LEARNER PERSONALITY AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN EFL SERVICE-LEARNING COURSES AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

Abstract

Service learning has become an important teaching tendency in higher education by linking academic knowledge with community engagement. At the same time, understanding of personality traits such as introversion and extroversion is crucial for inclusive teaching, as in reality, student diversity often brings about teaching challenges. For instance, introverts may struggle with communication while extroverts engage more easily. To balance the learning environment, thus, this requires teachers to design activities that support all learners and engage them in lessons. At the same time, studies show that innovative methods can enhance students’ confidence, communication, and participation. Service learning, inevitably, reshapes traditional instruction by emphasizing collaboration, reflection, and differentiated activities, and personality awareness is assumed to be able to foster a learning environment and ensure fairness. This writing, thus, reviews the definition and benefits of service learning, explores introversion and extroversion, and then proposes teaching implications for inclusive learning environments. The study also highlights how experiential strategies prepare students for future collaboration while promoting meaningful outcomes for both learners and communities.