Enhancing Environmental Education: An Analysis of EFL Elementary School Coursebooks in Chile and Indonesia

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Ingrid A. Gavilan Tatin, Ashadi Ashadi, George M. Jacobs

2025 TESL-EJ Vol. 29 Issue 2 Article Cited by 1 SDG 17SDG 4 Quartile

Abstract

The integration of environmental education (EE) into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) coursebooks is common. This article aims to bridge gaps in understanding the representation of environmental themes by employing ecolinguistics and EE frameworks for (1) identifying environmental themes within EFL coursebooks for primary school students in Indonesia and Chile, (2) examining the alignment of these themes with EE objectives and ecolinguistics categories, and (3) learning from the EE content in the two sets of coursebooks to develop ideas that can guide EE content in future EFL coursebooks for primary school students. The study examines the presence and treatment of environmental content in the selected coursebooks using content analysis. The analysis focuses on identifying themes and assessing their correspondence with EE goals. The findings indicate the presence of positive environmental content in the coursebooks, although with incomplete integration, often reflecting an anthropocentric (human-centric) perspective. The study emphasizes the importance of better incorporating insights from ecolinguistics and EE into EFL materials. It also identifies areas for improvement in both sets of coursebooks and offers recommendations for further research. Copyright of articles rests with the authors.

Affiliations

Chile; Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Kampung Senang Charity and Education Foundation, Singapore

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