This study, based on the background of moral education, focuses on the deep integration of social and emotional learning (SEL) theory with junior high school English teaching, addresses the problem of insufficient systematicity in the cultivation of emotional dimensions in subject teaching, and takes "silver care", which combines traditional virtues with global significance, as the thematic carrier to explore the path of cultivating students' social and emotional abilities in junior high school English thematic discourse teaching. This study first uses the literature review method to clarify the intrinsic connection between the five core competencies of SEL and the teaching of "silver care" thematic discourse. Then, with eighth-grade students as the research subjects, using the action research method, a four-wheel progressive teaching design framework of "perception - understanding - deepening - action" was constructed and implemented. Practice has shown that the framework can simultaneously enhance students' comprehensive English language application ability and social-emotional literacy such as empathy, intergenerational understanding, and social responsibility. This study provides teaching paradigms and case references for the integration of social and emotional education into the English subject, and offers highly valuable theoretical references and practical paradigms for practicing the concept of holistic education.

Haiyan Ma. Research on the Teaching Design of the "Silver Care" Theme Discourse in Junior High School English from the Perspective of Social and Emotional Learning. International Journal of New Developments in Education (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 5: 80-86. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJNDE.2026.080511.

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