Enhancing environmental awareness through CLIL: teaching water issues in EFL contexts
Document Type : Short Paper
Authors
- Department of Language & Literature, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Given the growing urgency of global water challenges, there is a pressing need to integrate environmental education into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for teaching water-related issues such as scarcity, pollution, and conservation within an EFL context. A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving 60 eighth-grade students divided into two groups: an experimental group (n = 30) receiving CLIL-based instruction and a control group (n = 30) taught through traditional EFL methods. Data were collected using language proficiency tests, environmental awareness questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in both language proficiency (mean score increase from 65.2 to 78.4, p < 0.01) and environmental awareness (mean increase from 12.3 to 17.8, p < 0.01). Interview data also revealed higher motivation and engagement among CLIL learners. These findings support the integration of environmental topics into EFL through CLIL as an effective strategy to promote both language development and ecological literacy.
Keywords
- Environmental awareness
- Content-Based Instruction
- Innovative pedagogy
- learner motivation
- meaningful learning
Subjects
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