Implementing Environmental Culture in the Language Learning Laboratory

The article deals with the description of the experimental work aimed at testing the effectiveness of the pedagogical conditions used in the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language. It is worth mentioning that during the experiment under the detection of the formation of the environmental education of senior pupils were identified the indicators by which we understand the environmental characteristics of the personality traits. The results were derived from the methods used in the process of the experiment, such as: conversation, testing, verification of empirical skills, analysis and synthesis. On the whole the difference in the results of the experimental groups significantly allows us to state the effectiveness of pedagogical conditions of the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language.


Introduction
"While countless themes can spark the interests of language learners (and teachers), one of the most critical issues affecting people globally is the environmental degradation of the planet.Themes such as global warming, deforestation, and water pollution are regularly featured in the news, thereby raising our awareness of the troubled state of Mother Earth.When educational institutions-from elementary schools to university-based English foundation programs-recognize the value of environmental education, language teachers will be in a unique position to promote environmental awareness while teaching English" [9].
The experimental work, which was carried out in 2012-2013 in gymnasium №7 and school №165 of Kazan was dedicated to the practical confirmation of the nominated pedagogical conditions.The aim of the experiment was to increase the efficiency of the process of the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language in the implementation of the following pedagogical conditions:  Consideration of the age peculiarities of senior pupils in the organization of the environmental education by means of a foreign language;  Updating of the axiological core content of the subject "foreign language" at the senior level of study, allowing to provide a personal choice and assign students the values of which Nature takes the central place;  The selection of educational material in a foreign language didactically justified and aimed at the formation of the ecological and linguistic competence of senior pupils;  Creative approach to the use of foreign teaching materials and original methods in addition to traditional textbooks in a foreign language;  Use of modern technologies of teaching and education providing senior pupils with the formation of a high level of environmental education, which includes: cognitive, emotional, personal and practical-effective components;  Improving the efficiency and the rational use of the appointed extracurricular activities of senior pupils to organize their environmental education by means of a foreign language.
In order to identify the extent to which nowadays the problem of the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language is being solved, it was necessary to conduct an appropriate empirical research and the study of the accumulated pedagogical experience.
So that to study this problem, we identified the following ways of exploring the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language in modern conditions:  The study of the content and methods of the organization of the environmental education, the experience of individual teachers and researchers of environmental education of senior pupils in the process of learning a foreign language;  The diagnostics of the level of the environmental education of senior pupils.

Methods
The methods we used in this experimental work can be characterized in terms of the gradual formation of environmental education of senior pupils.The methods of the experimental work we divided into three phases: preparatory; forming; control.
For example, during the preparatory phase of the research to get an idea of the level of environmental education of schoolchildren, we used such techniques such as conversation, observation, testing, interviewing, checking empirical skills, etc.
On the forming stage were used the methods of conversation, creating special situations, organization of ecological and regional, environment-oriented activities, the combination of the study and extracurricular forms of work in a foreign language using the materials of the environmental orientation.At the control phase of the study we used the methods of testing, checking empirical skills, conversation, analysis and synthesis of the results of the experimental work on the environmental education of senior pupils in the process of learning a foreign language.

Experiment
The forming and controlling stage of the experiment, which was conducted in 2012-2013 in the senior classes of gymnasium № 7 and secondary school №165 of Kazan was devoted to the validation of the developed pedagogical conditions for environmental education.So, let us consider the first pedagogical condition.
The environmental education of senior pupils will be effective if in the educational process of the school to take into account the age peculiarities of the students of school age, as in adolescence occurs the change of attitude towards natural objects and the structure characteristic of adults is finally formed.Senior pupils with a great interest discuss environmental protection issues in a foreign language, share their opinions, and defend their points of view.All this happens during discussions, business and role-playing games in a foreign language, as well as during the organization of ecological circle of nature lovers.
The aim of the teacher of a foreign language is the formation of knowledge, skills and habits necessary for the work on the special literature in a foreign language, related to ecology issues; study of specialized vocabulary, terminology, abbreviations adopted in the foreign literature on environmental protection; organization of communication activities on environmental issues in a foreign language.
Relying on a steady, dominating students' interest in environmental issues, we can and should generate interest in a foreign language.At the same time we try to take into account the important fact that the characteristic feature of the cognitive interest of senior pupils is its efficiency, which is expressed in the endeavour to the real practical activity.
For instance, "the English language teaching professionals have seen how English contributes to their students' education, economic status, and competitiveness" [9].
The second condition for the formation of environmental education is the updating of the axiological core content of the course of a foreign language.It means the transfer of a teacher of not any, but meaningful knowledge, which has a certain value, aimed at the formation of axiological consciousness, value-conscious attitude, behavior of the individual of a pupil, which will provide personal choice and the assignment by the pupils the values and leading philosophical ideas.The more the senior pupil's system of values is developed, the faster he/she socializes in the society.For the development of values in the experimental groups at the lessons of a foreign language, we paid special attention to such topics as: "Environmental Protection in Russia and in the countries of the language being studied."At the lessons we also used a variety of activities, such as business role plays, discussions, distance journey, etc.But to understand and comprehend the themes on ecology is impossible without mastering the vocabulary.Therefore, for working out the lexical units the following tasks were offered: 1) Write on the cards unfamiliar words from the text on one side in a foreign language, and on the other-in Russian.
2) Practice the use of these words in pairs.
3) Make up the situation with the words the card, expressing your attitude to the environmental issues.4) Prove that the interpretation of this or that notion should be carried out from the position of an eco-developed personality.
The third condition of the environmental education in the process of learning a foreign language is the didactically correct selection of educational material in a foreign language.
We believe that generating the environmental education of senior pupils in teaching foreign languages is mainly advisable through the content of the educational text.The following three types of texts seem interesting and important for the formation of the environmental education.These texts contain: 1) the description of the definition of the problem and the description of its decision; 2) the description of the solution of the problem without the description of its definition; 3) the description of the problem definition without the description of its solution.The last type of texts refers to the number of problematic and has the particular value.
For the work on the content of the texts and articles in the experimental groups the following tasks were selected:  Read the text and mentally divide the text into meaningful paragraphs and entitle them.
 Formulate the main idea and explain the title of the text or the article.Your attitude to the stated problem; giving an answer use clichés expressing agreement/disagreement.  Explain the described events, phenomena on the basis of the personal position of a person who cares of the environmental protection.
 What kind of environmental problems are touched upon in the text? Make the annotation to the article or the text, highlighting the main environmental problems and expressing your attitude towards them.
The fourth pedagogical condition is the creative use of foreign teaching materials and original methods along with the traditional textbooks in a foreign language.
"After teachers commit to integrating environmental education into the language classroom, the subsequent steps of gathering materials and lesson planning may seem daunting.However, locating instructional materials to support environmental education is no longer as difficult as it used to be.Jacobs and Goatly report that only two percent of activities published in English-language textbooks between 1998 and 2000 include environmental content.Recently, though, as concerns for the environment have increased worldwide, it has become easier to find instructional materials for the language classroom.Many language textbooks now include chapters on environmental topics.Furthermore, teachers can use the Internet, where available, to find environment-related resources that can be adapted to meet their students' content-and language-learning needs" [2].
To identify the skills and abilities to work with a training text, senior pupils were offered the authentic texts from foreign teaching aids and cards with the following tasks:  Read the text and try to understand its content (the translation of unfamiliar words is given in the cards).
 Answer the questions on the content of the text (the questions are given in a foreign language). Deduce from the text the basic message, idea, problem.
 Explain the events and phenomena, the facts described in the text which are relevant to the ecology.
 Make the appropriate conclusion for the practical attitude to life on the basis of reading.
During the selection of the theme of the texts on ecology two factors were taken into account: 1) the language feasible and rationality; 2) the reasonability of studying any given environmental information covered in the text.
We found out that the greatest difficulties among schoolchildren cause the activities on the explanation of events, their critical reflection, the ability to do the world outlook conclusions and give reasons for them.These difficulties arose not only due to the information in a foreign language.
Thus, the tasks from the texts are directed to extracting meaningful information from the text, rather than to the process of reading.Indeed, the normal state of a man under perception is the direction and focus of consciousness on its semantic content.After studying the texts and oral topics we recommended the organization of training conferences, discussions, where senior pupils had to express their views on the subject under discussion, to argue and defend it.As seen from the above mentioned tasks, all of them are aimed not only at improving the cognitive activity, but also on the formation of ecological consciousness, beliefs, responsibility of schoolchildren.
"To help time-pressed language educators gather information and materials about environmental topics, there is a list of "green" resources−including environmental curricula, songs, videos, graded readers, and art projects at http://www.greeneslresources.weebly.com.Some of the materials on the website can be used without modification; others will likely need adaptation to meet the needs of particular student groups" [9].
It should be added in this connection that the incorporation of environmental topics into the language classroom promotes content learning, language learning (including the development of discrete skills and the integration of skills in project work), and personal responsibility inside and outside the classroom.In the sections that follow, we briefly discuss how environmental topics can be used to promote language learning and personal responsibility.
The fifth pedagogical condition is the use of the technology of the formation of intellectual communicative activities aimed at the establishment of environmental education of senior pupils.The course of a foreign language requires the use of active technologies that do not rely only on the processes of perception, attention, but, above all, on the creative, productive thinking, behavior and communication.By themselves, they do not guarantee the achievement of the educational goal, but absolutely all serve as the means, forms and methods of education, provided that they are consistent with the needs, motives, an individual system of values of students, and if they will learn to set themselves socially significant tasks and make demands on themselves.
In the process of learning a foreign language, we have sought to solve the basic problems, aimed at the formation of a person who knows the laws of nature, and cares about its preservation, integrated in the contemporary society: to prepare students for life and activities in the environmental state; show the general and protective role of the individual in the protection of the environment; generate moral culture and the culture of communication of the senior pupils on the basis of mastering the rules of politeness and respect for other people's rights; nurture a creative thinking individual, capable of solving global environmental problems.Therefore, during the work in the experimental groups the teachers, along with traditional methods used such techniques and means that provided a purposeful perception and understanding of the phenomena under study (cognitive component), their emotional and personal assessment, creative working out in the performance of speech acts, the active application in practice (practical and effective component).These means and techniques include: 1) The group of methods of problem-creative nature (dramatization, essays on any subject, project method, etc.); 2) Methods of intensive training (role, language, drama, that is training and educational communication games, free panel discussion on the subject of the problem, discussions, etc.); 3) Research methods (self-study, comparison and contrast of various linguistic phenomena, etc.).

Diagnosis of the Level of the Environmental Education of Senior Pupils
For the implementation of the developed pedagogical conditions of the environmental education of senior pupils it is important to determine the criteria of the formation of environmental education.Theoretical and empirical researches have shown that the appropriate criteria of the determination of the level of the environmental education of senior pupils are the following.
Cognitive criterion − reflects the depth and stability of interest, the level and breadth of environmental awareness and the general cultural erudition of senior pupils a holistic view of the natural picture of the world, the level of the cognitive activity, the need for new environmental knowledge, the ability to reason, to draw an analogy, compare and analyze.
Relational (moral and ethical) criterion-shows the level of tolerance, awareness of common cultural specificity of human commands, the system of value orientations in order to protect the environment.Respect for nature, the ability to consciously perceive the natural factors in the process of the communicative interaction in situations of a foreign language communication, the ability to exempt from prejudices and negative stereotypes.
The activity (communicative-pragmatic) criterion-identifies the ownership of practical skills and the knowledge required for the solution of practical and communicative tasks in everyday situations; ways of their own communicative behavior, the adequacy of behavioral etiquette in the country of the learning language; the correct use of environmental knowledge and skills in practice.
The integrated and systematic presentation of the proposed by us criteria of the environmental education of senior pupils have made it possible to measure and allowed us to identify three levels of its formation: "Active"-H (high), "fragmented"-M (middle), "Passive"-L (low).
Active (students with a high level of ecological education)-students with a high level of environmental education, have an interest in environmental issues in our country and abroad; have a desire to increase environmental scholarship, visit exhibitions, museums, zoos, with the aim of the aesthetic development of the natural world; resolutely fight with the cases of ill-treatment with plants and animals; wish to seek the specific assistance to the natural environment, to participate in environmental activities; it is characterized by respect for nature; awareness, consciousness; the need to obtain information about the nature, animals, of plants from different sources.The world of nature for the individual with a high level of environmental education acts as a goal rather than the means of environmental activities.
Fragmentary (students with an average level of environmental education)-follow the rules of behavior in nature, but do not require it from others; in the situations where someone is being abused by plants or animals, they act in their defense, if it does not threaten them with the conflict with these people; accurately perform the assignments related to environmental activities, but rarely take the initiative; they are interested in getting some knowledge of the nature; they are willing to learn some of the technological skills of the practical interaction with natural objects.
Passive (students with a low level of environmental education)-follow the rules of conduct in nature, but they do so only in the presence of an appropriate control of the adults and teachers.They do nothing to prevent ill-treatment with natural objects.Assignments related to environmental activities, are reluctant to doing them and do not participate in such activities on their own initiative.A person with a low level of environmental education is characterized by a pragmatic attitude to it: nature is regarded as the means to achieve their goals, and the plants and animals as objects.
On the basis of the ratio of the detected levels of the environmental education of senior pupils was conducted by the primary testing of the baseline environmental education, the results of which are shown in Table 1.It should be noted that of particular importance to confirm this hypothesis was the trend of the level of environmental education of an individual, what, undoubtedly, would have to talk about the effectiveness of the process of environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language using the above mentioned pedagogical conditions.

Integrated-Skills Instruction through Project Work
"Environmental awareness can be raised and language skills improved when students engage in process-and product-oriented projects that oblige skill integration and connections between what students are learning in the classroom and their lives outside of it [9].Environmental topics can come to life through a variety of reading and writing projects that involve (1) researching topics of interest and writing academic papers; (2) writing and illustrating children's books or comic strips; (3) creating posters, brochures, or bulletin board displays; and (4) writing stories or opinion pieces for the school newspaper.Additionally, listening and speaking projects may involve students in debating an important environmental topic, giving a persuasive presentation that encourages classmates to engage in more earth-friendly habits, and engaging in role plays that explore provocative environmental topics" [4].
The greatest effect of the environmental education in the process of studying a foreign language provided by the use of methods and techniques aimed not only at stimulating cognitive activity, but also the formation of positive motives of learning the subject, improvement of the academic environment.In the educational aspect the promotion means motivation, impulse to the thoughts, actions and feelings.To such methods we refer training and educational games, such as educational dialogue in a circle.This technique is characterized by the release of roles in each of which all pupils of the group should make a performance.An educational role is something that a pupil participating in the dialogue should do.In our case these are cards, where the task formulated for the pupil is connected with working out of the textual information.For example: 1) write out the keywords from the text; 2) Answer the questions on the content of the text; 3) highlight the main idea discussed in the text; 4) draw the conclusion on the basis of the reading and give reasons for that, etc.
To training and educational games, we consider it necessary to refer the organization of press conferences, which are particularly effective in the study of authentic newspaper material.During the press conference, each pupil performs a specific role, for example, a political observer.Special attention in our opinion deserves debate, educational discussion as a method of creating a situation of cognitive dispute.After all, the knowledge obtained during the collision of opinions, different points of view have a higher measure of generality, durability and flexibility.
The use of the discussion at the lesson is particularly effective for the formation of ecological and moral convictions, because it promotes an intensive mental activity, develops skills of critical judgment and reflection.
Debate is an effective form of a collective discussion of both theoretical and practical issues.One of the fundamental requirements to it is the statement or discussion of current theoretical and vital problems.Discussion can be carried out only when the pupils already have sufficient subject preparation, master such mental operations as analysis, synthesis, comparison, are able to make the necessary conclusions and generalizations.
"In addition to promoting language and content learning, environmental topics give educators the opportunity to help students understand how changes in daily behaviors can benefit Mother Nature."Environmentally friendly actions (inside and outside the classroom) naturally lend themselves to meaningful language use.While it may not appear that reducing waste promotes language practice, classroom discussions about the importance of "green" habits lead to authentic communication and, at the same time, increase the likelihood that students will put their newly acquired knowledge into practice" [9].
Role plays can also be used to link classroom learning with personal responsibility.Carefully crafted role-play activities highlight topics of relevance to students and their communities and (1) give students opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge of environmental topics, (2) motivate students to discuss and express opinions on controversial issues, (3) encourage students to connect what they have learned about the environment to their daily lives, and (4) help students determine when it might be appropriate to take action and possibly persuade schoolmates, family members, and their communities to be more environmentally responsible.
As seen from the above mentioned fragments of the classes of fragments of foreign languages in the experimental groups the preference was given to the methods and means, enhancing the explanatory and argumentative functions of studying, developing independence, creative initiative: conversation, dispute, and the method of comparison and contrast, the problematic issues, the dialogue in a circle, press-conference.
Next, we are going to perform the check of the sixth pedagogical condition.The integration of the appointed and extracurricular activities of senior pupils in the process of studying a foreign language creates the possibility of another effective environmental education of senior pupils by means of this academic discipline.
Extracurricular work is the continuation of academic studies and allows improving the knowledge and skills in a foreign language that pupils acquire in the classroom.Educational work during the extracurricular time was carried out in the fan club of English and ecology.
The effective form of the environmental education in the practice of our work was the debates on the themes: "Technical progress and ecology".During such sessions pupils were learning to discuss vital issues, prove, convince, set forth forcefully, defend their points of view and refute the opinion of the opponent, because the possession of the culture of debates should become the obligatory quality of each contemporary young man.
In the process of the selection of the topics for the discussion we consider its relevance, social significance, connection with the problems of youth was taken into account.An important aspect of our work was the environmental education, which involves the formation of interest in the environmental issues, the events taking place in the country and abroad.
In the control phase of the experiment it was found out that the level of the development of the environmental education of senior pupils after the work on the environmental education in the experimental classes became considerably higher; among schoolchildren was formed a deliberate system of environmental requirements to each other, organized and consolidated the knowledge about currently important environmental issues of our time.
Pupils became more interested in the events in the country related to the environment, properly evaluate them, analyze, and actively participate in regional natural history and environment-oriented life of the school.
Increased the number of manifestations of the activity, the conscious attitude to the protection of nature, which were manifested in the environmental pathways.All this allows us to make the conclusion that the forms and methods used by us in the extracurricular educational work yielded positive results in the formation of the environmental education of senior pupils.
After the end of our experimental work we carried out re-examination of pupils in order to identify the dynamics of the level of the formation of the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language.These results were used to adjust and improve the system of pedagogical conditions of environmental education.
The received data suggest that in the process of the work there was a significant shift of emphasis in the understanding by schoolchildren the essence of the environmental education signs.Their outlook has significantly expanded, the percentage of those pupils who were unable to correctly identify the nature of environmental education decreased.The number of students with high and medium levels of the development of the activity motivation and behavior increased.The difference in the results of the experimental groups significantly confirms the effectiveness of pedagogical conditions of the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language.

Results
The accomplished work on the formation of the environmental education of senior pupils in the conditions of an experimental studying leads to the following conclusions: 1) Ascertaining experiment results show that the possibility of a foreign language course in the environmental education of senior pupils are not enough realized.The confirmations of this conclusion were the results of the level of the formation of the environmental education of the pupils.
2) The forming experiment proved that under the implementation of the above mentioned pedagogical conditions senior pupils showed a higher level of the acquirement of knowledge, a higher level of the ability to apply this knowledge in practice, a higher level of the development of the environmental education of senior pupils.
3) During the experiment under the detection of the formation of the environmental education of senior pupils were identified the indicators by which we understand the environmental characteristics of the personality traits: an active part in regional natural history and environment-oriented activities of the school, the awareness of environmental issues that characterize the world outlook of the individual, his/her beliefs, attitudes to nature and society.Considering that only a normative character of these qualities may be indicative of a high level of the formation of the environmental education, we have identified three categories of pupils: with high, medium and low levels of the development of the environmental education.The high level of the development of the environmental education requires the combination of these qualities.
4) Experimentally was confirmed the hypothesis put forward by us concerning the possibility of increasing the efficiency of the formation of the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language on the basis of the compliance with the complex of pedagogical conditions.
5) The experimental work done on the verification of the effectiveness of pedagogical conditions of the formation of senior pupils' environmental education by means of a foreign language convinces us that this process at the present stage of the development of the school has a brand new character.

Conclusion
Thus, the following conclusions can be drawn: One of the leading methods of our experimental work was the method of conversation, which was carried out in the following forms: lectures, quizzes, a portion to classes, etc., where senior pupils and teachers received theoretical knowledge on ecology in a foreign language.
For carrying out this work, we relied on the principle of openness, which was aimed at giving teachers and pupils as much as possible of up-to-date information about the greening of the environment and the conservation activity.For example, we worked out the following lectures:  Educational potential of a foreign language in the education of environmental culture.

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Environmental education of pupils: problems and searches.

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Media and environmental education of senior pupils.

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Our house is nature. Nature on the canvas of an artist. Nature in the works of poets.
Another method of ecological education of children, used by us is the creation of special environmental situations in a foreign language, the ability to express their thoughts and attitude to the problem of environmental protection by means of a foreign language.
The purpose of the control experiment was to test the effectiveness of the pedagogical conditions used in the environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language.
At this stage of the experimental work the cross-section test of the level of the environmental education of senior pupils and their level of the language competence was carried out.The obtained results were refined, summarized, analyzed and then the appropriate conclusions were made.
The objectives of the outcome of the experiment were as follows: measurement of the dynamics of the level of the environmental education of senior pupils in the experimental classes; overall assessment of the effectiveness of the results obtained in the experiment and the acquisition of general conclusions.
In general, the diagnostic procedure of the control experiment was directed to the measurement of the results of the environmental education dynamics of senior pupils in three main areas: the dynamics of teachers' participation in the formation of environmental education of senior pupils by means of a foreign language; the dynamics of senior pupils' participation in the eco-regional studies and conservation activities; the dynamics of environmental education of senior pupils.It was dedicated to the final stage of our experimental work using the potential of the subject "Foreign Language".At this stage of the study were used such methods as conversation, testing, verification of empirical skills, analysis and synthesis of the results of the experimental work on the environmental education of schoolchildren at the study time and extracurricular time.
One more point should be made in this connection that "the results of several studies, synthesized by the U.S. National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF, http://www.neefusa.org),further support such educational agendas by suggesting that environmental education can improve students' academic achievement in science, reading, and writing and foster students' critical thinking skills, motivation, and attitudes about learning.Although these findings stem from first language classrooms, they suggest that integrating environmental education into second or foreign language instruction can deliver or be accompanied by additional advantages for our students.The NEEF describes three levels of environmental education: (1) environmental awareness-that is, general familiarity with key environmental issues; (2) personal conduct knowledge, which translates awareness into action to preserve the environment; and (3) environmental literacy, which enables students to learn underlying principles and gain skills for carrying out their own hands-on projects" [5].
All this allows us to conclude that "language teachers have many opportunities to heighten pupils' awareness about the environmental problems plaguing the planet while remaining committed to improving students' English skills.In addition to supporting meaningful language instruction, such theme-based instruction encourages students to think critically, provides them with real-world knowledge, increases motivation, and promotes learner autonomy, allowing educators to adapt information and incorporate activities that are best suited for their own learners and specific teaching contexts and understand the value of environmental culture for promoting pupils' language and content learning.The take-home message is that "going green" has many advantages" [1].

Table 1 .
Levels of the environmental education of senior pupils at the beginning of the experiment

Table 2 .
Levels of the environmental education of senior pupils in the end of the experiment Teachers can organize field trips to local recycling centers, if they exist, to learn how important recycling is, how the process works, and what items can and cannot be recycled.Invited guest speakers-both native and non-native English speakers-can educate students about local environmental issues and help students understand what can be done to make a difference.Prior to such activities, the theme and pertinent vocabulary can be introduced and students can prepare questions to ask the speakers.During field trips and guest speaker presentations, students can take notes.Afterwards, they can prepare an oral or written response in which they explain both what they learned and what they can do to be more environmentally responsible"[9].