Abstract:

This research is dedicated to the analysis of how young people’s consciousness evolves and becomes more eco-friendly and sustainable while studying a foreign language by means of interacting with the media discourse space.

Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services based upon which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. [1] 17 sustainable development goals, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

Studying these eco-friendly principles is vital for the present-day youth and for constructive development of their ecological, sustainable consciousness. Our research has shown that the formation and development of young individuals’ eco-consciousness are extremely effective while studying the English language in the process of their interaction and perception of the media discourse space. An experiment was conducted when Russian university students were offered to work with various media resources, including Youtube channel, Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, different online newspaper and magazine platforms (e.g. The Guardian), dedicated to ecological problems, at their English language classes.

We established the correlation between the frequency of young people’s interaction in the media discourse space on environmental issues and positive dynamics in the development of their eco-consciousness. The results showed the university students’ desire to demonstrate their commitment to the protection of the environment; to provide more sustainable alternatives in the modern society; to recycle and campaign against the pollution in the places where they live.

Thus, we came to the conclusion that L2 acquisition through “eco-friendly” perception and interaction in the new media discourse space is one of the most effective ways of both learning any foreign language and raising a human environmental awareness in the present-day digital culture.

References:
[1] Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Accessed 30 November 2019. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development

Keywords:

Eco-consciousness, media discourse, L2 acquisition, young people, perception, interaction, sustainable development.