INVESTIGATING HSSC ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS OF THE PUNJAB CURRICULUM AND TEXTBOOK BOARD (PCTB): A GAP ANALYSIS

Abstract

Higher-Order Thinking Abilities (HOTS) are essential academic skills, specifically in English language instruction. This study evaluates the exercises of the English textbook–Book-I prepared under the patronage of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) and taught at Pakistan's Higher Secondary School (HSSC) to determine the gap in the application of HOTs; COGNITIVE and KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN. The research will have implications for the syllabus designers and teachers to be aware of the gap in using HOTs in the designed tasks of the English textbook-Book-I. Through this gap analysis, they will learn about the current structure of textbooks and the intended state of textbooks to improve students' HOTs. The research is descriptive, and a qualitative approach is employed. The textbook is considered as the sample of the study. Bloom's Revised Taxonomy of Learning Outcomes (2001) is used as a theoretical framework (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). The researchers have devised an evaluation criterion by themselves. They have created a coded checklist
to determine the amount of "KNOWLEDGE AND COGNITIVE DIMENSIONS". The findings show a substantial gap in the use of HOTs in the English Textbook activities prepared by PCTB at the HSSC level in the COGNITIVE DOMAIN and the KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN. The results indicate that very few questions, tasks, and activities are used to test students' HOTs (14 questions with 7.5% at Level-4, 10 with 5.4% at Level-5, and 1 with 0% at Level-6. It is recommended that such activities be included in English textbooks, enabling learners to improve their HOTs because the curriculum paves the way for learners to improve globally and technologically.