Abstract (300 words)
The need for addressing sustainability issues is growing hastily in an era of rapid changes and developments as the interconnectedness between human society and the environment has become more apparent than ever. The need to create an ‘ecological re-imagining of education’ is at an urging situation as it has been over fifty years since the United Nation’s Conference on the Environment in Stockholm (1972) in which they recognized that education has a critical role in ‘achieving environmental and ethical awareness’ (Sterling, 2021). Sustainability needs to be applied to all disciplines and therefore, it should be embedded throughout curricula (Barkway & Mai, 2022). English, being a universal language, is more obliged towards the action -- and wherever it is used as a Second Language (ESL), this responsibility becomes even more intense. While most of the existing language teaching models provide adequate importance to language and linguistic competence, there exists an exigency of interconnectedness with sustainability literacy. This enticed the researcher’s attention in developing an ecological model in English language education to enhance sustainability literacy. The present paper discusses the design and development of the ecological model in English Language. The Model is developed with a strong support of Bronfenbrenner’s theory. The researcher aims to highlight the importance of integrating sustainability literacy with language learning and the importance of an ecological language learning model in English in enhancing sustainability literacy.
Biographical Note
- Ms. Jijitha Gilton, Doctoral Scholar, Department of Education, University of Kerala, India.
2 Dr. Divya C. Senan, Assistant Professor, Department of Education,
University of Kerala, India.
3 Dr. Susan Powers, Director & Professor, Institute for a Sustainable Environment,
Clarkson University, USA.
4 Dr. Jan DeWaters, Associate Professor, Institute of STEM Education,
Clarkson University, USA.
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| Keywords | Ecological model, language learning, sustainability literacy, ESL. |
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