Designing EFL Lessons to Develop Empathy

Abstract

One important task as an educator is to contribute to students’ growth into morally responsible adults. Part of this is ensuring that the students become more empathetic. The purpose of this study is to investigate how humans learn empathy and, as there is also evidence of empathy leading to better language skills, how that knowledge can be applied in the EFL classroom. The literature provides definitions of empathy and an explanation of why being empathetic is necessary. Language activities and exercises that help students gain empathy are provided and explained.