Ecolinguistics

Abstract: This study explores emotive language in lyrical nature writing from the perspective of ecolinguistics in four nature textbooks. In fact, embodied mind style is explored by considering emotive language as a linguistic phenomenon that can inject into the readers' minds the sensorial, emotional, and psychological experiences of the lyricist. The interrogation of emotive language is based on Attitude subsystem of Appraisal Analysis, which consists of Affect, Judgment, and Appreciation (Martin & White, 2005). The analyses of the linguistic portrayal of Affect -based on the modified Affect system sub-categories, including Un/Happiness, Dis/Satisfaction, In/Security, Dis/Inclination, and Surprise -revealed the prevalence of Insecurity in the textbooks by contemporary nature writers and Happiness in the textbooks by their predecessors. Moreover, the Judgement and Appreciation analyses suggest that moral sentiment and aesthetic emotion are indispensable parts of lyrical nature writing that can awaken humility and sympathy in the minds and hearts of the readers.

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.

Our planet faces major environmental issues that must be addressed through ecological initiatives, education, and awareness raising. In language education, ecolinguistics has grown substantially during the last decade and has taken a cognitive step toward fostering and improving people’s ecological awareness; however, there was no mention of pedagogical practices of ecolinguistics rooted in theories of second language teaching and learning. Thus, the present study sought to apply a framework of English teaching based on the Activity Theory to raise EFL learners’ ecological critical language awareness. The researchers of the current quasi-experimental study employed a non-equivalent pretest and posttest control-group design to assess the effectiveness of using an AT-based framework in EFL classes to foster learners’ critical language awareness of ecological issues. An experimental group (n=45) and a control group (n=45) with intermediate-level members selected through convenience sampling took part in the study. The experimental group was taught with the AT-based framework, while the control group was not. The result of the independent samples t-test indicated that the ECLA of the experimental group had risen significantly compared to the control group. Also, the results of a series of paired samples t-tests comparing the pretest and posttest of the experimental group’s score on each domain of the ECLA showed that the learners’ awareness of all six domains had significantly improved. The study suggests that implementing the AT-based framework to teach ecolinguistics in language classes can be a promising way to raise learners’ ECLA.