Ecological discourse analysis of green content in English language textbooks in Pakistan

This study has explored the constructive and destructive discourse of green content in the textbooks, designed by the Sindh Textbook Board, and taught in public schools of Sindh, Pakistan. English textbooks for Grades 6 to 10 were selected to carry out the process of data collection and analysis. The data were analyzed by using the categorization framework of Ecological discourse analysis (EDA). The constructive discourse, related to the environment, was categorized into themes and the categorization of eco-lexicons was made to identify the destructive discourse in the textbook. The results found that the constructive discourse related to the environment was present in the textbook; Eco-centric actions and ecological themes. Apart from this, linguistic elements; Euphemism, passive Voices, and nominalization were also identified in the textbooks which encourage destructive behavior by missing the agents or concealing the real culprits behind ecological degradation. Additionally, green content in the textbooks represents a human-centered approach rather than an eco-centric approach in English textbooks. The findings of the study suggest that there is a need of evaluating ecological areas in ELT textbooks to incorporate positive ecological discourse so that constructive change must be brought through education in ELT textbooks