ALIGNING ELT TEXTBOOKS WITH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 4: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF SECONDARY ENGLISH CURRICULUM IN PAKISTAN

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) has become a central driver of contemporary global education reforms, highlighting the need for inclusive and equitable educational transformation. Within this context, English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks serve as key sites where global policy commitments are interpreted and enacted. In Pakistan, recent secondary curriculum reforms signal responsiveness to competency-based and globally oriented education; however, the depth of their pedagogical realization remains insufficiently examined. This study therefore critically examines the Grade 9 English textbook to assess how SDG 4 is reflected in its themes, task design, and learner representation, drawing on SDG targets and constructivist principles to evaluate its transformative potential. The findings reflect meaningful reform progress and incorporation of sustainability, gender equity, and civic responsibility themes. However, inquiry-based integration and sustained learner agency remain uneven. The study concludes that a deeper restructuring is necessary to achieve a pedagogy that is deeply aligned with Sustainable Development Goals and oriented toward transformative change in ELT.