Integrating digital and green education: A conceptual framework for English Language Learners

The simultaneous demands for environmental sustainability and digital proficiency represent two major challenges in 21st-century education. For English Language Learners (ELLs), acquiring digital competence alongside environmental awareness presents both challenges and opportunities. By engaging in technology-driven projects, such as analysing ecological data, creating environmental documentaries, or collaborating on sustainability campaigns via digital platforms, ELLs can simultaneously cultivate three critical literacies: digital literacy, ecological understanding, and English language proficiency. This conceptual paper proposes a synergistic pedagogical framework grounded in project-based learning that integrates green education not as a separate domain, but as a meaningful, authentic context for developing digital literacy. Drawing on the principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), the paper outlines key pedagogical design principles, explores benefits such as enhanced motivation, collaboration, and critical thinking, and identifies implementation challenges. Ultimately, it argues that integrating digital and green education fosters learners who are both technologically proficient and ecologically responsible.