“Feeling Closer to Nature” through Ecocritical ELT

Abstract ELT holds the potential and responsibility to foster students’ sustainability values when students learn environmental topics in English lessons. This article presents findings from a mixed-method convergent study that examined the effectiveness of two ecocritical approaches, ecosystem-centred and ecosystem-spirituality-centred, in comparison to a human-centred (control) approach on students’ nature connectedness in ELT about the environment in the Indonesian context. Quantitative data were collected through an experiment involving a control and two ecocritical classrooms. Participants in all classes completed a survey measuring their connection to nature before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the lesson. The data were analysed using an ANCOVA test, with pre-test scores as a covariate. Qualitative data were gathered through open-ended questionnaires and reflection writing, analysed using content analysis. The integrated results provide valuable insights into the impact of ecocritical English instruction, identifying effective instructional approaches and environmental texts for English teachers to facilitate students’ development of nature connectedness when learning about the environment.