{"id":4426,"date":"2026-04-05T15:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/?page_id=4426"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:27:14","slug":"volume-19-issue-05-pg-23-34-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/?page_id=4426","title":{"rendered":"Volume 19, Issue 05, Pg 23-34, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development<\/strong>
\nOpen-access peer-reviewed journal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/doi.org\/10.64211\/oidaijsd190502<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

An Eco-Linguistic Analysis of Sri Lankan School English Textbooks<\/strong>: Examining Environmental Discourse and Language Use<\/strong><\/p>\n

M.G. Lalith Ananda
\n<\/strong>Department of English and Linguistics, International Center for Multidisciplinary Studies (ICMS), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
\nCorresponding authour: mlalithananda@sjp.ac.lk<\/a><\/p>\n

Volume 19, Issue 05, Pg. 23-34, 2026<\/p>\n

Abstract: <\/strong>This study examines the representation of environmental themes in Sri Lankan school English textbooks from an ecolinguistic perspective. School text books, as the main material of Sri Lankan school education, are central to shaping learners\u2019 attitudes. Hence, making such analysis is timely in the current environmental crisis around the world. English textbooks prescribed by the Sri Lankan national curriculum for Junior Secondary (Grades 6-9), Senior Secondary (Grades 10-11), and Post-Secondary\/General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) were selected. Thus, altogether 07 text books were selected covering a range of content, and all of them have been in use since 2015\/16, undergoing consecutive re-prints. From an initial 650 lexical items referencing the environment, 389 were identified as ecologically relevant. The selected list was further checked with Ecolexicon for their environmental relatedness, and 60 lexical items were further selected. A qualitative content analysis was conducted applying three main eco-linguistic concepts: ecological metaphors, framing of environmental issues, and ideologies of sustainability. These discourses contained the particular lexical items, or were related to them through semantic fields. The findings reveal that ecological metaphors construct a narrative of personal risk, vulnerability, and conflict. The framings of environmental issues highlight the severity, causes, and consequences of ecological degradation. The ideologies of sustainability view environmental protection as a proactive responsibility. However, a critical gap emerges when examining the pedagogical activities that accompany the environment-related lessons. While the content of the texts often reflects sustainability values, the tasks that follow are overwhelmingly focused on linguistic skills such as reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary building, and writing practice. Little emphasis is placed on cultivating ecological awareness, critical reflection, or value-based education that could meaningfully connect language learning to environmental action. This disconnect suggests that although the textbooks incorporate environmental discourse, they have not fully integrated sustainability education into English language teaching. The study recommends use of eco-pedagogical approaches in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom enriching both environmental education and English proficiency.<\/p>\n

Keywords:<\/strong> eco-linguistic, environment, language, Sri Lankan, textbooks<\/p>\n

Full-text paper download here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development Open-access peer-reviewed journal\u00a0 https:\/\/doi.org\/10.64211\/oidaijsd190502 An Eco-Linguistic Analysis of Sri Lankan School English Textbooks: Examining Environmental Discourse and Language Use M.G. Lalith Ananda Department of English and Linguistics, International Center for Multidisciplinary Studies (ICMS), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. Corresponding authour: mlalithananda@sjp.ac.lk Volume 19, Issue 05, Pg. 23-34, 2026 Abstract: This study examines the representation of environmental themes in Sri Lankan school English textbooks from an ecolinguistic perspective. School text books, as the main material of Sri Lankan school education, are central to shaping learners\u2019 attitudes. Hence, making such analysis is timely in the current environmental crisis around the world. English textbooks prescribed by the Sri Lankan national curriculum for Junior Secondary (Grades 6-9), Senior Secondary (Grades 10-11), and Post-Secondary\/General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) were selected. Thus, altogether 07 text books were selected covering a range of content, and all of them have been in use since 2015\/16, undergoing consecutive re-prints. From an initial 650 lexical items referencing the environment, 389 were identified as ecologically relevant. The selected list was further checked with Ecolexicon for their environmental relatedness, and 60 lexical items were further selected. A qualitative Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4428,"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4426\/revisions\/4428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oidaijsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}