Archive: FOURTH Research Bulletin (Spring 2026)

Joshua John Jodoin
Jul 7
4 min read

🌱 Language Education for Sustainable Development (LESD) Research Bulletin

Spring 2026

Dr.J (Joshua John Jodoin)

You’re receiving this because at some point you said, “Yeah, I’m interested in this LESD thing.”

Still here? I appreciate you.

If not—there’s an unsubscribe button quietly waiting at the bottom. No drama.

📬 P.S. I only send these updates once a year max. No spam. No nonsense. Just research with roots.

🌍 A Quick Thought Before the Updates

Dear colleagues and friends,

We’re entering a strange moment for education.

AI is changing what it means to know something
Climate instability is changing what it means to act responsibly
Misinformation is changing what it means to believe anything at all

Language education sits right in the middle of all of this.

That’s where Language Education for Sustainable Development (LESD) is trying to do something a little different:

👉 Not just teach language

👉 But help learners make sense of the world through it

📘 The Big One: The LESD Book

This year’s biggest update:

👉 I signed a book contract (Dec 2025)

The working title:

Language Education for Sustainable Development: Global Citizenship, Meaning, and Action in an Age of Uncertainty

It’s been a long time coming—and now it’s real (and very exciting!).

Right now I’m deep in writing:

AI and the “relevance crisis” in education
Why critical thinking alone is not enough (misinformation problem)
The role of emotion, identity, and values in language learning

📅 Final manuscript due: March 2027

🌏 LESD in Motion (Talks & Collaborations)

This year has been less about “presenting ideas” and more about testing them.

A few highlights:

RELC Conference (Singapore) — LESD and intercultural communication
Tokyo (Lakeland University Conference) — Environmental accountability in higher education
JALT 2025 (Tokyo) - Enjoyed going as a participant only this year and it was wonderful (See image above).
Ongoing collaboration on sustainability + language curriculum design
I recently got funding for a Research Project through Konan university working with Aoki Kei Sensei entitled: 低炭素社会に向けた消費者の意思決定要因の解明：エネルギー利用・住宅選択・交通行動における行動変容モデルの構築 | Identifying the Determinants of Consumer Decision-Making toward a Low-Carbon Society: Developing a Behavioral Change Model for Energy Use, Housing Choice, and Mobility.

What I’m noticing:

👉 There is growing interest in connecting language education to real-world stakes

👉 But very little agreement on how to actually do it

So… still lots of work to do.

🔥 The Tension We Can’t Ignore

If you’ve been following global trends, you’ll know:

Climate progress is uneven (at best)
Political will is… fragile (especially with another war on the go…)
But clean energy is getting cheaper, more viable, and much more attractive.

So we’re in this weird dual reality:

👉 The system is slow

👉 The tools are accelerating

This is exactly the tension that our classrooms need to be engaging with.

🤝 If You’re Interested…

A few easy ways to stay connected:

Reply to this email (seriously—I read them)
Share your own work—I’d love to feature others
Check out the links below in the blue section
Forward this to someone who’s wrestling with similar questions

Thanks again for being part of this growing community.

Warmly,

JODOIN Joshua John (Dr.J)ジョーダン　ジョシュワ　ジョン甲南大学マネジメント創造学部准教授（地球環境学） | Associate Professor at Konan University's Hirao School of Management in Global Environmental Studies mrj@konan-u.ac.jp | jodoin.john.65m@kyoto-u.jp https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7905-2449 Research Map: https://researchmap.jp/jjodoin Latest publication: https://konan-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/2000590 We support フードバンク関西 and GiveWell

Konan University FRONT published an interview with me in Japanese that discusses my background, what I teach, and my research. If you want to read it in Japanese, Google translate works wonders. You can find that here: https://www.konan-u.ac.jp/front/researchers/interview-25

Dr. Jodoin’s research: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7905-2449 (email Dr. Jodoin for copies of any publications behind a paywall)

Sustainable Development Goals Information: https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) information: http://www.env.go.jp/policy/entaku06_ref03_1.pdf

Jodoin, J. J., & Singer, J. (2018). An Analysis of Environmental Content Found in English-Language Textbooks in Japanese Higher Education Using a Corpus. The International Journal of Sustainability in Economic, Social and Cultural Context, 14(4), 39-55. https://doi.org/10.18848/2325-1115/CGP/v14i04/39-55

Jodoin, J. J. (2020) Promoting language education for sustainable development: a program effects case study in Japanese higher education. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 21(4), 779-798. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-09-2019-0258

Jodoin, J. J. (2022). Re-envisioning English Language Teaching in a Post-COVID World: Using Language Education for Sustainable Development. In R.Khan, A. Bashir, B. Lal Basu & E. Uddin (Eds) Local Research and Glocal Perspectives in English Language Teaching - Teaching in Changing Times. Springer.

Jodoin, J. J. (2023). Opportunities for English for Academic Purposes in a Post-Pandemic World through Language Education for Sustainable Development. In E. Kantarcıoğlu, H. Mengu, & C.Thomas (Eds) Life After the Pandemic: ReVision and ReForm in EAP Contexts. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

If you find anything behind a paywall or want to know more, please send me an email or get in touch through the social sites.

Many thanks for taking the time to read and share. All the best to you in your Spring Semester. Keep up that important work of providing our students meaningful content in the language classroom!