El 60% de escolares del país se raja en comprensión de lectura

Estudio internacional de competencia lectora ubica a Colombia en el grupo de más bajo desempeño.

Seis de cada diez estudiantes de primaria en nuestro país tienen dificultad para entender e interpretar textos complejos. La mayoría comprende mejor un texto literario que uno informativo, y sus niveles de asimilación de lo que leen son menores a los de niños de países como Trinidad y Tobago, y Azerbaiyán. Sin embargo, su comprensión de lectura ha mejorado en la última década.

Así lo revela el más reciente estudio internacional de competencia lectora (Pirls, por sus siglas en inglés), que en el 2011 evaluó la comprensión de lectura de alumnos de cuarto y sexto grado de 49 países, y cuyos resultados se conocieron en diciembre. Colombia participó con 4.000 niños de cuarto grado de 150 colegios públicos y privados.

De acuerdo con el informe -que se realiza cada 5 años y en el que Colombia ha participado en dos ocasiones (2001 y 2011)-, el país está entre el grupo de naciones con promedios por debajo de la media (obtuvo 448 puntos) y está entre los 10 con los menores puntajes.

Así mismo, sus resultados son relativamente mejores en la comprensión de textos literarios (453 puntos) que en informativos (440 puntos).

Y este bajo desempeño es preocupante, según Pirls, si se tiene en cuenta que la habilidad para leer es fundamental a lo largo de la vida escolar y es clave para encaminar el proyecto de desarrollo personal, tener bienestar económico y participar en la sociedad.

"Aunque no estamos bien en lectura -reconoce la directora del Icfes, Margarita Peña- la buena noticia es que hay una mejora sostenida en el desempeño de los estudiantes colombianos en los últimos 10 años. Esto también se observó en las pruebas Pisa entre 2006 y 2009".

Al comparar los resultados de 2001 y de 2011, agrega, los niños subieron 26 puntos en su promedio (hace 10 años obtuvieron 422 puntos). Y este crecimiento lo destaca Pirls.

"Países como Irán, Rusia, Singapur y Eslovenia también mejoraron sus resultados en comprensión lectora en la última década; por el contrario, Rumania, Lituania, Suecia y Bulgaria bajaron de forma significativa su desempeño. Esto nos muestra que Colombia ha hecho un gran esfuerzo por mejorar sus niveles de lectura", afirma la directora del Icfes.

Según Peña, el mejor desempeño del país en las pruebas Pirls del 2011 -jalonado por los varones- muestra que las acciones del Gobierno por impulsar la lectura están dando frutos y que programas como el Plan Nacional de Lectura y Escritura (Pnle) y 'Todos a Aprender' contribuyen a ello.

Los cuatro países con los mejores desempeños en la prueba fueron Rusia, Finlandia, Singapur y la región de Hong Kong (China).

De otro lado, al comparar el logro educativo entre niños y niñas, las segundas, en general, los superaron en cerca de 16 puntos en 45 países. En Colombia, esa diferencia no fue igual: mientras ellos obtuvieron 448 puntos, ellas lograron 447.

Colombia, junto con Suráfrica y Botswana, presentó, además, la prueba Pre-pirls, que por primera vez se realizó en 2011 y que buscaba evaluar la comprensión de textos más sencillos en estudiantes de países con bajos desempeños en lectura. En esta prueba, el país obtuvo un mejor resultado (576 puntos).

Factores asociados al desempeño lector
-Padres lectores y buen clima escolar influyen en la mejora del indicador

El estudio Pirls también analizó los factores asociados al buen desempeño en la comprensión de textos.

"Tener y usar la biblioteca pública y la biblioteca escolar, y contar con una estrategia para promover la lectura en ellas impacta positivamente la competencia lectora", afirma la directora del Icfes, Margarita Peña.

También, que en el aula de clase haya recursos pedagógicos, que los docentes tengan altas expectativas respecto al logro de sus alumnos, que se tracen metas curriculares claras en lectura, que se usen los computadores como herramienta pedagógica y que exista un buen clima escolar (niños que se sienten seguros y felices). Niños que hayan recibido educación inicial y padres amantes de los libros que les lean a sus hijos también influyen en la habilidad lectora.

Tomado de El Tiempo, 20 de Enero de 2013, http://www.eltiempo.com/vida-de-hoy/educacion/escolares-se-rajan-en-comprension-de-lectura_12532754-4

Lo difícil de hacer ciencia en A. Latina

La falta de estudios traducidos al inglés, el eterno olvido financiero y el poco apoyo de las empresas a los centros de investigación universitarios amenazan la producción científica de la región.

Exceptuando a Brasil y México, la mayoría de los avances científicos que desarrollan las naciones de América Latina son invisibles ante los ojos de la ciencia global. Así lo revela el informe Estado de la ciencia global 2012, elaborado y publicado recientemente por la prestigiosa revista estadounidense Scientific American del grupo Nature.

En Iberoamérica existen 13.446 revistas científicas en español y 5.297 en portugués, producidas en 30 países latinoamericanos, las cuales, por no estar traducidas al inglés, simplemente no figuran en los anaqueles digitales de las principales bases de datos académico-científicas del mundo, como Web of Science (WOK) y Scopus (ver gráfico). Lo grave es que en ciencia lo que no se lee en inglés —lengua principal y obligatoria para títulos, resúmenes y palabras claves— carece, en gran medida, de divulgación.

Son pocas las líneas que el informe global le dedica a América Latina. Por un lado destaca a Brasil (que ocupa el puesto 24 en el mundo en producción de investigaciones) como futura potencia científica y por otro menciona el importante incremento en el gasto público de México para incentivar las investigaciones. Colombia tan sólo aparece como uno de los países del que muchos investigadores salen —principalmente hacia EE.UU. y Brasil— en busca de oportunidades para dedicarse al trabajo en los laboratorios. Su realidad es similar a la del resto de países vecinos, condenados a un histórico déficit de recursos para la investigación.

Según el informe, mientras la participación de los gastos en investigación y desarrollo (I&D) en el Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) de las cinco potencias científicas (EE.UU., Alemania, China, Japón y el Reino Unido) creció sistemáticamente entre 1999 y 2009, en América Latina el aumento en los recursos fue irrisorio y se dio sólo en pocos países: Latinoamérica pasó de destinar en 1999 el 0,55% de su PIB a entregar 0,69% en 2009. Durante ese mismo período, los 34 países de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE), entre los que se cuentan Canadá, EE.UU., Alemania, Suiza y España, aumentaron su intensidad de I&D del 2,16% al 2,40%.

“El caso de Brasil es ejemplar, demuestra cómo un país emergente ha utilizado sus riquezas para producir conocimiento, lo que a la larga generará más riqueza. Otros países latinoamericanos que utilizan su riqueza para gastos armamentísticos sólo tendrán un horizonte de pobreza social”, reseña el documento.

Otro de los puntos que detalla es la escasa relación entre empresas y centros de investigación científica en América Latina, lo que ubica a la región “lejos de participar en la globalización de la ciencia”. Según el director de Colciencias, Carlos Fonseca, mientras en los países desarrollados los empresarios financian el 70% de los avances científicos y el Estado el 30%, en los subdesarrollados ocurre todo lo contrario.

En 2012 la inversión de dinero en Colombia para actividades de ciencia, tecnología e innovación bajó 25 puntos respecto al año anterior (de 0,474% se redujo a 0,449%). Así lo evidencia el último informe del Observatorio Colombiano de Ciencia y Tecnología sobre el comportamiento de la ciencia en el país (ver gráfico).

Mónica Salazar, directora del organismo, explica que la disminución tiene origen en el hecho de que el sector empresarial destina cada vez menos recursos a estas áreas. “Es una señal de alarma, ya que esto puede tener un impacto negativo en términos del desarrollo para Colombia”.

El informe también revela que más de la mitad de las inversiones provienen de recursos públicos y que han tenido un incremento importante durante la última década (en 2002 eran de 39,36% y en 2012 la cifra llegó al 58,99%). Sin embargo, según Salazar, los dineros destinados por el Gobierno tienen un comportamiento estable: “Eso no es un buen síntoma, ya que a medida que el Estado invierta menos en innovación, menos dinámico será el crecimiento de otros sectores”.

Pero el panorama no es tan funesto. El desempeño de la ciencia tiene posibilidades: el número de patentes de invención solicitadas y concedidas ante la Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio va en incremento (se otorgaron 629, número significativamente mayor respecto a las 298 concedidas en 2003) y durante los últimos seis años ha habido más profesionales en el área de la ingeniería, lo cual según Salazar es positivo, ya que “si esas personas son absorbidas por el sector empresarial, podríamos ver más innovación y competitividad en Colombia”.

El director de Colciencias es optimista. Ahora que los desarrollos científicos y la innovación cuentan con el 10% de los recursos de las regalías, Fonseca prevé que los avances del sector científico colombiano serán evidentes en cinco años. “En 2012 se destinaron a los departamentos US$330 millones, en su mayoría para investigaciones y desarrollos agropecuarios y de salud. Las publicaciones indexadas por las bases de datos internacionales vienen en aumento y los empresarios ya están poniendo los ojos en la importancia de invertir en los desarrollos científicos. Es innegable que el sector privado ha sido tímido, pero está despertando”.

Tomado de El Espectador, 9 Enero 2013, en http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/actualidad/vivir/articulo-395843-dificil-de-hacer-ciencia-latina

Colombia, con muy bajo dominio del inglés

Ocupa el puesto 50 de 54 evaluados al respecto, según el índice EF de la firma Education First.

En su segunda edición, el English Proficiency Index (EF EPI), creado en el 2011 como medición estandarizada del nivel de este idioma por parte de adultos, analizó los resultados de pruebas de inglés gratuitas presentadas por 1,7 millones de personas entre el 2009 y el 2011.

En general, según el índice, el inglés que se habla en América Latina es muy bajo. "La pobre calidad de las escuelas públicas, combinada con un acceso desigual a la educación, ofrece una explicación más convincente para justificar el bajo nivel de inglés de la región", dice.

Colombia, junto con Panamá, Arabia Saudí, Tailandia y Libia, ocupan las últimas cinco posiciones de la clasificación. En cambio, varios países de Europa, como Suecia, Dinamarca, Países Bajos y Finlandia, figuran en los primeros puestos.

"Las mujeres hablan inglés mejor que los hombres a nivel mundial y en casi todos los países (...) Así mismo, las personas entre 25 y 35 años son el grupo que mejor lo habla", afirma EF EPI. Los bachilleres no lo hablan tan bien como los jóvenes profesionales, lo que demuestra el bajo nivel del idioma que se aprende en la educación básica, secundaria y media, particularmente en el sector oficial.

Y es que el buen manejo de este idioma, recalca el índice, representa ingresos más elevados para un país. "Un buen conocimiento del idioma se traduce en mejores puestos de trabajo y sueldos más altos, lo que a su vez aporta más recursos económicos a los gobiernos y a los ciudadanos".

A esto se suma, según la Unesco, que los países que no preparan a sus científicos e ingenieros para que hablen inglés "pierden la oportunidad de aprovechar la red de conocimiento mundial", pues el inglés fomenta la divulgación de la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación.

Emigrar a un país de habla inglesa, enfatiza el estudio, no garantiza el dominio del idioma. El nivel educativo general y los conocimientos de inglés previos son factores que influyen en su buen manejo.

"La falta de métodos estandarizados para describir la competencia, la calidad y los objetivos del aprendizaje de inglés, y la falta de práctica por parte de los estudiantes a la hora de marcar dichos objetivos por sí mismos, provocan un importante desperdicio de tiempo y dinero en métodos de aprendizaje de inglés cuya eficacia no se ha demostrado, que son de baja calidad o que no se adaptan a las necesidades de los diferentes usuarios", puntualiza el informe de EF EPI.

VIDA DE HOY / EDUCACIÓN

Tomado de El Tiempo, Noviembre 1 2012. Disponible en http://www.eltiempo.com/vida-de-hoy/educacion/colombia-con-muy-bajo-dominio-del-ingles_12350531-4

Low English Levels Can Hurt Countries' Progress

Poor English skills hinder nations’ progress, study says

Countries with poor English-language skills also have lower levels of trade, innovation and income, according to a report released last week.

The report ranks 54 countries where English is not a native language, with the top five being Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Norway. The bottom five were Colombia, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Libya.

The results were based on a survey of 1.7 million adults on five continents and released by Education First, an international education company based in Switzerland.

“English is key to innovation and competitiveness,” Michael Lu, senior vice president of Education First, said in the report.

Italy, Spain and Portugal were being held back by the fact that they had some of the poorer English skills in Europe, the report said. In the BRIC grouping, India was ranked the highest, at 14th. It was followed by Russia at 29th, China at 36th and Brazil at 46th.

Women generally scored better than men, and the gender gap was widest in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the report. — CHARLES ANDERSON

Tomado de The New York Time, Octubre, 28 2012 de http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/world/europe/29iht-educbriefs29.html?_r=0

KNOWLEDGE BASE AND EFL TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A COLOMBIAN PERSPECTIVE

(Fragment of a working article soon to be published)

1.      Introduction

EFL teachers must know how to face several challenges such as improving their language proficiency, teaching in diverse contexts, implementing classroom-based research, having access to professional development and networking (González, 2000). Such challenges ask them to be able to integrate knowledge about language, pedagogical practices, learning theories, and educational contexts. Besides, as a consequence of accreditation, globalization, and standardization, most Colombian EFL TEPs have undergone major curricular and pedagogical changes in the last years. These changes have mostly been the result of imported discourses and models, which not only have caused curricular and pedagogical changes in teacher education programs, but also have affected the language, the actions, the attitudes, and the conceptions of teachers themselves (Muñoz, Quintero & Munevar, 2002). As a consequence, ...   

In the 21^st century, Colombian pre-service EFL TEPs should study what constitutes the core knowledge base of the language teaching profession so that language teachers can be effective and critical practitioners. As Shulman (1986) states, EFL TEPs should avoid considering teacher education from the perspective of content or pedagogy as mutually exclusive domains. Instead, efforts should be made to conceptualize what Colombian language teachers need to know about teaching and learning, and how their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes inform their practices. Within the framework of knowledge base, this article discusses some of the issues that Colombian EFL TEPs need to incorporate in order to prepare pre-service teachers to acknowledge and examine the underlying premises that form and guide their professional performance. Some of these issues are: knowledge base, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and pedagogical reasoning and action. See section below.

2.1 Knowledge base

For a long time, explains Pineda (2002), the conceptualization of knowledge base was restricted to the attainment of the basic skills required for teaching, the competency of educators in their subject matter area, and the use of pedagogical strategies. However, there are other variables that are critical in the teaching profession: the classroom context, the physical and psychological characteristics of the learners, the personal and practical experiences of teachers, their reflective practices and research skills. Such a wider consideration of what constitutes the teaching profession can... 

A starting point for conceptualizing how knowledge base evolves in the minds of language teachers consists of understanding the “variety” of proposals that have been generated through the years in the field. An overview of the literature, maintain Kaur, Yuen and Kaur (2011), reveals that an effective teacher needs to master, at least, two types of basic knowledge: content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge... 

More concretely, Shulman (1987) states that teachers’ knowledge base must not simply be regarded as a set of professional and experiential skills to be built up. Instead, he argues for a framework that includes and combines content, pedagogy, curriculum and context. To him, teachers’ knowledge base consists of different categories of knowledge which are needed for effective teaching. In his framework, Shulman differentiates three types of content knowledge... 

When talking about teacher’s knowledge, Fenstermacher (1994) makes a distinction between formal knowledge and practical knowledge. For him, formal knowledge is based on literature deriving from research about effective teaching. On the other hand, practical knowledge is generated by teachers as a result of their every day experimentation and reflection within the classroom context and as such it is personal, situational and tacit. When discussing Shulman and Fenstermacher’s proposal, Polyzou and Postlethwaite (2000) suggest that teachers’ subject knowledge and curriculum knowledge are...

The above theoretical perspectives imply that it is important to identify and understand any general, specific, formal, or practical type of knowledge teachers need to acquire and develop. It is essential, then, to establish what the basic elements or dimensions that EFL TEPs should provide EFL pre-service teachers for their work life. Also, it is important to approach the situation of Colombian EFL TEPs in regards to teacher knowledge in order to suggest a set of alternatives and strategies that allow the formation of more effective and critical EFL professionals. Accordingly, the main features of L2 teachers’ knowledge base are presented next.  

2.2 Knowledge base of L2 teachers

In the field of second language teacher, a wide variety of proposals about what constitutes knowledge base has been proposed. Different scholars have strived to offer a systematic and comprehensive view of how teachers construct and develop knowledge from the interplay of content, pedagogy, context and curriculum. Due to space constraints, the following literature review focuses mainly on presenting a brief historical overview of the past two decades of theory about knowledge base in L2... 

THE IMPACT OF ICT TRAINING THROUGH WIKIS ON IN-SERVICE EFL TEACHERS

(Fragment of an article to be published soon)

THE IMPACT OF ICT TRAINING THROUGH WIKIS ON IN-SERVICE EFL TEACHERS: CHANGE IN BELIEFS, ATTITUDES AND COMPETENCIES

Abstract

The development of information and communication technology (ICT) invites teachers to abandon traditional roles and act more as mentors, exploring the new media themselves as learners and thus acting as role models for their students (Fitzpatrick & Davies, 2003). For turning students into producers of online content and creating a collaborative learning environment, wikis appear to help foreign language teachers to infuse ICT in their classrooms (Kovacic, Bubas & Zlatovic, 2007). Within this context, results from an action research project carried out in four public schools suggest that beliefs, atttitudes, and competencies can be impacted positively when working on the use of new technologies with in-service English teachers.

Key words

Attitudes, beliefs, competencies, English language teaching, information communication technology.

Introduction

In the field of English language teaching, ICT in general and hypermedia in particular can provide an authentic learning environment where language learners can explore reference materials, participate in discussions, work in teams on different projects, and create multimedia resources (Padurean & Margan, 2009). Within this context, an action research project carried out by a group of university teachers emerged as an opportunity to contribute to the training of in-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from public schools in the use of ICT in their classes. This study aimed at identifying the impact that training in new technologies can have on EFL teacher’s beliefs, attitudes, and competencies. The following research question guided this inquiry:

What is the impact that training in ICT can have on the beliefs, attitudes and competencies of a group of English teachers from public high schools in Bogota?

Consequently, this study had two objectives:

·         Identify the beliefs, attitudes and competencies that this group of EFL teachers have about ICT.

·         Determine the impact that training in ICT had on these EFL teachers.

Literature review

Beliefs, attitudes, and competencies

There is no consensus about the concept of belief in current literature, yet several authors have provided definitions that allow for understanding it within the context of this study (Pajares, 1992; Woods, 1996, etc.). Most authors accept the concept of belief that Dilts (1999) favors when he states that beliefs are the judgments and evaluations that people make of themselves, others and the world surrounding them. According to Hampton (1994), teacher’s beliefs or “personal constructs” determine how they approach their teaching and affect the materials and activities they choose for the classroom. Similarly, Golombek (1998) affirms that ... 

Just like beliefs, attitudes do not have a single definition. One of the most significant definitions, however, is the one Coll (1987) presents: a tendency to behave in a consistent and persistent way before determined situations, objects, events, or people. With regard to attitudes towards ICT, Watson (1998) maintains that the development of teachers’ positive attitudes is a key factor both for enhancing computer integration and avoiding teachers’ resistance to computer use. Similarly, Kersaint, Horton, Stohl, and Garofalo (2003) maintain that teachers who have positive attitudes towards technology are more inclined to use it and incorporate it into their teaching. Teachers’ attitudes, maintains Sancho (1994), range from technophilia to technophobia; technophilia refers to... 

Competency, too, can be a difficult concept to define. However, Pivetta (2010) maintains that it is possible to identify two unifying concepts, already mentioned by Leboyer (2003), in the different definitions. The former relates to the “power to decide about something”; in other words, competency is regarded as a set of actions or decisions that a person can adopt. The latter refers to the fact of “having knowledge”. In education, competencies are the continuous and autonomous performances of individuals, requiring cognitive, attitudinal, and procedural knowledge to face and solve concrete situations with the available resources and strategies (Araujo, 2007). When discussing ICT competencies, UNESCO (2008) established three approaches to education... 

ICT and education

Toomey (2001) defines ICT as those technologies that are used for accessing, gathering, manipulating and presenting or communicating information. To him, these technologies are characterized by the increasing convergence of computer-based, multimedia and communications tools and the rapid rate of change that distinguishes these tools and their use. Recently, Anderson (2010) states that ICT is...

ICT and English language teaching

Not only do English teachers, explain Quin and Shuo (2011), need to possess basic ICT skills in the use of word processor, PowerPoint, video editor and access to the Internet, but also they need to be able to develop pedagogical knowledge to efficiently integrate ICT into the English curriculum. To them, the integration of ICT can lead to diversification not only in English content, contexts and pedagogical methods, but also in teaching environments. This diversification can ultimately help English teaching more interactive, flexible and innovative. However, Skourtou and Kourtis-Kazoullis (2002) warn that this improvement will not take place if... 

Wikis and English language teaching

For turning students into producers of online content, enabling peer-to-peer learning, and creating a collaborative learning environment (Kovacic, Bubas & Zlatovic, 2007), the authors of this study opted to use wikis in the training sessions with in-service EFL teachers as a concrete tool and space to work with new technologies in the foreign language classroom. In the field of English language teaching, several authors have argued for the use of wikis. Leuf and Cunningham (2001) claim that for being fully editable websites that users can visit, read, re-organize and update, wikis appear to be excellent tools for language teaching and learning. To Lund (2006), the production and appropriation of language in wikis go beyond individualistic and mentalist approaches to language learning since they ... 

21st century skills in the EFL classroom

(Fragment of a working paper to be published next year)

Abstract 

Today, EFL teachers need to use new approaches that develop content, culture, technology, and lifelong skills. In this regard, the Partnership for 21st century skills (2007) argued for the explicit integration of learning and innovation skills, information, media and digital literacy skills and life and career skills. To them, classrooms should provide students with practices focused on acquiring and developing, among other things, critical thinking, collaboration, self-direction and cross-cultural skills. Consequently, EFL classrooms need to be filled with meaningful and intellectually stimulating activities that allow students to understand complex perspectives, use multiple media and technologies, and work creatively with others.

Key words: English language teaching, English as a foreign language, 21^st century skills, ICT, new literacies.

Introduction

Today’s English foreign language (EFL) learners have varied backgrounds, a multiplicity of achievement levels, and diverse learning styles. These characteristics impact their ability to learn and use a foreign language (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009). At the same time, these learners are not simply interested in achieving a high command of the different language skills needed in social situations, they are also concerned with the acquisition of the formal academic skills demanded in university. On the other hand, our world is increasingly globalized and digitized, which, according to Varis (2007), has consequences and demands in people’s educational and working life. In this regard, Lotherington and Jenson (2011) stated globalization and digitization have reshaped the communication landscape, affecting how and with whom we communicate, and deeply altering the terrain of language and literacy education. Consequently, the EFL classroom needs to move away from traditional methods focused on language mastering in order to start incorporating new approaches aimed at exploring and developing content, culture, technology, and lifelong skills.   

            It goes without saying that today’s EFL classroom should be different from that of the mid-to-late twentieth century. Shoffner, De Oliveira and Angus (2010) maintained that today’s English classroom requires an extended understanding and enactment of literacy. Rather than an all-inclusive single literacy, English teachers must accept the changing and flexible nature of literacies that address areas as diverse as technology, multimedia, relationships and culture. These areas, in turn, require the English classroom to be a space capable of addressing the increasingly multiplicity and integration of different modes of meaning-making, where the textual relates to the visual, the audio, the spatial, and the behavioral. One possible way to answer to the new interests and demands of our learners and our society is the explicit work with what experts have called the 21st century skills.

21^st Century Skills

According to Ledward and Hirata (2011), the 21st century skills are a blend of content knowledge, specific skills, expertise, and literacies necessary to succeed in work and life. These skills, clarified Ledward and Hirata, are more than technological literacy and include proficiency in critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and team work. Ultimately, these skills allow people to thrive 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.

            The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills (P21) (2007b) maintained that while today’s schools show the influence of industrial and information age models, the 21^st century modern school must bring together rigorous content and real world relevance, by focusing on cognitive skills as well as those in affective and aesthetic domains. To help schools achieve such challenging goals, the P21 (2007a) created a framework for 21^st century learning, which consists of core subjects (English, Reading, Language Arts, World Languages, Arts, Mathematics, Economics, Science, Geography, History, and Government and Civics) and interdisciplinary themes (global awareness, financial, economic, business, entrepreneurial literacy, civil literacy, health literacy, and environmental literacy). These subjects and themes center on three core skills: life and career skills, learning and innovation skills, and information, media, and technology skills. See figure below.

..... 

Figure 1. 21st Century Skills Framework. This figure illustrates the main components of the 21^st century framework as proposed by P21.

Each of the three core skills addresses particular 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 its part, learning and innovation include the ability to be creative and innovative, critical, problem-solving, communicative and collaborative. Finally, information, media and technology consists of the ability to access and use information, to create and analyze media products, and to apply technology effectively (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). Once studied and incorporated into curriculum, instruction, and assessment, these skills can help schools and teachers integrate learning goals in traditional subject knowledge areas, interdisciplinary and contemporary thematic expertise, and essential skills needed in the 21^st century. See table below.

Table 1. 21^st century skills

.....

In order to structure the analysis of 21^st century skills, several conceptual models have been created. In 2003, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the Metiri Group provided a framework to define what students need to thrive in today’s digital age. This model identified four general skills through 4 dimensions: digital-age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication and high productivity. The first dimension involves being able to use digital technology and communications tools to create, manage, and evaluate information in order 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. See figure below.

In 2010, Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, and Microsoft Corporation sponsored the initiative “Assessment and teaching of 21^st century skills (ATC21S)”. This initiative created a model that defines ten universally accepted 21^st century skills into 4 broad categories of competencies. These competencies and skills are as follows:

Table 2. Overall conceptual 21^st century skills model according to ATC21S

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       Undoubtedly, the 21^st century has brought about changes in the way people learn, communicate, and live. The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills and the Assessment and Teaching of 21^st Century Skills are examples of how certain organizations and research projects are trying to reach common models, standards, and terminologies in 21^st century skills around the world. But, how has the 21^st century impacted the EFL classroom? Is the discourse about 21^st century skills being considered and implemented in English foreign language teaching? Are ideas such as technological expertise, global awareness, and life and career skills being discussed and studied in the EFL classroom? See section below.

The EFL classroom in the 21 century ...