GEN1000 Perspectives on General Education
Nil
This module provides a broad introductory survey of the history, significance, key concepts and related language issues in environmental sustainability. It is aimed at equipping students with both knowledge and awareness of related issues viewed from the perspective of language. It also familiarizes students with various types of discourses and texts common in the actual practice of environmental sustainability, thus enhancing their workplace linguistic sensitivity and employability in related private companies, government bodies, non-governmental organizations and social enterprises.
Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
a. develop an understanding of environmental sustainability as a crucial factor in global sustainability;
b. acquire a sound grasp of the history and key concepts in environmental sustainability;
c. demonstrate an ability to appreciate different language issues related to environmental sustainability;
d. apply the acquired understanding of language issues to real-world tasks.
1. Introduction to environmental sustainability
2. Key concepts in environmental sustainability
3. Environmental justice and its advocates
4. Topics in language use
5. Common text types
1. Assignments (40%)
2. Tests (30%)
3. Individual project (20%)
4. Participation in class discussion (10%)
1. Alexander, R. (2010). Framing discourse on the environment: A critical discourse approach. Routledge.
2. Baker, L. M. (2017). Writing in the environmental sciences: A seven-step guide. Cambridge University Press.
3. Chen, S. (2016). Language and ecology: A content analysis of ecolinguistics as an emerging research field. Ampersand, 3, 108–116.
4. Fill, A., & Muhlhausler, P. (Eds.). (2006). Ecolinguistics reader: Language, ecology and environment. A&C Black.
5. Fill, A., & Penz, H. (Eds.). (2017). The Routledge handbook of ecolinguistics. Routledge.
6. Halliday, M. A. K. (1992). New ways of meaning: The challenge to applied linguistics. Thirty Years of Linguistic Evolution, 59–95.
7. Galleymore, I. (2020). Teaching environmental writing: ecocritical pedagogy and poetics. Bloomsbury Academic.
8. Hamilton, T. B. (2020). Nongovernmental organization (NGO) professionals: A practical career guide. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
9. Mavisakalyan, A., Tarverdi, Y., & Weber, C. (2018). Talking in the present, caring for the future: Language and environment. Journal of Comparative Economics, 46(4), 1370–1387.
10. Myerson, G., & Rydin, Y. (2014). The language of environment: A new rhetoric. Routledge.
11. Nelson, S., Nelson, M. K., & Shilling, D. (2018). Traditional ecological knowledge: learning from indigenous practices for environmental sustainability. Cambridge University Press.
12. Stibbe, A. (2018). Critical discourse analysis and ecology. In J. Flowerdew & J. E. Richardson (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies (pp. 497–509). Routledge.
13. Stibbe, A. (2020). Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by. Routledge.
14. Sze, J. (Ed.). (2018). Sustainability: Approaches to environmental justice and social power. New York University Press.
15. Tomkin, J., & Theis, T. (Eds.). (2018). Sustainability: A comprehensive foundation. Open Textbook Library.
