Climate Change or Climate Crisis?

Multilingual Framing of Environmental Risk and the Governance of Transnational Climate Education

Abstract

Transnational higher education programs teach climate and sustainability topics to diverse, multilingual student groups, mainly in English. However, research on how climate terminology affects perceived risks has largely focused on English and monolingual populations, leaving a gap in understanding how language works in transnational classrooms. This paper explores whether the language used to describe climate risk is important for education providers and develops a framework to show how terminology affects understanding of scientific content and risk perception. We combine three areas of research: climate terminology and risk perception, the effects of using a foreign language in decision-making, and English-medium instruction in global education. Our framework compares climate terminology in English, Spanish, and Korean. We propose the Multilingual Risk Transmission Framework, highlighting four areas where languages may differ: the words used, their emotional meanings, knowledge transfer, and how messages are understood. From this, we create seven testable ideas and a research plan that pairs language data with experiments on risk perception. Finally, we stress that language policy in transnational education also involves managing risks. Institutions should focus on standard terms, bilingual explanations, assessment methods, and communication about hazards to address an often-overlooked aspect of education.