Toward Future Studies in Teaching English as EIL: Integrating 21st-Century Skills into Curriculum Development

We live in a technology-driven, global, diverse, and quickly changing world. English is the most widely used language in international communications. The term EIL recognizes the fact that English is used as a global means of communication as much as a global language for learning. Dramatic changes around the world brought a drastic shift in ELT. This in turn suggests that the goals and contents for teaching English need to be re-defined for the 21st century learners. This article argues that field-study and research point out that the curriculum developers aspiring to integrate 21st century skills into EYL curriculum including global citizenship, communication skills, active learning skills and technology skills. New literacy skills that attend to these changes are a necessary part of English language curricula. Young learners are no longer satisfied with the present traditional skills of education, which are not effective enough to enable them to attain the goals they have in mind This paper highlights the importance of integrating the aforementioned skills that are associate with their use of English. This discussion implies that without building these skills, our young learners will not be adequately prepared to use English in the modern world, which is becoming more interconnected each day.

Keywords:

English teaching , 21st-century skills , young learners , globalization , curriculum development