Teaching 21st century skills in EFL classrooms: An investigation of teacher, student and institutional perceptions on the instructional practices of the 4C skills

Date

2024-3-26

Author

Kapkır, Fatma

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The current study aimed at investigating the perceptions of English language instructors, preparatory school students and stakeholders of the Curriculum Development, Measurement & Evaluation and Professional Development units related to instructional practices of the 4C skills in EFL classrooms by adopting exploratory case study approach. For this purpose, triangulation method was applied during data collection processes by conducting interviews with three groups of participants and gathering secondary data through document analysis. The findings revealed that the instructors were knowledgeable about the 4C skills and they had positive attitudes about integrating these skills in language classes while students had inadequate knowledge about the skills, but they believed the 4C skills to contribute their personal, academic and future professional lives. Students perceived communication and critical thinking as the most essential skills to acquire by prioritizing learning these skills over collaboration and creative thinking. Similarly, communication and critical thinking were found to be most frequently integrated skills in the lessons according to the instructor and student responses. With regards to the challenges experienced by the students and the instructors, curriculum related constraints, lack of learner motivation and proficiency level, and exam oriented approaches were found to be the major obstacles. About the place of the 4C skills in the educational units, they were an integral part of the educational processes; however, there is still a need for further and more explicit integration. Recommendations for future implications include curriculum adjustments, integration of more authentic and engaging tasks, improvements in pre-service and in-service teacher training opportunities and promotion of formative assessment methods.

Subject Keywords

21st century skills, 4C skills, English language teaching, preparatory school education, instructional practices

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/109081

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis