The Making of a 21st Century English

Language Teacher during the Pandemic

Ghada Chehimi
Lebanese University, Lebanon

Mira M. Alameddine
Phoenicia University, Lebanon

www.ijonses.net

To cite this article:

Chehimi, G. & Alameddine, M. M. (2022). The making of a 21st century English language
teacher during the pandemic. International Journal on Social and Education Sciences
(IJonSES), 4(1), 101-120. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijonses.297

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 International Journal on Social and Education Sciences
2022, Vol. 4, No. 1, 101-120 https://doi.org/10.46328/ijonses.297

The Making of a 21st Century English Language Teacher during the

Pandemic

Ghada Chehimi, Mira M. Alameddine

Article Info Abstract

Article History English language has become a cosmopolitan language. It is the lingua franca of
Received: the 21st century. This fact has turned learning the language to a must since it is
25 August 2021
the international language of communication. As teachers of English for more
Accepted:
than 20 years, we have come to realize that to be successful in class, we need to
28 December 2021
learn and use English as a tool that helps us access information from other
cultures and be able to transfer this knowledge and skill to our learners. We also
need to provide our learners with enough exposure to English as used in context.
Keywords
However, this is not enough to turn our learners into 21st century citizens of the
21st century skills
world. We need to help them become critical thinkers. This has become even
Perceptions
EFL/ESL harder with the move to online learning due to COVID 19 pandemic. This paper
Teachers aims at exploring the perceptions of English language instructors in four local
Teaching Lebanese universities regarding 21st-century critical thinking skills and the
instructors' abilities to promote such skills in their classes. Twenty-seven
teachers filled a questionnaire, and five participants were interviewed.
Descriptive data were analyzed. The data revealed the perceptions and practices
of these instructors. The study concludes with recommendations.

Introduction

In the past two decade several „big‟ technology corporations in the West have been complaining about the lack
of 21st century skills that their newly graduated employees have (Tsourapa, 2018). Although some of these
newly graduate employees had a high GPA, their knowledge is incomplete. There is a discrepancy between their
GPA and their competencies due to their lack of 21 st century skills (Griffin et al, 2012). Without 21 st century
skills, new graduates won‟t be able to fulfill the requirements needed at work. In this manner, all educators need
to know if their learners have 21st century skills to determine what to teach these learners (Toch, 2011). In other
words, university learners don‟t just need theories in their classes, they also need to be exposed to real world
situations in their classrooms. Consequently, instructors have to present their learners with real world problems
to provide these learners with an authentic situation which these learners will face in the workplace (Fatmawati,
2018).

Two questions arise here: the first question is „what are 21 st century skills? These are “core competencies such
as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving … that students need to thrive in today‟s

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world” (Rich, 2010, par. 1). The second question is „what is the relationship between 21 st century skills and
English as Foreign Language (EFL)/ English as Second language (ESL). The answer is simple: EFL/ESL
classes are needed in our current century because English has been the lingua franca of the world for more than
30 years. And it is in these classes that instructors need to prepare their learners to become active members who
can communicate well, possess critical thinking, practice good problem-solving skills, and work well and
efficiently within a team (Voke, 2018).

EFL/ESL instructors can easily find publications discussing 21 st century skills. Posting the question „what are
21st century skills?‟ on Google will give you 251,000,000 results in 0.77 seconds! However, this broad topic can
lead to different interpretations depending on the environment being discussed. In corporation 21 st century skills
are those required to succeed in the workplace such as collaboration, decision making and communication; in
educational institutes they are information and media literacy along with critical thinking and „smart‟ social
media (Kelly et al, 2019). Therefore, a unified definition is needed. For the convenience of this paper, the 21 st
century skills that are chosen are: problem-solution, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and
computer literacy. Moreover, EFL/ESL teachers have an obligation to act in response to the needs of their
learners to prepare them to become effective 21 st century global citizen. EFL/ESL learners don‟t need traditional
teachers; on the contrary, they need teachers who can better prepare them for the new globalized and digitalized
world (Baran-Lucarz & Klimas, 2020; Fandino, 2013; Faulker & Latham, 2016). Thus, “the focus in language
education in the twenty-first century is no longer on grammar, memorization and learning from rote, but rather
using language and cultural knowledge as means to communicate and connect to others around the globe”
(Eaton, 2010, p 5 as cited by Baran-Lucarz & Klimas, 2020).

In the years 2019-2021, during the time of COVID 19, learning and teaching were forced to move to a new
medium: online platforms. Learners, in general, have experienced this shift easier than most of their teachers
because these learners possess new and new literacies (Tsourapa, 2018) since they are „Digital Natives‟
(Prensky, 2001). On the other hand, these digital natives‟ teachers are mostly traditional who have been
introduced to the world of technology and online platforms through the World Wide Web (www) when they
were older (Tsourapa, 2018). These teachers are „digital immigrants‟ (Prensky, 2001). In the Lebanese context,
several „digital immigrant‟ teachers were forced to move to online learning in 2019 due to COVID-19 without
any preparation. Some had it easy while others didn‟t. some applied their teaching skills online while others
found difficulty. The former could have been successful in helping their learners develop 21 st century skills,
while the latter might not have been able to do so. Therefore, this study becomes worth carrying out to survey
the teachers‟ perceptions and beliefs regarding meeting their learners‟ needs of acquiring 21 st century skills.

Purpose of The Study

In a quest to make EFL teaching efficient and effective, and following other fields of study to keep up with the
21st century skills and competencies, the aim of this study is to investigate and explore the perceptions and
practices of EFL/ESL teachers in four local universities in Lebanon concerning 21 st century skills.

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Research Questions

To investigate the EFL/ESL teachers‟ perceptions and practices towards the development of 21 st century skills,
the following questions are explored:
1. What are teachers‟ perceptions towards the development of 21 st century skills in EFL/ESL classes?
2. To what extent are teachers promoting 21st century skills?
3. To what extent are EFL/ESL instructors critical thinkers?
In short, because the researchers believe that EFL/ESL classes are not only designed for teaching the English
language; their roles extend to preparing their learners to become 21 st century global citizen, this study has been
conducted to explore the perceptions and practices of some EFL/ESL university instructors. In the subsequent
sections, the literature review, methodology, results, and discussion are presented.

Literature Review

Citizens of the world need to be equipped with knowledge, skills, and the right attitudes to be fully capable of
participating and contributing to their societies. This need is greatly attributed to the changes in society, and
more specifically, to the rapid development of technology and its impact on people‟s way of life, their work, and
their education. In this rapid change, education needs to contribute to the development of factual and procedural
knowledge, in the information or knowledge society the development of conceptual and metacognitive
knowledge is increasingly considered important. The 21st century skills are the skills that address the
individuals' non-traditional capacities and raise their positivism and contribution to their surrounding
environment. According to Ledward and Hirata (2011), 21st century skills are a blend of content knowledge,
specific skills, expertise, and literacies necessary to succeed in work and life. Ledward and Hirata point out that
these skills are more than technological literacy and include proficiency in critical thinking, problem solving,
communication, and teamwork. Ultimately, these skills allow people to thrive in the new economy since they
help people a) access, synthesize, and communicate information; b) work collaboratively across differences to
solve complex problems; and c) create new knowledge through the innovative use of multiple technologies

According to Trilling and Fadel (2009), each of the core skills of the 21 st century addresses areas people need to
acquire and develop. Life and career, for instance, describe the ability to be flexible, adaptable, self-directed,
socially aware, accountable, and responsible. For their part, learning and innovation include the ability to be
creative and innovative, critical, problem-solving, communicative, and collaborative. Finally, information,
media and technology consist in the ability to access and use information, to create and analyze media products,
and to apply technology effectively. Once studied and incorporated into curriculum, instruction, and assessment,
these skills can help schools and teachers set up learning environments capable of developing the essential
abilities needed in the 21st century (Lai & Viering, 2012)

For these skills to be learned, teachers need to be trained and become well-equipped to teach and guide students
to become competent in these essential skills for this century. Researchers have explored various teacher
training programs. Urbani, Roshandel, Michael and Truesdell (2017) investigated 21st century skill training,

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teaching ability and teacher education program. The study focused on 21st century skills elements (Creativity,
Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Information Media, and Technology skills) presented by
Partnership for 21st skills. A mixed-methods approach was used to indicate professional, applied, and personal
development, ability of preservice and in-service teachers. Data was collected from four courses in which all
preservice teachers attend in California. The results demonstrated the simultaneous integration developing,
assessing, and modeling of the 21st century skills had the most effect on preservice teachers‟ teaching.

Another study was conducted by Shahin and Han (2020) which aimed to investigate EFL teachers‟ level of
awareness and attitude towards 21st century skills in a city of Turkey. The findings of the qualitative and
quantitative study revealed that 178 EFL teachers have strong attitude towards 21st century skills. Teaching
experiences, working school environment factors had no relationship to the attitudes of ELT towards 21st
century skills. Furthermore, the results revealed that EFL teachers think positively about using technology in
their courses and find these technological tools, materials effective in teaching and in their daily lives.

Moreover, Al Bahal (2019) recommended that English Language classrooms need to be filled with meaningful
and intellectually stimulating activities, practices, and processes that allow students to not just articulate
thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written, and nonverbal communication, but to also understand
complex ideas, use multiple media and technologies, make judgments and decisions, and work creatively with
others. As a result, teachers should be aware of the importance of the 21 st century skills and the curriculum
should be tailored to meet the needs of this century.

To structure the analysis of 21st century skills, several conceptual models have been created. One of those
models is the one proposed by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the Metiri Group
(Lemke, 2002). Lemke (2003) explains that this model provides a framework to define what students need to
thrive in today‟s digital age. The framework identifies four general skills through four dimensions: digital-age
literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity. The first dimension involves being
able to use digital technology and communication tools to create, manage, and evaluate information to function
in a knowledge society. Inventive thinking has to do with people‟s cognitive abilities to apply information
technologies in complex and sustained situations and to understand the consequence of doing so. The third
dimension includes the ability to clearly communicate with others either orally or in writing using a wide range
of media and technology. Finally, high productivity covers abilities to prioritize, plan and manage for relevant
and high-quality products and results.

Method

This study followed the qualitative method since the purpose is to explore and investigate the perceptions of
ESL/EFL teachers regarding 21st century skills. The qualitative method for this kind of study is the most
appropriate because it is investigating a phenomenon to come up with recommendations to addressed matter
(When to Use Qualitative Research, 2020).

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Instruments

Based on the research questions and the relevant literature, two questionnaires were used. One questionnaire
was developed and the other adopted from a previous study. One questionnaire was designed for teachers in
order to collect data about their teaching methods- to what extent they incorporate critical thinking in their
lesson, Questionnaire A (QA); and the other questionnaire B (QB) also for teachers to gather data regarding
their critical thinking skills.

The QA consists of 20 questions which test to what extent do the teachers assist their learners in developing
critical thinking. It is based on Likert scale where respondents were asked to choose among the scale of 1-3
where 1 is the least and 3 is the maximum. It was piloted for testing where five EFL/ESL teachers evaluated it
and based on their evaluation, the questionnaire was adjusted and reached its final form. Piloting is essential in
research studies since it increases the validity of the survey (Cohen et al, 2007). QB is a 50-item questionnaire
developed by Kelly et al (2019). The questions are classified into four sections: critical thinking, creativity,
communication, and collaboration. The respondents were asked to choose between agree to disagree.

Interviews with five ESL/EFL instructors were conducted to inquire about their perceptions towards the
development of 21st century skills in EFL/ESL classes. Interviews are vital for research since they provide a
wealth of information gathered from a small size of participants. These interviews provide the researchers with
information about the participants‟ attitudes, opinions, and knowledge of a certain topic. Moreover, interviews
are essential for qualitative research because they assist the researchers in explaining the participants‟ behavior
and opinions alongside explaining certain phenomenon (Research Methods Guide: Interview Research, 2018).

Participants

Both surveys QA and QB were emailed to 50 participants who are colleagues of the researchers. Only 27
teachers returned the questionnaires. Five EFL/ESL instructors from three universities were interviewed: two
program coordinators and three regular teachers.

Data Collection

The surveys were sent via email to the 50 participants during the month of August and were collected via email
by September. The data collected from the surveys were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive data was computed
by finding the means and averages. The interviews were conducted at the end of September using online
platforms: Google Meet and Teams by Microsoft office. The interviews lasted between 20 to 30 minutes where
the participants answered three questions.
1. Do you believe that 21st century skills are important? Why?
2. Is it the responsibility of ESL/EFL instructors to introduce their learners to 21 st century skills?
3. To what extent do you incorporate 21st century skills in your lessons?
Notes were taken during the interviews for the researchers to synthesize and analyze at the end.

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Results

Out of the 50 questionnaires sent to the 50 teachers in the four local universities where the researchers teach,
only 27 instructors filled out the two questionnaires and turned them in.

Research question 2: To what extent are teachers promoting 21 st-century skills?

The research question was answered through the QA questionnaire. As indicated in Table 1, 59.3% of the
teachers are familiar with the term 21st century skills and only 7.4% are not, however, 33% are neutral with the
term of 21st century. Adding the 33% to the 7%, it sums up to 40%, which is quite a large percentage. It reveals
that teacher training programs and teacher trainers should clearly articulate 21 st-century strategies in their
training programs and include strategies for critical thinking skill development and the proper methods to teach
these skills.

Table 1. Are
AreYou
you Familiar with the
familiar with the term 21stcentury
Term21st Centuryskills?
Skill?

Frequency Percent
agree 16 59.3
neutral 9 33.3
disagree 2 7.4
Total 27 100.0

Table 2 shows that most of the teachers, 63% agree that it is needed to train 21st century skills, and only 37% are
undecided. This finding is in accordance with the findings of Table 1. The instructors who are neutral to the
knowledge of 21st-centry skills, and most probably do not know what the skills are, could not determine if these
skills should be taught and incorporated in the ESL/EFL classes. Yet as Table 2 reveals, although 40% of
teaches are neutral with the term 21st-century skills, 63% agree that the skills are needed. The result could be
because the idea of critical thinking is always desired in general, and people seek it to adapt to their daily lives.
The matter here is that teachers might know the sub-categories of 21st-century skills but believe that critical
thinking is needed.

st
Table 2. Do You Think
Do you it isit needed
think to to
is needed Train
train2121stCentury
centurySkill?
skills?

Frequency Percent
agree 17 63.0
neutral 10 37.0
Total 27 100.0

What is even more unexpected is that 59.3% of teachers ranked themselves as critical thinkers, as Table A.1
indicates (see Appendix). It is the same percentage that had heard of the 21 st-century skills. Table A.1,
moreover, shows that most teachers surveyed rank themselves as problem solver (44.4%) and as a decision

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maker (44.4%), with critical thinking as a maximum level (59.3%). 48 % of them help their learners develop
their 21st century skills in a maximum way. 41 % rank their teaching impact the improvement of their learners‟
21st century skills as moderate and 37% as maximum. 44% rank that giving a project assignment to their
learner‟s impact their 21st century skills development as moderate and 41% as maximum. 48% of the teachers
rank that their teaching influenced their learners‟ 21st century skills development as moderate and 37% as
maximum. 48% as an overall, rank their classes support their learners in developing 21st century skills as
moderate and 41% as maximum. The percentages of teachers that are informed of 21 st-century skills is reflected
through the survey. The percentages that spread between 48% and 59 % are almost the same as the findings of
Table 1. These findings indicate that once teachers possess knowledge of what 21st-century skills are, they
usually incorporate these skills in their lessons.

On the other hand, Table A.1 also reveals that 56% of the teachers rank that the project assignment helps their
learners in developing their critical thinking as a maximum level. 48% think moderately that project
assignments help their learners in developing their problem-solving skills and equal percentage was shown
between minimum and maximum ranking (26%). 56% of them rate the impact of the project assignment on
developing their learners‟ decision-making skill as moderate. 44% rank moderately that the project assignments
influence their learners‟ work in team/collaboration skill and 37% as a maximum level. 41% as an overall, rank
moderately the project assignment influence their learners‟ development of their 21st century skills and 37% as
maximum. These findings indicate that the participating teachers did not know that these skills help develop
21st-century skills. Perhaps if they had known, they might have emphasized them in their teachings to assist their
learners develop their skills. Therefore, these methods should be clearly articulated in the teacher-training
programs and workshops.

Table 4 shows that all questions have as a mode 2 or 3; this indicates that most teachers ranking is moderate or
maximum level, which is also shown by the mean of all questions that varies between 2.04 and 2.52 which show
that all teachers‟ responses rank was between these 2 levels. An explanation for this finding could be that even if
40% of the teachers who had not heard of the 21 st-century skills are themselves to some extent critical readers
and that the material they use in their classes to teach ESL/EFL follow the inquiry-based method and promote
critical thinking.

Table A.2 (see Appendix) shows that there is evidence of a statistically significant bivariate association between
every two ordinal variables where p-value <0.05 except for Variable 15 where we can notice that it is not
correlated with variables 1,2,3,4,5,7,8, 9, 10 and 11. Also between variable 3 and 4, 8,9 and 16, where their p-
value >0.05. When the correlation coefficients between V1(at what level do you rank yourself as a
decisionmaker?) and all other variables are added and p-value < 0.05 which indicates a positive relationship. It
is reflected in teachers‟ reply to maximum on V1 tend to occur with other variables. And this is noticed with all
other variables except for V 15 (The project assignments influence your learners' work in team/collaboration
skill), the p-value>0.05 with variables 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11, that is the results of the teachers occurred due to
chance, no association between the variables. The same result was noticed between variables 3 with 4,8,9 and
16.

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Statistics Table 4. Descriptive Statistics

Mean Median Mode

How do you rank yourself as a critical thinker? 2.48 3 3
How do you rank yourself as a problem solver? 2.19 2 3
At what level do you rank yourself as a decision maker? 2.22 2 3
How well do your learners work with others? 2.04 2 2
How much do you help your learners develop their 21st century skills? 2.30 2 3
How far does your teaching impact the improvement of your learners' 21st century
2.15 2 2
skills?
Does giving a project assignment to your learners impact their 21st century skills
2.26 2 2
development?
How far has your teaching influenced your learners' 21st century skills
2.22 2 2
development?
Overall, do your classes support your learners in developing 21st century skills? 2.30 2 2
How well do you teach your learners what they need to know before starting a
2.48 3 3
project assignment?
How do you rank your attitude in providing the project assignment consultation? 2.52 3 3
How far does the project assignment help your learners in developing their critical
2.41 3 3
thinking?
Do you think that project assignments help your learners in developing their
2.00 2 2
problem-solving skills?
Rate the impact of the project assignment on developing your learners'
2.07 2 2
decision-making skill
The project assignments influence your learners' work in team/collaboration skill 2.19 2 2
Overall, does the project assignment influence your learners' development of their
2.15 2 2
21st century skills?
Do you require your learners to develop a plan in completing their project
2.22 2 3
assignment?
Do you give your learners clear feedback related to the results of their projects? 2.37 3 3

Research Question 3: To what extent are EFL/ESL instructors critical thinkers?

This research question is answered through QB that assesses the teachers‟ 21 st-century critical thinking abilities.
The table (see Appendix) shows that all statements that display collaboration activity, the agreement percentage
was the highest. However, the statements “make sure all team members‟ ideas are equally valued” and “make
detailed plans about the use of technology” had neutral percentage which was greater than agreement level.
Moreover, we can notice that there is no one that disagreed with all statements except “make detailed plans
about the use of technology” where the value is 3.7%, and “offer assistance to others in their work when
needed” is 22%. These findings are in accordance with the data presented in Table A.1. The conclusion that one
can draw from interpreting the data of Table A.3 is that these teachers are critical thinkers and possess 21 st-
century skills even though some of them (around 40%) did not know what 21 st-century skills are.

Table 5 shows that the mode of most statements is 1, which means that most teachers were satisfied concerning
their collaboration ability. However, the teachers were not quite satisfied when it came to the statements “make
sure all team members‟ ideas are equally valued”, and “make detailed plans about the use of technology.” The
mode of these two statements was 2, indicating that most teachers were neutral towards these statements. The

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mean of all statements ranges between 1 and 1.59, which is between agreement and neutral. We can conclude
here that these teachers possess and apply most of 21 st century skills, yet the most important skill in time of
COVID 19, that is the use of technology, they are not „comfortable‟ with since they do not outline their plans of
using it.

Collaboration ability Table 5. Collaboration Ability

M ean M edian M ode

create a task list that divides project work reasonably among the team 1.52 1 1
help the team solve problems and manage conflicts 1.41 1 1
provide feedback useful to team members 1.26 1 1
track our team's progress toward goals and deadlines 1.41 1 1
help resolve issues without asking the teacher for help 1.52 1 1
acknowledge and respect other perspectives 1.00 1 1
interact with team members effectively 1.30 1 1
assign roles as needed, based on team members' strengths 1.56 1 1
make sure all team members' ideas are equally valued 1.52 2 2
be polite and kind to teammates 1.00 1 1
involve all team members in tasks 1.22 1 1
follow rules for team decision-making 1.22 1 1
complete research to contribute to the team 1.07 1 1
use time, and run meetings, efficiently 1.37 1 1
consistently use technology as agreed upon by the team to manage
1.41 1 1
project tasks
come physically and mentally prepared each day 1.30 1 1
offer assistance to others in their work when needed 1.52 1 1
make detailed plans about how the team will work together 1.59 2 2
complete tasks without having to be reminded 1.15 1 1
improve my own work when given feedback 1.04 1 1
make detailed plans about the use of technology 1.52 1 1
follow rules for team meetings 1.07 1 1

Table A.4 (see Appendix) indicate that the teachers feel that they possess 21 st century skills. Table 8 shows that
most teachers agree that they “understand how knowledge or insights might transfer to other situations or
contexts”, “recognize the limitations of our design and know when to consider alternatives”, “evaluate
reasoning and evidence that support an argument “, “identify in detail what needs to be known to answer a
science inquiry question” , “develop follow-up questions that focus or broaden inquiry”, “revise drafts and
justify revisions with evidence” , “develop follow-up questions to gain understanding of the wants and needs of
client or product users” , “understand a Driving Question (a driving question---> questions that lead to critical
thinking)”, “thoroughly assess the quality of information” ,”gather relevant and sufficient information from
different sources “ except for “justify choices of evaluation criteria” their responses was equally between neutral
and agreement.

Finally, Table A.5 to A.8 (see Appendix) show a high correlation between all the variables of a subskill and
between the different skills. We can infer from this that all teachers filled their questionnaire accurately and did

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not just choose answers randomly. For instance, in Table A.5 all variables of critical ability are highly correlated
except variables 11 “ justify choices of evaluation criteria” and V2 “recognize the limitations of our design and
know when to consider alternatives” , V4 “identify in detail what needs to be known to answer a science inquiry
question” and V5 “develop follow-up questions that focus or broaden inquiry” which shows that teachers were
consistent in their answers. Table A.6 shows that all variables of creativity ability skills were highly correlated
with p-value < 0.05 which indicates that teachers‟ perception of the frequency of how many times they practice
critical thinking that leads them to the acquisition of creativity is consistent. Moreover, Table A.7 concludes that
all eleven variables of communication skills are highly correlated (p-value <0.05), while Table A.8 shows that
there is a strong correlation between the variables of the four abilities of the 21st century skills (Collaboration,
Critical thinking, creativity and communication) where p-value <1. In conclusion, the participating EFL/ESL
teachers purposefully filled out QB and the result can be considered reliable.

The interviews with teachers aimed at exploring their “perceptions towards the development of 21st century
skills in EFL/ESL classes”. The teachers interviewed showed agreement that the 21 st century skills are important
and essential for EFL/ESL them. They all believed that having these skills does enrich the class environment
and supports the critical thinking application by students. Critical thinking, collaboration and cooperation were
skills that these teachers emphasized because they believe that in this century and especially with the advent of
Covid 19 Pandemic, students were and are in need for such skills to adapt to this rapid change in their social,
academic, and personal lives. Three out of five teachers believed that one of the responsibilities teachers have is
to help and prepare students to become 21st century citizens. Therefore, we should incorporate these skills in our
classes. The other two teachers, on the other hand, disagree and believe that their job is merely teaching English
in their classes. They added that they can not incorporate such skills because they believe that their students will
be overwhelmed especially that they are weak and lack English language proficiency.

The general result of this study concludes that ESL/EFL teachers who participated in the study possess 21 st
century skills such as communication, critical thinking and problem solving (Ledward&Hirata,2011). These
teachers assist their learners in acquiring and developing the needed skills (Trilling & Fadel, 2009) to become an
efficient 21st century global citizen. The skill that is lacking is connected to technology as seen by the responses
of the participants which indicate that they do not plan in detail their incorporated technology classes as Urbany
et al. (2017) recommended; however, theses teachers have positive attitudes toward 21 st century skills
particularly critical thinking (Shahi & Han,2020). Finally, the responses show that these teachers have used
project-based activities which help in acquiring 21st century skills, especially critical thinking. Moreover, these
activities are interesting and do engage the learners in their lessons (Al Bahal,2019).

Conclusions and Recommendations

In this time when everything is constantly changing, the need to stay up to date and always on board has become
a must for teachers who are responsible for administering and catering for the newly arising needs of students.
The 21st century brought new challenges for EFL/ESL teachers as well as for all educators. This study aimed at
exploring and investigating EFL/ESL teachers‟ perceptions, knowledge of the 21 st century skills and whether

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they are implementing these skills. Results showed that most ESL/EFL teachers believe that they should
implement the 21st century skills in their classes because these skills are real life skills and would help learners
become citizens of this century and always adapting to change.

It is highly recommended that teacher-training programs for 21st century skills should be available for all
teachers at all levels for the skills to be incorporated in the lessons and in teaching methodologies. The 21sy
century skills need to be clearly articulated and highlighted to teachers to ensure proper implementation of these
skills. Another recommendation is for teacher-training programs in up to date/ sophisticated technologies which
provide a better access to information, knowledge, and collaboration and that will enhance teachers‟ critical
thinking which will in turn benefit the learners. The role of EFL/ESL teachers should be emphasized because
they are the ones who are teaching the LINGUA FRANCA/ENGLISH the language that is connecting the whole
world. For learners to become citizens of this century, they also need to be citizens of the world and to be
citizens of the world, they need English as an essential tool for communication and collaboration.

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Author Information
Ghada Chehimi Mira M. Alameddine
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3554-5257 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1631-3936
Lebanese University Phoenicia University
Beirut Al Zahrani District- South Lebanon
Lebanon Lebanon
Contact e-mail: [email protected]

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Appendix. Additional Tables

Table A.1.

least moderate maximum

How do you rank yourself as a critical thinker? Count 3 8 16
% 11.1% 29.6% 59.3%
How do you rank yourself as a problem solver? Count 7 8 12
% 25.9% 29.6% 44.4%
At what level do you rank yourself as a decision maker? Count 6 9 12
% 22.2% 33.3% 44.4%
How well do your learners work with others? Count 3 20 4
% 11.1% 74.1% 14.8%
How much do you help your learners develop their 21st century skills? Count 5 9 13
% 18.5% 33.3% 48.1%
How far does your teaching impact the improvement of your learners'Count 6 11 10
21st century skills? % 22.2% 40.7% 37.0%
Does giving a project assignment to your learners impact their 21st Count 4 12 11
century skills development? % 14.8% 44.4% 40.7%
How far has your teaching influenced your learners' 21st century skills Count 4 13 10
development? % 14.8% 48.1% 37.0%
Overall, do your classes support your learners in developing 21st Count 3 13 11
century skills? % 11.1% 48.1% 40.7%
How well do you teach your learners what they need to know beforeCount 7 20
starting a project assignment? % 25.9% 74.1%
How do you rank your attitude in providing the project assignment Count 3 7 17
consultation? % 11.1% 25.9% 63.0%
How far does the project assignment help your learners in developingCount 4 8 15
their critical thinking? % 14.8% 29.6% 55.6%
Do you think that project assignments help your learners in developing Count 7 13 7
their problem-solving skills? % 25.9% 48.1% 25.9%
Rate the impact of the project assignment on developing your learners' Count 5 15 7
decision-making skill % 18.5% 55.6% 25.9%
The project assignments influence your learners' work in Count 5 12 10
team/collaboration skill % 18.5% 44.4% 37.0%
Overall, does the project assignment influence your learners' Count 6 11 10
development of their 21st century skills? % 22.2% 40.7% 37.0%
Do you require your learners to develop a plan in completing their Count 7 7 13
project assignment? % 25.9% 25.9% 48.1%
Do you give your learners clear feedback related to the results of theirCount 6 5 16
projects? % 22.2% 18.5% 59.3%

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Table A.2.
Correlations
V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18
Spe arm a n's V Correla tion
1.00 .415* .548** .559** .556** .784** .616** .687** .602** .769** .687** .913** .758** .574** .314 .298 .686** .774**
rho 1 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) . .031 .003 .002 .003 .000 .001 .000 .001 .000 .000 .000 .000 .002 .111 .131 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.415* 1.00 .409* .323 .856** .718** .741** .696** .715** .727** .637** .437* .673** .571** .275 .584** .788** .683**
2 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .031 . .034 .101 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .023 .000 .002 .165 .001 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.548** .409* 1.00 .544** .533** .420* .401* .355 .352 .770** .492** .569** .618** .366 .081 -.073 .424* .509**
3 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .003 .034 . .003 .004 .029 .038 .069 .072 .000 .009 .002 .001 .060 .688 .718 .028 .007
N
27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.559** .323 .544** 1.000 .549** .656** .437* .445* .458* .537** .340 .608** .709** .761** .677** .406* .586** .565**
4 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .002 .101 .003 . .003 .000 .023 .020 .016 .004 .083 .001 .000 .000 .000 .036 .001 .002
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.556** .856** .533** .549** 1.00 .879** .854** .813** .870** .743** .492** .560** .804** .650** .334 .667** .812** .696**
5 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .003 .000 .004 .003 . .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .009 .002 .000 .000 .089 .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.784** .718** .420* .656** .879** 1.00 .871** .903** .901** .755** .579** .777** .881** .735** .431* .696** .881** .826**
6 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .000 .029 .000 .000 . .000 .000 .000 .000 .002 .000 .000 .000 .025 .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.616** .741** .401* .437* .854** .871** 1.00 .954** .978** .668** .344 .633** .809** .645** .326 .774** .867** .746**
7 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .001 .000 .038 .023 .000 .000 . .000 .000 .000 .079 .000 .000 .000 .097 .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.687** .696** .355 .445* .813** .903** .954** 1.00 .929** .653** .419* .693** .827** .662** .343 .800** .827** .715**
8 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .000 .069 .020 .000 .000 .000 . .000 .000 .030 .000 .000 .000 .080 .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.602** .715** .352 .458* .870** .901** .978** .929** 1.00 .623** .312 .592** .787** .613** .284 .754** .849** .748**
9 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .001 .000 .072 .016 .000 .000 .000 .000 . .001 .113 .001 .000 .001 .151 .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.769** .727** .770** .537** .743** .755** .668** .653** .623** 1.00 .811** .758** .822** .568** .217 .261 .822** .838**
10 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .000 .000 .004 .000 .000 .000 .000 .001 . .000 .000 .000 .002 .277 .188 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.687** .637** .492** .340 .492** .579** .344 .419* .312 .811** 1.00 .673** .579** .398* .164 .092 .569** .628**
11 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .000 .009 .083 .009 .002 .079 .030 .113 .000 . .000 .002 .040 .413 .649 .002 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.913** .437* .569** .608** .560** .777** .633** .693** .592** .758** .673** 1.00 .771** .655** .458* .346 .644** .718**
12 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .023 .002 .001 .002 .000 .000 .000 .001 .000 .000 . .000 .000 .016 .078 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.758** .673** .618** .709** .804** .881** .809** .827** .787** .822** .579** .771** 1.00 .861** .557** .580** .850** .799**
13 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .000 .001 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .002 .000 . .000 .003 .002 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.574** .571** .366 .761** .650** .735** .645** .662** .613** .568** .398* .655** .861** 1.000 .885** .673** .713** .647**
14 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .002 .002 .060 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .001 .002 .040 .000 .000 . .000 .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.314 .275 .081 .677** .334 .431* .326 .343 .284 .217 .164 .458* .557** .885** 1.000 .578** .410* .322
15 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .111 .165 .688 .000 .089 .025 .097 .080 .151 .277 .413 .016 .003 .000 . .002 .034 .101
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.298 .584** -.07 .406* .667** .696** .774** .800** .754** .261 .092 .346 .580** .673** .578** 1.00 .670** .419*
16 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .131 .001 .718 .036 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .188 .649 .078 .002 .000 .002 . .000 .029
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.686** .788** .424* .586** .812** .881** .867** .827** .849** .822** .569** .644** .850** .713** .410* .670** 1.000 .893**
17 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .000 .028 .001 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .002 .000 .000 .000 .034 .000 . .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
V Correla tion
.774** .683** .509** .565** .696** .826** .746** .715** .748** .838** .628** .718** .799** .647** .322 .419* .893** 1.000
18 Coeffic ient
Sig. ( 2-ta ile d) .000 .000 .007 .002 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .101 .029 .000 .
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
* . C orrelation is signif icant at the 0.05 lev el (2-t ailed).
* *. C orrelation is signif icant at the 0.01 lev el (2-t ailed).

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Table A.3.

Collaboration ability
agree neutral disagree
create a task list that divides project work reasonably among the teamCount 16 8 3
% 59.3% 29.6% 11.1%
help the team solve problems and manage conflicts Count 19 5 3
% 70.4% 18.5% 11.1%
provide feedback useful to team members Count 20 7
% 74.1% 25.9%
track our team's progress toward goals and deadlines Count 16 11
% 59.3% 40.7%
help resolve issues without asking the teacher for help Count 14 12 1
% 51.9% 44.4% 3.7%
acknowledge and respect other perspectives Count 27
% 100.0%
interact with team members effectively Count 19 8
% 70.4% 29.6%
assign roles as needed, based on team members' strengths Count 18 3 6
% 66.7% 11.1% 22.2%
make sure all team members' ideas are equally valued Count 13 14
% 48.1% 51.9%
be polite and kind to teammates Count 27
% 100.0%
involve all team members in tasks Count 21 6
% 77.8% 22.2%
follow rules for team decision-making Count 21 6
% 77.8% 22.2%
complete research to contribute to the team Count 25 2
% 92.6% 7.4%
use time, and run meetings, efficiently Count 17 10
% 63.0% 37.0%
consistently use technology as agreed upon by the team to manage Count 16 11
project tasks % 59.3% 40.7%
come physically and mentally prepared each day Count 19 8
% 70.4% 29.6%
offer assistance to others in their work when needed Count 19 2 6
% 70.4% 7.4% 22.2%
make detailed plans about how the team will work together Count 11 16
% 40.7% 59.3%
complete tasks without having to be reminded Count 23 4
% 85.2% 14.8%
improve my own work when given feedback Count 26 1
% 96.3% 3.7%
make detailed plans about the use of technology Count 14 12 1
% 51.9% 44.4% 3.7%
follow rules for team meetings Count 25 2
% 92.6% 7.4%

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Table A.4.

Critical ability
agree neutral disagree
understand how knowledge or insights might transfer to other Count 18 9
situations or contexts % 66.7% 33.3%
recognize the limitations of our design and know when to consider Count 16 11
alternatives % 59.3% 40.7%
evaluate reasoning and evidence that support an argument Count 15 12
% 55.6% 44.4%
identify in detail what needs to be known to answer a science Count 16 9 2
inquiry question % 59.3% 33.3% 7.4%
develop follow-up questions that focus or broaden inquiry Count 15 12
% 55.6% 44.4%
revise drafts and justify revisions with evidence Count 20 7
% 74.1% 25.9%
develop follow-up questions to gain understanding of the wants andCount 14 13
needs of client or product users % 51.9% 48.1%
understand a Driving Question (a driving question---> questions that
Count 14 13
lead to critical thinking) % 51.9% 48.1%
thoroughly assess the quality of information Count 16 11
% 59.3% 40.7%
gather relevant and sufficient information from different sources Count 20 7
% 74.1% 25.9%
justify choices of evaluation criteria Count 13 13 1
% 48.1% 48.1% 3.7%

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Table A.5.

Correlations
V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11
Spear understand how Correlation
1.000 .853** .632** .586** .791** .657** .577** .577** .693** .657** .469*
man's knowledge or insights Coefficient
rho might transfer to other Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 .000 .001 .000 .000 .002 .002 .000 .000 .014
situations or contexts N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
recognize the limitations of Correlation
.853** 1.00 .472* .779** .927** .542** .408* .710** .847** .542** .296
our design and know when Coefficient
to consider alternatives Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . .013 .000 .000 .004 .035 .000 .000 .004 .133
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
evaluate reasoning and Correlation
.632** .472* 1.00 .237 .400* .491** .928** .481* .472* .661** .781**
evidence that support an Coefficient
argument Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .013 . .235 .039 .009 .000 .011 .013 .000 .000
N
27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

identify in detail what Correlation

.586** .779** .237 1.00 .710** .680** .372 .706** .640** .456* .365
needs to be known to Coefficient
answer a science inquiry Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .000 .235 . .000 .000 .056 .000 .000 .017 .061
question N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
develop follow-up Correlation
.791** .927** .400* .710** 1.00 .491** .331 .630** .775** .491** .217
questions that focus or Coefficient
broaden inquiry Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .039 .000 . .009 .091 .000 .000 .009 .277
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
revise drafts and justify Correlation
.657** .542** .491** .680** .491** 1.00 .614** .614** .542** .807** .603**
revisions with evidence Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .004 .009 .000 .009 . .001 .001 .004 .000 .001
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
develop follow-up Correlation
.577** .408* .928** .372 .331 .614** 1.00 .555** .408* .614** .917**
questions to gain Coefficient
understanding of the wants Sig. (2-tailed) .002 .035 .000 .056 .091 .001 . .003 .035 .001 .000
and needs of client or N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
product users
understand a Driving Correlation
.577** .710** .481* .706** .630** .614** .555** 1.00 .710** .614** .496**
Question (a driving Coefficient
question---> questions that Sig. (2-tailed) .002 .000 .011 .000 .000 .001 .003 . .000 .001 .008
lead to critical thinking) N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
thoroughly assess the Correlation
.693** .847** .472* .640** .775** .542** .408* .710** 1.00 .542** .439*
quality of information Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .013 .000 .000 .004 .035 .000 . .004 .022
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
gather relevant and Correlation
.657** .542** .661** .456* .491** .807** .614** .614** .542** 1.00 .517**
sufficient information from Coefficient
different sources Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .004 .000 .017 .009 .000 .001 .001 .004 . .006
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
justify choices of evaluation Correlation
.469* .296 .781** .365 .217 .603** .917** .496** .439* .517** 1.00
criteria Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed)
.014 .133 .000 .061 .277 .001 .000 .008 .022 .006 .
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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Table A.6.

Correlations
V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8
Spear elaborate and improve Correlation
1.000 .783** .771** .714** .454* .771** .570** .661**
man's on ideas Coefficient
rho Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 .000 .000 .017 .000 .002 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
use brainstorming to Correlation
.783**1.000 .839** .767** .583** .687** .439* .702**
generate original ideas Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . .000 .000 .001 .000 .022 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
find sources of Correlation
.771** .839**1.000 .613** .429* .841** .432* .703**
information and Coefficient
inspiration when Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 . .001 .025 .000 .024 .000
others do not N
27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

use creativity and Correlation

.714** .767** .613**1.000 .636** .769** .648** .775**
imagination Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .001 . .000 .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
create new, unique, Correlation
.454* .583** .429* .636**1.000 .429* .796** .686**
surprising products Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .017 .001 .025 .000 . .025 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
combine different Correlation
.771** .687** .841** .769** .429* 1.000 .586** .703**
elements into a Coefficient
complete product Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .025 . .001 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
promote a variety of Correlation
.570** .439* .432* .648** .796** .586**1.000 .713**
creative perspectives Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .002 .022 .024 .000 .000 .001 . .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
create ideas geared to Correlation
.661** .702** .703** .775** .686** .703** .713**1.000
the intended client or Coefficient
user Sig. (2-tailed)
.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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Table A.7.

Correlations
V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9
Spear use appropriate media Correlation
1.000 .657** .807** .657** .727** .315 .904** .596** .807**
man's to enhance Coefficient
rho understanding Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 .000 .000 .000 .110 .000 .001 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
adapt a Correlation
.657** 1.00 .657** .833** .746** .505** .756** .434* .837**
communication style Coefficient
appropriate for the Sig. (2-tailed)
purpose, task, or .000 . .000 .000 .000 .007 .000 .024 .000
audience
N
27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

speak clearly and Correlation

.807** .657** 1.00 .657** .727** .475* .904** .771** .807**
professionally Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 . .000 .000 .012 .000 .000 .000
N
27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
create a clear and Correlation
.657** .833** .657** 1.00 .918** .654** .756** .434* .837**
interesting introduction Coefficient
and conclusion Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 . .000 .000 .000 .024 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
present all information Correlation
.727** .746** .727** .918** 1.00 .521** .824** .510** .912**
clearly, concisely, and Coefficient
logically Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 . .005 .000 .007 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
clearly communicate Correlation
.315 .505** .475* .654** .521** 1.00 .429* .616** .475*
alternative or Coefficient
opposing perspectives Sig. (2-tailed) .110 .007 .012 .000 .005 . .026 .001 .012
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
organize information Correlation
.904** .756** .904** .756** .824** .429* 1.000 .697** .904**
well Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .026 . .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
use appropriate body Correlation
.596** .434* .771** .434* .510** .616** .697**1.000 .596**
language when Coefficient
presenting Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .024 .000 .024 .007 .001 .000 . .001
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
answer questions Correlation
.807** .837** .807** .837** .912** .475* .904** .596**1.000
clearly and concisely Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed).000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .012 .000 .001 .
N 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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Table A.8.

Correlations
critical
collaboration thinking creativity communication
ability ability ability ability
Spear collaboration Correlation
1.000 .929** .851** .881**
man's ability Coefficient
rho Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27
critical thinking Correlation
.929** 1.000 .948** .895**
ability Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . .000 .000
N 27 27 27 27
creativity ability Correlation
.851** .948** 1.000 .871**
Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 . .000
N 27 27 27 27
communication Correlation
.881** .895** .871** 1.000
ability Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .
N 27 27 27 27
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

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