Psychological Mindedness in ELT: Exploring Contributions of Comparative Literature to Pre-Service English Language Teachers' Psychological Mindedness

Abstract

This qualitative research aimed to explore the significance of the development of psychological mindedness, especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic, for pre-service English Language Teachers and the use of comparative literature to facilitate it. The research was conducted in the context of an undergraduate ELT program in Turkey and data was gathered through narrative inquiry at the end of the semester under the title of a selected literature course. Thematic analysis of the collected 39 narrative frames shed light on the development of pre-service teachers’ psychological mindedness which emerged in three overarching themes; self-awareness, empathy, and the importance of mental and physical well-being of a teacher which are all the necessary conditions for psychological mindedness. Findings suggest that these pre-service teachers were strongly influenced by the comparative analysis of the literary texts that facilitated the development of psychological mindedness.