Community Projects to Enhance the Students’ English Learning Process of Access Class Site Surakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

This paper aims at (i) describing the steps and functions of and (ii) explaining the effectiveness of the service learning method through two community projects to enhance the English learning and leadership skills of the university students of Access Microscholarship Program site Surakarta conducted in Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS). The theme of the community projects were “helping senior citizens” and “clean the environment campaign”. The description of the steps and the functions of the service learning method was obtained by doing a class observation to 20 students enrolling Access Class. Class assessment, questionnaire distribution, and in-depth interview to the students were conducted to see the effectiveness of the method to enhance their learning process. Each community project was done by employing these steps: preparing idea; determining and surveying site; conducting community project; preparing report for a poster presentation; and oral poster presentation. The last step was used to assess the students’ English skills. The results show that the two community projects are effective to improve not only the students’ English skills but also their social awareness and leadership skills. Most of the students have experienced service learning method through community project as a new fun way to learn language.