Summary. This article reviews practical examples where language learning and environmental education have been combined successfully in school settings. It highlights concrete initiatives and research that demonstrate how eco-linguistic approaches, teaching languages through nature-centred content and outdoor practice, strengthen both language outcomes and environmental attitudes. The cases discussed are: the Eco-Schools programme (global), Forest School implementations (UK), a US bilingual environmental curriculum study, and foundational ecolinguistic scholarship that frames these practices.
What is an “eco-linguistic” program?
Ecolinguistics investigates the relationship between language and the environment: how language shapes our understanding of nature and how ecological concerns can be integrated into language teaching and communication. In applied settings, an eco-linguistic program intentionally uses environmental themes, outdoor learning and eco-literacy as the vehicle for second-language (L2) instruction and communicative practice. This framing is well established in the scholarly literature on ecolinguistics.
Case Study 1
Eco-Schools: mainstreaming environmental learning across curricula
What it is. Eco-Schools (managed by the Foundation for Environmental Education) is one of the largest global school programmes that embeds environmental education into everyday school life. Participating schools implement action-projects (e.g., biodiversity, waste reduction, water), involve pupils in decision-making, and link learning outcomes to sustainability goals.
(https://www.ecoschools.global/)
Why it matters for eco-linguistic practice. Eco-Schools provide a ready framework for introducing language tasks tied to authentic environmental projects: documenting biodiversity in a second language, preparing multilingual posters for waste campaigns, or presenting ecological findings to peers. Recent reviews and national case studies show measurable improvements in pupils’ environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behaviours — outcomes that can be amplified when language goals are integrated into the same activities.
Practical takeaways.
- Use project outputs (reports, signs, social media posts) as language production tasks.
- Design assessment rubrics that combine language criteria with environmental competencies.
Case Study 2
Forest School approaches: outdoor settings that boost language and interaction
What it is. Forest Schools are sustained outdoor learning programmes that emphasise child-led exploration, risk-managed play, and repeated exposure to natural environments. They are widely implemented in parts of the UK and Northern Europe. Research into Forest School implementations reports gains not only in physical and socio-emotional domains but also in speech and language development for young children.
Why it matters for eco-linguistic practice. Outdoor settings generate rich, concrete contexts for vocabulary learning, storytelling, and dialogic interaction. The affordances of natural spaces — objects to name, processes to observe, tasks to sequence — create authentic prompts for L2 use that are meaningful and memorable for children.
Practical takeaways.
- Structure short, repeatable language routines (e.g., “today we will…”, “I found…”) that take advantage of the same outdoor location across weeks.
- Pair adult modelling with open-ended tasks (nature walks, sorting, simple experiments) so learners produce language for real communicative purposes.
Case Study 3
Bilingual environmental curriculum with measurable behaviour change (US study)
What it is. A recent curriculum evaluation implemented in elementary schools in North Carolina combined environmental education with language-appropriate instruction for linguistically diverse learners. The controlled study found that bilingual or linguistically inclusive environmental curricula can increase pro-environmental behaviours among youth and engage emergent bilinguals in civic environmental action.
(https://news.ncsu.edu/2023/01/study-bilingual-kids-could-lead-in-ocean-environmental-action/)
Why it matters for eco-linguistic practice. This study demonstrates that when environmental content is culturally and linguistically adapted, it not only supports environmental literacy but can also be a vehicle for strengthening L2 (and heritage language) use in meaningful contexts. This dual impact is particularly valuable in multilingual classrooms.
Practical takeaways.
- Co-design materials with community languages in mind; use translanguaging strategies that allow learners to leverage their full linguistic repertoire.
- Include action-oriented outcomes (local clean-ups, conservation pledges) so language learning is tied to observable change.
Conclusion
The cases reviewed show that integrating environmental education with language instruction is feasible and effective. Programmes such as Eco-Schools and Forest School, and rigorous curriculum trials, provide replicable models: use authentic environmental projects as the scaffold for L2 use; embrace outdoor, experiential tasks; and design inclusive materials for multilingual classrooms. Together, these approaches help form learners who are both linguistically competent and environmentally responsible.
