past ELLs
were often the subjects or recipients of SL projects, it is now recognized that ELLs receive inherent benefit in
active participation in SL programs. In a diverse, context-rich learning situation, ELLs can experience theempowerment and autonomy which accompanies self-directed application of skills and knowledge in real world
situations. According to Bringle and Clayton (2012), service learning can promote critical thinking, academic
engagement and intrinsic motivation. Moreover, SL makes a meaningful contribution to local community
needs.

Implementing Service Learning in a Japanese University
While teaching at a Japanese university four years ago, I was asked to research, plan, and implement a SL
program for our study abroad students. Implementing SL in a rigorous academic English language program
such as an Intensive English Program (IEP) can pose challenges in time and resource allocation for SL
activities. Creating a SL framework which fits within a given curriculum can be time- consuming, andSpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 20152LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
mobilizing administrators, teachers (particularly those on short or part-time contracts), and students can be alarge undertaking. Further, some might question the fundamental pedagogical validity in requiring students toparticipate in SL projects.
In conceptualizing a SL model for that particular program, I needed to take into account the students’ time
constraints, teachers’ schedules, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, as well as an appropriate way to integrate theEnglish language component. Perhaps foremost, the SL program would need to offer students an opportunity todevelop their English communicative skills, which might increase the students’ motivation and participation.
However, finding SL opportunities in Japan which met this language criteria proved to be a challenge.
This conceptualization process led me to reflect on my prior participation in a successful peer- tutoring SL
program at DePaul University’s English Language Academy (ELA) in Chicago, IL. The ELA is an intensive
English program (IEP) which provides academic English courses for international students hoping to improve
TOEFL and TOEIC scores and to enter undergraduate and graduate-level degree programs. In the fall of 2007,
recognizing the potential value of both SL and peer tutoring, a small group of teachers initiated a Peer Tutoring
Lab as an SL project. I participated with the initial implementation of the program, which was conceptualized
and organized by Kathy Larson, the Associate Director for Curriculum at the ELA. Larson’s SL program strives
to address the aforementioned challenges of time and resource allocation, mobilization, and relevance. Inaddition, it effectively meets the communicative language criteria. This paper will briefly outline the program’s
design, objectives, continuing success, and implications for use in Japanese universities.

Service Learning Case Study: The Peer Tutoring Lab
Several needs prompted the creation of this peer-tutoring program. The first was to address the students’ needs
in a fast-paced, rigorous IEP. A number of beginning/novice ELLs were not successfully progressing throughthe curriculum in one term, and many were repeating multiple courses. Teachers had limited ability to addressthese students’ needs through additional contact hours and conferencing. While these beginner ELLs struggled
to master course content, many advanced-level students were making no apparent progress in their language
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development after reaching a certain language proficiency or TOEFL score. The outcome for some was a senseof being stuck at a given language level with no hope of appreciable development or growth. In addition toaddressing the needs of students and teachers, the peer-tutoring program aimed to integrate a meaningful SL
project into the curriculum of a rigorous IEP in a university which promotes service and community
involvement as one of its core values.
Larson’s concept for the Peer Tutoring Lab addresses ELLs’ needs by matching advanced students withbeginning students in a twice-weekly peer tutoring program. Students at all levels are able to practice andreinforce their language skills while participating in a voluntary service learning program. Training sessions areprovided for advanced students (tutors) prior to the sessions, which take place outside of regularly scheduledclass time during students’ personal study periods. Once the schedule is established, tutors volunteer once aweek on a rotational basis. Beginning students (tutees) are encouraged to attend tutoring sessions as often as
they like. Teachers from the ELA supervise the tutoring sessions on a rotational basis.
Tutoring sessions aim to create a relaxed but studious atmosphere where students can chat, become acquainted,and study at their own pace. To promote the relaxed atmosphere, snacks and drinks are provided and tutees areallowed to choose their focus for the sessions. In some cases, this would be grammar, reading, writing, or justEnglish conversation.
One benefit of participation for tutees is that they receive additional language support from a near-peer tutor. A
secondary aim of this tutor–tutee relationship is to encourage and empower tutees who are learning fromsomeone who has experience as an ELL. By learning from their peers, students potentially become more
confident and optimistic regarding their language development. Finally, by attending tutoring sessions andhaving some meta-awareness of their own needs, tutees become more autonomous. Goals for the tutors areslightly more complex. The SL component is reinforced through selected readings about service learning aswell as weekly reflections. Reflection is an important element of effective SL programs, and tutors are
periodically asked to reflect on their tutoring experience through in-class writing assignments and discussions
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as a part of their University Bridge research writing course. Additionally, by applying their knowledge ofgrammar and usage in a direct way, tutors are effectively reinforcing their own language ability and knowledge.
Finally, tutors can assume more responsibility and accountability by helping others, while also increasing theircommunication and social skills (Falchikov, 2001).
In general, the objectives of the Peer Tutoring Lab are mutually beneficial for the tutees and tutors. It has beensuggested that studying with peers can be more productive than studying alone (Falchikov, 2001), and thatstudents tend to retain more information in collaborative learning sessions while developing critical thinking
skills and motivation (Prince, 2004). In addition to these intrinsic benefits, there are a number of incentives inplace for participants of this program. Both tutors and tutees receive participation grades for attending tutoring
sessions. Tutors publish reflective essays in a class publication at the end of the term and receive certificates ofcompletion. Both tutors and tutees participate in an end-of-term party and award ceremony to celebrate theiraccomplishments and give some closure to the term.

The Peer Tutoring Lab Today
Now in its 7th year, the Peer Tutoring Lab at DePaul University continues to run successfully today, though myassociation with the program ended in 2009. Larson reports that the program is now somewhat self-sustaining,with “former tutors who help with the beginning of term tutor training... (and) talk about the benefits to theirown learning. Tutors also write reflections on their service learning and we ask them to share highlights of theirexperience” (K. Larson, personal communication, November 13, 2013). Of course, the program faces somechallenges. Initial investment in the program is critical, requiring buy-in from both tutors and tutees. Often,
Larson reports, the program is a hard-sell for beginning students, for whom interpersonal dynamics (i.e., being
matched with a tutor whom they can relate to) and motivation toward learning English can be determining
factors in their participation and success. Additionally, while tutors’ investment and participation in the programis essential, Larson points out that “Occasionally we do have tutors who resent the requirement, who are only
focused on getting through the program and into a university.” However, most tutors, according to Larson, areSpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 20155

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motivated, “holding themselves to more precise standards of what they know, but may not be able to explain/clarify for another, and to realize they DO know a lot already” (K. Larson, personal communication, November
13, 2013).
Despite these challenges, many participants in the program are able to acknowledge the benefits of theirinvolvement over the term, building meaningful relationships and developing cross- cultural understanding.

Implications for Japanese Universities
Within the context of higher education in Japan, would it be feasible to implement this type of SL program?
Certainly there are significant differences between the context in which this program was created and a typicalJapanese university. Most English classrooms in Japan, for example, lack the diverse, multi-lingual and crosscultural component which enriches the program at DePaul. Among administrators in Japan, there might be moreresistance to or lack of knowledge about service learning, as well as a lack of resources or facilities. Finally,
persuading students to spend more hours at school outside of their busy schedules and part-time jobs could
stymie the initial buy-in.
The perspective-broadening aspects of SL are needed in Japanese universities, and the potential for increasing
learner autonomy and motivation could be enormously beneficial to university students in Japan. Certainly
there is always a need for opportunities to communicate in English within authentic contexts.
While I was unable to successfully launch a peer-tutoring program described in this paper due to unrelated
constraints, I continue to actively consider its viability in a Japanese university. One possible approach would
be to pilot a tutoring program in a university with an established study abroad program. Study abroad returnees
are generally eager to maintain the language abilities they have acquired abroad. In this case, pairing returnees
with freshman students or novice English speakers could be mutually beneficial. In addition to language
support, it could provide mentoring and encouragement for beginning students, bolstering confidence in theircommunicative ability. In this way, study abroad returnees could become a valuable resource for universities
while also adding qualifications to resumes for their future job search.
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Programs such as the Peer Tutoring Lab at DePaul demonstrate that SL projects can be implemented
successfully with little cost and minimal resources. Initiating an SL project can be time- consuming, but theprogram can become self-sustaining over time. In a diverse, context-rich environment, the SL experience canreinforce language skills and knowledge. On an interpersonal level, effective SL reinforces communication
skills and can position students to take a more active, autonomous role in their own language learning. More
importantly, the experience provides a meaningful, memorable accomplishment of service that can be carriedforward to enrich lives and careers in the future.

References
Bringle, R. G., & Clayton, P. H. (2012). Civic education through service learning: What, how, and why? In L.
Mcilrath, A. Lyons & R. Munck (Eds.), Higher education and civic engagement: Comparative perspectives (pp.
101-119). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bruffee, K. A. (1984). Collaborative learning and the "conversation of mankind". College English, 46, 635-652.
Falchikov, N. (2001). Learning together: Peer tutoring in higher education. New York, NY: Routledge Falmer.
Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93,
223-231.

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