Abstract
Few aspects of our daily lives, from our local commutes to the prices of international products, are unaffected by the climate crisis. The climate crisis is complex and nuanced, and thus, we need students equipped with the knowledge to contribute future solutions and resilience. At present, English Language Teaching (ELT) has invested minimally to address this issue. However, the field can play an instrumental role in shaping our future citizenry through Language Education for Sustainable Development (LESD), which is a reimagining of the goals of ELT to include meaningful content that challenges student beliefs, values, and norms. This is especially critical in a post-pandemic world, where the crisis opens opportunities to teach languages differently by incorporating sustainable development (SD) as essential content. English, for better or for worse, plays an important role in local, regional, and international policies around the climate crisis, and the field of language teaching has a vital role in shaping these future leaders. This chapter introduces the new field of LESD, how LESD can be utilized in the language classroom, and how it can be used to re-envision ELT contexts in a post-COVID world. LESD offers a path to resilience in the face of future crisis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
British Council. (2020). Teaching English. Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/climate-action-language-education-lesson-plans
Bronfman, N. C., Cisternas, P. C., López-Vázquez, E., de la Maza, C., & Oyanedel, J. C. (2015). Understanding attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors in a Chilean community. Sustainability, 7, 14133–14152.
Brundtland, G. (1987). Report of the world commission on environment and development: Our common future. New York: United Nations General Assembly document A/42/427.
Buong, A. (2020). Achieving SDGs through higher educational institutions: A case study of the University of Bahrain. In A. Al-Masri, & Y. Al-Assaf (Eds.), Sustainable development and social responsibility, (vol. 2, pp. 19-23). Cham: Springer.
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Eilam, E., & Trop, T. (2010). ESD pedagogy: A guide for the perplexed. The Journal of Environmental Education, 43–64.
Fahim, M., & Sa’eepour, M. (2011). The impact of teaching critical thinking skills on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(4), 867–874.
Hankyu Hanshin Holdings. (2019). SDGs Train. Retrieved from https://www.hankyu-hanshin.co.jp: https://www.hankyu-hanshin.co.jp/yume-machi/sdgstrain/top.html
Jodoin, J., & Singer, J. (2018). An analysis of environmental content found in English-Language textbooks in Japanese higher education using a corpus. The International Journal of Sustainability in Economic, Social and Cultural Context, 14(4), 9–55.
Jodoin, J., & Singer, J. (2020). Mainstreaming education for sustainable development in English as a foreign language: An analysis of the image-text interplay found in EFL textbooks in japanese higher education. In W. Leal Filho, A. Salvia, R. Pretorius, L. Brandli, E. Manolas, F. Alves, … A. Do Paco, et al. (Eds.), Universities as living labs for sustainable development.. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Juliaty, H., Yuyun, I., Pattiwael, A. S., & Natalia Mau, E. C. (2019). Examining EFL student response to student-centered classroom instruction. JER Journal of ELT Research, 4(1), 52–63.
Kioupi, V., & Voulvoulis, N. (2020). Sustainable development goals (SDGs): Assessing the contribution of higher education programmes. Sustainability, 20, 1–17.
Lee, E., & Hannafin, M. J. (2016). A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: Own it, learn it, and share it. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64, 707–734.
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (1990). Focus on-form and corrective feedback in communicative langauge teaching: Effects on second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12(4), 429–448.
Mackey, A. (2006). Feedback, noticing and instructed second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 405–430.
Mason, M. (2007). Critical thinking and learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 39(4), 339–349.
Nassaji, H., & Kartchava, E. (2017). Corrective feedback in second language teaching and learning: Research, theory, applications, implications. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Nation, P. (2013). What should every EFL teacher know? Retrieved from http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/paul-nation
New Belgium Brewing. (2021). https://www.newbelgium.com/. Retrieved https://www.newbelgium.com/beer/direct-shipping/torched-earth/
OECD. (2021). The state of school education: One year into the COVID pandemic. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child. New York, NY: Ballantine.
Rahman, M. (2020). Four years of SDGs in Bangladesh: Non-State actors as delivery partners. Dhaka: Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh.
Rezaei, S., Derakhshan, A., & Bagherkazemi, M. (2011). Critical thinking in language education. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(4), 769–777.
SDSN. (2020). Accelerating Education for the SDGs in Universities: A guide for universities, colleges, and tertiary and higher education institutions. New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
Soleimani, N. (2020). ELT teachers’ epistemological beliefs and dominant teaching style: A mixed-method research. Soleimani Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 5(12), 1–20.
Ssossé, Q., Wagner, J., & Hopper, C. (2021). Assessing the impact of ESD: Methods, challenges, results. Sustainability, 13(2854), 1–26.
Tilbury, D., & Wortman, D. (2004). Engaging people in sustainability. Gland, Switzerland: The World Conservation Union (IUCN).
UNESCO. (2014). Shaping the future we want: UN decade of education for sustainable development (2005–2014). Paris: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO. (2017). Education for sustainable development goals: Learning objectives. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO. (2019). Educational content up close examining the learning dimensions of education for sustainable development and global citizenship education. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development A/RES/70/1. New York: United Nations. Retrieved from https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/publications/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf
United Nations. (2020). Policy brief: Education during COVID-19 and beyond.New York: United Nations.
Vaughter, P., & Pham, N. (2020). RCE contributions to a more sustainable world: Celebrating five years of innovative projects on education for sustainable development (2015–2019). Tokyo: United Nations University, Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS).
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
World Meteorological Organization. (2021). Global annual to decadal climate update: Target years: 2021 and 2021–2025. Geneva: WMO.
Yang, Y. C., & Gamble, J. (2013). Effective and practical critical thinking-enhanced EFL instruction. ELT Journal, 67(4), 398–412.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jodoin, J.J. (2022). Re-envisioning English Language Teaching in a Post-COVID World: Using Language Education for Sustainable Development. In: Khan, R., Bashir, A., Basu, B.L., Uddin, M.E. (eds) Local Research and Glocal Perspectives in English Language Teaching. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6458-9_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6458-9_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-6457-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-6458-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)