An Exploratory Study of the Impact of the Summer English Teaching Service-learning Program in a Remote Area of Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

This exploratory study examines a three-year Summer English Teaching Service-Learning Program (SETSLP) in a high school in Yunnan, China. Students from Lingnan University acted as tutors to teach English to around 300 Chinese students of which 181 participants finished and returned the questionnaires over the three years of SETSLP through a Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach from 2009 to 2011. Results showed that CLT significantly (i) increased the students’ self-perceived English abilities in the areas of listening (t = 2.62, p < .05 in 2009; t = 4.60, p < .01 in 2011), comprehension (t = 2.33, p < .05 in 2009; t = 5.16, p < .01 in 2010; t = 7.11, p < .01 in 2011), and oral communication (t = 2.22, p < .05 in 2009; t = 6.39, p < .01 in 2010; t = 7.85, p < .01 in 2011); (ii) increased the students’ confidence in speaking English as most students throughout the three years chose oral ability as their greatest achievement in the program; and (iii) increased the students’ interest and motivation in learning English. Students also revealed that SETSLP increased their interest in English and students were more motivated to learn English (Mean = 8.44, SD = 1.51). Besides, students mentioned that the tutors who participated in the service-learning program, played a crucial role to encourage and motivate them to learn English. This also teaches the students the importance of doing service-learning in their daily life.