How to live an eco-friendly life

Abstract

The purpose of this textbook is to teach English to married women in Korea by using a specific theme that addresses housekeeping concerns: adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle. It is difficult to find English textbooks that are specifically targeted toward homemakers or ones that have contents related to housekeeping matters. Most of the available English textbooks cover topics about general information about science, holiday, family, social problems, etc. The content presented in English language textbooks play an important role in providing the motivational and cognitive basis for language learning (Alptekin et al., 2007) and successful language learning is dependent upon a student’s motivation (Wiesen, 2000, 2001). At the same time, much of the content in English language textbooks may not be interesting enough to arouse the target students’ interests because the topics may not be directly relevant to their lives. In order to present an interesting topic specifically designed for Korean homemakers, this textbook uses the eco-friendly campaign as a theme to teach English as a foreign language. Nowadays, an eco-friendly campaign is on the rise and its purpose is to discourage the use of non-replenishable natural resources, and to reduce the resulting waste by moving toward using sustainable, biodegradable products. Corresponding to the above situation, the textbook introduces the eco-friendly movement by taking a TBI (Theme-based Instruction) approach in order to increase the target students’ motivation for learning English through a specific theme of interest. The target students are Korean homemakers in their 20s - 40s. Their English language proficiency level is mid-intermediate in speaking and listening, low-intermediate in writing and high-intermediate in reading . They study English at a local culture center or community center to develop their English language skills and the main reasons for studying English are for self-enrichment and supporting their children’s English learning at home. It is no secret that obtaining English language competency is an important goal for all to achieve in the era of globalization (Choi, 2009). The primary reason for choosing this group of students is because I am able to identify with their needs since I am a married woman myself. In Korea, most married women have little time to themselves due to various household responsibilities. Having an opportunity to learn English from a textbook specifically designed to suit their interests may turn out to be a meaningful experience for them. As the target students engage in English language learning with one another, they may also use the content to learn more about adopting an eco-friendly life style, which has strong relevance to their lives as homewives.