Innovative Pilot Program Brings Students from Around the World
September 2, 2011
This summer the Kellogg Institute joined forces with Notre Dame’s Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures to create a new model for the teaching of English to international students.
Funded by a $370,884 grant from the State Department, the pilot program’s innovative curriculum combined English for Academic Purposes (EAP) with practical and intellectual engagement in community service, both locally and globally.
The program drew 39 participants from 10 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
In addition to studying English, students volunteered at NGOs, met with community leaders, and designed capstone service projects to implement in their home countries. The Center for Social Concerns coordinated service-learning placements at South Bend nonprofit organizations and a weekly class for students to reflect on their experiences.
Students also took weekend service-learning excursions to Chicago, Indianapolis, Gary, Elkhart and Shipshewana, and the Lake Michigan area. The visits integrated cultural and language learning with meaningful social interaction and community engagement.
To help orient the students to US academic culture, Kellogg faculty fellows Catherine Bolten (anthropology), Tamo Chattopadhay (education), Rev. Daniel Groody, CSC (theology), and Terence McDonnell (sociology) joined Notre Dame engineering and business professors in presentations that connected their research to making a difference in the world.
Throughout the summer, students received guidance in the design of substantive, feasible community service projects that could be implemented upon return to their home countries.
A lively poster fair hosted by the Kellogg Institute near the program’s close highlighted the value of this holistic approach, with students displaying not only confidence in their English skills but new awareness of the benefits of volunteerism and enthusiasm about taking their service projects home.
Nurganym Agzamova unveiled a project aimed at protecting the environment in her native Kazahhstan.
“I liked working with the community organization here getting practical experience,” she said, noting that she had picked up tips about how to fundraise, manage projects, and develop entrepreneurship during the course of the program.
Dhia’a Al-Thari aims to provide a framework for volunteering in Yemen, where such service work is uncommon. Madait Esalante of Peru plans to provide educational resources to high school students so that more can attend college.
“I’m sure I can do it,” she said.
A distance-learning follow-up component during the fall semester is providing assistance and encouragement to students as they implement their projects.
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