Purpose

Three effective stress reduction techniques are taught in this lesson: relaxation, "stop thought", and the transformation of negative messages into positive ones. These techniques can reduce or eliminate stress before it impedes language learning.

Procedure

1. Students practice relaxation (box 1).

Let's be quiet. Only quiet. Quiet. Breathe in. Breathe out. Listen to the teacher. Close your eyes.

The teacher will ask you to think of something good that happened to you today. The teacher will tell you about something good that happened to him/her today.

2. The teacher explains the "stop thought" technique.

* When negative thoughts begin, imagine a "stop" sign, or say "stop!" to yourself. Then take some deep breaths from your stomach. Hold your breath for a moment or two and exhale slowly, softly and steadily. At the same time, tell your body to go limp or melt.

* The teacher asks students to suggest negative thoughts, such as "I'm going to fail the test". The teacher asks the class to use stop-thought and deep-breathing techniques with several different thoughts.

3. The teacher asks students to change negative thoughts into positive ones:

* Instead of saying "I'm going to fail the test", say "I will pass the test."

* The teacher talks about something good that happened today.

Adapted from Finch & Hyun (2000, p. 162) and Siccone & López (2000, pp. 42 - 43)

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Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F Appendix G Appendix H
Appendix I Appendix J Appendix L Appendix M Appendix N Appendix O Appendix P Appendix Q

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