‘Doing good’ in Italian through student community engagement

Abstract

This article discusses a community engagement pilot program for language students offered at Flinders University. For a number of years, the Language in Action program has provided placement opportunities for language students in a range of community settings such as aged-care agencies and cultural associations. From an educational perspective, Language in Action draws from the Deep Approach to World Language Education, which places students in charge of their learning experience and promotes meaningful interactions with communities. The program is also designed to encourage students’ prosocial behavior, contributing to developing a sense of meaning in life, relationship satisfaction, and wellbeing. Through Language in Action, students have opportunities not only to improve their language and intercultural skills in near immersion settings, but also to establish social connections with individuals from migrant groups. This article discusses the placement experiences of language students, focusing on students of Italian, in aged-care contexts. It presents the rationale of the Language in Action program in light of some core principles of Positive Psychology. It discusses the program’s implementation, preliminary data on students’ evaluations of their language development, and the sense of achievement they derive from their placements.

Setting an Agenda for Positive Psychology in SLA: Theory, Practice, and Research

“…Considering PP interventions in the local community, Bouvet et al. () describe the value of community placements, specifically opportunities for altruism, to the well‐being of learners. Gregersen et al.…”

“…In addition, Belnap et al (2016) described the generally positive effects of "project perseverance" in which a set of extra-curricular activities enhanced students' language learning experiences while learning abroad. Considering PP interventions in the local community, Bouvet et al (2017) describe the value of community placements, specifically opportunities for altruism, to the well-being of learners. Gregersen et al (2016) also examined altruism in the community, along with five other individualized interventions integrated into a conversation partners program.…”

Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness, and Beneficence: Exploring the Interdependence of Basic Needs Satisfaction in Postsecondary World Language Education

“…Regardless of its categorization, the recurrence and influential power of the few students' sensations of beneficence cannot be denied. Echoing the few instances of beneficence in this study, the integration of community-based service-learning into world language classes may be a particularly effective way of also supporting learners' autonomy, competence, relatedness, and well-being in addition to their target language proficiency (Bouvet et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2017).…”

“…Given its growing attention, the construct of well-being has been theorized, research, and operationalized in varied and often conflicting ways through various theoretical frameworks (Mercer, 2021). Research informed by positive psychology, for instance, has contributed valuable and practical understandings of the efficacy of formal language education in supporting learners' happiness and well-being, such as through service to others in the language (Bouvet et al, 2017), the inclusion of music in the curriculum (Gregersen, 2016), and communal physical activity, among many other practices (Oxford, 2016). Yet despite its practicality and accessibility for language educators, the positive psychology conceptualization of well-being in language learning comprises a wide-and often inconsistent-spectrum of elements (e.g., life meaningfulness, flow, positive emotions, happiness; MacIntyre et al, 2019) reflecting an incomplete and more subjective, rather than eudaimonic, understanding of wellbeing.…”