Service-Learning: Overcoming Fears, Connecting with the Hispanic/Latino Community

Oct 15, 2026

This chapter examines why adult Spanish language students hesitated to participate in the local Hispanic/Latino community within a service-learning component in a 400/500-level Spanish class. Data from students’ reflection papers collected four times during a semester were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results show fears about interacting with the community and communicating with native speakers. The findings indicate service-learning helps students overcome these fears, with related pedagogical implications discussed.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Overview of Literature

7 Service-Learning: Overcoming Fears, Connecting with the Hispanic/Latino Community Laura Guglani The University of Southern Mississippi Abstract This chapter explores the reasons why adult Spanish language students claimed to be hesitant to participate in the local Hispanic/Latino community in a recent study on 25 students enrolled in a 400/500-level Spanish class with a service-learning component ata Southeastern university. Data come from student reflection papers, written four times over the course of the semester, analyzed through thematic content analysis. Findings indicate that students held specific fears about participating in the local Hispanic/Latino community, includingfear of interacting with the community and insecurity about their ability to communicate with native speakers. The analysis of the reflection papers revealed that service-learning helped many students to overcome these fears. Pedagogical implications that consider ways in which service-learning can help learners overcome their hesitance to participate in the local Hispanic/Latino community are discussed. Keywords: service-learning, Spanish,foreign language teaching,fears, Hispanic community Background In my 17-year career as a Spanish teacher, I have often been disappointed by students’ hesitancy to spend time in the local Hispanic/Latino community. Of the hundreds of students I have taught, very few have made an effort to interact with local Hispanics/Latinos. Even Spanish majors, who commonly have a passion for the language and culture, tend to simply ignore their greatest resource—native speakers in the local community with whom they can practice speaking and from whom they can learn about target cultures firsthand. For this reason, I investigated the underlying reasons for the apparent hesitancy of Spanish students to participate in the Hispanic/Latino community and explored how service-learning might help address the problem. In this chapter, I first present findings on the fears the student participants reported about spending time with Hispanics/Latinos, primarily the participants’ fear of interacting with the community and their insecurities about their ability to communicate with native speakers. Understanding the reasons for student reluctance to participate in the Hispanic/Latino community is essential to effectively targeting and addressing the problem. I then discuss the potential for service-learning to help students overcome their fears by providing a gentle push into the Hispanic/Latino community, while at the same time offering support and guidance to make the experience a successful one that students likely will endeavor to seek out again in the future. Service-Learning: Overcoming fears 129 Overview of Literature In recent years a growing number of Spanish language educators have begun to incorporate service-learning experiences into their curriculum (Nelson & Scott, 2008). These experiences are invaluable because they provide students the opportunity to interact with local Hispanics/Latinos, an experience they may not otherwise seek out on their own. In fact, research suggests that, for many students, a servicelearning placement represents their first time interacting with the local Hispanic/Latino community (Pellettieri, 2011; Plann, 2002; Varas, 1999; Weldon & Trautmann, 2003) . According to Bringle, Clayton and Hatcher (2013, p.6) …service learning involves the integration of academic material, relevant service activities, and critical reflection and is built on reciprocal partnerships that engage students, faculty/staff, and community members to achieve academic, civic, and personal learning objectives as well as to advance public purposes. It is clear from this definition that service-learning goes beyond traditional community service in that it weaves classroom content into the experience and requires substantial reflection. Thus, service-learning offers several advantages in foreign language learni

FAQs

What fears did adult Spanish students report about joining the Hispanic/Latino community?

Students reported fear of interacting with the community and insecurity about communicating with native speakers.

How was the study data collected and analyzed?

Student reflection papers were written four times during the semester and analyzed using thematic content analysis.

How does service-learning help students overcome hesitance?

Service-learning provides a gentle entry into the Hispanic/Latino community while offering support and guidance to help make the experience successful again.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by mieayamfan