This presentation shows the reaction of EFL students at Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, towards social justice projects implemented in the language classroom. It reflects how students improved their language proficiency, developed leadership and interpersonal skills and demonstrated positive attitudes while conducting social projects.

1. Olga Chaves Carballo, Ph.D. Nuria Villalobos Ulate , M.A. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Escuela de Literatura y Ciencias del Lenguaje Re-imagining the Classroom through Social Justice Projects: Portraying Students’ Attitudes

2. Universidad Nacional (Costa Rica)

14. Students’ Social Justice Projects

15. Samples of Student-Documentaries

19. TSA Participants

24. “ TSA has been an amazing experience that has given to me a lot of happiness and I think that it has made me be a better person .” Sofía Avenda ño “ The project contributed to build new opportunities and a better future for orphan girls. The most beautiful feeling that I experienced was to give my affection to them because they need love.” Ana Beatri z Arguello “ This project was the difference in this semester, and of course, I love it , I think that working with children, especially when you know that they come from broken homes or problematic families and you can do something for them, is amazing, I have never felt something like that and I wish that I could keep working with this because for me it was an amazing experience, and I am sure my classmates loved it too .” Jonathan Porras

25. “ The social project, Remembering our Grandparents, improved my writing skills and enhanced my speaking skills. But the most essential thing is that it made me a better person. Working with old people taught me values, patience and appreciation of life. I realized that I can make a difference in people’s life. It also taught me things that nobody could ever teach me in a class , I could just learn it by myself. So after finishing this project I felt very pleasant and satisfied because of all the laughter and happy faces that the elders showed me that this project was really worth it”. Priscilla Morera

26. Social Project: A Lesson of Life “ In this semester, in the English course, the teacher told us that we had to work on a social project. At the beginning I did not want to because I thought I did not have time to do it, but when my classmates and I were planning the activity, I thought that it was a good experience. In this moment I learned that the university is not just for studying a major, but also for growing as a person ” . María José Jara

27. Integrated English I: International Relations Major

28. Pronunciation Vowels: English Major

29. Integrated English I : English Teaching in Elementary School Major