Article Sidebar

Submitted
April 30, 2025
Accepted
May 27, 2025
Published
June 30, 2025
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 54 Download : 19

Main Article Content

Abstract

This article examines the involvement of local actors in international volunteering settings, exploring the perspectives of receiving partners of the German weltwärts program in Jalisco, Mexico. It concentrates on local partners’ assistance with volunteers’ local language learning, which tends to be commonly envisioned as a spontaneously acquired by-product of the volunteering sojourns and overlooked as an intentional and collective effort. The study also provides insight into the significance the respondents attribute to language-related activities in shaping volunteers’ and their own positioning during the sojourns. By supporting volunteers’ Spanish acquisition and reflecting on this process, the receiving partners acknowledge themselves as active organizers of volunteering spaces; they exert agency in a context of postcolonial assumptions that still shape the institutional architecture of development volunteering programs and tend to portray the local hosts as passive aid receivers. Their agentive perspective enables a nuanced quotidian reflection on volunteering as an intercultural encounter, highlighting the essential role of language in it.

Keywords

agency intercultural encounter international volunteering local language learning receiving partners

Article Details

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Joanna Jabłońska-Bayro

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

TCE (INSTED) is an open access journal, which means that access to the full texts is free of charge. People using the journal may download publications, copy and print them, as well as post on their websites links to the full texts of the journal's publications. Texts can be used as long as readers do not exceed the licenses. Authors submitting manuscripts for publication obtain copyrights. Unless otherwise specified, published texts are available under the Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike 4.0 International license.

How to Cite
Jabłońska-Bayro, J. (2025). Language, Agency, and Intercultural Encounters: The Perspectives of Development Volunteers’ Receiving Partners in Jalisco, Mexico. INSTED: Interdisciplinary Studies in Education & Society, 27(1), 9–31. https://doi.org/10.34862/tce.2025.1.4
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

References

  1. Ayres, L. (n.d.). Thematic coding and analysis. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (pp. 867–868). SAGE Publications.
  2. Baker, W. (2012). From cultural awareness to intercultural awareness: Culture in ELT. ELT Journal, 66(1), 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccr017
  3. Benaquisto, L. (n.d.). Selective coding. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (pp. 805–806). SAGE Publications.
  4. Betthyány, K. (2020). Miradas latinoamericanas a los cuidados. Siglo XXI.
  5. Boylan, M., Feagan, R., & Latta, A. (2020). Host community impacts: Learning from the families of Habitat for Humanity’s Global Villages Program in El Salvador. Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d’études du développement, 41(4), 580–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2020.1795632
  6. Canagarajah, S. (2013). Agency and power in intercultural communication: Negotiating English in translocal spaces. Language and Intercultural Communication, 13(2), 202–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2013.770867
  7. Chen, J. (2021). The cosmopolitan local: Rethinking international volunteering through partner perspectives. Geoforum, 126, 322–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.07.028
  8. Crewe, E., & Axelby, R. (2013). Anthropology and development: Culture, morality and politics in a globalised world. Cambridge University Press.
  9. Crush, J. (Ed.). (1995). Power of development. Routledge.
  10. Doerr, N. (2012). Do ‘global citizens’ need the parochial cultural other? Discourse of immersion in study abroad and learning-by-doing. Compare: A Journal of Comparative Education, 43(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2012.701852
  11. Doerr, N. (2014). Learner subjects in study abroad: Discourse of immersion, hierarchy of experience and their subversion through situated learning. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 36(3), 369–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2013.871448
  12. Eriksson Baaz, M. (2005). The paternalism of partnership: A postcolonial reading of identity in development aid. Zed Books.
  13. Everingham, P. (2015). Intercultural exchange and mutuality in volunteer tourism: The case of intercambio in Ecuador. Tourist Studies, 15(2), 175–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797614563435
  14. Fee, A., & Gray, S. A. (2013). Transformational learning experiences of international development volunteers in the Asia-Pacific: The case of a multinational NGO. Journal of World Business, 48(2), 196–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.004
  15. Fischer, J., & Haas, B. (2020). Entwicklungspolitische Freiwilligendienste im internationalen Vergleich: Governance und Regulierung bei Norec, Peace Corps, ICS und Weltwärts. In Voluntaris: Journal für Freiwilligendienste, Special Issue 2020, 161–175. Nomos.
  16. Fuchs, L. (2020). Disciplining global citizens: The relationship of hosts and volunteers in development volunteering. In Voluntaris: Journal für Freiwilligendienste, Special Issue 2020, 149–160. Nomos.
  17. Geis, N., & Lipsch, L. (2020). Ein „Premium”-Dienst? Vergleichende Perspektiven von Aufnahmeorganisationen in Nicaragua auf Weltwärts und Voluntourismus. In Voluntaris: Journal für Freiwilligendienste, Special Issue 2020, 176–188. Nomos.
  18. Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. University of California Press.
  19. Haas, B. (2020). Ambivalenz der Gegenseitigkeit: Reziprozität und Postkolonialismus in entwicklungspolitischen Freiwilligendiensten. Nomos.
  20. Hall, S. (1997). The spectacle of the ‘Other’. In S. Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 223–276). Sage Publications.
  21. Hallberg, L. R. M. (2006). The “core category” of grounded theory: Making constant comparisons. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 1(3), 141–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482620600858399
  22. Heller, M., & Duchêne, A. (2012). Pride and profit: Changing discourses of language, capital, and nation-state. In A. Duchêne & M. Heller (Eds.), Language in late capitalism: Pride and profit (pp. 1–19). Routledge.
  23. Holliday, A. (2022). Searching for a third-space methodology to contest essentialist large-culture blocks. Language and Intercultural Communication, 22(3), 367–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2022.2036180
  24. Jabłońska-Bayro, J., & Haas, B. (2024). Weaving a dense web: A (decolonial) study into the contributions of host organizations of development volunteers in Jalisco, Mexico. Progress in Development Studies, 24(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/14649934231202665
  25. Jakubiak, C. (2016). Ambiguous aims: English-language voluntourism as development. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 15(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2016.1195270
  26. Johnson, M., & Majewska, D. (2022). Formal, non-formal, and informal learning: What are they, and how can we research them? Cambridge University Press & Assessment Research Report. Cambridge Press.
  27. Kapoor, I. (2008). The postcolonial politics of development. Routledge.
  28. Kontzi, K. (2015). Postkoloniale Perspektiven auf "weltwärts": Ein Freiwilligendienst in weltbürgerlicher Absicht. Nomos.
  29. Lough, B. J., & Tiessen, R. (2018). How do international volunteering characteristics influence outcomes? Perspectives from partner organizations. Voluntas, 29, 104–118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-017-9855-0
  30. Macías, H. (2023). Language as a marker of cultural identity and commodification: The language socialization practices of multilingual, Latina/Mexican American mothers. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 20(1), 77–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2022.2102010
  31. Mignolo, W. D. (2000). Local histories/global designs: Coloniality, subaltern knowledges, and border thinking. Princeton University Press.
  32. Mueller, F. (2020). Zur subjektiven Bedeutung von internationalem freiwilligen Engagement aus der Sicht ehemaliger Freiwilliger: Ein Literaturüberblick im Forschungsfeld. In Voluntaris: Journal für Freiwilligendienste, Special Issue 2020, 52–62. Nomos.
  33. Niño-Murcia, M. (2003). “English is like the dollar”: Hard currency ideology and the status of English in Peru. World Englishes, 22(2), 121–141. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.2003.22.issue-2
  34. Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America. Nepantla: Views from South, 1(3), 533–580.
  35. Repenning, A. (2016). Warum machen sie da(s) mit? Motivationen und Sichtweisen von weltwärts-Partnerorganisationen im Globalen Süden—Eine explorative Studie in Lima, Peru. Voluntaris, 4(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.5771/2196-3886-2016-1-46
  36. Ryan, S., & Mercer, S. (2011). Natural talent, natural acquisition and abroad: Learner attributions of agency in language learning. In G. Murray, X. Gao, & T. Lamb (Eds.), Identity, motivation and autonomy in language learning (pp. 160–176). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847693747-012
  37. Schedel, L. S. (2022). The price of immersion: Language learners as a cheap workforce in Malta’s voluntourism industry. Multilingua, 41(2), 181–200. https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2020-0178
  38. Scheinert, L., Guffler, K., Polak, J. T., & Bruder, M. (2019). International development volunteering: An instrument for promoting education in line with the Sustainable Development Goals? International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 11(1), 4–28. https://doi.org/10.18546/IJDEGL.11.1.02
  39. Sinervo, A. (2023). Translating the value of global languages: Learning/teaching Spanish/English within volunteer tourism in Cusco, Peru. In L. S. Schedel & C. Jakubiak (Eds.), Voluntourism and language learning/teaching (Palgrave Advances in Language and Linguistics, pp. [chapter pages not listed]). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40813-7_4
  40. Thomas-Maude, J., McLennan, S., & Walters, V. (2021). Cultural exchange during English-language voluntourism (EVT) in Lima, Peru: A postcolonial analysis. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 23(4), 450–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2021.1991802
  41. Tiessen, R. (2018). Learning and volunteering abroad for development: Unpacking host organization and volunteer rationales. Routledge.
  42. Tiessen, R., Lough, B. J., & Grantham, K. (Eds.). (2018). Insights on international volunteering: Perspectives from the Global South. Nomos.
  43. Tiessen, R., Cassin, K., & Lough, B. J. (2021). International development volunteering as a catalyst for long-term prosocial behaviors of returned Canadian volunteers. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 16(1), 95–114. https://doi.org/10.1386/ctl_00048_1
  44. Viquez, F. (2018). Costa Rica: Improving communication, language acquisition and the quest for improved understanding of needs and priorities. In R. Tiessen, B. J. Lough, & K. E. Grantham (Eds.), Insights on international volunteering: Perspectives from the Global South (pp. 49–60). Nomos.
  45. Vorstermans, J., & MacDonald, K. (2022). Essential participants: Centering the experiences of Southern hosts in global service-learning pedagogy and practice. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal on Study Abroad, 34(3). https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v34i3.666
  46. weltwärts. (n.d.). Facts and figures about weltwärts. Retrieved June 24, 2025, from https://www.weltwaerts.de/de/presse.html
  47. weltwärts. (2024). Guideline for implementing the weltwärts development volunteer service. Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved June 24, 2025, from https://www.weltwaerts.de/files/media/dokumente_dc/de/Organisationen/Nord-Sued-Komponente/Foerderleitlinie-weltwaerts-Freiwilligendienst-2024-en.pdf
  48. Zhou, V. X., & Pilcher, N. (2018). ‘Intercultural competence’ as an intersubjective process: A reply to ‘essentialism’. Language and Intercultural Communication, 18(1), 125–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2017.1400510
  49. Ziai, A. (2015). Development discourse and global history: From colonialism to the Sustainable Development Goals. Taylor & Francis.