A case of Integrating Language Learning Material Design Course into Revitalizing a Degraded Residential Urban Neighborhood through the University Social Responsibility Program

Abstract

The Ministry of Education of Taiwan promotes the University Social Responsibility program (USR), encourages universities to fulfill their social responsibilities by conducting renewing and reconstructing nearby degrading communities. Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU), located in Taoyuan, Taiwan, picked up an adjacent Xiao-Li community as a target. For many years, CYCU has invested manpower and budgets from many departments in the College of Design, the Department of Environmental Engineering in the College of Science, and the Department of Teaching Chinese as a second language (TCSL) in the College of Humanities and Education. Based on the research, some community services were then established, community culture and environment were preserved and renewed, the results provide magnificent supports for the sustainable development of the community. In TCSL department, a two-semester course titled “Interactive Chinese Learning material Design” was integrated into the USR program. The research results of the community from each department was taken as parts of the reading resource of the course. Students have to study it, to go to the community, and to rewrite it into the form of game style tour guides, digital novels, or even second language reading materials focus on the trip to the community. The results show the students are more aware of the history and environment preservation issues after the project.