CULTIVATING MINDFULNESS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING: INSIGHTS AND STRATEGIES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION
Şule Korkmaz, Esim Gürsoy
LLT Journal A Journal on Language and Language Teaching October 30, 2026 DOI: 10.24071/llt.v29i1.447 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-experimental convergent parallel mixed-methods study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 90 |
| Population | Prospective English Language Teaching (ELT) teachers |
| Intervention | Mindfulness practices embedded in course design |
| Duration | 18 months |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Participants' mindfulness levels increased after the mindfulness-integrated course intervention, and they reported positive intentions to use mindfulness techniques in future young learner classrooms for various reasons and in various ways. Participants also reported that the practices benefited their personal and academic lives. The authors argue this shows mindfulness-integrated course design can systematically cultivate prospective teachers' well-being and pedagogical intentions. |
Abstract
Mindfulness, as a way to enhance well-being, has been practiced in different fields and now in education. However, empirical studies in educational contexts are rather few. Thus, the present study aims to determine the impact of mindfulness practices embedded in course design on prospective English Language Teaching (ELT) teachers’ mindfulness levels and their reasons and willingness to use them in young learner classrooms. The research uses a convergent parallel mixed-methods approach with a pre-experimental design. The data were collected from 90 prospective teachers over 18 months. The results showed that the participants’ mindfulness levels increased after the intervention, and they displayed positive tendencies to integrate these techniques in their future classes for different reasons and in different ways. The participants reported that the mindfulness practices cultivated their personal and academic lives. This study contributes to teacher education research by demonstrating how mindfulness-integrated course design can systematically cultivate prospective teachers’ well-being and pedagogical intentions. Positioned within positive psychology and language teacher cognition research, this study offers empirical evidence on how mindfulness practices shape prospective teachers’ awareness, professional decision-making, and perceptions of TEYL pedagogy.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |