fo

Role of Language Teachers

in
Climate Activism
Breaking news!
 Answers Worksheet 1

1. True 8. True
2. True 9. True
3. True 10. True
4. True 11. True
5. True 12. True
6. True 13. True
7. True 14. False

14. An Oxford University study, published in the journal Climatic

Change, shows that meat-eaters are responsible for almost twice
as many dietary greenhouse-gas emissions per day as
vegetarians and about two and a half times as many as vegans.
 PREVIEW

 Warmer

 Sustainable Development Goals

 Sustainable Development Goal 13

 Ecocriticism

 Model Lesson

Q&A
“We are the first generation that can end global poverty
and at the same time we are the last generation that can
reverse climate change. If we don’t take action now, we
will leave only regret to succeeding generations”.
- Ban Ki-moon, 9 Jul 2016 (“Advocate Jack Ma hosts,” 2016)
Sustainable Development (SD)
 Sustainable Development (SD)
 SD means meeting ‘the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ in all three
aspects: economic, environmental, and social (Harris, 2000, pp. 5-6).
 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that together aim to end
poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all were
adopted on September 25th 2015 at the UN Headquarters, New York,
and are sought to be achieved by 2030.
 The Paris Agreement followed on 12 Dec 2015, focusing on the
mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation and finance.
 The agreement came into effect on 04 Nov 2016. As of 01 Feb 2018,
a total of 174 out of 197 countries have ratified the agreement.

 Climate change is the ‘defining issue’ and among ‘the greatest

challenges’ of our time (“UN Sustainable Development Climate
Change”)—not just for world leaders and governments but equally for
ordinary citizens, including teachers (“UNESCO: Addressing
Climate Change”).
 Sustainable Development Goal 13
 Climate Action: ‘take urgent action to tackle climate change and
its impact’
 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related
hazards and natural disasters in all countries
 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies,
strategies and planning.
 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and
institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact
reduction and early warning
 13.a: Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country
parties to…mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020…and fully
operationalize the Green Climate Fund.
 13.b: Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate
change-related planning and management in least developed
countries… including focusing on women, youth and local and
marginalized communities.
Ecocriticism
 Ecocriticism

 Interdisciplinary study of literature and the natural environment

for possible corrections to the ongoing environmental
degradation.
 Rejects anthropocentricism in favour of biocentricism—while
anthropocentricism gives primacy to human values,
biocentricism upholds the inherent value of all things
 Abandoned its one-time view of literature and linguistics as
useless and unchanging, or that ‘poetry makes nothing happen’
(Auden cited in Tošić, 2006, p. 49).
 As a worthy ally for any climate activist, ecocriticism has
common cause today in its endeavour to raise awareness and
invent solutions to environmental crises.
Model Lesson
 Lesson Plan
 This is an example of a lesson plan based purely on authentic
material sourced from a local newspaper, adapted both for
teaching English as well as sensitizing students on climate
issues.
 Main Aim: To develop reading skills / deduce meaning of
vocabulary from context
 Sub Aims: To develop creative writing skills / speaking skills /
discuss safer, toxin-free clothing / impact on environment
 Age group: Teens
 Level: B 1 / Intermediate +
 Time: 45 minutes
 Materials: Authentic text adapted from local newspaper:
http://epaper.tribuneindia.com/899054/LifeStyle/LS_08_August
_2016
Detoxing Fashion

What you wear impacts the earth in more ways than

one. Here is a lowdown on how you can stay chic
and yet not add to your carbon footprint.
 Answers Worksheet 2

1 - The Garment Story

2 - Sustainable Fashion
3 - Sustainable Fabric
4 - Pure and Organic
5 - Don’t Itch
 Answers Worksheet 3

1 True 5 True

2 True 6 False

3 False 7 False

4 True 8 False
 Answers Worksheet 4

1 Organic
2 Sustainable
3 Irreversible
4 Hazardous
5 Ethnic
6 Bling
7 Shimmer
8 Toxin
 To awaken their tactile sensibility, get SS to close their eyes
and to gently run finger tips in small circles over their clothes for
15-20 secs; then share with partner any
words/phrases/images/sounds that come to mind.
 Divide SSs into pairs/groups. Get some to write haiku poems
on organic/natural clothing, and others on synthetic clothing.
 Haiku: A Japanese verse form most often of three unrhymed
lines of five, seven, and five syllables. It often features an
image, or a pair of images, meant to depict the essence of a
specific moment in time
 Speaking & Public Interface
SSs research and present brief talk for 3-4 minutes on the
following topics before an audience:
 What is sustainable fashion?
 What are carbon and fashion footprint?
 What is the carbon footprint of different types of fabric?
 What problems can chemicals in clothing cause?
 What is the impact of the textile industry on climate change?
 Websites for reference are given above under ‘material’
 SS write selected haiku poems on matching fabric: synthetic
(polyester, acrylic, rayon, nylon), or natural (cotton, silk, linen,
hemp, wool, cashmere), and display these for public view—for
example, on the school notice board.
 Natural Fabric

No chemicals, please.
Prefer pure and organic—
Love Environment.

Caressing the skin—

You natural fruits of the earth.
Beautiful all through

Fabrics such as cotton, silk and wool, made of animal or plant-based fibres.
 Synthetic fabric

Synthetic clothing
gives you the itch and leaves scars
on Environment

Your sheen hides so much

pain and plunder of the earth—
Can’t bio-degrade?

Man-made and produced entirely from chemicals: polyester, rayon, acrylic, and
many others.
harisss2@rediffmail.com
 Bibliography

 Harris, Jonathan M (2000). Basic Principles of Sustainable

Development. Medford USA: Tufts University
 Tošić, Jelica (2006). Ecocriticism – interdisciplinary study of
Literature and Environment. Working and Living
Environmental Protection, 3/1, 43-50
 United Nations (2013). World Economic and Social Survey.
New York, USA
 Woodward, Tessa (2015). A framework for learning creativity.
In Alan Maley and Nik Peachey (Eds.). Creativity in the
English Language Classroom (pp. 150-157). London: British
Council
 Wright, Andrew (2015). Medium: companion or slave? In
Alan Maley and Nik Peachey (Eds.). Creativity in the English
Language Classroom (pp. 14-23). London: British Council
 Bibliography
Electronic sources
 Advocate Jack Ma hosts Secretary-General and numerous
dignitaries for a Philanthropy Conference (2016, Jul 09).
Retrieved from:
www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/
 Eldis - Electronic Development and Environment Information
System (2016). Retrieved 08 Aug 2016 from:www.eldis.org
 Singh, Jasmine (2016, Aug 08). Detoxing Fashion. Tribune Life
+ Style p.1. Retrieved from:
http://epaper.tribuneindia.com/899054/Life-
Style/LS_08_August_2016
 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals - 13. Retrieved
29 Jul 2016 from:
www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change-2/
 Bibliography
Electronic sources (contd)
 United Nations Sustainable Development Climate Change.
Retrieved 08 Aug 2016 from:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/climatechange
 UNESCO: Addressing Climate Change. Available from
http://en.unesco.org/themes/addressing-climate-change
 UNESCO: Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future
(TLSF). Retrieved 08 Aug 2016 from:
www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/
 United Nations Climate Action: Why it Matters. Retrieved 10
Aug 2015 from:
www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment
 How does climate change occur? Retrieved 07 Sep 2016 from:
http://why-sci.com/climate-change/