English Language Journal Vol 4, (2011) 67-74 ISSN 1823 6820

INTRODUCTION

Many ESL students even at the tertiary level are fearful or reluctant to speak in English. Kaufman and Lionel (2000) conclude that reluctance to communicate in English is common place among ESL learners. Many students become literally speechless when they are placed to speak in public. One of the reasons is they lack the skill and confidence to do so and become apprehensive. A high rate of communication apprehension can impact on a persons behavior, relationships, the perception of others, occupational choices and employment opportunities as well as education. Therefore ESL students should be given the opportunities to participate in English language based activities that provide them a chance to practice speaking in English, especially in authentic situations. THE BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE TUTORING PROJECTS A cross-age tutoring community service refers to an older person or student with a higher level of expertise or competency in a specific skill (such as an English language skill) providing a tutoring service for free (as a community service) to a younger one in order to help the less-skilled, younger person enhance his or her language skill. Involving university students in a community service project such as one which provides a cross-age tutoring service to some primary school students is a good move which can bring some positive outcomes not just to the tutees (the primary school students) but to the tutors (the university students) involved as well, especially in terms of their (the tutors) own communication skills in English. Evidently cross-age tutoring brings a lot of benefits not just to the tutees but to the tutors as well. Greenwood et. al (1988) emphasized three commonly cited benefits which are the learning of academic skills including language communication, the development of social behavior and classroom discipline. One of the reasons that cross-age
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English Language Journal Vol 4, (2011) 67-74 ISSN 1823 6820

tutoring works well may be that the young tutors and tutees speak a more similar language than do adult teachers and students. According to Hedin (1987) the tutees who are being taught by a peer or someone closer in age to them feel freer to express opinions, ask questions and risk untested solutions. The interaction between instructor and pupils is more balanced and lively; therefore, this situation then stimulates the tutors to communicate well with the tutees. The feeling of being accepted by their tutees encouraged the tutors to speak using the target language which then will significantly improve their speaking performance. Researchers have discovered significant beneficial effects on the English language skills achievement of tutors (Rekrut, 1992). The language areas examined include English speaking skills with a marked improvement in terms of grammar, comprehension (task fulfillment), acquisition of vocabulary and fluency (communicative ability). The positive results were found for both short and long term tutoring involving secondary and elementary school students. Being able to practice using the target language such as English in an authentic classroom situation helps to further improve the tutors language skill, particularly their speaking performance. Therefore, the act of tutoring, particularly crossage tutoring among ESL students should be looked upon as a valuable alternative to language teaching and as one of the means in enhancing ESL students English performance, especially in terms of their speaking skills. A study of the benefits of community service was carried out using as subjects some university students (Astin and Vogelgesang:2001). The students who worked on the community service were found to produce better academic performance especially in social studies including English communication. The subjects were also found to be very motivated to be involved in future projects on community service as they experienced a marked improvement in their social and communication skills. Eyler and Giles (2000) suggest that students involved in community service are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to increase their level of involvement in the
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English Language Journal Vol 4, (2011) 67-74 ISSN 1823 6820

community which then helps to enhance their communication skills. Therefore, community service projects provide students with an opportunity to learn English beyond the bounds of the traditional classrooms and give them ample chance to increase their skills in using English. Noriah et al. (2006) conducted a study which assessed the impact of community service on tertiary students ESL speaking performance. The study focused on pre and posttest research in which a group of student facilitators from UiTM Johor were pre-tested on their speaking skills. The facilitators speaking samples were evaluated based on MUET (Malaysian University English Test) speaking components. After the evaluation, the subjects were then involved in the universitys community service project on cross-age tutoring that required them to provide English lessons for some selected primary school students. After the project, the subjects were asked to sit for a post-test. The results revealed significant improvements in terms of the student facilitators task fulfillment, communicative ability as well as the overall speaking performance of the tutored students. Overall, extensive research in the area of English speaking performance relating to cross-age tutoring is still few and far between, particularly in an ESL context. Therefore, results from this study hopefully will provide further insights into this particular area.
THE RESEARCH

The objectives of the study were to analyze ESL student facilitators perceptions of cross-age tutoring (a community service project) and to discover how the project benefits them. The project was organized by UiTM Johor researchers. The student facilitators were 32 undergraduate students from the UiTM Johor University who volunteered for the cross-age tutoring project. The project required the student facilitators to provide English lessons for two hours once a week for a duration of four months for some selected primary school students from Sek. Keb. Melayu Raya, Johor. After
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English Language Journal Vol 4, (2011) 67-74 ISSN 1823 6820

the project the subjects were asked to participate in a set of questionnaires and some interview questions in order to analyze their feelings regarding their involvement in the community service project and how it benefited them in terms of their ESL speaking and communication skills and their attitude towards the English language. The students were also asked to record their thoughts and feelings in an essay which was analyzed descriptively and qualitatively.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The major findings from the questionnaires revealed that: i. Almost all of the students (95.5%) agreed that that the community service project was useful as it gave them a chance to speak English in an authentic situation. ii. The majority of the students (72.2%) claimed that after the project, they have more confidence to speak in English. iii. The Tutoring Project for most (91%) made them feel more motivated to improve their spoken English. iv. Because of the success of the project, the students (77.4%) feel more interested to join in a similar project in future. Analysis of the data from the interview revealed that most of the students feel that the community service project was beneficial to them. 1. In terms of the benefits of the community service projects, the students revealed that the project gave them a chance to speak English in an authentic situation for example: a. The project gave me a chance to practice speaking in front of real students, a real audience. b. After the project I feel my spoken English is so much better. It gave me a chance to improve my speaking skills when I taught the students.
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English Language Journal Vol 4, (2011) 67-74 ISSN 1823 6820

c. It is one way that we can practice our English speaking skills. 2. The students mentioned that the project made them feel less afraid and more confident to speak English: a. Before the project I was not confident to speak. After teaching the students for more than a month I now feel that I can manage to say a lot of things in English without being afraid to be laughed at. b. I need to face more than 20 students every time I teach English. Their level is lower so I feel more confident. It helps to boost my confidence to speak English with others now. c. Even though I still speak broken English I no longer am afraid to talk in English now. 3. The tertiary students feel that by facilitating the students, they are able to improve their English speaking skills: a. It is a win-win situation for the students as well as to us. I think I also improve my English when I do a lot of revising and planning for the class I need to teach. b. I feel that being the facilitator and tutor in the project has helped me become more competent in English speaking skills. c. Yes, I think it has helped me improve my public speaking skill. I was a poor public speaker before. 4. The student tutors also claimed that they become more motivated to speak in English and improve themselves after the project: a. Most of all, I feel more motivated to speak and try to improve myself after the project. b. The good thing about the project is I have become more interested to speak and my speaking has become better. c. Its great the way it encourages me to speak more.
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English Language Journal Vol 4, (2011) 67-74 ISSN 1823 6820

5. In addition to English speaking skills, the student facilitators also mentioned that being the tutors for the project helps them to improve their overall communication skill: a. During the project we were given a lot of guidance and tips on how to communicate well with the students. b. Being a tutor can train us to improve our overall communication skill. c. It helped me to improve my interpersonal and communication skills with others. 6. The students claimed that their attitude towards speaking has improved after the project: a. The project helped to change my attitude towards speaking. Before I thought it was not so important compared to writing skill. Now I understand. b. Before I was lazy to speak and felt I no need to improve until after I graduated, now I know it is very important to be a good English speaker. c. After the project I feel more motivated and interested to speak more and improve myself.
CONCLUSION

All ESL tertiary students should be given a chance to enhance their English speaking skills through authentic speaking activities that will help them to be more fluent and also more confident to face the public once they graduate. Speaking practice only within the classroom context is insufficient, especially if it is meant only for exam purposes. Therefore, getting ESL students to be involved in a community service project that can encourage them to communicate well is a very good move as the study has proven. What is more if it stimulates the students desire to contribute to society and turns them into a more responsible and caring future generation.

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