Evaluating English Language Coursebooks for 21st-Century Skills: A Focus on the 4 Cs

AbstractNotwithstanding the recognized importance of 21st-century skills, there has been limited examination of how they skills are embedded in English language coursebooks. Accordingly, this study responds to this gap by investigating the extent to which 21st-century skills—specifically the 4 Cs (i.e., creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication)—are represented in English language coursebooks. Grounded in the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) Framework, we have evaluated four high school English language coursebooks (for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades) locally produced by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in the Turkish K-12 context. A checklist was developed to identify the activities aligned with the 4 Cs both within and across these coursebooks. Findings revealed that while all four coursebooks incorporated the 4 Cs, their distribution was somewhat uneven. Creativity and critical thinking were the least emphasized skills, whereas collaboration was moderately represented, and communication emerged as the most highlighted skill. Findings also indicated the 4 Cs were not equally represented across or within the coursebooks, with creativity and critical thinking consistently underrepresented throughout. Findings are discussed in relation to earlier studies, and the study concludes with implications informing curriculum development and materials design/development within and beyond this context.