A Study of Integrating Service-Learning into University Curriculum: Reflections from EFL Students after Implementation

Service-Learning (SL) has been internationally gaining in popularity in the field of teacher education in higher education thanks to its benefits. However, this pedagogical method is still new in some EFL higher education settings like Vietnam. This qualitative study investigates the undergraduate students’ attitudes after their implementation of an SL-integrated teaching practicum unit at some EFL community classes. In the study, seventy-eight fourth-year students of English in the pedagogy sector at a department of English of a university of foreign languages in Central Vietnam were involved as participants. They were guided to contact community learners of English, observe classes, design lesson plans, do micro-teachings, and finally write reflections. The findings from the reflections revealed that all of the students had positive attitudes towards SL and the teaching practicum unit, which made impacts on their personal growth, classroom management skills, profession, and community-related aspects. Recommendations concerning how to make SL and SL-integrated courses more effective were put forward at the end of the research study.