An Analysis of Critical Thinking Skills Integration in Indonesian ELT Textbook for Seventh Grade Junior High School Students

Abstract

Since textbooks have basic rules to fulfill curriculum objectives, including alignment with environmental demands, textbooks in Indonesia must also incorporate the 21st-century demands that require students to be better prepared to face the various challenges arising in the current era of technological development. Among the 4C skills that must be mastered in the 21st-century era (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation), critical thinking is one of the most important for students to master. This is because it helps someone to formulate sharp questions, analyze logical arguments, and carefully break down the information (Mahanal, 2019). Therefore, these skills are important to be incorporated into learning, including in English books, which are important materials in the teaching and learning process. The researcher analyzed the critical thinking skills integration in the ELT textbook for the seventh grade of junior high school students that was published by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia. The content in the textbook entitled “English for Nusantara” was analyzed based on Facione’s framework of critical thinking skills, which are interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation.