Key pathways toward developing more ecoliterate individuals: a harmonious discourse analysis perspective

Classroom education is vital to the formation and development of ecoliteracy. Only through ecological education will the ecological awareness of the individuals be improved. Now more than ever it is necessary to understand environmental issues, risk assessment, the formulation of environmental plans, and how individual decisions affect the environment (Davidson 2010) to develop an ecoliterate individual. Thus, classroom education can transfer the theoretical knowledge of ecolinguistics to students, from elementary education, secondary education, higher education to adult education levels. Students at all stages of education should care about social changes, meet their own educational goals, make timely adjustments, and adapt to the needs of society as much as possible.

The example of classroom education comes from Unit 4 (wildlife protection; P25-P32) of New Senior English for China Student's Book 2 (Brooks et al 2007), entitled 'How Daisy learned to help wildlife' (appendix A). The text describes all the natural sights seen by Daisy in Tibet, Zimbabwe, and a thick rainforest as she rides on a 'flying carpet', which inspires Daisy's awareness of wildlife protection, and her resulting actions. In the framework of HDA, there are many contexts within this text that could highlight ecological issues to students and improve their ecoliteracy.

The text in appendix A depicts a place with a degree of wildlife protection (Zimbabwe), comparing the effects of protection measures with previous hunting behaviors. On the macro level, although elephants were endangered in the past, the government intervened, allowing people to 'hunt a certain number of animals' under specific conditions. This reflects the general assumption of human-orientedness, similar to 'If you exhaust the water and fish, you will not get any fish next year.' in traditional Chinese culture. This text provides a prerequisite: 'if they paid the farmers'. The principle of regulation is represented here, and resulted in 'our numbers are increasing'. 'Farmers hunted us without mercy' violates the principle of conscience, leading to 'We used to be an endangered species'. In addition, 'They said we destroyed their farms' follows the principle of proximity, indicating that farmers consider 'farms' to be more relevant to them than 'elephant'.

On the micro level, the most obvious example is the application of anthropomorphic rhetoric, such as 'it asked', 'said the elephant'. By providing point of view of the elephant, the distance between the animal and humans is reduced. In terms of participant composition, the participants in this text are 'Daisy', 'elephant', 'farmers', 'tourists', and 'government', with speech using the active voice. This encourages readers to consider any inappropriate behaviors to improve their ecoliteracy.

Thus, such classroom education is beneficial to both teachers and students in terms of their ecoliteracy. Although classroom discussions are unlikely to be from a HDA perspective, there will be significant use of new themes, words, and phrases, positively impacting the ecological awareness and ecoliteracy of teachers and students.

Classroom education should also be extended outside the classroom, such as with field experience and social practice, to enable interactions with the ecology and environment (Huang and Zhao 2019: 150). There is a significant impact of outdoor education on the formation and development of ecoliteracy (Orr 1992). For educators, it is necessary to have a good level of professional knowledge, as well as other learning skills (e.g., ability to impart knowledge and engage students). Students must take outdoor education activities seriously, have the desire to improve their own ecoliteracy through outdoor education, and voluntarily devote themselves to this approach.

The example in appendix B is taken from a sign at a Chinese agricultural university that describes the local occurrence of Magnoliaceae, highlighting how such information can encourage outdoor education, leading to ecoliteracy. The university is on a large site, with a good ecology and environment, with the natural and cultural sceneries forming a 'Bauhinia Campus with numerous trees'. Thus, it is a suitable place for outdoor education.

Outdoor education makes the ecology and environment more tangible because students can interact directly with it. The sign in appendix B is placed directly in front of a group of Magnoliaceae, each identified by an individual sign that outlines the species, its appearance, characteristics, habitats, distribution, and usage. Such information will help inform those who read it, thereby improving their ecoliteracy.

On the macro level, there are seven Chinese words in artistic font ('Giant panda' in plants) on the left side of the sign in appendix B, and the font is larger than the other words. These seven words carry the main message of the sign, flagging to readers important information in a single glance, that is, these plants are as rare as giant pandas. Such a link is also reflected in the use of red font throughout the text. This reiterates the take-home message of the sign and also reflects the designer's compliance with the principle of conscience. The remaining text describes the Magnoliaceae in more detail, given that these are a relatively unfamiliar plant group to many people. Information provided includes the number of species, distribution area, area of origin, and endangered status, both in China and worldwide. The content is easy to understand and provides a learning opportunity for readers. If combined with outdoor lessons, such as from ecologists or botanists, the students would rapidly increase their knowledge of the Magnoliaceae. Highlighting the endangered species of Magnoliaceae would increase people's awareness of environmental protection, perhaps encouraging them to be more environmentally friendly in their daily lives. Thus, a macro-level approach can explain the relevance of outdoor education in this instance, and we do not consider its micro-level impacts here.

'Family' is a center of educational practice, where people give most wholly and unreservedly of themselves (Greenwalt 2021). Although there is no clear and unified definition of family education, according to traditional concepts, it usually refers to the education of children (or related minors) by their parents (or other adults). However, family education also includes various activities of mutual influence and education among all family members. Family education is not only the foundation of, but also can have a supplementary and extended role in, school education and social education. The main purpose of family education is to guide the educated to form a good awareness of how to behave, how to do things, how to learn, and how to get along with others. This could include ecological awareness, ecological behavior, and ecoliteracy.

Appendix C provides an example of original text from the children's book Amazing Animal Journeys (Packham 2016) and its Chinese translation (Packham and Fan 2020: 21–22). Here, we consider the effect of family education on the consideration of the text in appendix C from the perspective of HDA.

Appendix C contains both text and images, thus appealing to both adults and children, given that the latter might not fully understand the intended message from the text alone. The first paragraph talks about the migration of birds (blackcaps) in winter and explains the reason for changes in their migratory destination. The second paragraph describes how blackcaps migrate home to build nests when spring arrives. The third paragraph presents the consequences of climate change, especially the impact on global animal migration. In terms of images, the content changes from a snowy (winter) scene in the upper left corner to a spring scene in the lower right corner. The blackcaps are also pictured flying to the warmer from the cooler area. The grandmother and children in the illustration are pictured enjoying a picnic and the arrival of the blackcaps, providing an image of the harmonious coexistence between humans and the natural environment. This example directly embodies the principle of conscience. At the macro level, humans enjoy the unexpected arrival of blackcaps (bottom right), but should also realize that the global climate is changing (the text part). At the micro level, the use of 'journey' in the text adopts a anthropomorphic rhetorical technique, which links the migration of these birds more closely with human experiences.

However, although the objective facts of climate change are acknowledged, the example does not explain the negative effects brought about by climate change, such as the fact that the blackcaps 'survive better than other birds that fly south'. It also hints at the positive impact of climate change on the blackcaps. Family education is particularly important at this point, because when parents explain the example to their children, their value orientation, knowledge background, ideology, and ecoliteracy will form their own understanding of this example, leading to their children becoming more ecoliterate.

To fully illustrate the impact of this discussion, during the interview phase of our study, we interviewed an adult from each of the high-level and low-level ecoliteracy groups in Guiyang City. The main purpose was to determine their understanding of the example in appendix C and how they would explain the example to their children. The results showed that, although the inhabitant in the low-level group would explain the text to their children, an in-depth discussion of the impacts of climate change on animal migration was beyond their level of understanding. In addition, the interviewee only paid attention to the number of characters, the number of animals and the seasons depicted in the illustration, without considering the characters' facial expressions, actions, and images of living in harmony with nature. By contrast, although the inhabitant of the high-level group was unable to fully explain the concepts in the illustration and text to their children, the level of understanding and explanation was higher compared with the former interviewee, reflecting the higher level of ecoliteracy in this group.

Outdoor activities are often associated with exercising, relieving stress, and enhancing immunity. In addition, participating in outdoor activities can also improve ecoliteracy, whereby participants can learn about the natural environment in which they live and their relationship with nature (Sebba 1991, Fjørtoft and Sageie 2000, Louv 2005). As Sebba stated (1991: 416), the nature seen from indoors through a window or in terms of man-made environments (e.g., astroturf or artificial ski resort) is fundamentally different from the actually experiencing nature (Pitman et al 2018a). Most people participate in some form of outdoor activity, such as common daily activities, including running, playing football or basketball, climbing, and fishing, as well as more extreme activities, such as camping, climbing, diving, and surfing. Pitman et al (2018a) used a case study from South Australia to show a significant link between the time spent outdoors and the level of ecoliteracy shown by local adults. Our ecoliteracy research also clarified the significance of outdoor activities in terms of people's ecoliteracy.

To discuss the impact of outdoor activities on ecoliteracy in more detail, we conducted a brief interview with a college student, who played football on the sports field of a Chinese university. Their responses are detailed in appendix D. In the interview, we focused on the information provided by the participant about the effects of outdoor activities on the level of ecoliteracy, reflecting a macro level of HDA. At the macro level, the participant discussed outdoor activities from a human perspective, which is in line with the assumption of 'human-orientedness'. The participant also fully affirmed the significance of outdoor activities to improve ecoliteracy and to promote the protection of the environment. This reflects their conscience and also follows the principle of conscience. We agree with the participant's point of view that exposure to real plants, sunlight, breeze, and so on will stimulate real emotion; grass growth and color changes will also stimulate the desire to explore plants and extend ecological knowledge, which in turn stimulates the awareness of environmental protection. Thus, over time, ecoliteracy will significantly improve.

The second type of activity that has a positive influence on the formation of ecoliteracy are environmental protection activities, which can be carried out indoors or outdoors. Those held indoors are mostly related to theoretical knowledge learning or simulation activities, although can form an important part of outdoor activities. In addition, environmental protection activities and education, especially outdoor education, are also closely linked. There are different ways in which such activity can promote ecoliteracy, such as through people's working environments, hobbies and other leisure pursuits, either alone or in groups. Such activities promote ecoliteracy even if they do not focus specifically on 'education' (Pitman and Daniels 2020). Typical locations that can provide environmental protection activities include forest parks, zoos, botanical gardens, nature reserves, and so on.

In China, there are many specific areas that can realize environmental protection activities, such as Guiyang Forest Park and the National Urban Wetland Park of Huaxi in Guiyang, and similar areas in other Chinese cities. It can be complicated to provide environmental protection activities. We do not have the conditions for holding this kind of activities temporarily. However, it is generally accepted that the level of ecoliteracy can be increased by participating in environmental protection activities, as reported in both China and elsewhere (e.g., Pitman et al 2018a, Hammarsten et al 2019). Therefore, we use the example of an environmental protection activity in Holma Forest Garden in Sweden (Hammarsten et al 2019) to analyze the ecoliteracy value provided at the macro level of HDA.

This example was a 1-day forest park education activity for 28 children aged 7–9 years old, who reported their ecoliteracy experience through walk-and-talk conversations and informal interviews after the activity. Hammarsten et al (2019) summarized the participants' experiences in terms of three aspects: practical competence (e.g., planting skills), learning to coexist and care (i.e., how coexist with living organisms), and biological knowledge and ecological understanding (i.e., how trees and flowers produce oxygen, which we then breathe). Considering these aspects from the macro level of HDA, the comments 'We cannot survive without flowers and trees, because these plants can absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen for people to breathe' and 'picking herbs for their lunch salad, cooking food...', embody the general assumption of 'human-orientedness' at first. Thus, an important aspect of growing plants is that they aid human well-being and survival, regardless of what they are grown specifically for (e.g., crops versus ornamental plants). Second, phrases such 'do not destroy the plants...', 'mustn't shout', 'not to litter' and other messages reflect the principle of conscience, with participants learning how to become a person with conscience. In addition, some participants had been afraid of various species (e.g., spiders), but learned to live in harmony with them after the activity, which is, to some extent, a manifestation of the principle of proximity.

Generally, a 'volunteer' can be summarized as someone who voluntarily contributes their personal time and energy to provide services for the promotion of human development, social progress, and social welfare without material remuneration. There are many different types of volunteer, such as community volunteers, conference volunteers, environmental protection volunteers, and online volunteers. Participating in volunteer activities has many benefits, some of which (e.g., cardiovascular health) are more obvious than others. Environmental protection volunteers will gain ecological knowledge and skills, enrich their life experiences, strengthen their sense of social accountability, and learn to work as a team; as well as improving their ecoliteracy, they will also contribute to environmental protection (Ryan et al 2001, Pitman et al 2018a). Various studies have shown that volunteering for environmental protection activities is important in the formation and improvement of ecoliteracy (Pitman et al 2018a, 2018b, Pitman and Daniels 2020).

During our ecoliteracy survey, we selected one respondent from the high-level ecoliteracy group who had participated in voluntary environmental protection activities at a high frequency over the previous 5 years. His/Her responses to our interview are detailed in appendix E.

The results of the interview reveal how participating in volunteer activities related to environmental protection improves ecoliteracy. Here, we further discuss his/her responses from the macro level of HDA. The respondent focused on the value of 'people' and the well-being of humans, that is, improvements in ecoliteracy and being in harmony with the natural environment are of the most important significance to humans. This embodies the general assumption of human-orientedness. Further questioning about the harmonious coexistence between humans and the natural environment revealed the interviewee to have a conscience and a high level of ecoliteracy, which indicates that he/she followed the principle of conscience in the framework of HDA.

In 1989, in accordance with new development needs, the 15th session of the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme Governing Council passed the 'Declaration on Sustainable Development'. In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development adopted an agenda related to global sustainable development, 'Agenda 21', which required all countries to formulate relevant development strategies and countermeasures based on their actual conditions. In 2000, at the UN Millennium Summit, countries discussed the importance of ensuring environmental sustainability as part of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and planned to incorporate the principles of sustainable development into national policies and programs. In 2015, after the MDGs expired, the UN continued to propose Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide global development work from 2015 to 2030, and to promote progress of the sustainable development agenda from all aspects. However, each country attaches different degrees of importance to ecological issues and strives to find solutions to them at all levels (especially legislation), such as the 1955 Air Pollution Control Act in the USA, the 1956 Clean Air Act in the UK, the 1979 Environmental Protection Act in China, and the 1987 Planning and Environmental Act in Victoria, Australia. If individuals can strengthen their learning of these laws and regulations, it will have a positive impact on their thinking, awareness, behavior, and even literacy regarding ecological issues.

In China, ecological issues have always been a part of the discussion in economic, political, cultural, and social development; however, as the issue has become increasingly serious, it is now one of the most important issues in national development. In 2012, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (NCCPC) included the construction of ecological civilization in the overall approach of promoting economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress. Then, the basic concepts of 'harmony between human and nature' and 'a community with a shared future for mankind' were put forward. These indicate that humans cannot exist independently of nature, and that the relationship between them is dialectical and unified, promoting harmony between humans and the natural environment from the perspective of national strategies. We selected typical ecological-related discourses explicitly mentioned in the report of the 18th NCCPC (VIII. Making Great Efforts to Promote Ecological Progress), and discuss here the value of ecoliteracy improvement from the macro level of HDA.

In appendix F, we further verified the impact of ecologically related regulations and policies at the national level on the ecoliteracy of the Chinese people. From the macro level of HDA, on the one hand, the statements 'Promoting ecological progress is ... vital importance to the people's well-being and China's future' and 'create a sound working and living environment for the people, and contribute our share to global ecological security' focus on the significance of the construction of ecological civilization for human survival and development, and embody the general assumption of human-orientedness. On the other hand, for individuals, these regulations and policies at the national level can guide people to increase their ecological awareness, reasonable ecological behavior, and ecoliteracy; however, such forms of discourse have strong constraints. For example, the use of 'must' and 'should' embodies the principle of regulation in the framework of HDA and restricts people's behavior to a certain extent. If we analyze this approach from the perspective of policy makers, it can be seen that they have followed the principle of conscience in the framework of HDA, that is, China must strive to 'address the root cause of deterioration of the ecological environment so as to reverse this trend' through specific policies, concepts, and behaviors.

There are various ways to improve public ecoliteracy by means of Governmental publicity and education, which can be achieved through various media, including news reports, leaflets, social media, radio, television, posters, adverts, and so on, with an ecological theme. Of these, we consider video-based approaches to be the most effective in engaging the people in the environment from a government perspective. Once the people come to understand the ecological meaning conveyed by such videos, they might begin to reflect on their behavior in life and improve their own ecoliteracy.

The example used here is a video of a Network News Broadcast promoted on the Weibo website on October 4, 2021, entitled 'Protecting Diversity and Building a Community in Life of Humans and the Natural Environment' (Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China 2021). Given the large amount of information contained in the video, we focus here on the elements that are conducive to improving ecoliteracy from the macro level of HDA.

The video is 5 min-long and comprises the opening remarks by the host, three interviews with the people involved with ecological or ecological civilization research, and narrated images. The main aim is to show China's biodiversity conservation achievements (e.g., increases in the number of green peacocks, Asian elephants, etc.). The video contains significant amount of ecological knowledge, such as names and numbers of various animals and plants, as well as their appearance. Thus, the video can encourage people to develop a more in-depth understanding of these animal and plant species. In addition, the dense forests, clear rivers, blue skies, and white clouds shown in the video could encourage the people to yearn for such a natural environment, directly affecting their ecological awareness and ecological emotions, and possibly improving their ecoliteracy.

From the macro level of HDA, the host's opening remarks defined 'we' (the Chinese population or humans in general) as 'participants, contributors, and leaders in the construction of global ecological civilization', and proposed that we should 'protect in development, develop in protection, and build a harmonious and beautiful home (a community in life of humans and the natural environment)'. This embodies the general assumption of human-orientedness, because humans need to both protect the environment and develop economies; without the former, the latter is not possible. In addition, the increased protection of biodiversity, to significant effect, fully embodies the principle of conscience in the framework of HDA, and realizes the harmonious coexistence between humans and other species. This is summarized by the final frames of the video: 'a beautiful picture of the harmonious coexistence of humans and the natural environment is now unfolding in China'.