Investigating Higher- Order Thinking Skills (HOTs) in English for Palestine 12th Grade Textbook and EFL Teachers’ Perspectives towards HOTs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33977/1182-014-041-013Keywords:
English for Palestine curriculum, HOTs, HOTs inclusion, EFL teachers’ perspectivesAbstract
The current study aimed to examine the extent of HOTs inclusion in the exercises and activities of English for Palestine 12th grade textbook used in Palestinian schools. Moreover, the study aimed to investigate the perspectives of EFL teachers towards the extent of this inclusion. To achieve the study objectives, content analysis approach was used to collect the required data in addition to a 27-item questionnaire distributed among 32 EFL teachers who teach this textbook. The questionnaire was used to investigate teachers’ perspectives towards the extent of HOTs inclusion. Findings showed that English for Palestine textbook for 12th graders with its two components includes 248 exercises and activities that cover the three types of HOTs: analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The highest frequency in the Pupil’s Book was given to the analysis skill which scored 72 while the lowest frequency was scored by evaluation with a total of 42 frequencies. On the other hand, in the Reading Plus, the highest was scored by evaluation 29 compared to the lowest score of analysis 21. Findings also revealed that EFL teachers’ perspectives towards the inclusion of HOTs in English for Palestine 12th grade textbook scored a high level of estimation although 68.2 % of the teachers pointed out to a lack of HOTs in the textbook. It is hoped that the findings of this study will open new horizons for EFL teachers to benefit from the content analysis process to get acquainted with the importance of emphasizing HOTs in their teaching practices even when they are not highly presented in the curriculum. Furthermore, the findings might encourage supervisors to organize training courses on the effectiveness of enhancing HOTs in the classroom and promoting teachers’ responsibility to use the best methods and approaches that can improve students’ HOTs through using enrichment materials and activities.
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