ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
Environmental education has a great importance in Malaysia as it helps students to be aware of the various environmental risks that exist. One of the main issues that people currently face is the deterioration of the environment on a global scale. Henceforth, this study aims to explore integration of environmental education into students’ English writing studies where they are expected to learn about the numerous environmental repercussions while also developing English skills. This study focuses on this approach at a Chinese Independent High School in Selangor, Malaysia. Given that it lends meaning to any culture and a variety of aspects in the realms of science, the arts, and commerce, this topic is crucial to study. The chosen research methodology is qualitative. Five participants who were recruited using a purposive sampling process were the subjects of semi-structured interviews to gather the qualitative data. Thematic data analysis revealed that critical and creative thinking ought to play a significant role in the learning process in the classroom. The study's conclusions imply that teachers should prepare lesson plans where environmental elements are embedded into the learning outcomes or objectives. They need trainings to improve skills in preparing appropriate materials and content as well as to hone their pedagogical skills to deliver lessons effectively.
Al-Refai, A. M., & Al-Omari, W. H. (2020). The Extent of Including Environmental Education in Action Pack Series from Five to Seven. Educational Sciences, 47(3), 1-12.
Ardoin, N. M., & Bowers, A. W. (2020). Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature. Educational Research Review, 31, 100353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100353
Arias-Contreras, C., & Moore, P. J. (2022). The role of English language in the field of agriculture: A needs analysis. English for Specific Purposes, 65, 95-106. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2021.09.002
Aswad, M. (2017). The Effectiveness English Camp (A Model in Learning English as the Second Language). 5th AASIC 2017 Conference Proceedings, 234-239.
Barghi, R., Zakaria, Z., Hamzah, A., & Hashim, N. H. (2017). Heritage education in the Primary School Standard Curriculum of Malaysia. Teaching and Teacher Education, 61, 124-131. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.10.012
Beetham, H., & Sharpe, R. (2013). Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age: Designing for 21st Century Learning. NewYork: Routledge
Castillo-Montoya, M. (2017). Deepening Understanding of Prior Knowledge: What Diverse First Generation College Students in the US Can Teach us. Teaching in Higher Education, 22 (5): 587–603. https://doi:10.1080/13562517.2016.1273208
Chen, C., Chen, C. W. K., & Shieh, C.-J. (2020). A Study on Correlations between Computer-Aided Instructions Integrated Environmental Education and Students’ Learning Outcome and Environmental Literacy. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(6). doi:10.29333/ejmste/8229
Dawilai, S., Kamyod, C., & Prasad, R. (2021). Effectiveness Comparison of the Traditional Problem-Based Learning and the Proposed Problem-Based Blended Learning in Creative Writing: A Case Study in Thailand. Wireless Personal Communications, 118(3), 1853-1867. doi:10.1007/s11277-019-06638-x
Erhabor, N. I., & Don, J. U. (2016). Impact of Environmental Education On the Knowledge and Attitude of Students Towards the Environment. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 11(12), 5367-5375.
Granberg, C., Palm, T., & Palmberg, B. (2021). A case study of a formative assessment practice and the effects on students’ self-regulated learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 68, 100955. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100955
Harrison, S. (2010). ‘Why are we here?’Taking ‘place’into account in UK outdoor environmental education. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 10(1), 3-18.
Lazaroff, E., & Vlach, H. A. (2022). Children’s science vocabulary uniquely predicts individual differences in science knowledge. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 221, 105427. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105427
Loubser, C., Azlin, N. Y., Dreyer, J., & Azyyati, N. A. K. (2014). The effectiveness of environmental education workshops for teachers, learners and schools in Malaysia. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 16(6), 1163-1176. doi:10.1007/s10668-014-9518-9
Malhotra, G. (2017). Strategies in Research. International Journal of Advanced Research and Development, 2(5), 172-180.
Manahasa, O., Ozsoy, A., & Manahasa, E. (2021). Evaluative, inclusive, participatory: Developing a new language with children for school building design. Building and Environment, 188, 107374. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107374
Mete, D. E. (2018). Incorporating environmental education in English language teaching through Bloom’s revised taxonomy. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, (40), 33-44.
Mohajan, H. (2018). Qualitative Research Methodology in Social Sciences and Related Subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 7(1), 23-48.
Ong, C. S. B., Siah, P. C., & Tan, S. M. (2020). Demographic Factors and Job Satisfaction of Malaysian Chinese Independent School Teachers. Asia Pacific Journal of Educators and Education, 35(1), 137-156. doi:10.21315/apjee2020.35.1.8
Parra, G., Hansmann, R., Hadjichambis, A. C., Goldman, D., Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, D., Sund, P., . . . Conti, D. (2020). Education for Environmental Citizenship and Education for Sustainability. In A. C. Hadjichambis, P. Reis, D. Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, J. ?in?era, J. Boeve-de Pauw, N. Gericke, & M.-C. Knippels (Eds.), Conceptualizing Environmental Citizenship for 21st Century Education (pp. 149-160). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Price, J. R., Martin, G. E., Chen, K., & Jones, J. R. (2020). A Preliminary Study of Writing Skills in Adolescents with Autism Across Persuasive, Expository, and Narrative Genres. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(1), 319-332. doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04254-z
Ramadhan, S., Sukma, E., & Indriyani, V. (2019). Environmental education and disaster mitigation through language learning. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 314(1). doi:10.1088/1755-1315/314/1/012054
Sanchez-Llorens, S., -Torres, A., Del Campo-Gomis, F. J., & Martinez-Poveda, A. (2019). Environmental consciousness differences between primary and secondary school students. Journal of Cleaner Production, 227, 712-723. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.251
Sang, Y. (2017). Investigate the “Issues” in Chinese Students’ English Writing and Their “Reasons”: Revisiting the Recent Evidence in Chinese Academia. International Journal of Higher Education, 6(3). doi:10.5430/ijhe.v6n3p1
Setyowati, L., Sumawan, S., & El-Sulukiyyah, A. A. (2020). The Inclusion of Environmental Education for the Second Year College Students’ Writing Class in Indonesian Context: “We Care”. Proceedings of the International Conference on Community Development (ICCD 2020), 477, 387-391.
Abdullah, S. I. S. (2018). An investigation into the influence of outdoor environmental education courses on the environmental attitude and behaviours of Malaysian participants: a life history approach. Thesis Dissertation. University of Edinburgh.
Turan, Z., & Akdag-Cimen, B. (2020). Flipped classroom in English language teaching: a systematic review. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 33(5-6), 590-606. doi:10.1080/09588221.2019.1584117
Verma, G., & Dhull, P. (2017). Environmental Education as a Subject in Schools. International Journal of Advanced Research, 5(8), 1547-1552. doi:10.21474/ijar01/5214
Wang, N., Chen, J., Tai, M., & Zhang, J. (2021). Blended learning for Chinese university EFL learners: learning environment and learner perceptions. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 34(3), 297-323. doi:10.1080/09588221.2019.1607881
Zhang, L., & Kim, S. (2018). Critical Thinking Cultivation in Chinese College English Classes. English Language Teaching, 11(8). doi:10.5539/elt.v11n8p159
In-Text Citation: (Paramanathan & Syed-Abdullah, 2022)
To Cite this Article: Paramanathan, T., & Syed-Abdullah, S. I. S. (2022). Integration of Environmental Education into English Writing Lessons in A Malaysian Chinese Independent High School. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 14(4), 757–768.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode