Environmental content across Romance languages

Abstract This study examines the multimodal representation of environmental content across 22 B1-B2 (intermediate proficiency levels) Romance language textbooks used in major Polish universities. Employing Kress and van Leeuwen’s visual social semiotics framework, the analysis reveals significant cross-linguistic variations in both content distribution and pedagogical implementation. The investigation focuses on the composition of the activities concerning environmental education. Findings demonstrate that French and Spanish textbooks integrate environmental content most extensively and effectively utilize visuals as pedagogical tools, while Italian materials show limited environmental integration (merely 5.48% of teaching units) with visuals often serving aesthetic-contextual functions. Of the 459 analyzed teaching activities, nearly half (48.16%) employ visuals in a purely denotational frame, missing opportunities for deeper engagement. This study contributes to understanding how multimodal design choices impact environmental education in language instruction and provides concrete recommendations for developing more pedagogically effective materials that foster ecological awareness as an integral component of transnational cultural education.