International Journal of Research in Environmental Studies
ISSN: 2059-1977
Vol. 5(7), pp. 103-116, December 2018
doi.org/10.33500/ijres.2018.5.011

An ecolinguistic analysis of environment texts in Moroccan English language teaching textbooks

Mohamed Mliless* and Mohammed Larouz

Moulay Ismail University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Meknes, Morocco.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: m.mliless@edu.umi.ac.ma.

Received 16 September, 2018; Received in revised form 29 October, 2018; Accepted 06 November, 2018.

Abstract

Keywords:
Agency, Ecolinguistics, Environmental education, Euphemism, Passive voice.

In Morocco, many textbooks pertaining to different teaching disciplines integrate environment education (EE). For instance, textbooks used to teach English in high school include distinct units to promote the principles of environmental education and to empower students’ awareness regarding recurrent environmental problems. The aim of the present study was to analyze 14 environmental texts from an ecolinguistic perspective by examining seven English language teaching (ELT) textbooks used in Moroccan high schools. Specifically, this was study aimed at examining how euphemism, agency and passive voice are used in environment texts to sensitize students about environmental issues. The present study was also meant to examine the extent to which the ELT textbooks used in Morocco really reflect the principles of ecolinguistics. To this end, the study adopted a content analysis to examine EE in textbooks. The findings obtained reveal that the prevalence of euphemism mitigates the hazardous reality of environmental issues in the texts, and that the absence of agency obscures meaning in texts. Also, the presence of passive voice in narratives hide individuals’ responsibility as perpetrators of destructive actions to the environment. These findings have important pedagogical implications on the elaboration of environment units in ELT textbooks.