Enhancing EFL Students’ Environmental Awareness and Motivation through a Faith-Based Green ELT Curriculum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29408/veles.v9i2.30685Keywords:
green ELT, sustainable education, EFL, environmental awarness, motivation, faith-based education, localised curriculum, Design-Based Research (DBR)Abstract
Integrating sustainable education into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has become increasingly important in response to global environmental challenges. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a localised Green ELT curriculum developed and implemented at a private Christian university in Tomohon, Indonesia. Guided by a Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology, the curriculum was designed to integrate ecological content with Christian values and English language learning objectives. The study involved 50 purposively selected EFL students and was conducted over three months (March–May 2025) through three phases: curriculum design, classroom implementation, and evaluation. Data were collected using pre- and post-questionnaires, classroom observations, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Quantitative data were analysed with paired t-tests, while qualitative data were thematically analysed. The findings revealed statistically significant improvements in both environmental awareness (t = -13.62, p < 0.001) and motivation to learn English (t = -6.60, p < 0.001). Qualitative insights further confirmed that faith-based discussions and contextualised activities deepened student engagement, linking language learning to sustainability issues. These results demonstrate that Green ELT can foster linguistic skills while enhancing students’ sense of environmental responsibility when localised and aligned with cultural and religious values. The study highlights the potential of Green ELT in faith-based contexts and recommends further adaptation across diverse educational settings to promote sustainable language education.
References
Afrin, F., & Saha, S. (2023). Environmental awareness exposure through English language teaching: An analysis of middle school EFL textbooks in Bangladesh. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Educational Studies, 19(1), 25–42. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-011x/cgp/v19i01/25-42
Alter, G. (2015). Greening the EFL classroom. Environmental agency as education for sustainable living. In C. Lütge (Hrsg.), Global Education. Perspectives for English language teaching (S. 57–91). LIT.
Anderson, T., & Shattuck, J. (2012). Design-based research: A decade of progress in education research? Educational Researcher, 41(1), 16–25. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X11428813
Arslan, S., & Curle, S. (2024). Institutionalising English as a foreign language teachers for global sustainability: Perceptions of education for sustainable development in Turkey. International Journal of Educational Research, 125, 102353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102353
Astawa, N. L. P. N. S. P., Santosa, M. H., Artini, L. P., & Nitiasih, P. K. (2024). Sustainable development goals in EFL students’ learning: A systematic review. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.47750/pegegog.14.02.01
Boca, G. D., & Saraçlı, S. (2019). Environmental education and student’s perception, for sustainability. Sustainability, 11(6), 1553. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061553
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8th ed.). London: Routledge.
Creswell, J.W. and Creswell, J.D. (2018) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage, Los Angeles.
Denzin, N. K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 6(2), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689812437186
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2021). Teaching and researching motivation (3rd ed.). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351006743
Eom, K., & Ng, S. T. (2023). The potential of religion for promoting sustainability: The role of Stewardship. Topics in Cognitive Science, 15(3), 480–499. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12641
Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5, 1-4.
https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11
Fahey, S. J. (2012). Curriculum change and climate change. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44(5), 703–722
Field, A, P. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. 5th Edition, Sage, Newbury Park.
Goulah, J. (2011). Ecospirituality in public foreign language education: A critical discourse analysis of a transformative world language learning approach. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 8(1), 27–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2011.545766
Hauschild S, Poltavtchenko E, Stoller FL (2012). Going green: merging environmental education and language instruction. Engl Teach Forum, 50(2), 2–13.
Jayantini, I. G. a. S. R., Hikmaharyanti, P. D. A., Arjawa, I. G. P. B. S., & Jayantiari, I. G. a. M. R. (2024). Education for sustainable development: Mapping socio-legal and eco-cultural sustainability topics in English learning. International Journal of Learning Teaching and Educational Research, 23(4), 161–179. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.23.4.9
Jones, C. A., & Davison, A. (2020). Disempowering emotions: The role of educational experiences in social responses to climate change. Geoforum, 118, 190–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.11.006
Joshi, A., Kale, S., Chandel, S., & Pal, D. (2015). Likert scale: Explored and explained. British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 7(4), 396–403. https://doi.org/10.9734/bjast/2015/14975
Jung, C. D., & Santos, L. M. D. (2022). Incorporating environmentally-responsive EFL pedagogy in English-as-a-foreign language classrooms: Paving the way for global impact. IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science, 987(1), 012017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/987/1/012017
Kazazoglu, S. (2025). Environmental Education Through Eco-Literacy: Integrating Sustainability into English Language Teaching. Sustainability, 17(5), 2156. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17052156
Krueger R, A., & Casey, M, A. (2015). Focus group interviewing. In: Newcomer K, E., Hatry, H, P., Wholey, J, S. (eds). Handbook of practical program evaluation, 4th edn. Wiley, Hoboken.
Kuusalu, S., Laine, P., Maijala, M., Mutta, M., & Patzelt, M. (2023). University language students’ evaluations of ecological, social, cultural and economic sustainability and their importance in language teaching. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 25(9), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-05-2023-0169
Laurie, R., Nonoyama-Tarumi, Y., Mckeown, R., & Hopkins, C. (2016). Contributions of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to quality education: A synthesis of research. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 10(2), 226–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408216661442
Li, J., & Xue, E. (2023). Dynamic interaction between student learning behaviour and learning environment: Meta-analysis of student engagement and its influencing factors. Behavioral Sciences, 13(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13010059
Li, D., & Zhang, L. (2023). Exploring EFL learners’ cognitive/emotional dissonance in content-based foreign language instruction: An ecological perspective. System, 114, 103019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2023.103019
Lin, T. (2015). Exploring the role of spirituality in the ecology of language learning. International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching, 2, 54–61.
Mambu, J. E. (2016). Investigating students’ negotiation of religious faiths in ELT contexts: A critical spiritual pedagogy perspective. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 13(3), 157–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2016.1150145
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.
Monroe, M. C., Plate, R. R., Oxarart, A., Bowers, A., & Chaves, W. A. (2017). Identifying effective climate change education strategies: a systematic review of the research. Environmental Education Research, 25(6), 791–812. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1360842
Nirwana, N., & Darmadali, W. S. (2021). Instilling religious moderation value in ELT through cross-cultural understanding course. ELSYA Journal of English Language Studies, 3(2), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.31849/elsya.v3i2.6780
Nkwetisama, C. M. (2011). EFL/ESL and environmental education: Towards an eco-applied linguistic awareness in Cameroon. World Journal of Education, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v1n1p110
Raphael, E. B., & Nandanan, S. L. (2024). Green English language teaching and EFL Textbooks: fostering environmental consciousness in language education. RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary, 9(4), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2024.v09.n04.013
Reeves T. (2006). Design research from a technology perspective. In Akker J., Gravemeijer K., McKenny S., Nieveen N. (Eds.), Educational design research (pp. 86–109). New York, NY: Routledge.
Rieckmann, M. (2018). Learning to transform the world: Key competencies in Education for Sustainable Development. Issues and trends in education for sustainable development, 39(1), 39-59.
Saiful, J. A. (2023). Eco-ELT for environmental research and praxis in ELT. Journal on English as a Foreign Language, 13(2), 373–398. https://doi.org/10.23971/jefl.v13i2.6335
Sultan, A. (2023). Language and ecology in prophet Muhammad’s hadiths. Bulletin of the Faculty of Languages & Translation, 24(2), 3–38. https://doi.org/10.21608/bflt.2023.291395
Suwaed, H. (2022). Raising Libyan EFL undergraduate students’ awareness about environmental issues through project-based learning. Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 12(3), 112–123. https://doi.org/10.18844/gjflt.v12i3.6294
Tang, K. H. D. (2021). Education for sustainable development from the perspective of Christianity: Pedagogies and prospects. European Journal of Education Studies, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i4.3678
Tasdemir, C., & Gazo, R. (2020). Integrating sustainability into higher education curriculum through a transdisciplinary perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 265, 121759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121759
UNESCO, (2014). UNESCO roadmap for implementing the global action programme on education for sustainable development. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Paris.
Wong, M.S., & Mahboob, A. (eds) (2018). Spirituality in English language teaching: Religious explorations of teacher identity, pedagogy and context. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Wu, S., & Shafait, Z. (2024). Assessing EFL (English as Foreign Language) education for sustainable development: Exploring the cultural teaching literature. European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education, 14(8), 2282–2299. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe14080152
Zahoor, M., & Janjua, F. (2019). Green contents in English language textbooks in Pakistan: An ecolinguistic and ecopedagogical appraisal. British Educational Research Journal, 46(2), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3579
Zsóka, Á., Szerényi, Z. M., Széchy, A., & Kocsis, T. (2012). Greening due to environmental education? Environmental knowledge, attitudes, consumer behavior and everyday pro-environmental activities of Hungarian high school and university students. Journal of Cleaner Production, 48, 126–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.030
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Jane Elvira Scipio, Jeane Mangangue, Vivi Nansy Tumuju, Royke Max Suot, Jola Silvana Kalangi, Lenda Lumentah, James Edward Lalira
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with VELES agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., posting it to an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citations of published work.
VELES is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
