Critical Thinking in EFL Textbooks: Investigating Algerian EFL secondary school Teachers’ Perceptions

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate Algerian EFL teachers' perceptions about the incorporation of Critical Thinking (CT) in the secondary school EFL textbook "“At the Crossroads”". The textbook evaluation was based on an analytical exploratory design following a mixed method. A questionnaire was administrated to examine whether the tasks and activities in the textbook promote students’ critical thinking skills or not. The instrument was handed to 30 Algerian EFL secondary school teachers in order to grasp their perceptions. The findings showed that the textbook did not contain many tasks promoting critical thinking. Besides this, tasks which potentially encourage students’ critical thinking were not various. Since critical thinking has been included as one of the educational objectives in the syllabus, it was suggested that textbook writers should create more tasks promoting critical thinking skills. Moreover, Algerian EFL teachers need to be taught how to modify tasks in order to promote students’ critical thinking skills.