English Language teachers’ perceptions of the role of service learning in enhancing university-based engagement initiatives: a case study

Abstract EN

Service learning is a teaching strategy which involves learning in meaningful and contextual situations.

Its focus on real-life situations has made it a crucial element in twenty-first-century skills.

Service learning and other forms of experiential pedagogy have left a great impact over the last two decades within the EFL context.

The literature, however, appears to be not well established beyond Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

This article initially explores teachers’ awareness of service-learning while teaching English as a foreign language to non-native speakers.

It also describes how students’ engagement aligns with and supports differentiated learning.

To reach our findings, we used both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

A sample of 13 teachers was set to answer our questionnaire which consists of 23 items.

The purpose is to elicit the participants’ perceptions regarding service learning in the EFL context.

The results indicate that teachers believe that service learning positively influences a student’s learning in the following ways: Academic achievement 15%, critical thinking13%, sense of belongingness to the community 19%, motivation 18%, and autonomy 30%.