Are you a climate change denier?
The educators of the Chair of Foreign Languages Department at the Philological Faculty of our university have been incorporating the UN Sustainable Development Goals in their curriculum for several years. Many topical issues have been discussed in English-speaking classrooms, and “Climate action” is one of the live ones. Under the guidance of the faculty members A. Dzhanuzakova and A. Shayahmet, the conference on climate action was conducted on November 22, 2025, for first-year students at the Faculty of Oriental Studies.
The intermediate-level students from the People’s Republic of China delivered their own presentations in connection with the UN SDG #13: Aripzhan Bagzhan gave the “How climate change affects our everyday life” talk , Huang You Zhou spoke on the topic of “Young people in China and Kazakhstan: what can we do to help the planet?”, Adilbek Talant shared his vision on “Air pollution in Beijing and Almaty”, and Amantay Akarys tried to keep the theme in perspective in his “Green cities of the future” talk. All these speeches were prepared under the guidance of their teacher A.A. Dzhanuzakova.
To create awareness-raising ideas concerning the UN SDGs, the organizers used an interactive presentation under the title “The Climate Change Denier” created by Nik Peachey, who is a renowned digital guru in the world of English as a second language (ESL). Nik Peachey is the author of the “Technical Tools for Teachers” series, and he also runs Peachey’s Publications, which is a highly successful source among the educators that suggests English language teaching classroom materials onthe topical matters to be settled. Why climate action issues should become an important part in our classrooms is not a disputable thing anymore, as nowadays literally everyone can witness climate change phenomena. The unusually warm late autumn in Almaty causes many cases of influenza – this year people speak about the Hong Kong virus. Moreover, from year to year, we have an increasing number of allergic people in the city, wich might also be connected to the climate issues.
This year we prioritize the ideas concerning climate change deniers because we can hear more and more often that “climate change is just scaremongering”, “we don’t have to worry about climate change because it has been changing for many centuries”, “we need to develop our economy”, and so on.The advanced-level students Adilet Nakypbek, Aigerim Zhantore, Zhalgas Kadyrbay, Daniyal Aydarov,Aizhan Babenova, Zhania Kadirzhan, Madina Asyltai, Aigerim Erlankyzy, Ulduz Mamedova, and others zealously took part in discussion. The students demonstrated that they were not indifferent to what is happening with the climate, as it would affect everyone’s life. Besides focusing on environmental issues, participants had the opportunity for language practice, which is a real point to maintain their IELTS certified C1-band language in our non-English speaking country.
We have to say that the event did not leave any of the participants unmoved; all first-year students were actively arguing and corroborating their arguments with their own statements and local evidence-based facts. Hopefully, the activity can provide knowledge to help fight the climate emergency in ways thatbeyond our classrooms.
Asel Shayahmet,
Ayana Dzhanuzakova
The Foreign Languages Department
