Design Thinking as a Strategy to Strengthen 21st-Century Learning Skills in the EFL Class With Seventh Graders

Abstract

Learning a foreign language is one of the needs globalization has created and reinforced in the last decades. As Palacios-Hidalgo, et al. (2021) said, “The 21st century has triggered profound changes in society. [...] also posed new social demands, such as the ability to communicate with people in an increasingly multilingual and multicultural world” (p. 76). Since being able to communicate using various languages different from the mother tongue enhances the opportunities to get a well-paying job (Gomez, 2020) and “English, being the first world language, [...] and the most widely used language in the world” (Rao, 2019, p. 66), people started to learn this language to meet these needs and be competitive in the new era. Another important need created by globalization is the development of new competences, known as 21st-century skills, that allow people to be competitive and successful in this century to excel in their careers and contribute to developing their countries (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009). The global impact of education has led to the development of national and local policies designed to enhance the quality of education in response to the demands of the international market (Osorio de Sarmiento, et al, 2020).