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| ELOP, English Faculty Help LSU Newcomers Break International Barriers Jacobs’ English 1001 composition class, which was predominantly made up of LSU freshmen, needed an authentic audience for its writing. Patton’s reading class for international students needed selections that would bring them into the mainstream of American student culture. With the events of September 11 still vivid in her mind, Jacobs began to envision a collaboration of her freshman students, who were struggling with questions related to global understanding, and ELOP’s international students, who were striving to grasp American culture and the English language. Together, the two instructors designed a service-learning project and earned an LSU Service-Learning Incentive Award. Next, Jacobs’ class wrote photo caption essays to narrate memorable events in their lives, but did so in a style that would be clear to their international reading audience. “In the beginning, it would take me hours to write an adequate essay, using the language crutches ‘like’ and ‘ya’ know,’” wrote LSU freshman Ariel Stephens. “After a while, I was able to shed some of my grammatical abominations and definitely improve my writing and speaking skills.” Jacobs’ curricular focus encouraged multicultural awareness and civic learning, and Patton’s incentive provided opportunities for meaningful academic and social interaction. The combination often produced startling diversity awareness in class dialogues and written assignments. Stephens wrote that her previous cultural imprint of citizens of communist countries was set by her having watched a cartoon of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. After several interview sessions with Anna Frindt, an ELOP student and M.B.A. candidate from Poland, Stephens’ thought process became more comprehensive. “After my experiences with Anna,” Stephens wrote, “I now think more critically about the assumptions I have of other cultures.” Jacobs’ and Patton’s students shared 20 hours of class time, but as the semester progressed, friendships began to develop and class experiences flowed into social events. ELOP students invited the English 1001 students to a potluck supper at the International Cultural Center, where dishes as diverse as Venezuelan Arepas, which are stuffed corn flour tortillas, and Louisiana pecan pies were shared. ELOP students then reciprocated with presentations from Paula Fonseca, a dentist from Costa Rica, and Sara Hernandez, an executive from Mexico, who gave poster sessions on business protocol in their cultures. Jacobs and Patton are currently co-evaluating their service-learning project and delivered a collaborative presentation for the Gulf Coast Summit on Service Learning earlier this year at the University of Southern Mississippi. Written by Margaret Jo Borland, Related Links: Deptartment of English |
Not
long after Denise Jacobs joined the 
As
an early assignment, Jacobs’ English 1001 students wrote letters
of personal introduction to their ELOP readers and interviewed the
ELOP students. This exchange was the first step in alleviating the
cultural isolation between the two groups. 
After
the service-learning project was completed, Jacobs’ and Patton’s
students continued to meet beyond the requirements of their respective
classes. In Jacobs’ business writing class, American students
captivated an ELOP audience with a play by-play explanation of American
football and a description of tailgating. The students then made
their presentation available to the 
