Citizen service

Teacher(s)

De Cock Sylvie (coordinator);

Language

French

Main themes

The Service Citoyen (Citizen Service) is a civic-minded and commitment-oriented experience connected with the Master's degree in multilingual communication. Service Citoyen missions are available in Belgium in the following sectors: aid to people and solidarity, access to culture and education, environment and climate, and education through sport (https://service-citoyen.be/).

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
Participation in the Service Citoyen (Citizen Service) will enable students to :
1	Get involved for six months in projects that are useful to society while benefiting from citizenship training
2	Foster personal development (maturation, transition to working life, acquisition of new skills, soft skills, …)
3	Increase social cohesion (socio-cultural mix, inclusion, diversity, equal opportunities, …)
4	Encourage commited citizenship (commitment, responsibility, knowledge of rights and duties, understanding society’s issues, democratic participation, …)
5	Foster solidarity (social value, aid to people, intergenerational solidarity, mutual aid, fight against isolation and poverty, …)
6	Apply in a practical way the concepts and theories learned in their language and general (business communication) courses and 6.1 Be able to devise and implement context-appropriate communication strategies ; 6.2 Have the ability to communicate, orally and in writing, with ease (in at least one of the major languages), in a clear, structured, well-argued manner in line with the communication standards specific to the context. The spoken and written contributions will be tailored to the target audience and objectives ; 6.3 Be able to engage in respectful and constructive dialogue and interaction with different types of people (from various socio-cultural backgrounds, positions, spheres of action and areas of expertise), demonstrating active listening skills, an open mind, detachment and assertiveness ; 6.4 Have effective teamwork skills (in a national and multicultural environment) and demonstrate leadership ability when necessary ; 6.5 Be able to use their knowledge about the economic, legal, social and political situation gained thanks to the various courses on the programme to analyse and cast a critical eye on the major social issues debated as well as on the situations in which students will play an active role to allow them to find their position and take relevant, well-thought-out action ; 6.6 Understand their own role within the organization and exercise it in line with the organization’s operating policies and specific environment ; 6.7 Be able to combine the theory and practical skills they have learned in order to critically analyse the workings of an organization and one or more of the issues it faces, as well as how theory compares to reality (alternating between theory and practice) ; 6.8 Be able to take a critical look at their own skills (including their language skills) and independently seek out ways and opportunities to improve these skills as part of a continuous learning programme that will be vital to further their social and professional development.

Content

Within the framework of the Service Citoyen, students will participate in activities and/or projects that will enable them to apply the theoretical concepts acquired in the language and general (business communication) courses of the Master's degree in multilingual communication. During these activities, the students need to use at least one of their major languages on a daily basis. They need to write and orally defend a report on the Service Citoyen (cf. evaluation methods). The report must respect the scientific and bibliographical conventions of the discipline.

Evaluation methods

The Service Citoyen will be evaluated by means of a detailed report (8,000-10,000 words) and an oral defence (a 5-minute PowerPoint presentation and a 5-minute question and answer session). The report and oral defence must be in one of the student's major languages and will be evaluated by a tutor (teacher) appointed by the master committee.
The evaluation will focus on 
- the student’s ability to produce a relevant and well-documented description of the organisation in which the Service Citoyen was carried out, the objectives of the Service Citoyen, and the various activities or projects in which the student participated
- the student's reflection on the application of what was learned at university in the context of actions carried out during the Service Citoyen and on the contribution of these concrete actions to his/her training
- the quality of the written and oral language and the appropriateness of the written formulation and oral presentation.
The final mark for the Service Citoyen is the weighted mean of the following two marks: a mark out of 50 for the written report and a mark out of 50 for the oral defence.
/!\ Students who get a fail mark for the report or for the oral defence will get a fail mark overall. 

Other information

The work placement must be carried out in the academic year in which it is included in the student's annual programme.
Under no circumstances may it be carried out during the months of July and August preceding the academic year in which the student registers for the EAP.

Faculty or entity

> ELAL