ABSTRACT
This chapter explicates the implementation and effects of community service-learning in the pedagogical context of Korean as a second/foreign language (KSL). Service-learning primarily focuses on enhancing students’ understanding of course materials by engaging students and diverse community partners through the integration of classroom learning and meaningful community service in authentic contexts. In spite of a growing body of literature in service-learning, very little research has discussed its pedagogical implications in KSL. In this chapter, we introduce service-learning as an effective pedagogical tool for language education by examining two case studies of advanced-level Korean classes offered at higher institutions in North America. The first case focuses on the effects of service-learning in a Korean heritage class in which students engage in different types of community services according to their interests and career goals. The second case involves a service-learning seminar class in which students with advanced to superior proficiencies in Korean get trained on language pedagogy and, as a fieldwork component, offer a Korean class to the community for those who do not have access to a formal Korean class. The case studies demonstrate the ways in which service-learning provides opportunities for students to put their bilingual skills into authentic practice and serve the needs in the community at the same time. These studies also shed light on the possibility of expanding service-learning into lower-level classes and accommodating varying resources available in different institutions and communities.
