Degree Name

Department

Linguistics

College

Humanities

Defense Date

2023-07-27

Publication Date

2023-08-04

First Faculty Advisor

Mark Tanner

First Faculty Reader

Ben McMurry

Honors Coordinator

Don Chapman

Keywords

mindfulness, intervention, ESL, EFL, perceptions

Abstract

Mindfulness has received increased attention in recent years in educational contexts as a tool to help students mitigate negative emotions, enhance resilience, and improve academic performance (Dawson et al., 2020; Galante et al., 2018). Although interventions teaching principles of mindfulness have flourished in elementary schools and university contexts (Felver et al., 2016; Ma et al., 2019), limited research has looked at the effects of mindfulness interventions in ESL (English as a Second Language) educational contexts. This thesis details a study investigating student perceptions of the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in an Intensive English Program (IEP) for nonmatriculated university students over the course of one semester of instruction. The interventions were carried out once a week for 13 weeks through a 65-minute lesson. Each lesson elaborated on a principle of mindfulness related to students’ experience learning a language in a foreign country, such as cultural mindfulness and selfcompassion. A total of 107 students and 6 teachers in eight different ESL classes participated. Students’ English proficiency ranged from Intermediate Low to Intermediate High based on ACTFL proficiency guidelines. The intervention was carried out completely in English, and was integrated into the students’ regular English curriculum. Teachers were given the flexibility to decide how to best incorporate the mindfulness lessons into their class. To determine the perceived effects of mindfulness lessons, focus group interviews were held during week 13 of the semester with the participating classes where students were asked about their experiences with the mindfulness lessons. The qualitative interview comments were analyzed following a phenomenological approach (Groenewald, 2004) in an effort to understand how students perceived their learning experience. The qualitative comments suggest that students’ overall reaction to the mindfulness intervention was positive, highlighting benefits to both their emotional “toolbox” and their classroom experience. The results, however, also indicated that some students were not without reservations to whether or not the mindfulness intervention was effective. The study also provides implications of this research for incorporating mindfulness instruction into the ESL classroom.