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Community Service Learning, Learning by Design, and Heritage Learners: A Case Study

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Multiliteracies Pedagogy and Language Learning

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Abstract

This chapter considers the impact of service learning as a means to build and reinforce Spanish heritage students’ language abilities while allowing for meaningful engagement with local communities. It does so through the discussion of a project grounded in the Learning by Design framework. Over the course of a semester, 15 university students in a service learning course at the University of Memphis collaborated with Spanish-speaking local community leaders and artisans to develop and implement self-sustaining projects centered on the arts. Learners documented their experience in a multimodal journal that included digital storytelling, written reflections, and self-generated questions for critical inquiry. The analysis of this work suggests that the students experienced not only linguistic gains, but also an increase in their confidence as Spanish speakers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA

    Diana Ruggiero

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  1. Diana Ruggiero
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Gabriela C. Zapata

  2. University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

    Manel Lacorte

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Ruggiero, D. (2018). Community Service Learning, Learning by Design, and Heritage Learners: A Case Study. In: Zapata, G., Lacorte, M. (eds) Multiliteracies Pedagogy and Language Learning . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63103-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63103-5_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63102-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63103-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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