Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by

Abstract

 This article aimed at reviewing a collection of Ecolinguistics: language, ecology and the stories we live studies vary in sophistication, comprehensiveness, depth of analysis and motivation, but some general characteristics of an ecolinguistic approach to discourse analysis are described below. Such as 1) The focus is on discourses that have or potentially have a significant impact not only on how people treat other people but also how they treat the larger ecological systems that life depends on. 2) The discourses are analyzed by showing how clusters of linguistic features come together to form particular worldviews or cultural codes. A cultural code is a compact package of shared values, norms, ethos and social beliefs which constructs and reflect the community’s “common sense”’ An example is the pervasive code that sees unlimited economic growth as both a possible and a desirable goal for human societies.  3) The criteria that worldviews are judged by are derived from an explicit or implicit ecological philosophy (or ecosophy). An ecosophy is informed by both a scientific understanding of how organisms (including humans) depend on interactions with other organisms and a physical environment to survive and flourish, and also an ethical framework to decide why survival and flourishing matters and whose survival and flourishing matters. 4) The study aims to expose and draw attention to discourses which appear to be ecologically destructive.  5) The study is aimed towards practical application through raising awareness of the role of language in ecological destruction or protection, informing policy, informing educational development, or providing ideas that can be drawn on in redesigning existing texts or producing new texts in the future.