This page provides information about work related to environmental education (EE) done by me and by others. I include vegetarianism under EE, because vegetarianism is good for the environment. You can view entire copies of some of this work by clicking on the blue links. For instructions on downloading copies of available works, click on How to Copy These Files in the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Participation Ideas
A key goal of Environmental Education is tto directly involve student in actually doing things tto protect the environment. Here is a list od such ideas.

Butterfly Lesson Plans
Here are four simple lesson plans for increasing understanding about butterflies.

Butterfly Video Script
This is a script for a video (but it could be turned into a short story or play) about kids who strive to protect and expand butterfly habitats. They care so much that one of the kids even turns into a butterfly for a while.

Vegetarianism
This page includes documents and links about vegetarianism, including explanations of why vegetarianism and environmentalism fit together well. I spend a lot of time these days working on vegetarianism, and I've been a vegetarian since 1980.

Global Issues in Second Language Teaching
This is an article from an Indonesian journal, Kata (‘language’ in Indonesian). This article paints an optimistic picture of the role we second language teachers can play not only in improving our students’ language proficiency but also in infusing global education into our classes as we join with our students to address global concerns, such as peace, prosperity, environmental protection, and human rights. The article is divided into four parts. The first part describes global education and identifies organizations of second language educators participating in global education. The second part of the article focuses on two key areas of global education: peace education and environmental education. Next, we address questions that second language teachers frequently ask about including global education in their teaching. Lastly, we supply lists of print and electronic resources on peace education and environmental education. Jacobs, G. M., & Cates, K. (1999). Global issues in second language teaching. Kata, 1, 44-56.

Developing Materials With An Environmental Focus
This is a chapter from Hidalgo, A.C., Hall, D., & Jacobs, G.M. (Eds.).1995. Getting started: Materials writers on materials writing. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre. It talks about principles for creating language teaching activities based on two sets of ideas: (1) the UN's environmental education objectives; and (2) recent trends in language teaching methodology.

Language and the Environment
Jacobs, G.M., Goatly, A., & Ming, J. (1995). Language and the environment. PASAA, 25, 54-63. "PASAA" is the Thai word for language. This journal is published by Chulalongkarn University in Bangkok. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to include the cartoons, because they would take up too much space.

Abstract
Language affects the way we view the world. As we humans strive to undo the destruction we daily deliver on the environment, we must consider the role that language plays in shaping our views of the environment. This article explores the link between language and the environment, looking at the specific case of English. Both lexical and grammatical features of English are considered. Numerous examples and cartoons illustrate the concepts discussed.

The final section of the article addresses implications for language instruction. The authors urge language teachers to include environmental themes in their classes, stating that such themes add to, rather than detract from, language learning. A sample lesson is provided which aims to increase learners' understanding of the language-environment connection.

EE Links. Here are some links to sites on environmental education.

Strategies for integrating environmental education in foreign language instruction. This paper explains the six U.N. environmental education objectives and describes how changes in second language teaching methodology mirror changes that are occurring in people's view of the environment.

Linking Language and the Environment. This is a book I co-authored. It's got two parts. The first part is like the paper in the URL in the above paragraph. The second and main part of the book is a collection of lessons, mostly for students of intermediate or higher language proficiency. Outside the U.S., order through the publisher, Pippin Publishing Corporation, Suite 232, 85 Ellesmere Road, Scarborough, Ontario M1R 4B9, CANADA, Tel: (416) 510-2918 & 1-888-889-0001, Fax: (416) 510-3359, Email: jld@pippinpub.com. If you're in the U.S., the order should be placed with the U.S. distributor, The Wright Group. Their 800 phone number is 1-800-523-2371, their fax is 1-800-543-7323, and their address is 19201 120th Avenue NE, Bothell, Washington 98011.The book should be in their catalog at $19.95.

The treatment of ecological issues in ELT textbooks. Here is the abstract for this article:
This article reports a study examining the presence of environmental issues in ELT coursebooks published since 1990. Seventeen randomly-selected coursebooks were analysed in order to find the percentage of activities related to environmental issues. Such activities were then examined to establish whether they involved participation in environmental protection. The results are discussed in light of teaching methodology and United Nations environmental education objectives.


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George M Jacobs
Tel: 65-9389-8360 (mobile)
E-mail: gmjacobs@pacific.net.sg
Website: http://www.georgejacobs.net/