Title: Sustainability Education as a Critical Area in the Advanced Foreign Language (FL) Curriculum: A Problem-Based Approach to Teaching and Learning
Presenter: Maria de la Fuente, George Washington University
Location: Zoom, Passcode: IWL

Abstract
In 2020, UNESCO released a call for the worldwide implementation of its Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework, or ESD for 2030, with the goal of reorienting higher learning institutions to integrate education and learning in all activities that promote sustainable development. Grounded on inclusion, equity, human rights, social justice, and cultural and linguistic diversity principles, ESD can be integrated into FL education thought courses and curricula that provide students with sustainability awareness, literacy, and competencies for action. In particular, the Content-Based Instruction (CBI) framework and the many learner-centered approaches used in L2 instruction provide an ideal context for reimaging college L2 teaching and learning. This presentation posits that the integration of ESD is a significant contribution we can make to language education.

After briefly reviewing the current literature in the field, this presentation will offer one promising approach to integrating ED in advanced language courses. Using problem-based language pedagogy, this instructional approach promotes multicompetent language users who acquire sustainability knowledge and develop sustainability-specific competencies, including L2 competencies (de la Fuente, 2021). It will describe UNESCO's ESD framework and how it can help rethink courses and materials around sustainability principles. Then, it will show how language- and sustainability-specific learning outcomes (Wiek, Withycombe & Redman, 2011) can be combined to develop content-based, pedagogical units for advanced, content-based L2 instruction that ensures continuous language development. 

Bio
María-José de la Fuente is a Spanish and Applied Linguistics professor at George Washington University. Her general area of research is Instructed (Classroom) Second Language Acquisition (ISLA), in particular, the role of active learning pedagogies (such as task- and problem-based learning) in fostering multicompetent language users. She has also published research on the role of the first language in developing multilingualism. The results of her research in these areas have appeared in several refereed journals. She is the author of Education for Sustainable Development in Foreign Language Learning(link is external): Content-Based Instruction in College-Level Curricula, Routledge. She has also authored two Spanish textbooks: Gente (Pearson), a widely used textbook in college Spanish language programs, and Puntos de Encuentro: a cross-cultural approach to Advanced Spanish (Cognella Publishers). She was the recipient of a GWU Bender Teaching Award and a founding member of the GW Academy of Distinguished Teachers.