International Conference: language education for sustainable development

Given the need to reach Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the incorporation of related content in curricula, teacher education, instructional practices and teaching materials is imperative to raise learner awareness of sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, peace and non-violence, global citizenship and cultural diversity (United Nations, 2022). Foreign language teaching offers opportunities to integrate related topics as the language acquisition needs to be achieved over some kind of content. However, the extent to which SDGs are addressed in foreign language teaching materials is currently not extensively researched. Addressing this gap, the current study aims at an examination of three foreign language coursebooks for adults, Evolve (English), Menschen (German) and Yeni İstanbul (Turkish) to assess the extent to which SDGs have been considered worth integrating. Sumida (2024) proposed an analytical framework based on SDG 4 Indicator 4.7.1 (United Nations, 2022), a tool conducive to monitoring the incorporation of SDGs with reference to Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) (UNESCO, 2015). This framework is used in this study to analyse the three foreign language coursebooks. The analysis will reveal whether, and if so, which aspects of GCED and ESD are covered in the coursebooks. Besides displaying which language skills are addressed when SDGs are incorporated, the study aims at evaluating the consideration of demands of critical pedagogy inviting teachers to engage in responsive teaching and learners to reflect on cultural diversity and tolerance, human rights and gender equality, peace and non-violence, human survival and well-being, environmental sustainability, sustainable consumption and production, social, economic, and environmental education (the Three-pillar approach to ESD), and regional and global citizenship, as proposed by Sumida (2024). Based on the analysis, the study will inform coursebook writers with good practices in materials design and suggest ways of enriching existing materials to target SDGs.

Stefan Rathert, PhD, is assistant professor in the field of English language teaching at the Faculty of Education, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Turkey. His research interests include language teaching materials development, teaching methods, translingual practices in language teaching and professional development for teachers.

Dr. Yunus Emre Akbana is an Assistant Professor working at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University in Türkiye. His research focus includes developing language teaching approaches and materials to language education, where prospective language teachers can integrate global issues into their future teaching.

Sumida, S. (2024). Exploring SDG 4.7’s monitoring framework: ESD and GCED in the case of Japan. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 22(5), 773-789. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2155934
UNESCO (2015). Global citizenship education: Topics and learning objectives. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000232993.locale=en
United Nations (2022). The sustainable development goals report 2022 extended report: Goal 4 quality education. United Nations. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2022/extended-report/Extended-Report_Goal-4.pdf.