Braiding Words and Nature. Incorporating Eco-Centric Literature in the EFL Classroom

Abstract

Integrating eco-centric literature in English as a foreign language (EFL) education could be considered beneficial as it has the potential to develop students’ language proficiency while exposing them to ecocentric perspectives which challenge mainstream discourses promoted by Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This qualitative case study has, therefore, examined students’ perceptions of local surroundings and attitudes towards environmental responsibility, and analysed whether their pre-reflections differ from their post-reflections and in what way. The research drew on data collected from sixteen student logbooks in the course English 6, and the study was conducted during a three-week period in an upper secondary school in south-west Sweden. Results showed that students’ awareness about their surroundings, to some extent, was heightened after the project, and that students’ attitudes towards individual and collective environmental responsibility also changed to a certain degree. Nevertheless, multiple responses also reflected more passive attitudes, and the literature used for the study seemed to have little immediate effect on these students. Still, the findings underscore the potential of integrating ecocentric perspectives and illustrate the importance of implementing them to a larger degree in ESD.