MIKI NAKANO (HYOGO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY)

INCREASING EMPATHY THROUGH ROLE-PLAY ACTIVITIES IN SECOND-LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS: A CONVERSATION ANALYSIS APPROACH : ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC/SPECIFIC PURPOSES

This study examines the use of conversation analysis (CA) to cultivate empathy, a critical concern in medical education within second-language classrooms. Empathy development is one of the significant elements in professional training of students within the faculties of rehabilitation. Studies have highlighted the significance of fostering robust relationships between the therapist and the client for positive rehabilitation outcomes. Empathy refers to the ability to understand and share others’ feelings. To bolster students’ empathy, role-play creation was introduced in second-language classrooms as a method to hone their focus on understanding others' feelings. After creating a role-play script, students were tasked with scrutinizing interactional problems within their scenarios from the perspective of conversation analysis. This study demonstrates how employing CA techniques helps raise students’ awareness of therapist-client interactions. Students’ awareness of others was measured using the Empathic Experience Scale Revised (EESR). An open-ended question was employed to complement the quantitative analysis, and the effectiveness of this activity was evaluated. The data analysis indicated a positive shift in students’ awareness of others. The study’s findings suggest that integrating CA into educational interventions can help students in rehabilitation faculties in raising their awareness of others.

Miki Nakano is a lecturer at Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan. After teaching for two years in a high school, she started her studies in Education. She received her Ph.D. in Language and Culture from Osaka University. Her current research interests include conversation analysis, English for specific purposes, second language acquisition, and motivation in language learning.