Ecolinguistic Perspective Research Articles

Lexical niche and sustainability: an ecolinguistic perspective

Abstract This paper proposes the innovative concept of lexical niche to analyze the ecology of vocabulary from an ecolinguistic perspective. Through the examination of niche breadth and overlap, we quantitatively assess the vitality and competition of six typical Chinese eating verbs: shi (食), fan (饭), can (餐), dan (啖), ru (茹), and chi (吃). The analysis reveals their diachronic evolution in the history of the Chinese language (temporal niche), their synchronic distribution in Chinese dialects (spatial niche), and their verb-object collocation (functional niche). The findings indicate the following: (1) Shi, fan, can, dan, and ru originated in Early Old Chinese, while chi emerged in Late Old Chinese. (2) The niche breadths of the six eating verbs are as follows: 2.585, −2.391, −2.242, −0.108, −1.734, and 3.889, respectively. Chi demonstrates the highest vitality, followed by shi; fan, can, dan, and ru exhibit extremely low vitality. (3) Shi originated in the Pre-Qin dynasty, serving as the dominant eating verb in ancient times with robust competition. However, in modern times, it has evolved into a morpheme for compound words, displaying weak sustainability. Chi, born in the Han dynasty, replaced shi as the dominant eating verb by the late Tang dynasty, establishing itself as the most competitive verb to date, characterized by strong sustainability.

Framing ‘Development’ in Economic Discourse: An Ecolinguistic Perspective

This research explores the discourse produced around the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from an ecolinguistic perspective; examining how environment can be saved or degraded through the use of language. By analyzing documents taken from the CPEC's website, the study has identified and analyzed the framing of the construct of ‘Development’ by conducting a corpus analysis. Employing corpus-based critical discourse analysis, the research used Fairclough’s (2013) theoretical framework to find out different frames surrounding ‘Development’. The identified development frames are further divided into 14 frames by using Sen’s (2013) approach of sustainability at three levels such as economic sustainability, social sustainability and environmental sustainability. Sen’s approach helped to find out the Ecolinguistic perspective in terms of environmental frames triggered in the minds of people. The findings highlight 14 frames used in the portrayal of development within the CPEC context. The highest frequency is gained by the economic development frame with 425 concordance hits while lowest frequency is gained by the social frames constituting 86 concordance hits. The findings based on concordance analysis suggest that economic development frame is highly triggered by the discourse on the CPEC in the minds of people through infrastructure and industrial development.

The Ecology of English Loanwords in Chinese: A Case Study of Cement

From an ecolinguistic perspective, this study focuses on five English loanwords in Chinese related to the field of cement, as defined in the Modern Chinese Dictionary. The research quantitatively examines the ecological dynamics of these loanwords using two indicators: lexical niche breadth and overlap. The goal is to uncover the evolutionary mechanism governing their adaptation. The findings show: (1) The emergence of English loanwords is intricately linked to specific social environments. As new concepts and items are introduced from abroad, the masses initially make new loanwords, which are later standardized by authoritative bodies. (2) The vitality of loanwords correlates with their niche breadth. The competition among lexical variants is influenced by niche overlap. The loanwords for cement, ranked by vitality in descending order, are ShuiNi (3.221), YangHui (2.350), ShuiMenTing (1.385), HongMaoNi (1.202), and ShiMinTu (0.879). (3) The endangerment of loanwords results from a combination of external (social environment) and internal (language system) factors. Intense competition arises due to the presence of multiple synonyms for the same entity, and localization challenges occur when the loanwords do not precisely fit the entity. Among the five loanwords for cement, the first two exhibit higher vitality and continue to develop sustainably, while the last three show lower vitality and are gradually becoming endangered. As these loanwords undergo continuous evolution, a lexical ecocontinuum emerges: extinct in the wild—ShiMinTu; critically endangered—HongMaoNi; endangered—ShuiMenTing; vulnerable—YangHui; least concerned—ShuiNi.

An Ecolinguistic Perspective Study on Linguistic Resources Emotions of Migrants in Huizhou

Mobility has received burgeoning attention in social science studies, and it is of great significance to the academic research to migrants’ dialects in China. Most research shows that individuals have a strong emotional attachment to their first language. However, in this study, from the perspective of ecology, semi-structured interviews were used to explore the experience and emotional attitudes of immigrants living in Huizhou city, Guangdong Province. Although immigrants take their native language as a symbol of their early life memories, other languages could also be a suitable medium for showing their inner world when they move to a new place and use another language. People’s positive or negative emotions towards their first or second languages depend on how they interact with their surroundings. Based on the results, this paper provides a deeper understanding of adult migrants’ language choices from an ecolinguistic perspective.

Positive discourse analysis of Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Minister’s speeches: an ecolinguistic perspective

Abstract As opposed to Western ideologies that promote unrestrained consumption of environmental resources, Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) encourages a more beneficial relationship with nature. In order to address underrepresented subjects and contexts, this article investigates the integration of TEK within political discourse by examining a corpus of speeches given by Aotearoa New Zealand former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, between 2020 and 2022. The study refers to the frameworks of ecolinguistics and Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) to understand how Māori culture shapes Mahuta’s linguistic choices. Particularly, it focusses the attention on lexical and figurative items, drawing on the concepts of metaphor, framing, and intertextuality. Results show a considerable concern over the state of the environment in Mahuta’s speeches. Furthermore, they reveal the presence of an adaptation framing inspired by Indigenous thinking that acknowledges nature’s agency and complexity. The latter is used to conceptualise current environmental challenges and international cooperation directed at tackling them. Mahuta’s language ultimately supports the idea of interconnectedness within nature and offers as an instance of positive discourse in institutional settings.

Ideology in Marine Ritual Discourse of Acehnese Speech Community

This study is about what particular people belong to the particular ethnic have in mind as their ideology to see the environment, reflected from traditional fishing ritual in Acehnese speech community under the eco-linguistic perspective. In addition, with reference to social praxis, ecolinguistics recognizes three dimensions, namely ideological, sociological, and biological dimensions relating to the exploitation of the environment for fishing through ritual speech. The purpose of this study is to determine the ideology reflected in the speech. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, utilizing a phenomenological approach. The study makes use of verbal expressions expressed by naval commanders, gathered through a combination of participatory observation and comprehensive interviews at a central location of fish market and sanctuary in Banda Aceh, Aceh Indonesia. The data collected serve as the basis for the analysis and interpretation of the research findings. The respected ideology was then compared to the concept of ecosophy. The results of the analysis show that the ritual holistically contains the ideology of environmental preservation. The efforts to assist the natural, social, and spiritual preservations, specifically in marine environments, are obviously detected in the discourse. The ideology offered is in accordance with the concept of ecosophy, which includes beneficial discourse. However, part of the utterances also reflect the ambivalent discourse, but not the destructive one.

Ecolinguistic approach to the analysis of the notion “leader’s charisma” (based on English non-fiction literature)

The research attempts to study various aspects and correlations between the verbal and non-verbal characteristics of charismatic leaders from an ecolinguistic perspective. The analysis of the lingual and non-lingual repertoire of a charismatic leader, his main characteristics and correspondence of his verbal, non-verbal and supra-verbal behavior to the ecological principles of communication demonstrates that if the leader avoids using in their speech the elements producing a harmful effect on physical, psychological or emotional state of a partner they can reach ecologically effective influence on the audience. A charismatic leader's identity emerges from psychological and social factors that manifest in their speech. This statement correlates with the principles of ecolinguistics, which involve the analysis of verbal, non-verbal, and supra-verbal phenomena in the unity with natural, social, and psychological factors. Modern English non-fiction literature was chosen as the research material. The non-fiction authors – scientists, psychologists, coaches, and business-trainers, focus the reader’s attention on the main criteria for creating the image of a charismatic leader, which includes verbal and non-verbal communicative components, as well as their ecological combinability. Core features that effectively shape the image of a successful leader are charisma and high communicative skills, which include preservation of communicative maxims of quantity, quality, relation, and manner. The focus of ecolinguistic research on a charismatic leader who influences the society and achieves their goals through various means, including language, contributes to further development of the theory of discursive personality. The results of this study can be used in discourse studies, studies of verbal and non-verbal communication, pragmalinguistics, and communication theory.

Demystifying the Labyrynth of The Delta: An Ecolinguistic Appraisal of Selected Poems of Tanure Ojaide

AbstractEcological issues in the context of Niger-Delta, Nigeria have been approached mostly from the perspective of environmental degradation, and marginalisation in previous studies. However, in literary pieces, which are mostly the dominant objects of analysis in those studies, there are underlying linguistic imports, which are reflexive of the beauty of the literary discourses revolving around the Niger-Delta environment. It is based on this backdrop that this study sets out to examine selected poems of Tanure Ojaide from an ecolinguistic perspective. To achieve the aim of the study, five poems are selected purposively from Ojaide’s Songs of Myself and analysed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to data analysis. The data is also examined using the Eco-critical Discourse Analysis (EDA) approach. The findings from the study reveal the use of rhetorical devices to converge towards emphasising the beauty of the ecological characteristics of the physical environment. The use of imagery by the poet draws on readers’ socio-cognitive instincts towards the appealing to their emotive senses. In conclusion, the use of the eco-linguistic approach to examine the poems has not only revealed the poet’s intents but has also demystified the myth behind the ecosystem of the Niger Delta.

Ocean Advocacy in Discourse: Unpacking 'Seaspiracy' through an Eco-Critical Lens

<p><strong>The decrease in the wildlife population over the last 30 years was caused by various human actions, one of them was triggered by various writings and discourses spread in society. This study aims to analyze the narration of documentary film "Seaspiracy" by Netflix, focusing on the representation of marine destruction. This study examines the representation of marine destruction in the context of texts, discourses, social practices and an ecolinguistic perspective. A qualitative approach was used by combining ecolinguistics (Stibbé, 2015) and Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1995, 2003 and 2013) and LSF (Halliday, 2014) to analyze the data in depth. The data used in this study comes from the 2021 documentary "Seaspiracy", produced by Netflix. The research findings reveal linguistic features, including metaphor, irony, and similes. Regarding grammar, humans, marine animals, and the unsustainable fishing industry were found as actors, goals and attributes. However, the highest ratio lies in animals as passive participants and fishing industry players as actors (active participants). The discourse practice shows that between Netflix and Ali Tabrizi shape the audience's perspective and understanding of environmental issues and the fishing industry. In sociocultural practice, this film raises environmental concerns to change public perceptions and encourage positive action in protecting the marine environment. From an ecolinguistic perspective, this study identifies the film "Seaspiracy" as a useful contribution due to its wide dissemination to ensure the sustainability of marine ecosystems. These findings can contribute to understanding how language and discourse shape perceptions and attitudes towards environmental issues</strong><em>.</em></p><p><strong><em>Keywords</em></strong> - <em>Eco-Critical Discourse Analysis, Film Documentary, Transitivity.</em></p>

Analyzing Imran Khan’s Billion Tree Tsunami Initiative from Ecolinguistic Perspective: Assessing its Environmental Implications for Pakistan

Pakistan distinguished as a nation with high vulnerability due to the severe inadequacies of climate change. To mitigate climate change effects the “Billion Tree Tsunami Initiative” was the first attempt launched by Imran Khan in 2014. The campaign discussed and got media attention because of allegations of negligence, corruption and using the campaign for political causes by PTI. This research paper presents an interdisciplinary approach, mingling eco-linguistic discourse analysis with quantitative and qualitative analysis, to offer an inclusive assessment of the initiative's inferences for Pakistan's environment. Through eco- linguistic discourse analysis, the paper reveals the visionary rhetoric implanted in Imran Khan's speeches as well as official documents. It clarifies the initiative's promise to sustainable reforestation rehearses, exceeding mere rhetoric to represent a deep indulgent of the interaction between environmental health as well as long-term economic constancy. The use of eco-centric language strengthens a common moral duty to defend the environment, nurturing a lasting association between the citizens as well as their natural environments. A mix- method approach was applied for this study. For qualitative analysis Imran khan’s 20 speeches were selected randomly from 2014-2022 from different cities of Pakistan, official documents related to “Imran khan’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami” and media coverage from 2014-2022. A simple random sampling was used for this study. The qualitative data was analyzed by NVivo software. The framing strategies, linguistic features, and metaphors were analyzed from Imran khan’s speeches, official documents, and media coverage. This phase compromises perceptions of the progress of the initiative’s Ecolinguistic discourse over the years. The quantitative data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 24) and Python’s Natural Language Toolkit. Key metrics and sentimental analysis of media coverage were done for the quantitative analysis of “Imran Khan’s 10 Billion Tree initiative”. The quantitative analysis comprises budget utilization, employment impact, public sentiments, and tree survival rates. The SPSS software provides the descriptive statistics of tree survival rates, and the % ages of employment rates, while Python’s Natural Language Toolkit (PNLT) presents the sentimental analysis of media coverage related to the 10 Billion tree initiative launched by Imran Khan. The data has been presented in tables and pie charts. This study will be beneficial for policymakers, activists and NGOs, international researchers, educators, media professionals, media coverage, and fostering global collaboration in ecological restoration efforts.

The Study of Yi Minority Language in Mengzi from the Perspective of Eco-Linguistics

The Yi language is a unique language spoken by the Yi minority in China. Despite Mengzi City having one of the largest Yi populations in Yunnan Province, there are very few studies about the Yi language from an ecolinguistics perspective in this region. The primary aim of this study is to investigate language competence, language use, and language attitudes among young people aged 14-28 from Mengzi. Fieldwork research was conducted to collect data, which involved administering a series of questionnaires, interviews, and observations with a group of 104 Yi teenagers. Research findings highlighted that the language ecology in the Mengzi region is changing, with the original mother tongue-dominant type gradually shifting toward a Chinese-dominant type. Although 58.6% of participants claimed fluency or semi-fluency in the Yi language, only 18.8% of them could read and write Yi characters. Due to its inferior status in modern society, the use of the Yi language was limited to family and religious domains. Furthermore, although participants showed a positive inclination toward the Yi language, they held a higher regard for the status and function of Chinese (Mandarin). In conclusion, external forces motivating young speakers to shift from their native language to Mandarin encompass social and economic advancement, as well as national language policies. The significance of the study lies in documenting Yi’s mother tongue and its role in raising awareness about the preservation of endangered languages in China. 
 
 Received: 20 July 2023 / Accepted: 3 October 2023 / Published: 5 November 2023

Understanding the cultural identity of EFL learners from the eco-linguistics perspective: evidence from students in arts college before and after the COVID-19 epidemic period.

The identity development process has individual and societal components and is inherently intertwined with one's broader sociocultural milieu. The correlation between the personal and social aspects of an individual's identity considerably influences their behavior within their environment. This study examines cultural identity changes among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students by conducting a questionnaire survey based on the anxiety/uncertainty management theory by Gudykunst (1995, 1998). The questionnaire was distributed twice: Study 1 used data from 483 students and Study 2 used data from 359 students. After each study, 20 students' descriptions of Chinese and Western cultures were analyzed in NVivo. Guided by the ecological research paradigm, this study examines the impact of individual differences on cultural identity at the macro-, meso-, exo-, and micro- levels. The findings suggest that social context can influence an individual's cultural identity, and cultural identity development accompanies being "oneself."

Contesting “growth” and “sustainability” in Indonesia’s capital city relocation: a corpus ecolinguistic study

The global environmental crisis has triggered academic discussions on how infrastructure discourse often eliminates the environment as a part of the ecosystem. One noticeable contested issue is Indonesia’s capital city relocation from Jakarta to Penajam Paser Utara, Borneo Island. Considering the island’s biodiversity hotspot, the capital city relocation has invited debates about environmental impacts. Despite the criticism and scepticism of the government’s ambitious project, the Indonesian House of Representatives passed the relocation law, followed by the president’s capital city development regulations. Some research has discussed the new capital city (NCC) discourse, but the analysis from a corpus ecolinguistic perspective is absent. It is hypothesised that the lexemes “growth” and “sustainability” in the NCC legal documents represent the government’s intention to communicate the relocation intention and legitimise the plan. Therefore, this paper investigates the employment of lexemes “growth” and “sustainability” in the NCC legal documents using Sketch Engine, an online corpus tool developed by Adam Kilgarriff. Additionally, we also observed the nominalisation and transitivity of the concordances where the lexemes were used in the documents. The analysis revealed that “growth” and “sustainability” are inextricably linked to project NCC as a tool to accelerate and catalyse regional and national economic growth. Ecologically, the NCC documents promote an eco-ambivalent discourse since the sustainability objective excludes the environment. Instead, industrial sustainability is the primary goal in the capital city relocation. The country’s welfare measured by its economic success is salient in the discourse, whereas humans’ responsibility towards the deforestation impacts of relocation is lacking. This research was funded by the Final Project Recognition Grant Universitas Gadjah Mada, Number 5075/UN1.P.II/Dit-Lit/PT.01.01/2023. We are also indebted to the editors of Research Result. Theoretical and Applied Linguistics Journal and the anonymous reviewers for providing this paper valuable feedback.

The Biological, Sociological, And Ideological Aspects In The Children's Story “Pasawitran I Jangkrik Teken I Petani”

Children's stories, especially Balinese stories, are one of the effective media to provide environmental education to children and introduce their mother tongue or regional language as early as possible as a form of language preservation. In addition, the introduction of stories to children from an early age will have an impact on children's love of literacy. This research analyses the environmental lexicon from an ecolinguistics perspective found in Balinese children's stories. This research aims to identify biological, sociological, and ideological aspects of Balinese children's stories. This is qualitative research, the data was taken from a Balinese children’s story entitled Pasawitran I Jangkrik Teken I Petani. The result shows that children can learn some environmental and farming-based lexicons in this story, which is very good and necessary for language preservation. Ideologically, children are invited to understand the importance of environmental protection and ecological balance. By applying these sociological aspects in the story Pasawitran I Jangkrik Teken I Petani children can learn about social dynamics, tradition, and social systems

Existence of lexicon Taru Pramana on Balinese traditional medicine

This paper explains the existence of lexicon Taru Pramana on Balinese traditional medicine by using ecolinguistic perspective. Taru Pramana known as medicinal plants or herbal medicine in Bali where their existence is need to be preserved as one of the cultural heritages that reflects the local wisdom. The ecolinguistic perspective help this research concern in documenting the lexicon by listing the lexicon and their benefits or functions to avoid the extinction of the use of lexicon itself. The results show that the lexicon of medicinal plants in the concept of Taru Pramana has experienced a shift in the term of their naming and functions referring to the habits of the community in modern times which caused the medical plants no longer used in traditional ways as loloh (to drink) or boreh (to rub) but through several chemical processes.

Local Wisdom Values in the ‘Takneul’ Oral Tradition of the Bunak Tribe of East Nusa Tenggara: A Metaphorical Ecolinguistic Study

This study aims to describe the values of local wisdom in the Takneul oral tradition of the Bunak people, East Nusa Tenggara from a metaphorical ecolinguistic perspective. This research is a qualitative research with a simplified Spradley ethnographic approach for collecting data researchers using interview techniques. In this study, ethnographic approach will be simplified in a series consisting of four stages, namely 1) determining informants, 2) interviewing informants, 3) conducting ethnographic interview analysis, 4) analyzing components. Simplification of these steps is carried out as a simplification without reducing the effectiveness of ethnographic research. The data used in this study are classified into two types, namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data obtained based on the results of interviews with relevant sources. Secondary data was obtained based on texts related to the traditions of the Bunak tribe, East Nusa Tenggara and oral tradition poetry texts in the Bunak language given by research sources. Based on the results of data analysis it was found that there are three values of local wisdom in the Takneul oral tradition of the Bunak tribe, East Nusa Tenggara, namely 1) great values related to sadness or lamentation, 2) great values related to consolation or humor, and 3) great values related to love and affection.

ECOLINGUISTIC APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF MODERN ELECTRONIC BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

ECOLINGUISTIC APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF MODERN ELECTRONIC BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Tourism and natural imaginary in Sicily: an ecolinguistic perspective

Abstract In the modern period, tourism is one of the most important global industries. It often appears to guarantee contact with nature, claims to protect habitats and respect principles of ecological sustainability. This paper explores Sicilian tourism and its representation in publicitary material from an ecolinguistic perspective. It asks what kind of imaginary of nature in modern Sicily can be viewed through such shots of the natural world, how these imaginaries might reflect current ecosophy, and how compatible they might be with ecological principles. It applies the heuristic notion of ‘imaginary’, current in social sciences such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology, to the context of ecolinguistic enquiry, asks how our ideas of a place and its ecosystems may be socially or culturally determined, and how these factors play into a mindset which may, or may not, be ecologically sensitive. The findings suggest that tourism photographs tend to present place images that conform to strict generic criteria, responding to public expectations and pragmatic, commercial requirements. They neither present reliable images of Sicily, nor contribute to the propagation of a specific sense of place, but rather conform to a generic pattern that tends to homogenize tourist destinations at a global level.

Aceh Traditional Culinary Kuah Pliek U: How it Sustains Eco-Lexicon Diversity

"Kuah Pliek" is the famous Acehnese cuisine that utilizes most ecological materials. However, only a few researchers have discussed the sustainability of the lexicon contained within the cuisine from an eco-linguistics perspective. This study focuses on Aceh's traditional cuisine, "Kuah Pliek U" (KPU), to assess the raw materials' eco-lexicon diversity and the Acehnese's knowledge of the identified eco-lexicon. This study employed a qualitative research design to address the problems in which data collection included in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), passive and active observation, and the examination of documents such as research reports and journal articles. The analysis of data then used a qualitative interactive model. The result demonstrates that the number of the eco-lexicon within KPU is about 35 – 40, as same as its total of raw materials and ingredients. It consists of biotic and abiotic, with plants comprising the majority. Linguistically, the lexicon belongs to the noun class, but semantically, it can be divided into nouns, prepositional eco-lexicons, and nouns and conjunction. This study also reveals that Acehnese knowledge of KPU has decreased, despite its continued popularity in Aceh society. It means that the existence of three dimensions that influence language sustainability cannot guarantee that local people's cultural knowledge will remain intact.

Rozwój kompetencji językowo-komunikacyjnej ucznia języka angielskiego w ekosystemie szkolnym. Obserwacje poszerzone o doświadczenia w nauczaniu podczas pandemii Covid-19 w 2020 roku

Pandemic Covid-19 was the time which undermined the existing systems of work and communication in all fields including education. Firstly the model of linguistic-communicative competence was defined in ecolinguistic perspective. Secondly the author aimed to verify if development of student’s linguistic-communicative competence in school ecosystem was shattered in pandemic environment and if it did so in what way. It was assumed that a teacher in order to shape student’s resources of skills, knowledge and motivation uses verbal and non-verbal managing strategies at certain levels: managing strategies of knowledge, managing strategies of interaction resources and managing strategies of class infrastructure.