SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT IMPROVES ESSAY WRITING SKILLS OF ENGLISH-MAJOR SOPHOMORES OF NHA TRANG UNVERSITY

Abstract

Most of the English-major sophomores of the 63th course of Nha Trang University make mistakes in grammar, spelling, and vocabulary in writing English essays. To improve their writing skills, 37 students of the experiment class were asked to do a service-learning project to re-teach freshmen about sentence types, correcting errors, and using linking words. Service-learning method is a teaching method that “connects knowledge learned in class with skills and knowledge achieved while volunteering to help their community” (S. A. Meyers, 2009, p.373). The purpose of this paper is to discover students’ perceptions of service-learning project and see if this project can help to improve students’ essay writing skills. The research population was 111 students, including 74 students of the 63th course (37 students of the experiment class and 37 students of the traditional class) and 37 students of the 64th course. Both qualitative methods (personal interviews) and quantitative methods (online survey, comparison of the final papers) were utilized in this paper. Research results showed that the service-learning project improved the students’ writing essay skills, and developed other soft skills such as communication skills, information searching, organization and planning, teamwork, analysis and synthesis, and familiarity with information technology.