Gratitude Object Exercise for Foreign Language Learners: A Mindfulness-Based Practice

   This post will introduce a special kind of gratitude journaling exercise which I have developed for students that I am currently tutoring in ESL. It comes from research I am doing in "foreign language anxiety (FLA for short), which is defined as a kind of fear of using a language with which one perceives a lack of proficiency (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993).
     For a long time, I have been thinking about how guided meditation can be used in tandem with journaling to create a special experience of gratitude for speakers of a second language. This orientation toward gratitude is intended to shift the learner away from feelings of inadequacy about their performance in a second language, and toward warmer feelings of appreciating the things that one can write about, using whatever language skills and proficiencies they have acquired up to that point.
     After reading about the relationship between foreign language anxiety and self-perception, I am convinced that it's possible to overcome or at least manage this anxiety through a heightened appreciation and gratitude toward all beings, as well as toward one's own efforts as a language learner. When learning a language, like anything else, the common tendency is to focus on the mistakes rather than on the successes. This approach can make a person somewhat afraid to practice a new language in front of others. But it's possible to see things differently by reframing language learning as a process of connecting with others. When one appreciates their own effort to learn language as a dedication to helping others and connecting deeply with them, the emphasis is not on perfecting oneself through language, but rather through the sincere intention to benefit others in the process of learning. Perhaps, then, language learning becomes a kind of spiritual practice that can be offered to others as a dedication.
    But without a specific writing exercise to ground one's practice of a language, it's hard to imagine the possibilities of what learning a language could mean. As a result, I have decided to design this exercise to create a conversation about how the quality of gratitude can be used as both a motivation and a tool to inspire people in learning a new language.
    Below is my sample exercise on gratitude journaling for foreign language learners:

Gratitude Object Exercise for Foreign Language Learners: A Mindfulness-Based Practice

Choose an object for this exercise. It could be a photograph, or a gift, or any household item, preferably something you can see and feel. Have the object in front of you or in your hand before you start this exercise.

Before starting this writing exercise, make sure your body is relaxed. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes.

Take a moment to become aware of all the sensations in your body, without controlling the body. Feel your forehead and temples relaxing, followed by your eyes and eye sockets. Feel your facial muscles relaxing, then your neck and shoulders. Take three deep breaths. With each in-breath, feel your chest gently expanding, and relaxing completely with each outbreath. Then notice your waist becoming softer with each outbreath. Then become aware of your back, hips, thighs relaxing. Be aware of your ankles, feet and toes relaxing. Enjoy the sensation of the breath, and feel it spreading to all parts of the body, like a gentle breeze.

Now open your eyes.

Take a moment to reflect on the particular object you have chosen, without attaching any meaning to it.

You can take a moment to feel it in your hands, noting its texture, or smell, or appearance. Put your whole mind and heart on the object and become acquainted with it. See your connection to the object and feel it ‘speak’ to you. What does the object say if it could speak to you?

Put down the object. Now, in five minutes, write down as many phrases, words or sentences as possible related to that object or associated with it, without thinking about grammar or spelling. Let the mind be completely relaxed, without considering whether your writing is “correct” or not.

Pay attention to writing continuously, without stopping. Don’t be afraid to repeat the same words again and again, based on what you know.

If your mind wanders away from the process of writing about the object, gently go back to the object itself. Don’t judge the process but simply treat it as a writing practice.

In the next part of the exercise, consider all the things you wrote about the object. Then answer the following specific questions about the object itself.

1. Consider: where does this object come from? Who made it? What kind of work went into it? How was the object made? Reflect on all the living beings who contacted the object, or shaped it, or lived in it or beside it. Write down a few words or sentences about where it came from and who or what made it.
    
2. Take a moment to appreciate the living beings who came into contact with this object and shaped it or interacted with it in some way. Write a few words about who (or what) contacted the object. Reflect on what efforts they made to shape the object into something you could use or consume.  Reflect on the common bond you have with the living beings who made this object, or the natural world which shaped it. Write down a few words or sentences about the connection between the object and others.
    

Now go back to your list. Look at all the words you used to write your descriptions and dedications.

 Take a moment to appreciate the effort you made to spend time with each word, in the present, and to learn each word.

Appreciate your efforts to learn the language and all the words you have learned.

Dedicate your continued effort to using the new language you are learning to communicating good intention, peace and wellness to others.

Thank yourself for taking the time to be fully present with this exercise.

 

 

 Gardner, R. & MacIntyre, P. (1993). A Student’s Contribution to Second Language Learning, Part II: Affect Variables. Language Teaching 26, 1-11.