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Increasing Student Engagement During Study Abroad Through Service Learning: A View from Japan

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Second Language Study Abroad

Abstract

This chapter explores international study abroad (SA) students who participated in volunteer and service-learning (SL) activities in the northeastern Tohoku region of Japan. It examines how the international students benefitted in many ways from this specific form of SA engagement as they worked alongside their Japanese student peers during a three-day study tour to complete authentic, meaningful, and useful collaborative activities in the service of others. These included an active use of the target language as students engaged in task-based activities that also allowed for a broader range of communicative opportunities. While this chapter discusses the specific context of Japan, this strategy for promoting participant self-efficacy, intercultural understanding, and global awareness through participation in volunteer and SL opportunities has widespread applicability to other SA contexts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Unfortunately, many townspeople did not follow their own long-held local knowledge in the immediate wake of the earthquake. Many died after they had initially evacuated to safety, but then returned to the low-lying town centre in search of family members, only to succumb to the tsunami wave that breached a 30-foot protective seawall.

  2. 2.

    Regarding the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, for example, it is not uncommon to hear local Otsuchi voices question the government’s commitment to their region as it allocates substantial funds for sports stadiums and other athletic facilities in Tokyo, which they already regard as having greater overall economic wealth.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Meiji Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan

    Dawn Grimes-MacLellan

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  1. Dawn Grimes-MacLellan
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Correspondence to Dawn Grimes-MacLellan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Modern Languages & Classics, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    John L. Plews

  2. Fine Arts and Humanities, Augustana Campus, University of Alberta, Camrose, AB, Canada

    Kim Misfeldt

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Grimes-MacLellan, D. (2018). Increasing Student Engagement During Study Abroad Through Service Learning: A View from Japan. In: Plews, J., Misfeldt, K. (eds) Second Language Study Abroad. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77134-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77134-2_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77133-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77134-2

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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