Assessing ecological literacy and its application based on linguistic ecology: a case study of Guiyang City, China.

Changchen Ha,Guowen Huang,Jiaen Zhang,Shumin Dong

doi:10.1007/s11356-021-16753-7

Abstract

To address the frequent emergence of ecological problems, ecology has intersected with various disciplines. From the perspective of linguistic ecology, ecological literacy is an important concept that combines the subjects of ecology and linguistics. It not only discusses ecological issues, but also establishes a linguistic framework. Here, we constructed a quantitative method of assessing ecological literacy from the perspective of linguistic ecology. Ecological literacy was divided into five parts: ecological knowledge literacy, ecological awareness literacy, ecological ethics literacy, ecological emotional literacy, and ecological behavioral literacy. Each of these was set with four quantitative indicators that were evaluated through eight questions. A case study was conducted to investigate the ecological literacy of the inhabitants of Guiyang City, one of China’s top ten ecologically advanced cities. The results showed that the proposed assessment method was an effective way to evaluate the level of ecological literacy comprehensively. In the case analysis, the overall ecological literacy level of Guiyang inhabitants was relatively good, and the levels of the five specific dimensions of them in descending order were as follows: ecological ethics literacy, ecological emotional literacy, ecological awareness literacy, ecological knowledge literacy, and ecological behavioral literacy. The results of this study are conducive to the production of targeted ways to improve the level of ecological literacy for sustainable development.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-021-16753-7.

Highlights

Responsible Editor: Philippe GarriguesSince the 1900s, with the accelerated development of the economy, science, and technology, human life has greatly improved
In the descriptive statistical analysis of the five first-level indicators of the ecological literacy level of Guiyang inhabitants, we found that there were developments in the internal structure of the five dimensions of ecological knowledge literacy, ecological awareness literacy, ecological ethics literacy, ecological emotional literacy, and ecological behavioral literacy
We used the concepts of linguistic ecology to conduct quantitative research on five aspects of ecological literacy: knowledge, awareness, ethics, emotion, and behavior

Summary

Introduction

Since the 1900s, with the accelerated development of the economy, science, and technology, human life has greatly improved. It has brought about many global ecological problems pertaining to population, resources, and the environment. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which began at the end of 2019, has once again sounded the alarm regarding human attitudes and behavior toward nature. In the context of the tense relationship between humans and the natural environment, researchers in many countries and different fields have started looking at the surrounding world from an ecological perspective, re-examining the thoughts and behavior of humankind, and working hard to solve environmental problems. The key point is to study many problems in human production and life from the perspective of ecology or by using the principles of ecology

Methods

Results

Conclusion