The Embodiment of Environmental Discourse in Language Learning: A Critical Ecolinguistic Study of EFL Textbooks in Indonesia

Document Type : Research article

Authors
Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara
Abstract
As environmental issues become more prevalent, it is vital to incorporate ecological components into the curriculum to equip future generations with the necessary foundations to preserve and improve ecology. In light of this circumstance, many countries are compelled to include instructional approaches representing environmentally-based topics in textbooks. Nevertheless, whether the textbooks facilitate environmental education (EE) to promote ecological principles or foster students' competence in recurrent environmental concerns is ambivalent, particularly in the Indonesian context. The current study attempts to analyze the ecological verbal and visual contents engaged in Indonesian EFL textbooks. This study also unpacks the extent to which EFL textbooks in Indonesia accurately reflected the ecolinguistics perspective. Content analysis was employed in this study, adapting Stibbe’s (2015) ecolinguistics framework and Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2016) visual grammar theory. The findings revealed that EE in Indonesian EFL textbooks highlights the natural beauty and ecotourism locations while mainly disregarding ecological degradation. In contrast, EFL textbooks must emphasize contemporary world issues to cultivate positive attitudes and ecological consciousness among learners. Subsequently, these findings have significant consequences for the development of environment modules in Indonesian EFL textbooks.

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