An evaluation of an EFL coursebook in terms of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and critical thinking skills

This study aims to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of an EFL coursebook used in an English preparatory school at a foundation university in Ankara, Türkiye, in promoting EFL learners' critical thinking skills. As a coursebook evaluation study, the study adopts a mixed-methods research design since it utilizes Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and a 4-point Critical Thinking Likert scale adopted from Selvihan Demir (2008) to analyze the units to reveal the extent to which activities address critical thinking skills. For the first phase of the study, all unit activities were analyzed following the cognitive steps of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. For the study's second phase, 30 EFL instructors using the coursebook evaluated the coursebook's effectiveness in fostering critical thinking skills using the Likert scale. This particular study is unique from prior research in the field because the participant instructors performed as evaluators after receiving the necessary training. Using coding techniques from Bloom's Taxonomy for systematic content analysis, the study reveals how well the coursebook aligns with the higher-order thinking needed for critical thinking objectives. The data collected via the scale were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings highlight areas for improvement in the book's design, emphasizing the importance of integrating higher-order thinking skills even though the book includes a specific part called "Critical Thinking". This research provides valuable insights into the field of English Language Teaching regarding the effectiveness of coursebooks in promoting critical and higher-order thinking skills. It is believed that it will serve as a resource for educators, curriculum developers, materials developers, and other stakeholders seeking to enhance critical thinking skills in Turkish educational contexts.