An evaluation of thinking skills in elt coursebooks at primary and secondary levels

Thinking skills term has been widely researched and used in the field of education recently. This term includes many higher order sub-skills, such as critical thinking, creative thinking, decision making, analysis, synthesis, problem solving, inference and questioning, which are considered to be very important for effective language learning. The purpose of this specific study is to evaluate the ELT course books used in primary and secondary schools concerning the higher order thinking skills. The national curriculum prepared by the Ministry of Education for the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade English lessons include many objectives and behaviours related to higher order thinking skills. The course books that are provided by the ministry at the beginning of each education year are expected to cover and master these higher order thinking skills by providing well prepared activities and tasks. This study, therefore, aims to evaluate English course books used at primary and secondary level in order to find out whether there is a match between the course books and the proposed objectives of the national curriculum regarding higher order thinking skills. One hundred and twenty (120) state primary and secondary school English teachers were administered a 41 item course books evaluation rubric in order to investigate their ideas and thoughts about the course books they use concerning the higher order thinking skills. Moreover ten (10) of these teachers out of one-hundred and twenty (120) were selected randomly and were interviewed for a better analysis of their thoughts. In the light of the data gathered, the present research suggests that English course books used in primary and secondary schools need important and urgent improvements concerning the higher order thinking skills.Key words: The National Curriculum Program, English as a Foreign Language, English Language Teaching Course books, Primary and Secondary Level Schools, Higher Order Thinking Skills.