Promoting Social, Cultural, Global, and Environmental Awareness in the ESL Classroom

In our increasingly interconnected world, English students are constantly immersed in multicultural experiences, whether interacting with friends from other countries or collaborating with global business teams.

As today’s learners are exposed to diverse perspectives like never before, your role as an English teacher goes beyond helping students become fluent in the language – you’re also empowering them to be globally competent and thrive in a world rich with cultural, social, and environmental diversity.

So, how can you promote social, cultural, global, and environmental awareness in the ESL classroom? Let’s explore the benefits of teaching these skills and strategies for weaving them into your English language instruction.

The importance of teaching social, cultural, global, and environmental skills in the ESL classroom

As members of a globalized world, each of us plays active roles that transcend local communities or national borders. We are not just spectators but participants tackling global issues, solving complex problems, and advocating for sustainable economic practices. These actions are what ultimately shape us as global citizens.

Dr. Eion Jordan, International Education Director at the University of St. Andrews, during the Expert Series webinar lecture “Preparing the Next Generation of Global Citizens,” emphasized that being a global citizen is about “understanding the wider context of the world and one’s own place within it,” in addition to being mindful of social, cultural, and environmental agendas.

Meanwhile, Eric Peterson, the Head of REAL at Westcliff University, stressed that global citizenship affects values, attitudes, and social skills.

“When we truly participate, we learn about global and intercultural situations, which enables us to live together respectfully or peacefully,” Peterson pointed out.

English teachers, in particular, are uniquely positioned to prepare students to be global citizens. By equipping your students with important transferable skills such as cultural awareness, contextual awareness, cross-cultural communication skills, and teamwork and social skills, you can help your learners become informed participants who can thoughtfully and responsibly engage with the world.

Let’s look at some of the benefits of fostering global citizenship as well as social, cultural, global, and environmental awareness in your learners.

English as a lingua franca

By teaching skills that will help them embrace and adapt to social, cultural, and global diversity, English learners can better understand the use of English as a lingua franca, which refers to communication in English between people from various cultures or mother tongues.

A key part of this is exploring and recognizing the many different varieties of English used around the world rather than focusing on an idealized or specific type of English, such as American or British English, and understanding that speaking like a native English speaker is not the goal.

Exposing students to the use of English as a global language, as a result, is crucial in communicating in a multicultural environment.

“As English language teachers, our purpose is ultimately facilitating communication across cultures,” Dr. Jordan stressed. “A part of the competencies that go with that is also understanding what English is as a language – it is an international language, that’s why many people are teaching it.”

Aside from teaching cross-cultural communication skills, embedding social skills such as active listening and non-verbal communication into students also enables them to convey messages clearly and interpret them correctly, reducing misunderstandings.

Learn strategies to teach your students interpersonal skills with the 10-Hour Teaching Communicative, Collaborative, and Interpersonal Skills Micro-credential course.

Succeeding in a global business landscape

Whether your learners are already working with multicultural teams or looking to get into the international job market, equipping them with social and cultural skills sets them up for success in working with people from diverse cultures in several ways:

Effective communication and teamwork. English learners often face the challenge of collaborating with individuals or groups from other countries or languages. However, by instilling key social and cultural competencies in your students, they’ll feel confident and prepared to communicate with people across diverse backgrounds and recognize others’ perspectives better. This leads to increased productivity and more meaningful connections when forming relationships with global teams.
Navigate cultural differences. Making your students aware of different aspects such as values, norms, and even communication styles of people from other cultures cultivates empathy, tolerance, and respect for diversity. This ability to see the world through different lenses also allows learners to embrace differences, overcome cultural barriers, and reduce conflicts and tension, skills that are helpful, especially in critical situations like negotiating or establishing rapport with counterparts abroad.
Seize opportunities in the global marketplace. In today’s competitive and interlinked job market, the ability to engage in cross-cultural exchanges and build international relationships is highly valued by employers. Therefore, preparing students for career success and employability with 21st-century skills like cultural and global competencies will prepare them to pursue international career paths or land opportunities in multinational companies. You can further motivate Business English students by aligning their language learning with career advancement, providing practical application of language skills to job skills in their current careers or jobs they aspire to.

Increased awareness and participation

Finally, being socially, culturally, globally, and environmentally competent prepares English students to become better citizens in both their local and global communities. By exposing learners to various cultural and social issues, for instance, you can encourage them to think beyond their immediate environment, recognize biases and stereotypes, and actively seek solutions to challenges faced by the world today.

Peterson sums up these roles as he asserts, “Global citizens are curious about the world around us because they want to learn about the world and try to take an active role within the community, working with others to make our planet more peaceful, fairer, and sustainable.”

Strategies for teaching social, cultural, global, and environmental awareness to English learners

Turning your ESL classroom into a gateway to global competence involves incorporating learning experiences that foster diversity, open-mindedness, and creative and innovative thinking skills. Let’s look at some strategies for integrating social, cultural, global, and environmental awareness into your English lessons.

Cultural awareness

When it comes to promoting cultural diversity and understanding various cultural contexts, an initial step you can take in your classroom is getting to know your students’ cultural backgrounds. Encourage your students to share something about their cultures by putting forth various themes.

Hall’s Iceberg Model of Culture, for example, provides a useful reference for topics you can bring up in class; aside from touching on the “visible parts of a culture” (e.g., food, flags, fashion, festivals), consider the implicit phenomena, which refers to unseen cultural elements such as values, manners, attitudes, and beliefs.

For instance, in Business English lessons, you can have students present on business etiquette in their country and compare it with the business etiquette of the people they’ve worked with from other cultures.

Global awareness

Incorporating English as a lingua franca into your English lessons and helping your students embrace this approach requires exposing them to global English content and cross-cultural communication scenarios.

One way you can do this is by exposing them to varieties of English accents through listening materials that feature speakers with different linguistic backgrounds (both native and non-native English speakers). Listening or watching interviews, discussions, and conversations between non-native English speakers, for example, can be great for showing students how English as a lingua franca is used in the real world and how people successfully communicate in English across cultures.

Learn more about integrating 21st-century teaching strategies into your classroom by exploring our Expert Series webinars on 21st-century teaching.

Environmental awareness

More than simply introducing environmental themes and issues in your English lessons, you can spark your students’ deeper understanding and awareness of environmental and ecological issues by engaging them in dynamic or hands-on activities.

For example, projects like designing posters or online campaigns related to teaching sustainability and environmental awareness reinforce environmental vocabulary and give students a chance to think deeper, research solutions, and share their insights on environmental problems.

Similarly, through activities like field trips to local parks or conservation areas (in person or virtual), you can encourage your students to explore and share their observations on the diversity of nature.

Social awareness

One key way to promote social responsibility among English learners is to get them involved in projects that will allow them to tackle social issues and reflect on their experiences in different social contexts.

For example, you can encourage them to volunteer or participate in community projects and have them share their insights through activities like group discussions and journaling. You can also have them research, present, or create infographics on trending social issues, either in their local community or a global context.

By integrating social, cultural, global, and environmental awareness into your English classroom, you not only help learners enhance their language skills but also empower them to broaden their perspectives and embrace diversity. This holistic approach fosters open-mindedness and equips students with the tools to navigate and appreciate a highly connected world.

Explore how to teach your students the skills and mindsets they can use to grow as global citizens with the 10-hour Promoting Social, Cultural, Global, and Environmental Awareness in Your Classroom Micro-Credential course.