Transcript Reflections by International Students on volunteering

Reflections by International Students on volunteering
placements &
implications for language development, cultural awareness
and employability
David Finn
International Language
Centre
HLSS
Contents
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Literature Review
The Study
Findings
Observations & Future Moves
Literature Review
Previous studies have reported a positive
relationship between the frequency of
international students’ interactions with their
local community and their adjustment to the
host society
(Toyokawa & Toyokawa 2002)
Previous Studies
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Japanese students’ engagement in extracurricular
activity helps their adjustment to American campus
life (Toyokawa & Toyokawa 2002).
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Students derive benefit from out-of-class activities
such as volunteering (Astin 1984)
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Off-campus activities help international learners to
develop support networks and social competence
(Hayes and Lin 1994)
The Study - Aims
What benefits does volunteering for
international students have upon:
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English language
Cultural awareness
Personal Development
Study One
8 English Plus students, University of Wolverhampton,
2005-06, 2006-07
Nationality:
2 Japan, 4 Cyprus, 1 Taiwan, 1 Kurdistan
Placements:
Organic Garden Centre (1); Secondary school (1); Walsall Sports Centre
(2); Beacon Centre for the Blind (1); Dr Bernardo’s (2);
Wolverhampton Housing Services (1)
Data:
Interviews after placement(s)
Study Two
21 English Plus students, University of Wolverhampton,
2007-08
Nationality:
15 Cyprus, 4 India, 2 China
Placements:
Oxfam (6); Lighthouse Club Buildings (4); Beacon Centre for the
Blind (7); Dr Bernardo’s (2); Age Concern (1); RSPB (1)
Data:
Guided learner journal & Reflective survey
The Study – The Data
Interviews, journals and surveys focused on the following:
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What did you gain linguistically from the placement? Did you
have any conversations? Did you learn any new words?
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What difficulties did you face when spoken to? If so, why was
this (pronunciation, slang, pace)?
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What did you learn about your organisation and/or British
people and /or British society?
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What skills has the placement helped you to gain? (eg
communication skills, time-management skills, etc)
Findings
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Communication gains
Linguistic shortcomings when interacting
Vocabulary gains (subject-specific and
informal)
Regional accents and slang
Cultural awareness raised (NHS; job market;
multicultural communities)
Employability and skills transfer
Communication
I made new friends and I have learnt about British life
and culture. Working and meeting with British people
helped me a lot to improve my English skills, my
accent, my vocabulary and my speaking.
Female (Cyprus)
Placement: Dr Bernado’s charity shop,
Wolverhampton
English Plus 2006-07
progressed to Degree in Adult Nursing 2007-08
Language
…because if I’m speaking (with) outside people, their
accent is very strong and fast so I could not
understand. Also I am very shy to speaking other
people. But staff speaking more slowly – so I
comfortable to them and I can understand.
Female (Taiwan)
Placement: Coffee Shop for the Blind,
Wolverhampton
English Plus 2005-06
progressed to MSc Health Science 2006-07
Vocabulary (subject-specific)
I don’t know this kind of word – propagation. He (the supervisor)
explained to me… it’s kind of gardening word. After that, I
checked this word so now I understand. If I continue to work in
this place, I can continue to understand new words which are
useful for my study.
Female (Japan)
Placement: Organic Garden Centre, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2005-06
progressed to MSc Environmental Science 2006-07
Informal Language
Day 2 - Thursday 22nd November 2007
Lamping - to relax or take it easy
Take a bone - to get something to eat
Day 3 - Monday 26th November 2007
Pants - of poor quality
Day 4 - Thursday 29th November 2007
Cancer stick - cigarette
East Bumblefuck - a location inconveniently far away
Karena - a pretty girl
Male (India)
Placement: Beacon Centre for the Blind, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2007-08
Informal Language
I worked with one boy during all the time. He taught me some
slang and colloquial expressions.
 ‘Hang on’, ‘hold on’ (Mean) wait.
 ‘Oh, sugar!’ ‘Oh, sod!’ (Mean) bad feeling.
 ‘Beautiful smell, any?’ (any means isn’t it?).
 ‘Jesus Christ!’ (Means disappointment).
Female (Japan)
Placement: Organic Garden Centre, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2005-06
progressed to MSc Environmental Science 2006-07
Informal Language
Sometimes I didn't find the words in my dictionary and
the people drew what they meant. It was very funny.
For instance I learnt that 'push chair' it is the baby
carriage, 'daft' is the crazy, stupid, and 'spend a
penny' mean I want to go to the toilet. Moreover, the
idiomatic expressions like 'pillar box' , 'call box' and
'sleeping policemen' were very interesting.
Male (Cyprus)
Placement: RSPB, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2007-08
Cultural Awareness
Some disability (disabled people) don’t have money… how can
they have money to live in the house? And she (the volunteer)
told me ‘social service’ (new word). But I not very sure about
this one. So if they have some accident, Government will help
them get some money to their life.
Female (Taiwan)
Placement: Coffee Shop for the Blind, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2005-06
progressed to MSc Health Science 2006-07
Cultural Awareness
I understood that they (the British) do not stop
(working) until they finish and they also have a
programme with the exact times of breaks. I saw that
despite Cypriots are doing their jobs properly, they
do not have an exact programme and they are not
so focused on what they are doing.
Female (Cyprus)
Placement: Beacon Centre, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2007-08
Cultural Awareness
We see cultural and political things. We see procedures
in court. Other events with other communities. In
Heath Town, different events… you can see from
different cultures…cultural diversity. You can see
Somalian and African culture.
Male (Kurdistan)
Placement: TLC Housing Services, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2004-05
Progressed to MA Voluntary & Public Sector 2005-
Employability & Skills
I learnt how to teach and coach teams or
students and also to structure training and
start warm-up exercises.
Male (Cyprus)
Placement: Walsall Sports Campus
English Plus 2006-07
progressed to degree in Sports & Exercise
Science
Employability & Skills
I did learn some things – how to manage communication with
people, how to treat them, how to refer them to some relevant
places if you can’t help them yourself, how to use your personal
initiative. I know something now about housing associations,
rent, tenancy agreements, problems with landlord, flat rights,
repairs by landlord… all these things are in relation to housing.
Male (Kurdistan)
Placement: TLC Housing Services, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2004-05
Progressed to MA Voluntary & Public Sector 2005-
Employability & Skills
To be honest, I am not a patient person because I learn
to have everything whenever I want in my life, but
this time I saw that it was different. I became a little
more mature and patient to those situations.
Female (Cyprus)
Placement: Beacon Centre, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2007-08
Employability & Skills
The most important learning for me is to concentrate
and observe each and everything if we have to rush
in the shop. I am also still learning many things like
how to work under pressure, how to deal with the
customer according to the situation and give the
answers of their queries.
Female (India)
Placement: Oxfam, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2007-08
Employability & Skills
I have many opportunities to see what kind of ideas can
help us make money for children and the elder. I was
able to talk with some customers and I learnt how to
use the machine. Sometimes some customer asked
my opinion about their clothes, I should give the right
answer to help them choose their favourite. I got
much useful experience and I like it.
Female (China)
Placement: Dr Bernardo’s, Wolverhampton
English Plus 2007-08
Observations - Benefits
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Language gains clear and transparent (eg
informal language, slang, etc)
Cultural differences acknowledged,
regardless of nationality
‘On the job’ skills useful and transferable
Observations - Issues arising
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Employability and skills gains harder to measure
Students not always able to make positive
correlation between placement and personal
development (Maiden & Kinsey 2006; University of
Liverpool John Moores Learning Development Unit
2004)
Maturity and motivation of learners significant (eg
learner journals not always completed)
Suitability of placements – requires further research
Future Moves
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RJs posted on weekly basis to lecturer – structured
around language, culture and personal development.
Shared / interactive element to journal writing
(Summerfield 1987, in Henderson et al 2004) – could
this be incorporated?
Students asked to reflect on an aspect of their own
experience and project how the learnt knowledge
could be utilised in a possible future professional
situation (Henderson et al 2004).