"The Effect of Sustainable Development on English

Language Teaching and Learning"

A Study submitted by:

Dr. In'am Yousif Sulayman Al Karkhi

And

Ms. Maysaa Ridha Jwad

Department of English Language

College of Basic Education

University of Diyala

2010 - 2011
 Content

1. Abstract

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Problem of the study

1.3 The Aim of the Study

1.4 Limitation of the Study

2. Education and Sustainable Development

3. How to Develop Education Sustainably

4. Can EFLT be Sustainable?

5. Problems Facing Developing English Language Teaching

Sustainably in Iraq.
6-Procedures
6-1-Population and sample selection
6-2-The Questionnaire
6-3-Face Validity of the Questionnaire
6-4- Findings of the Study

7- Conclusion

8- Suggestions & Recommendations

Bibliography -9

1
 Abstract

1-1 Introduction:

Sustainable development is a term that has been defined in many ways,

but the most widely quoted definition is from "Our common Future", also known
as the "Brundtland Report" convened by the United Nation in 1983.It denotes
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. ( World Commission
on Environment & Development,1987;43)

Sustainable development works within three aspects Economic

development, Social development, and Environmental development. Social
development ,among these aspects of development,implies that the basic needs
of the human being are met through the implementation and realization of human
rights. Basic needs include access to education among some other human
requirements.

Lack of education and information severely limit a person's ability to

work and enjoy personal economic growth and development. As a result,
developing education sustainably becomes a need and requirement that should be
met as stressed by Giddings etal(2002).

Education for sustainable development ,abbreviated ESD, calls for

giving people knowledge and skills for lifelong learning to help them find new
solutions to their environmental, economic, and social issues.(ibid)

The Paper describes the notion of sustainable development as a term

and concept then seeks to describe its effect on education in general and
specifically on English as a foreign language learning and teaching thereafter
refer to as EFLT.

The study was carried out with the help of a questionnaire directed to a
group of university teachers( 15 ) and a group of learners,( 56 ) 3 rd year college
students of the Dept. of English ,College of Basic Education, University of
Diyala and (35) randomly selected school teachers of English as a foreign
Language in Iraq Primary and high school.
 The results of the questionnaire show that 98% of the interviewed
students and teachers don't have any simple former knowledge of the term
"Sustainable development". There is an urgent need to educate learners and
teachers of English language in Iraq with the term "Sustainable development" in
order to bring a qualitative improvement and building capacity for effective and
sustainably develop English Language teaching. This could be achieved by
adopting the sustainable development procedures strategies recommended in the
study to make English learning and teaching Language in Iraqi schools and
universities more effective and successful.

1-2- The problem :

In order to make learning English Language sustainable and develop students

four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, communicative approach
should be totally adopted at the beginning stages of language learning. This
requires changing the schools syllabus , enhancing the new syllabus with CDs to
develop students' listening comprehension and holding training courses for
school teachers to equip them with the new techniques of teaching English as a
foreign language.

1-3-Limitation of the Research:

Sustainable development is generally thought to have three components:

environment, society and economy. Although these three components are
interrelated, only developing education sustainably, which is part of social
sustainable development, is dealt with focusing on sustaining English Language
teaching and Learning.

1-4-The Aim of the Research:

This study aims at:

1-Finding out whether there's any correlation between SD and English language
Learning

2-Determining whether the availability of SD can help improve English

Language Learning.
 2-Education and Sustainable development

When discussing the relationship between English and Sustainable

Development , two terms need to be distinguished."Education about
Sustainable development" and "Education for Sustainable Development".
While the former is awareness lesson or theoretical discussion; i.e. aware
and educate people about the concept of Sustainable development; its
strategies, principles and advantages; the latter is the use of Education as a
tool to achieve sustainability(Gayford (2001)

Bonnett (2002) argues that Education for sustainable development

calls for giving people knowledge and skills for lifelong learning to help
them find clear suitable solutions to their environmental, economic and
social issues.

Filho (2000) points out that Education is an essential tool for

achieving sustainability. People around the world recognize that the
current economic development trends are not sustainable and Filho(Ibid)
highlights that public awareness, education and training are essential to
moving society towards sustainability. Calder and Clugston (2006) state
that Education for Sustainability call for rethinking and reforming the
current practices in all sectors of society, including formal Education.

All educational institutions and communities including schools,

academic institutes and universities should take initiatives to innovate and
reveal changes in practice for a better future. As a result it is vital to put
sustainability among priorities of all educational systems to cope with
these global dramatic changes and to meet the changeable needs of
individuals and societies.

3-How to develop Education Sustainably:

There is no point at which a professional community of teachers, aiming at

improving and innovating teaching and learning process, can call their task
complete. Bonnett (1999) points out that teaching and learning process requires
sustained effort due to the increasingly evolving learners' goals and needs.

Education, Rauch (2002) stresses, should be provided for all children to

assist each child in realizing his/her role in developing their community. They
should be provided, Rauch( 2002 ) adds, with the skills needed to successfully
participate in a free society. They, therefore, should be protected from unfair
working conditions that limit their formal Education and are harmful to
development. Women in rural areas in most of the Arab countries, including
Iraq, are deprived from education thus they don't participate in the development
planning process due to unaccess to education and technical training.

A rapid movement of educational reform should be taken place. This may

include: curriculum development, teachers education, using information and
communication technology, improving teaching and learning strategies
(Hales,2008).

As Education is facing many problems, sustainability appears as part of

solving these problems. This can be achieved by enhancing schools and
university curricula. Education for sustainable development has not been the
required focus of curriculum development in many countries, including Iraq.
Curricula in Sciences and social sciences in higher education, Mitchell (2001)
argues, are still far from having sustainable development as their priority.

There are some obstacles that face teaching and learning in general and
Education and Teaching for sustainable development in particular. Among these
obstacles Hales (2008) highlights the following: the unawareness and vagueness
of sustainable education among educational staff due to shortage of training
towards gaining skills in constructivist teaching and learning, the big size
classes, limited on-line and e-learning courses, more course work and less for
research and non-governmental societies little support for universities research
programmes.

Education and teaching for sustainable development should be one of the

main objectives of the educational system in general for the benefit of the future
generation Halles (ibid) points out. He also looks at universities and colleges as
the most educational organizations that carry more responsibility to take actions
towards education for sustainability and to enhance the quality of learning
process. This can be achieved, as Miechell (2001) suggests, by holding new
staff training programmes towards sustainability. Continuous revising of
schools and university curricula should be implemented to support Education for
sustainable development. More workshops between staff and non-governmental
societies should be arranged to exchange experience between university and
society.

4-Can EFLT be sustainable?

Sustainable development of English language and Learning means that

English Language teaching and learning should be long term process. This
requires cultivating and developing the ways, strategies and procedures of
teaching English. It comprises, as a vital need and as the results of the study's
questionnaire shows, education of those involved in the teaching process:
teachers, students, examiners, researchers and syllabus designers of the notion
"Sustainable development", its principles and advantages on education in general
and on English language learning and teaching in specific. Developing English
Language teaching and Learning sustainably also includes developing learner's
voice capacity, grammatical competence, reading and writing ability. (Venema,
2009)

English grammar teaching is part of English teaching process in primary,

intermediate and high school levels in Iraq. Students, however, commonly feel
English grammar hard to learn. They are fed up with the traditional methods of
teaching grammar rules and formula that would be easily forgotten and hard to
remember. Therefore, English grammar should not be learnt at elementary stages
of learning English. It is learnt unconsciously by practicing English sentence
patterns via conversation, discussion and debating on various topics of life.

Accordingly there should be an emphasis on enhancing students' ability

to utilize English Language comprehensively. This entails more effective
English teaching methods mainly rely on the ideas of students' sustainable
development and transfer them from merely accepting the knowledge teachers
impart to them to the practice and utilization of the knowledge learnt. This can
be achieved Brown (1995) stresses by a variety of learning activities such as
listening to everyday English expressed through situational dialogue of native
speakers of English, watching English films, reading novels(summary or point of
view stories) and more flexible use of exercises. It is very important to practice
such activities with minimum role of the teacher and major role to the students to
practice English in the class using pair group and work group. The role of the
 teacher is only supervising his/her students. This will create an open learning
environment and produce multi –channel access to learning and change students
from passive recipient of learning English to an active participant in English
Language learning which gives him/her the chance to practice English Language
effectively.

5- Problems facing developing English Language Sustainably in Iraq

English teaching in Iraq has not yet developed although English is widely
offered starting from primary level of school up to the high school level.
Students start learning English, in Iraq, at third stage of primary school, i.e. at
the age of eight up to the sixth stag of secondary school, i.e. at the age of
eighteen. In spite of the ten years of learning English as a foreign language at
governmental schools, students can hardly communicate their thoughts and ideas
or understand spoken English. Hence the investment is high, but the effect is low
in the Education of English as a foreign language.

The problems facing developing English as a foreign language sustainably are

part of those facing developing teaching in general sustainably. They can be
summarized as follows:

1. Big size classes.

2. Lack of sustainably developed curricula
3. Teachers lack the knowledge to adopt communicative approach
techniques and approaches in teaching English. In spite of changing the
text book to the newly ones which mainly adopt communicative
approache, teachers still rely on the past useless ways of teaching English
in which students don't practice English, but mainly receive grammar
rules.
4. Lack of audio and visual teaching techniques which expose students to
spoken English to enhance their listening skill, then discussing the listened
and watched material using Yes/No and wh-questions to develop their
speaking skill.
5. Lack of e-learning in the process of teaching English which requires using
computers and any newly technical devices as a technique to teach the
language.
6. Lack of training on Sustainable development by both teachers and learners
of English language as a foreign language. University could cooperate
 with the active NGOs in society to hold seminars, conferences and
workshops to enhance the concept of SD.

6-Procedures
6-1-Population and sample selection
Information about the population of the present study has been drawn from
the department of English in the College of Basic Education at Diyala University
For the academic year 2010-2011 .as follows:

Table(1)
University High school Number of Number of Total
teachers teachers students(morning) students(evening)
35 15 28 28 106

6-2-The Questionnaire

In order to identify whether there's any correlation between SD and

English language learning and whether the availability of SD can help improve
English Language learning from teachers' and students' point of view, the
researchers constructed an open questionnaire and gave it to a sample of
English teachers and to a sample of 3rd grade student in the department of
English in the college of Basic Education, University of Diayla .The pilot sample
ten teachers and 30 students. The open questionnaire contained the following
open question: Do you have any simple former knowledge of the term
"Sustainable Development"?
After analyzing the results obtained from open questionnaire, the researchers
constructed the closed questionnaire and considered it as the main instrument of
the present study .It consisted of 17 items. They represent the most important
points concerning a qualitative improvement and building capacity for effective
and sustainable development of English language teaching and learning

6-3-Face Validity of the Questionnaire

Validity is defined by Bergman (1981:150) as "the process of reflecting how
well a tool measures what is supposed to measure" It is also defined by
Heaton(1975:135) as "the extent to which a tool measures what is supposed to
measure and nothing else"
After the questionnaire was constructed, it was exposed to jury of (1)experts to
ensure it's suitability .According to the suggestions of the experts, some items
have been modified and other were excluded. The remaining are 13 which
constitute the final version of the questionnaire. Chi-square formula was used to
find out the agreement and disagreement among the experts responses on the
questionnaire.
 Table (2)Items of the Questionnaire

No Items I agree I disagree sometimes

1 Have you heard of the term

sustainable development before ?
2 Sustainable development of
education is learning and activities
that enable young people to develop
the knowledge and skills required to
take their own lives forward, working
for the good of the planet, both
locally and globally in ways which
improve the quality of life now
without damaging the planet for the
future.
3 Sustainable development education
allows one to challenge their
assumptions, challenge their
thinking, change their attitudes and
their behaviors.
4 Is the relationship of sustainable
development and the educational
process integrated and positive ?
5 Is developing English language
teaching affected by sustainable
development?

6 Do you think the level of education is

in need of sustainable development?

7 The reason for the delay to use this

concept in Iraq due to their
dependence on developed and the
introduction of modern technology in
education

8 Have you heard of modern methods

 in teaching?

9 Do you think that sustainable

development is one of the modern
methods in education?

10 Do you think that the student speaks

fluent English after four years of
studying English Language at
department of English?

11 Do you think that sustainable

development will contribute to the
development of conversation for
English language learners

12 Is sustainable development a
practical and feasible goal notions?
13 The objective of Education
development and sustainable growth
mutually is reinforcing
(1)Name of Jury's member
The list below is the jury's name who are ( 5 )university specialist , they
have been well-known of their experience in the field of teaching EFL , arranged
. alphabetically, according to scientific rank
Dr.Ali Abdula Mahmood (Assist Prof) college of Basic Education /Diala University -1
Dr Sámi Abdul aziz (Asist Prof) college of Basic Education /Diala University --2
.3-Izat S.Najim(Instructor) college of basic Education /Diala University
Muslim M.Jasim(Assist Prof) college of Basic Education /Diala University -4
.Nizar Hussein (Instructor) college of basic Education /Diala University - 5

6-4- Findings of the Study

After presenting the effectiveness of sustainable development English

language teaching throughout the procedures of this study, the researcher
considered the weighted mean 2.3 concerning to a sample of teachers,
thus if the item achieve more than 2.3 ,it would be considered to be active
i.e effectiveness usefulness , while less than 2.3 are considered to be
passive i.e as it shown clearly in Table (2 ) .While the weighted mean 2.2
concerning to a sample of learners, thus if the item achieve more than
 2.2 ,it would be considered to be active i.e effectiveness usefulness ,
while less than 2.2 are considered to be passive i.e as it is clearly shown
in Table (3)

Table (3)

Weighted Mean of the Questionnaire from teachers' point of view

Item(No) Weighted Mean

4,8 2.8
9 2.8
6,2,11,12 2.6
1 2.5
7 2.3
13 2.2
3 2.0
5 1.7
10 1.4

Table (4)
Weighted Mean of the Questionnaire from students' point of view(3)

Item(No) Weighted Mean

5 2.7
13 2.6
2,6 2.5
3,7,11 2.4
4,12 2.3
8 2.2
9 1.8
1,10 1.7

Conclusion remark can be clearly pointed out as follows:

Items number (4,8,9) which refer to( Sustainable development of-1
education is learning and activities that enable young people to develop
the knowledge and skills required to take their own lives forward, working
for the good of the planet, both locally and globally in ways which
improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the
future) ,(Have you heard of modern methods in teaching)and(Do you
think that sustainable development is one of the modern methods in
education?) constituted the most active for the teachers. It got a weighted
mean 2.8 while, it constituted less active for the learners, it got weighted
mean 2.3 ,2.2,and 1.8 for the learners i.e ,teachers have knowledge
concerning( Sustainable development )and concerning ( modern methods
.in teaching) more than of the learners

Item (1) which refers to(Have you heard of the term sustainable-2
development before ?) constituted the most active for the teachers. It got
a weighted mean 2.5 while, it constituted less active for the learners, it got
weighted mean 1.7 for the learners i.e ,teachers have heard of the term
. sustainable development before more than the learner

Items (7) which refer to(The reason for the delay to use this concept in -3
Iraq due to their dependence on developed countries the introduction of
modern technology in education) constituted the most active for the
learners. They got a weighted mean 2.4 while, it constituted less active for
the teachers it got weighted mean 2.3 i.e ,teachers are looking forward for
developing education sustainably, aiming at improving and innovating
teaching and learning process. This may include : curriculum development
,teachers education ,using information and communication technology
,even improving teaching and learning process

4- Items (2,6 ,) which refer to (Sustainable development of education is learning

and activities that enable young people to develop the knowledge and skills
required to take their own lives forward, working for the good of the planet, both
locally and globally in ways which improve the quality of life now without
damaging the planet for the future.) and (Do you think the level of educational
need for sustainable development?) constituted the most active for the learners.
They got a weighted mean 2.6 while, , it constituted less active for the teachers it
got weighted mean 2.5i.e teachers can realize the important of this term(
Sustainable development ) in education more than the learners .
Item (11) which refers to(Do you think that sustainable development will -5
contribute to the development of conversation for English language learners)
constituted the most active for both teachers and learners. They got a weighted
mean 2.6

Item (12) which refers to(Is sustainable development a practical and feasible -6
goal nations?) constituted the most active for the teachers. They got a weighted
mean 2.6 while, it constituted less active for the learners it got weighted mean
2.3and2.2

Item (13) which refers to(The objective of Education development and -7

sustainable growth mutually reinforcing) constituted the most active for both
teachers and learners. They got a weighted mean 2.2

Item (3) which refers to(Sustainable development education allows you to -8

challenge their assumptions, challenge their thinking, change their attitudes and
their behaviors) constituted the most active for the learners, it got weighted
mean 2.4.While, it constituted less active for teachers it got weighted mean 2.0

7-Conclusion:

The meaning and essence of Education and Teaching for Sustainable

Development have been dealt with focusing on the effect of sustainable
development on teaching English as a foreign language. Teaching sustainably
means making learning long life process which requires adopting the newly
techniques and activities of teaching English language as a foreign language.
These techniques and activities stress on transforming the learner from passive
recipient of the English language to an active participant in English learning
process by practicing conversation of situational and everyday English instead of
memorizing hard and easily forgotten grammar rules. The concept is extremely
ambiguous and not well-known by the interviewed sample of teachers and
students.

It is advisable that serious and planned activities would be arranged by

responsible educators in Iraq towards serving teaching for sustainable
development. There is a need for teachers in general and teachers of English
language in specific at all stages of their career to be supported in their
understanding and implementation of sustainable development education. This
can be achieved by exchanging experience between University and society on
the one hand and University and schools on the other

8-Suggestions and Recommendation:

A rapid movement of educational reform should be taken place to invest

the advantage of sustainable development on Education in general and
teaching English as a foreign language in specific. This reform could include:

1. Curriculum development to adopt sustainable development principles and

techniques,
2. Educating teachers and students of the term "SD" to adopt it completely in
the education process is required. There's a shortage of training towards
gaining skills in teaching for sustainability. Sustainable development in
Education need to be widely explained and clarified due to the literacy of
its notion among participants of education (Teachers and students) as the
questionnaire shows. Many workshops and media programs dealing with
this issue should be carried out and directing new staff training programs
towards sustainability is strongly recommended.
3. University need to work with NGOs to implement sustainable
development project on Education specifically those already involved in
implementing useful projects in the local society.
4. A national committee on teaching and learning English should be
constituted to be responsible on improving the declining standard of
English language teaching in Iraq. This main committee could include the
following subcommittees to distribute the task and thus address them with
the required focus and treatment.
1. Teachers faculty development programs
2. Curriculum and material development
3. Testing and Evaluation,
4. Research and Publication,
5. Monitoring, follow up and feedback,
6. Computer Assisted language learning programme.
 Bibliography

Bergman,Jerry(1981)Understanding Educational Measurement and-1

Education,Boston:Haughton Mifflin Company

2-Bonnett,M. (1999). "Education for Sustainable Development: a coherent

philosophy for environmental education:' Cambridge Journal of Education,
29,313-24.
3-Bonnett,M. (2002)" Education for Sustainability as a frame of mind"
Environmental Education Research,8,9-20.
4-Brown, J. (1995). The elements of a Language Curriculum: A systematic
approach to program development. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
5-Calder,W. and Clugston, R. (2006) " Progress towards Sustainability in
higher Education".ELR News & Analysis, available at : www.eli.org.
6-Filho, W. (2000). "Dealing with misconceptions on the concept of
Sustainability". International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education,
1(1), 9-19.
7-Heaton,J.B.(1975)Writing English Language Test.London,Longman Group
Hachette.
8-Venma, James. (2009) "Professional Learning Communities: What are they
and what do they have to offer TEFL?"
9-Gayford, C. (2001). "Education for sustainability: an approach to the
professional development of teachers". European Journal of Teacher
Education, 24 (3), 313-327.
10-Giddings B, Hopwood B, and O'Brian G. (2002).Environment, economy
and society: fitting them together into sustainable development. Sustainable
Development, 10(4), 187-196.
11-Hales, D. (2008). "Sustainability and Higher Education for future
generation must lead the way—by teaching, and by example". The New
England Journal of Higher Education, Fall, 23-24.

12. Mitchell., & Sackney, L. (2001). "Building capacity for a Learning

community". Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy.
19, retrieved, May, 2007 from
http://www.umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/articles/mitchellandsackney.htm
l
 ‫‪13. United Nations, 1987."Report of the World Commission on Environment‬‬
‫‪and Development". General Assembly Resolution 42/187, 11 December,‬‬
‫‪1987. Retrieved 12 April 2007 http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/42/ares‬‬
‫‪42 - 187.htm.‬‬

‫‪14. Rauch, F. (2002). "The potential of Education for reform in schools".‬‬

‫‪Environmental Education Research, 8, 43-51.‬‬

‫ملخص البحث‬

‫رغم ان اللغة االنكليزية تدرس في العراق لغة أجنبية من المرحلة االبتدائية الى المرحلة الدراسة اإلعدادية‬
‫فان الطلبة اليستطيعون اكتساب االنكليزية وبالكاد‪ $‬يتحدثونها رغم الدراسة الطويلة لها من اجل جعل تعلم‬
‫اللغة االنكليزية مستديم وتطوير‪ $‬المهارات اللغوية االربعة للطلبة‪:‬التحدث ‪,‬االصغاء ‪,‬القراءة‪ ,‬والكتابة‬
‫يتوجب اعتماد الطريقة التواصلية في تعلم اللغة بشكل مطلق في المراحل االولى من تعلم اللغة‪.‬يتطلب هذا‬
‫تغيير المناهج المدرسية‪ ,‬تعزيز المناهج الدراسية بأقراص مدمجة بأنكليزية المواقف‪ $‬لتطوير‪ $‬االستيعاب‬
‫السمعي للطلبة واقامة دورات تدريبية لمدرسي المدراس االبتدائية واالعدادية لتزويدهم بالوسائل والطرق‪$‬‬
‫الحديثة في تدريس اللغة االنكليزية لغة اجنبية‪.‬‬

‫محددات البحث‪:‬‬

‫تعمل التنمية المستدامة ضمن ثالث مجاالت‪:‬البيئية‪ ,‬االجتماعية واالقتصادية بالرغم من ان هذه المكونات‬
‫متداخلة مع بعضها ‪,‬يتناول البحث الجانب االجتماعي مركز على التعليم من اجل تنمية مستديمة مسلطا‬
‫الضوء على تعليم اللغة االنكليزية بشكل مستديم‪$.‬‬

‫اهداف البحث‪:‬‬

‫يهدف هذا البحث الى‪:‬‬

‫‪-1‬ايجاد فيما اذا كان هناك اي عالقة مترابطة بين التنمية المستدامة وتعلم اللغة االنكليزية‪.‬‬

‫‪-2‬تحديد فيما اذا كان وجود‪ $‬التنمية المستدامة يساعد في تحسين تعلم اللغة االنكليزية‪.‬‬