34.3216, Review: Reflective Practice in TESOL Service-Learning: Macknish (2023)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-34-3216. Mon Oct 30 2023. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 34.3216, Review: Reflective Practice in TESOL Service-Learning: Macknish (2023)

Moderators: Malgorzata E. Cavar, Francis Tyers (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Managing Editor: Justin Fuller
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Steven Franks, Everett Green, Daniel Swanson, Maria Lucero Guillen Puon, Zackary Leech, Lynzie Coburn, Natasha Singh, Erin Steitz
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Maria Lucero Guillen Puon <luceroguillen at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: 30-Oct-2023
From: Xiaohan Liu [xl487 at exeter.ac.uk]
Subject: Language Acquisition: Macknish (2023)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.1649

AUTHOR: Cynthia Macknish
TITLE: Reflective Practice in TESOL Service-Learning
SERIES TITLE: Reflective Practice in Language Education
PUBLISHER: Equinox Publishing Ltd
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Xiaohan Liu

SUMMARY
“Reflective Practice in Language Education”, by Cynthia J. Macknish,
is a recently published (2023) book that focuses on reflective
practice in a TESOL service-learning context. The book is divided into
seven comprehensive chapters, each offering a wealth of valuable
information. Teacher educators and other professionals in the field
can acquire useful strategies, practical tools, and relevant tasks
that are based on theory to help them actively involve preservice
teachers in the process of reflection. This makes the book both a
theoretical and practical resource for teacher educators to implement
reflective practice in their own teaching contexts.
Chapter 1, “What is service learning?”, provides the groundwork for
this book by introducing the theoretical principles and various forms
of service-learning in general education and TESOL in particular. It
presents a broad perspective on current global practices of
service-learning and emphasizes its significance and value. After
building a shared understanding of service-learning in TESOL
service-learning, Macknish introduces an important approach to
service-learning, that is, reflective practice. Macknish wraps up this
chapter by engaging in a thought-provoking discussion of the
challenges and issues surrounding the current implementation of
reflective practice in a TESOL service-learning context. These
challenges and issues include a limited understanding of key concepts,
insufficient time allocated for reflection and teaching effective
reflective practice, reflection fatigue, shallow or unfocused
reflections lacking critical analysis, limited awareness of social
justice issues among TESOL practitioners, the constraints imposed by
traditional reflection formats, difficulties in assessing reflection,
and a lack of institutional support for service-learning and the
cultivation of a reflective culture. Keeping these challenges and
issues in mind, Macknish dedicates the following chapters to providing
potential solutions.
In Chapter 2, “Characterizing reflective practice in TESOL
service-learning”, Macknish provides a more specific examination of
reflective practice within the context of TESOL service-learning. She
thoroughly examines relevant literature on reflection in
service-learning and introduces key definitions and principles in this
field. Additionally, Macknish presents readers with a broad overview
of how reflective practice is manifested in a TESOL service-learning
context. This provides a foundation for readers to evaluate and
determine the impact of reflection in TESOL service-learning, which
sets the stage for Chapter 3.
Chapter 3, “Analyzing and assessing reflections in TESOL
service-learning”, begins by introducing the goals, outcomes, and
objectives of TESOL service-learning. It then explores the challenges
involved in analyzing and assessing reflections on service-learning.
Specifically, Macknish emphasizes that what sets TESOL
service-learning reflection apart is its ability to enable students to
reflect not only on their academic and professional skills within the
community, but also on their personal and social growth. Taking these
aspects into consideration, Macknish proceeds to present various tools
and models that can be utilized for assessing reflection. In addition
to discussing specific and practical assessment tasks, Macknish also
highlights the importance of teacher educators creating a supportive
environment where learners can reflect genuinely and openly. In this
respect, Macknish then explores possible approaches in Chapter 4.
Chapter 4, “Supporting reflective practice in TESOL service-learning”,
provides multiple tools, strategies, and frameworks for teacher
educators to guide preservice teachers in engaging in effective
reflective practice before, during, and after their service-learning
experience. Macknish explores different modes of reflection and
recommends various reflection formats, aiming to inspire teacher
educators to adapt these tools to their specific professional context.
Chapter 5, “Learning from Reflections in TESOL Service-Learning”,
explores real-life examples of reflections in their original settings.
Macknish analyzes selected excerpts of reflection in relation to the
goals of service-learning (including academic/cognitive, professional,
social/civic, and personal development) to uncover the valuable
lessons that preservice teachers can derive from them. These insights
are also valuable for TESOL teacher educators and community partners,
as they provide a deeper understanding of individuals’ thoughts,
progress, and effective practices in the realm of service-learning.
Additionally, Macknish draws on her own teaching experiences to gather
further insights on how to enhance instruction and support preservice
teachers in developing their reflective practice within a TESOL
service-learning context.
Chapter 6, “Impacts of technology on reflective practice in TESOL
service-learning”, discusses the use of technology in the digital age
to further enhance reflective practice in a TESOL service-learning
context. In addition to conventional face-to-face service-learning,
this chapter provides a relevant and timely exploration of the concept
of E-service learning. Macknish examines its effectiveness and its
practical application in real-world settings. Macknish provides a
variety of formats for virtual reflections, including virtual
dialogue, E-journal, blogs and vlogs, online discussion boards, and
E-portfolios, as well as alternative methods like E-posters, artwork,
poetry, synchronous or video-recorded role plays, and multimodal
presentations. These provide an important supplement to the existing
reflection tools that teacher educators can utilize to enhance
service-learning.
Chapter 7, “Ways forward in reflective practice in TESOL
service-learning”, concludes the book with practical suggestions as to
how teacher educators can incorporate reflective practices in TESOL
programs. These practices aim to provide better support for preservice
teachers to actively engage in the reflection process, ultimately
leading to a meaningful transformation of learning that can promote
social justice.

EVALUATION
Service-Learning has gained significant attention across various
academic disciplines in the past twenty years (Cho & Gulley, 2017). In
this book, which concerns TESOL education in specific,
service-learning refers to “a teaching and learning strategy that
integrates meaningful community service with instruction and
reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic
responsibility, and strengthen communities” (National Service-Learning
Clearinghouse, cited in Ryan, 2012, p. 4). As an essential part of
service-learning pedagogy (Macknish, 2023), reflective practice has
been a challenging topic to explore considering various definitions
and interpretations associated with it. In this book, Macknish
situates this concept within the contexts of service-learning in
TESOL. At the beginning of this book, Macknish thoroughly paints a
general picture of what service-learning is, emphasizing the relevance
and importance of incorporating service-learning into current TESOL
teacher education. The advantages of doing so are also emphasized.
These include gaining a deeper understanding, building self-awareness,
engaging in dialogue with others to expand our perspectives, and
aiding our academic, professional, social, and personal development.
Moreover, the book goes beyond a single interpretation of
service-learning and presents multiple perspectives, allowing readers
to have a general understanding of what service-learning looks like
around the world.
It is common for readers to consider the question of what qualifies as
evidence of the effectiveness of service-learning. Macknish guides
readers towards the central theme of this book—reflective
practices—with specific focus on TESOL service-learning contexts.
Simply gaining experience does not ensure learning. Instead, it is
through reflection that experience becomes meaningful. In the
literature, some researchers have proposed helpful principles as
guidance on engaging in reflective practices. For example, Farrell
(2019) has suggested six principles to guide reflective practice in
ELT. These principles emphasize that reflection should be holistic,
based on evidence, involve dialogue, connect theory and practice,
require a willingness to inquire, and become a way of life. Expanding
on the existing literature, Macknish explains how to put relevant
principles into practice in a TESOL service-learning context,
providing informative examples and self-reflection on her teaching
experiences as a TESOL teacher educator. Macknish also puts forward
four areas where reflection in service-learning can be observed. These
are: academic/cognitive development, professional development, social
development/civic engagement, and personal growth (p. 48). This serves
as guidance for interested TESOL teacher educators and other
stakeholders to implement and assess the effectiveness of reflective
practices in their own contexts.
After devoting the first two chapters to set a foundation for readers
to utilise this book, Macknish dedicates Chapters 3-6 to discussing
how teacher educators can evaluate, analyze, and incorporate this
significant pedagogical approach into teacher preparation education.
In this process, Macknish offers practical suggestions and useful
tools based on theories, her own experiences as a TESOL teacher
educator and researcher, and the advancement of technology in the
field of education. This enhances the user-friendliness and
applicability of this book. In the final chapter (Chapter 7), Macknish
prompts readers to consider the future of reflective practices in a
TESOL service-learning context, concluding the book with five
suggestions that can be implemented to further enhance the development
of reflective practice.
Although this book is most applicable for teacher educators working in
ESL contexts, those who work in EFL or EAL contexts can also utilize
the strategies, frameworks, and tools provided in this book to
customize them according to their own specific needs. This is because
Macknish acknowledges the different professional contexts of the
readers and considers this when recommending different formats for
reflective practices. As a result, the book is suitable for teacher
educators in a range of contexts.
While teacher educators may find this book particularly beneficial, as
they are the intended audience for its valuable instructional and
pedagogical suggestions on facilitating preservice teachers in
reflective practice within a TESOL service-learning context,
preservice teachers themselves can also use this concise book as a
starting point to improve their understanding of linguistically and
culturally diverse students, and to build stronger connections with
the communities with which they work.
Overall, this book not only provides practical suggestions for
implementing reflective practice in a TESOL service-learning context,
but also offers a comprehensive exploration of the topic, emphasizing
its relevance and educational value. It is a valuable resource for
professionals in the field who are looking to actively engage in
reflective practice.

REFERENCES
Cho, H., & Gulley, J. (2017). A Catalyst for Change: Service-Learning
for TESOL Graduate Students. TESOL Journal, 8(3), 613–635.
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.289
Farrell, T. S. C. (2019). Reflective practice in ELT. Equinox
Publishing.
Macknish, C. J. (2023). Reflective practice in TESOL service-learning.
Equinox Publishing.
Ryan, M. (2012). Service-Learning after learn and serve America: How
five states are moving forward. Education Commission of the States.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/02/87/10287.pdf

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Xiaohan Liu is currently a PhD candidate in Education at the
University of Exeter. Her research interests include language teacher
cognition, second language writing, TESOL/TEFOL, language teacher
education, and teacher professional development.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please consider donating to the Linguist List https://give.myiu.org/iu-bloomington/I320011968.html


LINGUIST List is supported by the following publishers:

American Dialect Society/Duke University Press http://dukeupress.edu

Bloomsbury Publishing (formerly The Continuum International Publishing Group) http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Brill http://www.brill.com

Cambridge Scholars Publishing http://www.cambridgescholars.com/

Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics

Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/

De Gruyter Mouton https://cloud.newsletter.degruyter.com/mouton

Dictionary Society of North America http://dictionarysociety.com/

Edinburgh University Press www.edinburghuniversitypress.com

Elsevier Ltd http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics

Equinox Publishing Ltd http://www.equinoxpub.com/

European Language Resources Association (ELRA) http://www.elra.info

Georgetown University Press http://www.press.georgetown.edu

John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/

Lincom GmbH https://lincom-shop.eu/

Linguistic Association of Finland http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/

MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/

Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG http://www.narr.de/

Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT) http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Oxford University Press http://www.oup.com/us

SIL International Publications http://www.sil.org/resources/publications

Springer Nature http://www.springer.com

Wiley http://www.wiley.com


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-34-3216
----------------------------------------------------------