Community-based Service-Learning as a Way to Meet the Linguistic Needs of Transnational Students in Mexico

Following observations and interviews with transnational children that have one or more years of school in the United States and are now in school in Mexico, it was determined that the Mexican public school system has no mechanism in place to offer them the support they need. Therefore, I collaborated with Mexican university students to seek solutions to the challenge of meeting transnationals’ language needs. Specifically, I implemented community-based service-learning in which university students met one-on-one with transnational students. Community-based projects, like the one described here, offer future teachers and other university students the opportunity to apply what they are learning in the classroom so that their own learning is enhanced in ways it otherwise would not be. Furthermore, help is extended to younger learners who benefit from one-on-one or small group linguistic support.