ECOLINGUISTIC APPROACHES TO WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION: CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN COMMUNITY TRAINING PROGRAMS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21009/ishel.v2i1.70259Keywords:
ecolinguistics, conceptual metaphor, environmental communication, ecological framing, waste managementAbstract
This study explores an ecolinguistic approach to environmental communication in a community-based waste management training program in Kelurahan Bahagia, Bekasi, Indonesia. The program aimed to strengthen neighborhood leaders’ capacity to formulate persuasive environmental messages through conceptual metaphors and ecological framing. A community engagement design was employed through initial perception elicitation, interactive training, guided message production, and reflective discussion. Data comprised Mentimeter responses on participants’ initial perceptions of waste and four environmental messages produced after the training. The analysis identified evaluative lexical patterns, conceptual framing, and shifts in environmental representation. Initial responses predominantly represented waste through sensory and problem-oriented expressions such as smell, dirtiness, disorder, and nuisance. Post-training messages, however, connected environmental management with health, collective well-being, environmental aesthetics, and intergenerational responsibility. The findings suggest a shift from consequence-oriented representations toward more relational, action-oriented, and future-oriented ecological framing. Conceptual metaphors functioned as communicative scaffolding rather than as fixed formulas, enabling participants to reconsider how environmental messages could invite collective responsibility. This study contributes to ecolinguistics and community-based environmental communication by demonstrating the pedagogical value of metaphorical reframing in grassroots sustainability communication.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Nadhifa Indana Zulfa Rahman, Siti Ansoriyah, Nur Sekhudin, M. Fajar Rizkia, Ayu Puspa Nanda, Wita Septiani Rahmaputri
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