Sessions /
Revitalizing Students' Motivation Through Gratitude Intervention #1112

Sun, Feb 21, 14:00-14:25 JST | Auxiliary Stage
You must log in to view sessions Motivation Synchronous-Zoom Research Paper (25 mins)

This study reports on how a gratitude-centered intervention helped to raise students’ motivation to study English between 2019 and 2020, amidst a climate of global uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The research involved ongoing observations of weekly basic English communication classes with a total of 300 students participating during the time period of the project. This work on gratitude is a part of broader work on positive psychology in language education, including the development of themed narrative mini-books and self-compassion workshops. In the current study, gratitude-centered concepts were first introduced in lecture style with supportive multimedia examples. Later, students engaged in gratitude activities such as co-constructing a gratitude box, a gratitude journal, and a storybook writing. Written questionnaires were also given to students towards the end of each 15-week semester. Throughout the project, motivation, attendance, attentiveness, gratitude, and "being aware of the small things" were seen to increase.

Merissa Ocampo

Merissa Ocampo

Fukushima Gakuin University
An educator and educational researcher who is passionate about motivating students and teachers to positively accept the various challenges that inevitably arise in their learning and teaching journeys. Currently based in Tohoku, Japan, she is developing series of bilingual storybooks aiming to improve Japanese students' and teachers' wellbeing through positive psychology interventions in education.