Embedding sustainability competencies in language curricula: the role of self-efficacy in student learning outcomes

Purpose Universities worldwide are under increasing pressure to embed sustainability across curricula, yet language programs remain largely peripheral in institutional sustainability strategies. Existing frameworks – such as UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development guidelines and Wiek et al.’s model of key competencies – outline what students should know and do, but they offer limited direction on how psychological factors shape the uptake of these competencies. This paper aims to address this gap by positioning self-efficacy as a central mechanism influencing student learning outcomes in sustainability-integrated language education. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper proposes a model for embedding sustainability competencies into language curricula while integrating self-efficacy theory. Drawing on sustainability education, competency-based curriculum design and socio-cognitive theory, it synthesizes prior scholarship to link sustainability competencies, curriculum features and student learning outcomes in language-learning contexts. Findings The proposed model shows how systems thinking, anticipatory reasoning, strategic action and interpersonal competence can be cultivated through language-based tasks. It argues that authentic problem scenarios, reflective activities, dialogic tasks and formative feedback can strengthen students’ sustainability-related self-efficacy and, in turn, support both linguistic development and sustainability competency outcomes. Research limitations/implications The paper offers design principles for higher education institutions and language programs seeking to integrate sustainability across disciplines, including guidance on competency-aligned task design, scaffolding and feedback practices that support student confidence and engagement. It also outlines a research agenda to empirically examine the proposed relationships. Originality/value The contribution reframes language curricula as strategic sites for sustainability learning and introduces self-efficacy as a missing psychological dimension in sustainability-oriented language pedagogy, offering a theoretically grounded model that connects competencies, curriculum design and learner outcomes.