Incorporating Mindfulness into EFL Literature Courses to Foster Critical Reading

Abstract

Recently, educators are becoming interested in exploring the use of mindfulness-based approaches to learning and teaching a foreign language. Through these approaches they tend to reduce stress (for teachers and students alike), enhance and improve classroom atmosphere, and help students to focus their attention, and even think more clearly (Tregenza, 2008; Yager, 2009; Collins et al., 2011). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of mindfulness techniques on the development of critical reading abilities of EFL learners in literature courses. Although much research has been conducted in the realm of mindfulness and positive effects are reported on stress reduction, relaxed environment, and so forth, research on the role of mindfulness in students' critical reading performance is scarce. To this end, a quasi-experimental study was undertaken with the participation of 35 BA students (both male and female) majoring in English language and literature. The participants were divided into two groups of mindful and less mindful students based on their scores on Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Data were collected while students were engaged in some mindfulness techniques before they performed different forms of critical reading activities. A critical reading test was used as pre and posttest to investigate the gain in critical reading ability, if any, after the treatment. Paired-samples T-test through SPSS software was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of pre-test and post-test of all the participants. However, since both meditative and socio-cognitive mindfulness practice was utilized in this study, further research is required to shed light on the nature of mindfulness in some new ways and explore the differential effects of these two approaches. Overall, the findings of this study will be beneficial for teachers to be aware of some mindfulness techniques and use them in their classes in order to give students the opportunity of learning in a more relaxed and focused environment.