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LANGUAGE
TEACHING
RESEARCH
https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820934624
Language Teaching Research
2023, Vol. 27(1) 96 –114
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1362168820934624
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Mindfulness in the foreign
language classroom: Influence
on academic achievement and
awareness
Luisa Zeilhofer
Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan
Abstract
Incorporating mindfulness into education has been linked to improving academic, social and
emotional learning. This article describes an investigation of the implementation of meditative
practices in a foreign language setting (German). Two classes underwent distinct varieties of
meditation: The count-to-ten method and the guided meditation approach, whereas a third class
served as a comparison group by not partaking in meditative activities. Meditative practices were
implemented for a period of one year and data were collected on students’ academic achievement,
measures of mindfulness, and evaluations of their perspectives on meditative practices. Results
revealed that classes in the treatment conditions showed marked signs of academic achievement
and increased awareness relative to the comparison group. Differences were revealed between
the two meditation methods in terms of distinct aspects of mindfulness as measured by the
five-facet mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ). In addition, students showed a positive disposition
towards meditative practices in general, which was measured by a new developed instrument: the
five spheres of meditation experience survey (FSMES). Results suggest that meditative practices
may play a role in designing and developing novel pedagogical practices.
Keywords
foreign language learning, German, higher education, meditation, mindfulness, second language
acquisition
I The importance of meditation
Meditation is a practice stemming from ancient times, mostly associated with Eastern
religious traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also employed as a spiritual
practice in the West, e.g. Christianity, although the foundational philosophies of the
Corresponding author:
Luisa Zeilhofer, Kyoto University, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Yoshidanihonmatsucho, Sakyo
Ward, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
Email: zeilhofer.luisa.8e@kyoto-u.ac.jp
934624LTR0010.1177/1362168820934624Language Teaching ResearchZeilhofer
research-article2020
Article
Zeilhofer 97
practices may differ. Recently, it has found its way into mainstream culture, being prac-
ticed in a variety of contexts. Meditation is used in both the physical and mental thera-
peutic fields and, in business, as a compliment to exercise, and as a method to engage
in self-improvement. Meditation was first introduced into psychology in the English
version of Suzuki’s (1934) Introduction to Zen Buddhism, the preface of which was
written by the well-known psychologist Carl Jung. From then on, a field of research
emerged which investigates mindfulness and its related practices. In the past few dec-
ades, meditative practices have also been employed in the educational arena as well, as
programs that target learners with specific needs, or employed directly in the classroom.
Research investigating effectiveness has accompanied such instances, from which
much empirical evidence has been gathered that speaks to both mindfulness practices’
versatility in its application as well as the results that such practices bring forth in the
attainment of specific educational goals. This article aims to add to the expanding
research on mindfulness practices, reporting on the implementation of meditation in the
foreign language classroom.
II Literature review
1 Definitions of mindfulness
This section will explore the concept of mindfulness as well as the practice of medita-
tion. While in many descriptions, including ones found in the academic literature, mind-
fulness practices and meditation are often conflated, this article will use mindfulness to
refer to a particular state of mind. On the other hand, meditation will refer to one of many
practices that helps enhance the aforementioned state.
Mindfulness usually refers to a state of wielding awareness and attention (Bodhi,
2000). Certain definitions highlight an individual’s ability to consider the current situa-
tion (Kabat-Zinn, 1990), that is ‘to be in the moment’. Mindfulness has also been con-
ceptualized as a set of skills (Dimidjian & Linehan, 2003) and as a way to self-regulate
attention (Bishop et al., 2004), especially as this capacity relates to present circumstances
(Brown & Ryan, 2003). An important aspect of all definitions seems to be the non-
judgmental nature of mindfulness, as if an individual were a non-biased observer (e.g.
Buchheld et al., 2001; Cardaciotto et al., 2008; Kabat-Zinn, 1994).
Since its inception into psychology, many models have been constructed to attempt to
either describe mindfulness in a more specific fashion or to effectively measure it for
empirical purposes. For example, Dimidjian and Linehan (2003) divide the construct
into two sets of three qualities, with one set relating to the actions of practicing mindful-
ness (observing/noticing, describing/labeling, and participating) and the other set relat-
ing to how these actions are performed (non-judgmentally, with a focus on the present
moment, and effectively). Leary et al. (2007) also offer their own take, describing five
components including mindful attention, diminished self-talk, non-judgment, non-doing,
and a set of metaphysical or ethical beliefs. Chadwick et al. (2008) describe four compo-
nents: decentered awareness, maintaining attention during difficult moments, acceptance
of difficult thoughts, and experiencing different cognitions without reaction. From these
definitions emerge common themes, with a consensus that mindfulness is a state of mind
98 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
in which one is observing one’s own actions in a way that is detached and non-reaction-
ary and, most notably, with an emphasis on utilizing one’s awareness and attention.
The above frameworks, derived from theory, have influenced a number of measures
that have been created to collect empirical data from certain populations (1) to either
determine whether mindfulness is a valid construct or assuming the construct is already
valid, and (2) to measure how it is affected in certain situations or under certain prac-
tices. An example of one used for therapeutic practices is Neff’s (2003) self-compassion
scale, which divides self-compassion into sets of contrasting opponents (e.g. self-kind-
ness vs. self judgment). The most prominent scale used is called the five-facet mindful-
ness questionnaire (FFMQ), constructed by Baer et al. (2006). The FFMQ identifies
five key facets of mindfulness, which include non-reactivity to inner experiences,
observing/noticing, acting with awareness, describing, and non-judgment of experi-
ence. This particular study chooses to look at the FFMQ because of its prominence.
2 Self-regulation and its relationship to mindfulness
Self-regulation has been a subject of intense scrutiny in general psychology, education
and, recently, in applied linguistics, with various models that seek to describe and define
it emerging in all these fields. Originally stemming from a social cognitivist field of
mainstream psychology as represented by Bandura (1986) and Zimmerman (1998), it
has made its way into second language acquisition (SLA) theory as a way to describe
how language acquisition takes place (e.g. Dörnyei, 2005), as well as being researched
in a more empirical matter (e.g. Tseng et al., 2006). Initially, Bandura (1986) proposed
an understanding of self-regulation under his theory of self-efficacy, referring to how one
perceives one’s ability to plan, conduct, and act in regards to the performance of a given
task. At the same time, this theory also attempted to deepen our understanding of motiva-
tion, a concept that underpinned and informed many pedagogical practices, including
those that were prevalent in SLA. Self-regulation, in this theory, would not be the percep-
tion of the aforementioned abilities, but the actual processes that underlie the abilities
themselves. Similarly, Zimmerman (1998) describes self-regulation as the degree to
which students are ‘metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants
in their own learning processes’ (p. 329). In more recent work, Kormos and Csizer (2014)
define it as a process whereby learners exercise control of their thoughts, actions, and
environment as they relate to their own learning. Others add to this definition by includ-
ing regulation of motivation (Sansone et al., 2019) and by positing the centrality of
choice (Reeve et al., 2008).
Self-regulation has also been described as consisting of sub-domains as well. In
Bandura’s (1986) original work, he sees it as a capacity that is composed of three impor-
tant sub-processes that intimately interact with each other: self-monitoring, self-judg-
ment, and self-reaction. In order to self-monitor actions, for example, one must make
judgments about which actions to monitor and, in order to make judgments about the
actions, one must react to the actions that one performs. These three sub-processes mani-
fest themselves in actions through self-regulated learning strategies (Zimmerman, 1998).
In SLA, investigations into self-regulation seem to originally stem from work on learn-
ing strategies (e.g. O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1996). However, researchers
Zeilhofer 99
dissatisfied with looking only at learning strategies (e.g. Dörnyei, 2005; Tseng et al.,
2006) have called for an investigation of the actual processes of learning that underpin the
use of learning strategies, which they believe to be self-regulation, positing it as a starting
point. Since then, much work has been done in appropriating the term for SLA research.
For example, in terms of the components that self-regulation is composed of, Tseng et al.
(2006) employed factor analysis in exploring how learners use strategies more effectively
to learn vocabulary, resulting in the construct of self-regulating control, or SRC. Under
this model, self-regulation presents itself in learners’ actions through five different control
strategies: (1) commitment control strategies are utilized by the learner to stay on course
towards a goal, (2) metacognitive control strategies refer to learners exercising control
over concentration during learning, (3) satiation control strategies denominate strategies
that are used by the learner to make learning tasks and activities interesting, (4) emotion
control strategies are used to help learners manage emotional states so that a learner’s
mood is conducive to learning, and (5) environmental control strategies are employed
to help a learner’s physical environment be conducive to learning. In addition to vocab-
ulary, SRC was suggested to also be applicable to other types of language learning as
well. In addition, other studies have also been conducted on the relationship between
self-regulation and specific instances of language learning. For instance, Rose and
Harbon (2010) employed Dörnyei’s (2005) framework to investigate self-learning of
kanji, Chinese characters that are used in the Japanese language, concluding that stu-
dents who are more self-regulated have more success.
On the other hand, investigations into mindfulness have emphasized and explored con-
cepts such as judgment, monitoring, and awareness, concepts that also appear in investiga-
tions of self-regulation. As such, mindfulness and self-regulation share certain aspects that
seem to be intricately tied to each other, so much so that in certain models mindfulness
plays a role in self-regulatory processes (see Ostafin et al., 2015). Moreover, there is evi-
dence that self-regulation leads to success in academic pursuits (e.g. Duncan et al., 2007;
McClelland & Cameron, 2011; Vitaro et al., 2005). Such connections provide another rea-
son why exploring mindfulness specifically in an SLA setting is a worthwhile endeavor.
3 Mindfulness and education
Recently, a plethora of research has shown the potential of meditation in pedagogical
settings (e.g. Ramsburg & Youmans, 2014). Some of these studies look at how medita-
tion may affect exam scores, assuming that exam scores are a valid measure of academic
improvement. Fiebert and Mead (1981) and Mrazek et al. (2013) both discovered that
meditation had a marked effect on exam scores over a period of time. In Fiebert and
Mead’s study, a group of students who meditated before studying and before examina-
tions scored higher than another group that did not. Mrazek et al. (2013) conducted a
similar study in which a group of undergraduate students trained for a period of two
weeks in meditation, while a control group received training in nutrition. Using the
Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a significant difference between the test scores of
the two groups were found, with the meditation group having a higher mean average
score. Many other studies have shown a link between various types of exams and medita-
tive practices (e.g. Goldin et al., 2009). These studies have shown overall that meditative
100 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
and mindfulness practices may have a role in helping learners retain or improve knowl-
edge in learning settings.
Besides the retention of knowledge for examinations, other factors also play impor-
tant roles in terms of overall learning. As mentioned above, meditation was originally
introduced into clinical psychology as a means of increasing self-regulation. Many stud-
ies have shown the link between mindfulness training and aspects of self-regulation,
such as emotional regulation (Singh et al., 2007) and attention (Napoli, Krech & Holley,
2005). Singh et al. (2007) examined the effects of mindfulness training for seventh grade
students who, through this training managed to better control aggressive behavior during
class time. Napoli et al. (2005) investigated the relationship between mindfulness and
attention, examining 97 students over a 24-week period, and concluded that mindfulness
practices improved student attention. Both studies thus demonstrated a positive effect on
self-regulation. Looking at mindfulness practices in an SLA context, then, is an endeavor
that should be undertaken, as clearer ties to self-regulation may be made in the future.
III Mindfulness in a foreign language classroom
Mindfulness practices, including meditation, have so far been successful in its imple-
mentation for various psychological improvement goals, including those that relate to
learning. In addition, these studies have shown that mindfulness practices seem to
improve the processes that we assume to underlie general learning, and that seem to be
included in the construct of self-regulation. Self-regulation itself has in the recent decade
taken a more prominent role as an SLA construct as well. Thus, it seems that investigat-
ing whether mindfulness practices can improve students’ language learning is a worth-
while pursuit. Moreover, understanding how constructs that exist both in mindfulness
and SLA manifest themselves in these particular fields may help teachers create an
atmosphere that is more conducive to success in learning. Thus far, meditative practices
as applied specifically to the language learning classroom are still very rare.
In a practical study, Jenkins (2015) conducted guided meditations in classes of English
as a second language (ESL) with students from different ethnicities with an average age
of 12.5 years. Before the first guided meditation she explained the concept of meditation
and the possible benefits of meditating. Afterwards, a 3-minute meditation was con-
ducted, in which Jenkins played gentle background music and read a prepared script. She
points out that meditation works as a ‘classroom management technique, a way to intro-
duce new vocabulary, and a quick way to create a calm, focused environment that leads
to a lower affective filter’ (Jenkins, 2015, p. 36). Jenkins used the target language English
in her guidance. However, the language used in the guidance is highly relevant. Mortimore
(2017) states that mindfulness ‘may be more effective in one’s L1 [first language], due
to the complexity of the concepts involved’ (p. 40). Mortimore conducted a 9-week study
with 2nd and 3rd year elementary school students with L1 Spanish and second language
(L2) English. In the beginning of the study, the students’ attitude to English and level of
mindfulness were measured, and pre-pest and post-test language test scores determined
their language ability. As the regulations of the school only allowed L2 instruction in
class, special meditation scripts were designed to match a beginner level of English.
Different guided meditations (mindful listening, observation of the breath, body scan, or
Zeilhofer 101
loving kindness) were used four times a week for 5–10 minutes. The findings of the
study suggest that the use of mindfulness techniques in the primary classroom may be of
use in creating a calmer environment that aids language learning and attention skills.
Although it was not clear whether anxiety had been lowered, the language testing results
suggested a small improvement in the content and language learned during the interven-
tion compared to the control groups. Furthermore, the teacher observed a calmer atmos-
phere in class, and stronger attention of the students towards the class content after the
mindfulness sessions. However, Mortimore (2017) pointed out that it is crucial for the
students ‘to willingly and attentively participate in the training [as] disruptive children,
or with learning difficulties, such as in executive functions, the trial may need to be of a
considerably longer duration for any effects of mindfulness training and language learn-
ing to be evident’ (p.39).
The study by Önem (2015) aimed to find whether meditation can be effective in terms
of anxiety and vocabulary learning. 61 students of English (L1 = Turkish) were assigned
into intervention and control groups to study English vocabulary. Both an anxiety and
vocabulary test were given to both groups (pre-testing), and afterwards both groups
received the same training. In the intervention group, the students were guided for 10
minutes before the teaching started. Different meditation instructions (focus on the
breath, fantasy journey to the beach, picnic in the park) were applied and read by the
researcher. Post-testing was administered with the same anxiety and vocabulary tests.
Although no difference was found between the groups in the pre-test, the results of the
post-test revealed lowered anxiety levels in the experimental group, and the students in
the experimental group performed significantly better in the vocabulary test compared to
the control group. It is important to note, however, that the classroom of the experimental
group was additionally perfumed with lavender scent, which might have led to an over-
lay of effects and therefore a possible distortion of the results.
Charoensukmongkol (2016) investigated whether the level of mindfulness had an
effect on the level of anxiety experienced in ESL public speaking. Data from 333 market-
ing students (L1 = Thai) were surveyed. The students who reported a higher level of
mindfulness while speaking English tended to feel less anxious during their presenta-
tions. These students also obtained higher scores on their presentations than did those
who reported high levels of anxiety. The findings of this study show that mindfulness
relates to lower ESL public speaking anxiety and better academic performance. This
study showed how mindfulness impacts foreign language learning, but as only pre-exist-
ing mindfulness levels were examined, the Önem study (2015) is a rare case of scientific
data on the effects mindful interventions have on the language learning process.
This article reports on a study conducted with students in a German course at a
Japanese university to investigate the relationship between meditation and different
factors in a language classroom. This aim was formulated in the following research
question:
Research question: What effects does the implementation of meditation have on
the learning of a foreign language?
This research question manifested itself into three sub-research questions:
102 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
Sub-research question 1: What is the relationship between implementing medita-
tion and academic achievement as measured by exams?
Sub-research question 2: Does the implementation of meditation affect overall
mindfulness as measured by the five-facet mindfulness questionnaire?
Sub-research question 3: What are students’ perceptions of meditation in the
classroom?
The first sub-research question attempts to add to the literature of meditation in regards
to affecting overall academic performance, although, for this study, in terms of a foreign
language. The second sub-research question aimed to study the effect of these certain
types of meditation on overall mindfulness, using the five-facet mindfulness question-
naire. It seems that, if overall mindfulness increases, we can say that the meditation
practices employed in this study had some sort of effect on students’ self-regulation.
Lastly, the third sub-research question explores students’ perceptions of meditative prac-
tices. Positive perceptions of meditative practices help students accept the practices in
regular usage for a course, and may shed some light onto any between meditation and
other factors such as academic performance.
IV Methods and methodology
As randomized controlled trials (RCT) are generally not feasible in classroom contexts,
the current study followed a quasi-experimental classroom research design, as outlined
by Dörnyei (2007) and Cohen et al. (2011). However, as intact classes were randomly
distributed in each case, Lee (2012) describes this procedure as a ‘RCT on a class level’
(p. 30) illustrating the attempt to achieve the most scientific conditions possible in educa-
tion research. The ecological validity, or the ‘degree of similarity between a research
study and the authentic context that the study is purportedly investigating’ (Loewen &
Plonsky, 2016, p. 56), was one of the main reasons for choosing a quasi-experimental
design. In the current study, except for the meditation exercise, everything – the teacher,
classroom, textbook, tests – was as would be expected in the participant’s usual course
activities, thus decreasing the impact of other factors on the results.
1 Meditative practices used and procedure
Two common meditative practices were employed every time (two times a week) before
class: Guided meditation and the count-to-ten method. Both these methods are consid-
ered to be focused attention meditation (FAM) approaches. Guided meditation is per-
formed by students under the guidance of an expert, in this case, an audio recording. The
guide directs the students throughout the meditative procedures. For this research, a
3-minute audio recording was produced in Japanese and recorded by a professional
speaker (for transcript, see Appendix B in Supplemental material). The procedure for the
guided meditation was as follows: After the instructor and the students had greeted each
other, the instructor played the audio on the classroom speakers as soon as the students
had sat down and had prepared their usual equipment such as pens and textbooks (it is
therefore necessary for the instructor to prepare the audio equipment, etc. prior to class!).
Zeilhofer 103
After the meditation ended, the lesson began and was conducted in an identical manner
to the other classes.
The count-to-ten meditation is performed more independently. The procedure was as
following: Prior to class, the instructor put meditation instructions on each student’s
desk. After the instructor and the students had greeted each other, the instructor allotted
class time for the students to go through the meditation. In the very first session, the
teacher also read the instructions together with the students. The instructions (translated
into Japanese) were as follows (based on Sunim, 2017, Japanese version; see Appendix
C in Supplemental material):
1. Exhale and at the very end of your out-breath, mentally count ‘one’.
2. Again, inhale, pause, exhale, and then at the end of your out-breath mentally
count ‘two’.
3. Keep counting like this at the end of every exhalation until you reach ‘ten’.
4. Then, starting counting backward – nine, eight, seven, six, etc. – until you reach
‘one’ again.
Extra instruction: If, because of random thoughts, you even briefly forget which
number you are on or hesitate, then you must start over again at ‘one’.
After three minutes, the teacher instructed the students that they should ‘come back’ to
the classroom environment. Most of the students meditated first and then put their text-
books and pens on the desk. Although, it was not instructed, almost all of the students
closed their eyes during the meditation. The students were also asked to leave the instruc-
tions on the desk after the lesson. The instructor collected the papers afterwards and
reused them in the next lesson.
These two practices were chosen because they were very common, and representative
of a wide variety of meditative techniques, and were simple to implement in the class-
room; anything that requires extensive preparation and implementation might have intro-
duced unwanted variables that may have affected measurement. As the students were
very quiet after the meditation practices, it was easier to start with the lesson compared
to the control class. Although the practices took approximately five minutes of the class
time, there were no occasion in which it was necessary to hurry through content at the
end of lessons. The ‘peaceful start’ might have had an effect of reducing interruptions, so
that the ‘time loss’ compared to the control class could be compensated.
2 Sample
The sample for this study consisted of three classes at Kyushu University, a national
university in Japan. The first-year students are required to take one foreign language
besides English, and they can choose between Chinese, French, German, Korean,
Russian and Spanish. The classes are conducted twice a week (90 minutes each) over a
period of two 15-week semesters (60 units in total). Two classes engaged with the two
methods of meditation, whereas a third class served as the control group. The sample
consisted of 75 students (M = 18.9, SD = 1.4) in a total of three courses that occurred
over a year. Initially, there were more students, as some students did not continue for the
104 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
entire duration of a year, due to the classes being divided into two semesters. Thus, their
test scores were excluded from statistical analyses. Overall, there were ideal conditions
for a quasi-experimental approach: All classes had the same age and gender distribution,
a similar educational background and academic performance (university entrance exam),
same knowledge of the foreign language (beginner level of German) and the same
instructor and textbook. These conditions provided highly comparable data. A table
detailing the characteristics of each class is listed below.
3 Instruments
a Tests to measure academic performance. All students took six tests throughout the
year. As the year was composed of two semesters, there were two tests that took place at
the beginning of the semester as a way to measure a student’s current level, two midterm
exams, and two final exams. The midterm and final exams, in addition to measuring the
students’ current level, were also used to assess what had been learned during the dura-
tion of the course. The achievement tests were taken from an official ‘Goethe Zertifikat’
test (A2) collection for German teachers. As a founding member of the Association of
Language Testers in Europe (ALTE), the ‘Goethe Institut’ promotes the development
and implementation of the highest quality standards. These ensure very comparable,
valid and reliable instruments for German language performance.
b Five facets of mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ). The FFMQ (Baer et al., 2006), men-
tioned above, was used to measure students’ mindfulness, operationalized by five facets:
observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experience, and non-
reacting to inner experiences. This questionnaire consists of 39 statements which are
meant to represent these different aspects. The participants were instructed to assign a
number (Likert scale from 1 = never or very rarely true to 5 = very often or always true)
that corresponded to the truth of each statement as it applied to them. As an example, the
first statement states, ‘When I’m walking, I deliberately notice the sensations of my body
moving.’ This corresponds to the facet of observing.
c Five spheres of meditation experience survey (FSMES). This survey (see Appendix A in
Supplemental material) was specifically created for this research and was used to explore
what participants thought about the meditative practices that were used during class. It
measures how an individual perceives meditation to have affected five different feelings,
as well as an overall score. These include displeasing, pleasing, state-altering, refreshing,
and focusing. The survey consisted of questions with a 4-point Likert scale. The scores
were then added up for a total.
V Results
1 Effects of meditation on academic achievement
The results for the first research question, whether or not meditation affects academic
achievement, follows in the tables. Table 1 shows the class division, and Table 2 shows the
effects of meditation comparing the group that received meditation to the one that did not.
Zeilhofer 105
A mixed-model ANOVA was performed to examine significant differences between
the two groups, considering both the groups’ performances on the tests in general as well
as the effect of test × time. There was a significant main effect for tests (F(5, 365) =
74.49, p = .005, p2 = .505). That is, there was a difference in test performance between
the groups for all the tests. For the effect of test × time, there was also a significant dif-
ference (F(5, 365) = 2.72, p = .05, p2 = .036), meaning that there is evidence that
meditation had a significant effect on academic achievement over the period of one year.
An examination of the difference between the two methods of meditation was also per-
formed, but there was no significant difference.
2 Results of the five-facet mindfulness questionnaire
Next, the study examined whether meditation had any effect on the five facets, again look-
ing first at differences between the group that performed meditation and the one that did
not, and then looking at whether there were any differences between the methods. The
FFMQ survey was administered once at the beginning of the semester (pre-test), before
the ‘yes’ group received meditative instruction, and once at the end of the first semester
(post-test). At this point, the students who participated in meditation had done so for a
period of 15 weeks for every class session. The results of this are shown in Table 3.
There were significant differences found for every facet, including the overall meas-
ure, for the effects of time and time × group. A notable observation here is that the non-
meditation group had rated themselves higher overall in the five-facet mindfulness
questionnaire, however an independent-samples t-test showed no significant difference
(t(75) = −3.9, p = .69). On the post-test, the meditation-group scored significantly
higher than the non-meditation group (t(75) = 3.2, p = .002). Similar statistical observa-
tions can be made for all the other measures as there was significant difference for each
one (albeit with varying effect sizes), even though the means might be very similar.
For the effect of time × group, significant differences were revealed for every facet.
That is, there is evidence that meditation had an effect on how the different groups of
Table 1. Class division.
Class Number of students Type of meditation
1 18 No meditation (control)
2 31 Count-to-ten
3 26 Guided Meditation
Table 2. Academic achievement between meditation and non-meditation groups.
Meditation Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Test 6
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
No 71 (13) 69 (20) 61 (16) 40 (18) 76 (18) 77 (15)
Yes 72 (12) 82 (14) 77 (13) 53 (21) 87 (8) 88 (9)
106 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
students perceived their mindfulness, with the meditation group reporting higher levels
of overall mindfulness as well as higher levels for all five facets after half a year. An
examination for whether there were differences between the different methods of medi-
tation was also performed. Results are shown in Table 4.
The effect of time and time × method was examined. In terms of time, the counting
group reported a higher level of overall mindfulness, with a significant difference for this
effect. This is evidence of some sort of systematic differences between the characteristics
of the two separate groups of meditation. Interestingly, there were significant differences
for this effect for each of the five facets as well, with the counting group reporting higher
levels of describing, awareness of action, non-judging and non-reactivity, and the guided
group reporting higher levels of observation for the pre-test.
Looking at the time × method however, we see that the self-reports of awareness have
been reversed, and there is evidence that the method has affected this; there is a signifi-
cant difference between the two groups in terms of how they perceive overall mindful-
ness, as well as how they perceive observation and awareness, with the group that
underwent guided meditation reporting the higher levels. For the other facets, there was
no significant difference, meaning that any significant differences from the onset evened
out. Overall, therefore, there is evidence that guided meditation had different effects than
the count-to-ten method.
Lastly, the study examined how students perceived the practice and experience of
meditation using the FSMES. As this survey had the aim of evaluating experience with
meditative practices, it was not administered to the class that did not undergo meditation.
The spheres are displeasing (max=24, min=6), pleasing (max=24, min=6), state-altering
(max=16, min=4), refreshing (max=12, min=3), and focusing (max=8, min=2). Table 5
shows the descriptive statistics for the meditation group as a whole, displaying the means
and standard deviations for the five spheres, including an overall score (max=38,
min=11), which included the sum of the spheres of pleasing, refreshing, and focusing.
Table 3. Comparison of meditation vs. non-meditation for the five facets.
Measure Meditation Pre-test Post-test F (1, 73)
Mean SD Mean SD time time × group
Observing No 23.94 2.31 23.67 2.43 16.92**;
p2 = .188
24.37**;
p2 = .250
Yes 22.02 4.27 25.07 5.02
Describing No 24.00 5.17 23.89 5.23 7.89*;
p2 = .098
9.15**;
p2 = .111
Yes 23.56 5.30 26.58 5.55
Aware action No 25.44 3.17 25.33 2.50 13.64**;
p2 = .157
16.15**;
p2 = .181
Yes 25.68 2.87 28.32 3.84
Non-judging No 24.89 3.31 24.39 4.39 7.75*;
p2 = .096
16.40**;
p2 = .183
Yes 24.32 4.38 27.02 5.21
Non-reactivity No 19.33 4.33 18.78 4.70 17.76**;
p2 = 196
34.68**;
p2 = .322
Yes 19.46 4.76 22.81 5.01
Overall No 117.61 15.32 116.06 16.21 7.89*;
p2 = .099
9.15**;
p2 = .111
Yes 115.04 16.77 129.80 19.26
Notes. **p < .005; *p < .05.
Zeilhofer 107
A notable result may be the standard deviation for the pleasing factor (SD = 5.55)
which is quite large, especially as it compares to the displeasing, with many participants
reporting more or less a similar score (SD = 1.67); while the participants found medita-
tion to be overall pleasing, the degree to which it was pleasing varied widely. Table 6
shows the differences between the two methods in terms of the five spheres. Significant
differences were only found for the spheres of state-altering and pleasing, with the count-
ing group believing that meditation was more state-altering and the guided group more
pleasing.
VI Discussion
1 Mindfulness’ relationship to consciousness
Even in the mindfulness literature, aspects of consciousness regularly appear. Con-
sciousness, in the field of mindfulness, is most often conceptualized as a mental capacity
Table 4. Comparison of counting vs. guided for the five facets.
Measure Method Pre-test Post-test F (1, 55)
Mean SD Mean SD time time × method
Observing Counting 21.58 4.41 23.13 5.00 114.78**;
p2 = .676
30.53**;
p2 = .357
Guided 22.54 4.12 27.38 4.04
Describing Counting 23.71 5.85 26.00 5.97 29.39**;
p2 = .348
1.96;
p2 = .034
Guided 23.38 5.30 27.27 5.02
Aware action Counting 26.16 2.56 27.94 3.72 60.73**;
p2 = .525
25.90*;
p2 = .117
Guided 25.12 3.15 28.77 4.00
Non-judging Counting 24.94 3.51 27.13 5.11 45.40**;
p2 = .452
1.86;
p2 = .033
Guided 23.58 5.20 26.88 5.41
Non-reactivity Counting 20.48 4.42 23.39 5.09 109.46**;
p2 = .666
2.28;
p2 = .040
Guided 18.23 4.93 22.12 4.93
Overall Counting 116.86 16.61 127.58 20.80 115.95**;
p2 = .678
9.94**;
p2 = .153
Guided 112.85 17.00 132.42 17.28
Notes. **p < .005. *p < .05.
Table 5. Descriptive statistics for the meditation sample.
Feeling Mean SD
Displeasing 7.21 1.67
Pleasing 16.19 5.55
State-altering 10.61 3.05
Refreshing 7.65 2.75
Focusing 5.95 1.58
Overall 29.79 6.07
Note. Overall is a combination of pleasing, refreshing, and focusing.
108 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
of controlling and monitoring (Westen, 1999). Moreover, consciousness is something
that is deeply tied to self-regulation (Ryan & Deci, 2004). In addition, the FFMQ has
aspects of mindfulness that seem to be defined and described very similarly to some
aspects of consciousness in SLA. The two most notable ones are observation/noticing,
and awareness. While these concepts are prevalent in mindfulness, work has also been
done on them in SLA.
Schmidt (1990) has posited a concept of consciousness specifically for language
learning. Moreover, other scholars such as James and Garrett (1991) have also described
an idea of language awareness. Schmidt (1994) defines awareness as a function of con-
sciousness, referring to it as a function that detects stimuli. In Schmidt’s concept of
awareness, one is aware of certain aspects of the language such as grammatical features,
vocabulary, and aspects that exist at a more metacognitive level, such as being aware and
noticing gaps. Awareness, in SLA, also includes focus on form and focus on forms (e.g.
Long, 1991) as well as more practical pedagogical applications such as input enhance-
ment (Lightbown & Ranta, 1991), where a teacher may somehow modify the input that
is available to a student in order to draw their attention to it. For example, a teacher may
underline certain words in a text.
This article has shown that there is a relationship between implementing these medi-
tative practices and increase in aspects of the FFMQ, including for the facets of noticing/
observing and awareness. It seems to follow, then, that implementation of mindfulness
practices may benefit the learning of language learning specifically, as a student becomes
more ‘aware’ in general. Thus, it is reasonable to posit that this awareness may help stu-
dents become more attentive to aspects such as form, vocabulary, and gaps. Moreover, as
the results have shown, different methods of meditation may affect different facets of
mindfulness as well. Guided meditation helps direct students to focus on certain aspects
of their awareness. Perhaps there may be meditative practices that direct their attention
towards language. In future studies, examining the relationships between the use of
Table 6. Perceptions of meditation for counting and guided groups.
Feeling Method Mean SD t
Unpleasing Counting 7.19 1.72 –0.23, p = .817
Guided 7.23 1.63
Pleasing Counting 14.16 5.47 – 3.22*
Guided 18.62 4.70
State-altering Counting 11.77 3.22 3.43*
Guided 9.23 2.16
Refreshing Counting 7.48 2.89 –0.50, p = .618
Guided 7.85 2.62
Focus Counting 6.00 1.41 0.29, p = .777
Guided 5.88 1.77
Overall Counting 27.65 5.86 –3.14, p = .003
Guided 32.35 5.36
Note. *p < .001.
Zeilhofer 109
mindfulness practices, including meditation, and awareness and attentional increase to
language specific aspects would be worthwhile.
2 Actions in the FFMQ as processes of self-regulation and learner
autonomy
As argued above in the literature review, actions in the FFMQ seem to clearly tie to
processes of self-regulation that are promoted in SLA. Another concept that is closely
related is the idea of learner autonomy, defined by Holec (1981) as a learner’s capac-
ity to control their own learning. The five facets seem to represent concepts that are
already prevalent in learner autonomy as expressed in SLA, especially when it comes
to the idea of goal setting and the planning of learning. The facet of describing, for
example, is defined as the ability to verbalize internal experiences, something that
seems related to the management of one’s learning. Thus, meditation can be added to
one of several approaches of enhancing learners’ self-regulation and autonomous
learning (e.g. Cleary & Zimmerman, 2004). As an example, raising the ability to
describe what one feels are the challenges of learning during a particular class session
seems to be a desirable goal, as when students are able to articulate these, an instruc-
tor can focus on a particular linguistic problem more effectively, rather having to
guess.
One important finding in this study was the significant differences between the count-
to-ten method and the guided meditation in the terms of the separate facets. One can
hypothesize then that different meditative practices may affect certain self-regulatory
processes to varying degrees. As an illustration, guided meditation is a practice that relies
on more specific instructions by the teacher. In the study, we see that the observing meas-
ure, for instance, has been reported as stronger by the guided meditation group, perhaps
because the teacher has had a stronger influence on what the student is doing during their
meditation time. Theoretically, other forms of guided meditation may have the potential
to direct students to more specific observations, perhaps ones related to language. On the
other hand, for developing more general faculties of awareness, it seems that count-to-
ten may be more effective, at least as evidenced by this trial. Through such observations,
studying how different meditative practices may affect different self-regulatory practices
would be a worthwhile endeavor.
3 Perceptions matter for self-regulation
There is one big elephant in the room left when talking about self-regulation, awareness,
and autonomy. That is the construct of motivation, one that seems to have been, in SLA,
thoroughly studied, but at the same time not studied enough. As Kormos and Csizer
(2014) point out, there have been various links between factors of motivation, self-regu-
lation, and autonomous learning. As an example, Ushioda (2009) provides evidence that
learning environments that are conducive to students’ exercising proper control of their
own learning may increase different sorts of motivation. Noels et al. (2001) also found a
link between learners’ perceived autonomy, their regulation, and their motivation in a
study conducted in Canada.
110 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
While not directly measured in this study, if there is a link between self-regulation,
functions of autonomous learning, and motivation, it seems that the implementation of
mindfulness practices may help motivation as well. This study showed that there is a
link between the implementation of meditation and increase in facets of mindfulness.
These facets of mindfulness can also be identified as processes of self-regulation. It
seems, then, that because self-regulation increases, motivation may also increase, as
referenced in the literature review. Of course, this is an avenue that is worthy of further
exploration.
In this study, using the FSMES, the results of how students perceive meditation were
eminently positive. Students’ overall scores were positive, and they felt that meditation
was a pleasing experience. Perhaps this may be some evidence of student investment in
the practice. In addition, such results may be one factor as to why there seem to be sig-
nificant increases in test scores (as measured by the exams), as well as mindfulness (as
measured by the FFMQ). If these students were more invested in the practices of the
teacher, especially becoming more invested over a period of time, there may be other
positive outcomes of such practices that manifest themselves in both learning and mind-
fulness outcomes. For example, instead of simply looking at test scores and mindfulness,
we may look at aspects that require investment like group interaction, other language
skills, etc.
4 Limitations
Quasi-experimental designs try to replicate random controlled trials, where as many
intervening and extraneous variables are as controlled as possible. In practice, however,
it is difficult to control for such factors as classroom dynamics. Although lesson aims and
plans were similar, it would be unrealistic to assume that the teacher did not adapt to the
classroom circumstances by making considerations for her student population when
planning lessons, conceiving of learning activities, and more. Thus, one can make the
argument other factors may have played a role in the measures that were examined above
where they are intact classes were randomly distributed to each condition. However, van
Lier (2004) states that this tendency to aspire to rigid reductionist results in educational
research works against the understanding of data and complex educational constructs,
recommending a more ‘ecological research’, one that is contextualized and that focuses
on setting-bound relationships. Perhaps then, it is not desirable to try to control for every
variable if one wants to truly understand the nature of how meditation may affect the
practices of the classroom.
5 Recommendations for future research
Future research can and should be conducted into how mindfulness interacts with lan-
guage learning. This research only looked at academic achievement and how mindful-
ness practices affect mindfulness. However, future research should look more at how
mindfulness plays a role in second language learning processes in general. One possible
avenue may be to investigate how mindfulness practices influence language learning by
using an instrument that specifically measures language learning processes, such as the
Zeilhofer 111
self-regulation scales developed by Dörnyei (2001). One can see, hypothetically, how
the implementation of mindfulness practices might affect, for example, how one regu-
lates their vocabulary or grammar learning. We might also be able to see how increased
mindfulness affects what learners choose to focus on in terms of goal setting or error
correction. These, I believe, are all worthwhile pursuits to advance not only mindfulness
research in SLA, but also general research on consciousness and awareness.
6 Recommendations for practitioners
Instructors often use the beginning of class to talk about the content of the last time, tak-
ing attendance or setting up technology. However, the opening five minutes offer a rich
opportunity to capture the attention of students and prepare them for learning. The prac-
tices were designed for easy implementation in the classroom. Also, the tight time frame
of current university curricula has been considered. Therefore, a 3-minute meditation is
considered to be a practical option, being short enough to fit in even the tightest schedule
and still long enough to expect meditation effects which seem do have an effect on learn-
ing from this study.
The implementation of such practices in the classroom might be effective for boosting
student learning and reducing speaking anxiety. Implementation of other mindfulness
practices might be worthwhile because of the inherent link between mindfulness and
self-regulation, a group of processes that many scholars seem to hold as important in
overall language development. Although Jenkins (2015) used her ESL guided medita-
tions for vocabulary learning, the usage of the target language in an absolute beginner
class of German for Japanese students is counterproductive, as the participants’ profi-
ciency in the target language was too low for following the instructions without feeling
an increase in stress. However, in more advanced courses or with target languages that
are closer to the students’ L1, guiding in the L2 offers new opportunities for language
learning, including vocabulary building focused listening. For advanced beginners, new
vocabulary could be given with examples on the board, and meditation scripts with many
repetitions and fixed expressions could be used. As meditation scripts are often repetitive
in nature, this distinctive characteristic can be used for effective practice of target vocab-
ulary and expressions.
Of course, in implementing these practices, one must be sure that learners are invested,
in the way Norton (2013) conceptualizes investment to be, in the practices in which the
teacher wishes them to partake. Learner training here might be useful. Workshops that
introduce meditation or other mindfulness practices, their benefits, and how they directly
and explicitly tie into learners specifically goals would be useful. In addition, allowing
time for learners to engage in mindfulness practices in the classroom seem to be benefi-
cial as well, as demonstrated in this study. Of course, this may mean that teachers them-
selves may want to take the step to become adept at these meditative practices, so that
they have another pedagogical tool to introduce to students.
Conflict of Interest
Luisa Zeilhofer declares that she has no conflict of interest.
112 Language Teaching Research 27(1)
Funding
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 20K13104.
ORCID iD
Luisa Zeilhofer https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5308-869X
Supplemental material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
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