Towards Green Trends in ELT - Perceptions from an Indian ESP Classroom

V.K. Karthika presented on 'Towards Green Trends in ELT - Perceptions from an Indian ESP Classroom' at the 7th online Future of English Language Teaching Conference.

See the video recording below:

Abstract

The 13th objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) formulated by the United Nation, climate action, points towards the apocalyptic catastrophe that awaits the planet if the nations fail to address the issues. Different fields within the humanities discipline have already been responding to climate change and sustainable practices of co-existence and it is important to investigate how the field of applied linguistics offers its responses.

This paper documents an action research conducted in an Indian ESP classroom, using the theoretical framework of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), in which the teacher-researcher incorporated aspects of environmental humanities into the course plan along with the language and communication objectives of the ESP course. The participants of this classroom research were 60 Engineering students, aged between 18-20, of a private university in India. The study was based on two research questions: what are the possible ways in which an ESP syllabus may embed aspects of climate action and sustainable practices? and what are the measurable results of the “green lessons” that learners were provided with? The findings of the study indicated that incorporating eco perspectives in ELT classrooms can result in learners increasingly being responsive towards climate change, focusing on sustainable practices along with enhancing their linguistic and communication skills. The study also found that similar teaching-learning practices develop critical inquiry and other 21st century skills which further provide holistic development of the individuals, which is a major focus of India’s new National Education Policy 2020.

About the presenter

Dr. V.K. Karthika is an Assistant Professor of English in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. She earned her Master’s degree in TESOL Studies from the University of Leeds, England, United Kingdom after a Master’s in English and Comparative Literature from Pondicherry Central University. She worked in England as an ESOL instructor and assessor for ESOL Examinations from 2009 to 2011 and conducted studies related to language acquisition, cultural adaptation and professional needs of English instructors. Her research work combined her passions for intercultural understanding, multilingual realities and educational development.