21st Century Skills and ELT Coursebooks

Year 2023, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 65 - 93, 31.12.2023

Aslıhan Akçay Çelik , Hüseyin Kafes

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the integration of the 4Cs of the 21st Century Skills—communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity—into four English language teaching coursebooks, widely used in elementary education in Turkey. Data of this study with a content analysis design was collected through internal and external evaluation checklists. Results were reported through descriptive statistics, frequencies, means and percentages. The findings have revealed that overstatement and understatement of coursebook content abound in the coursebooks examined, leading us to conclude that external evaluation by itself is not enough. The findings have also shown that each coursebook series includes and fosters the 21st century skills to some extent mostly through projects, speaking and writing tasks. The findings led us conclude that coursebooks differ in terms of what they in theory claim to include and what they actually contain.

Keywords

21st century skills, ELT Coursebooks, Teaching English

21. Yüzyıl Becerileri ve ELT Ders Kitapları

Abstract

Bu nitel çalışma, 21. Yüzyıl Becerilerinin 4 becerinin -iletişim, işbirliği, eleştirel düşünme ve yaratıcılık- Türkiye'de ilköğretimde yaygın olarak kullanılan dört İngilizce ders kitabına entegrasyonunu araştırmaktadır. İçerik analizi tasarımına sahip bu çalışmanın verileri iç ve dış değerlendirme kontrol listeleri aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Sonuçlar betimsel istatistikler, frekanslar, ortalamalar ve yüzdeler aracılığıyla raporlanmıştır. Bulgular, incelenen ders kitaplarında ders kitabı içeriğinin zaman zaman gereğinden fazla ve zaman zaman da gereğinden az ifade edildiğini ortaya koymuş, bu da bizi dış değerlendirmenin tek başına yeterli olmadığı sonucuna götürmüştür. Bulgular ayrıca her ders kitabı serisinin 21. yüzyıl becerilerini çoğunlukla projeler, konuşma ve yazma aracılığıyla bir dereceye kadar içerdiğini ve geliştirdiğini göstermiştir. Bulgular, ders kitaplarının teoride içerdiklerini iddia ettikleri ile gerçekte içerdikleri açısından farklılık gösterdiği sonucuna varmamıza yol açmıştır.

Keywords

21. yüzyıl becerileri, ELT ders kitapları, İngilizce

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