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Exploring global citizenship as a cross-curricular theme in Moroccan ELT

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Article in Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics · July 2020

DOI: 10.32601/ejal.775801

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 Available online at www.ejal.info
http://dx.doi.org/10.32601/ejal.775801 EJAL
Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242 Eurasian Journal of
Applied Linguistics

Exploring global citizenship as a cross-curricular

theme in Moroccan ELT textbooks
Hassan Ait-Bouzid a *
a Ibn Zohr University, Department of English Studies, Agadir 80000, Morocco

Received 23 July 2019 Received in revised form 22 January 2020 Accepted 25 March 2020

APA Citation:
Ait-Bouzid, H. (2020). Exploring global citizenship as a cross-curricular theme in Moroccan ELT textbooks. Eurasian
Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2), 229-242.
Doi: 10.32601/ejal.775801

Abstract
This paper examines ways in which three Moroccan ELT textbooks currently used in teaching second
year Baccalaureate students in public high schools promote values of global citizenship. It also
investigates the extent to which these textbooks present activities that develop learners’ sense of
belonging to global and local communities and provide them with skills, knowledges and behaviors that
would make them good citizens of the world. The study uses the theoretical framework of the Standards-
Based Approach and UNESCO’s (2015) global citizenship learning domains. It adopts a convergent
parallel mixed-methods design and uses content analysis as a data analysis method which combines both
qualitative and quantitative techniques. The data are collected using a checklist that is designed based
on UNESCO’s framework. The materials include three textbooks: Gateway to English 2, Insights into
English 2 and Ticket to English 2. The findings demonstrate that although the three textbooks actually
provide a number of activities that promote aspects of citizenship, there is still room for improving
learners’ awareness of various global issues including democracy, human rights and conflict resolution.
Other problems related to developing learners’ critical perspective towards global citizenship themes in
reading texts, speaking, listening and writing activities and project works were identified. The study
concludes with implications that inform teachers and textbook designers about the importance of
empowering values of global citizenship in ways that strengthen learners’ critical thinking and problem-
solving skills.
© 2020 EJAL & the Authors. Published by Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics (EJAL). This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY-NC-ND)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords: ELT; global citizenship; Moroccan high school; SBA; textbook evaluation.

1. Introduction

1.1. Statement of the problem

In today’s globalized world, the unlimited mobility of people, goods and ideas would
presumably result in various modes of conflicts, misunderstandings and inequalities if
global citizenship values were not cultivated among world citizens. What a better

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +212668989269

E-mail address: h.aitbouzid@uiz.ac.ma
http://dx.doi.org/10.32601/ejal.775801
230 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242

means to disseminate and reinforce these global values across the globe than English,
the official language of globalization. The international dimension of English has
made it a perfect vehicle capable of fostering the awareness of its users towards global
issues. In this regard, one of the main purposes of teaching English as a foreign
language at an international scale is to provide an opportunity to teach, learn and
develop values of global citizenship (Oxfam, 2015). The main reason why EFL
promotes global citizenship is that the EFL classroom is one of the rare educational
settings where non-English speaking learners interact with foreign cultures that
transport global perspectives, practices and products. The EFL classroom is often
considered a contact zone where local and foreign cultures interact, offering learners
opportunities to recognize, compare, contrast and understand similarities and
differences of various local, national and international viewpoints towards glocal
issues. In such settings, learners eventually “realize the interdependence of people
throughout the world” (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
[ACTFL], 2001, p. 63). Thus, developing an understanding of different worldviews
raises the awareness of learners to what global citizenship is and what kind of
knowledges, values, skills and behaviors global citizens are expected to demonstrate.
In short, the cross-cultural nature of ELT classroom makes it the most suitable for
teaching and learning global citizenship (Diaz, 2017; Guilherme, 2002).
Promoting awareness of global citizenship is a key objective of foreign language
learning (Byram, 2003; Weninger & Kiss, 2013), more specifically in an increasingly
globalized world where questions about the meaning and value of citizenship are
being raised. In EFL contexts like Morocco, English language teaching is expected to
instill and develop the essential skills, knowledges and behaviors that learners need
“to grow as effective world citizens; able to transmit, share and compare ideas,
information and cultural patterns of different speakers” (Ministry of National
Education [henceforth MNE], 2007, p.17). It is also important that English language
teaching in Morocco fosters learners’ connection with their communities at the local,
national and global levels through developing their awareness of their responsibilities
and rights in order to grow autonomous and responsible citizens (MNE, 2007). To this
end, the various elements which shape the teaching-learning process should be
designed with the aim of promoting the achievement of the global citizenship
objective. Accordingly, ELT textbooks, major elements of the teaching-learning
process, are expected to facilitate the attainment of such an objective.
Textbooks are instrumental materials that facilitate the teaching learning process.
They are viewed as essential tools which present, organize and illustrate the
curriculum. However, textbooks are generally imperfect as they may contain problems
related to the selection, presentation and organization of their social, cultural,
linguistic and pedagogical contents. These imperfections can only be identified and
improved through the practice of textbook evaluation. Research maintains that
systematic, reflective and in-depth textbook evaluation serves to a great extent the
improvement of the quality of textbooks (Ait Bouzid, Erguig, & Yeou, 2016,
Cunningsworth, 1995; Litz, 2005).
 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242 231

1.2. Theoretical framework

In the present study, textbook evaluation is used as a means to examine the extent
to which three Moroccan ELT textbooks currently used in teaching 2nd year
Baccalaureate students in public schools provide learners with activities that promote
values of global citizenship. To this end, the study is situated within, first, the
theoretical framework of the Standards-Based Approach, which currently guides the
teaching and learning of English a foreign language in Morocco, with particular
reference to the goal areas of Cultures and Communities and, second, the UNESCO’s
Global Citizenship Education framework (2015). The ultimate objective of the
Standards-Based Approach is to equip learners with knowledges, skills and behaviors
that enable them to effectively function in a multi-cultural global community of
English language speakers while at the same time maintaining their local identity as
foreign language speakers. While the goal area of Cultures fosters values of inter-
cultural understanding by helping learners establish a constructive comprehension of
similarities and differences between local, national and global cultures, the goal area
of Communities encourages learners to engage actively in actions that can raise their
awareness of the interconnectedness of local, national and global issues and
eventually drawing their attention to how individual local actions can eventually
influence global issues (ACTFL, 1995; MNE, 2007)..
The study is equally informed by UNESCO’s (2015) framework of global citizenship
education. In this regard, UNESCO’s framework identifies three dimensions of
citizenship which in turn form three domains of global citizenship education, namely
the cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural domains of learning. The cognitive
domain of learning aims to equip learners’ with knowledges and critical thinking
skills that will enable them to understand how global regional, national and local
issues reinforce the interconnectedness and interdependency of different countries
and populations. The Socio-emotional domain of learning encourages learners to have
a sense of belonging to a common humanity, sharing values and responsibilities,
empathy, solidarity and respect for differences and diversity. The Behavioral domain
of learning enables learners to act effectively and responsibly at local, national and
global levels for a more peaceful and sustainable world. These domains are developed
into sub-topics that aim to achieve a number of learning objectives which are
presented gradually into four developmental consecutive levels ranging from per-
primary, upper-primary, lower-secondary to upper-secondary levels. In this study, we
are only concerned with subtopics and learning objectives relevant to the upper-
secondary level which matches the age-category of Moroccan 2nd year Baccalaureate
students.
This framework offers insights into basic elements that constitute the contents and
objectives of global citizenship education. It is therefore suitable for the textbook
evaluation this study aims to conduct. The framework provides basic theoretical
foundations for, first, identifying activities that target the promotion of global
citizenship values and, second, classifying these activities within the three domains of
232 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242

learning in accordance with the themes they discuss and the objectives they intend to
meet.

1.3. Literature review

Research maintains that EFL curricula are characterized by a significant degree of

flexibility which provides sufficient room for integrating global citizenship education
as a cross-curricular theme (Basarir, 2017; Cates, 2009). However, it is noticed that
EFL textbooks provide nothing but an uneven, informative and superficial overview of
global citizenship (De La Caba, 2013). Similarly, Zhu (2013) observed that citizenship
values presented in EFL textbooks usually tend to promote more national dimensions
than local and global ones especially when the textbooks are administered by national
authorities, and when they are designed to serve as teaching materials within
national curricula. Basarir (2017) and Erfani (2012) claim that EFL textbooks
currently used in Iran do not provide enough contents that raise learners’ awareness
to global issues such as environmental issues, socio-economic issues, world-peace
issues, intercultural understanding issues, human rights issues, global health issues
and linguistic imperialism.
The situation in UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand is slightly different.
According to Kerr (1999), Pederson and Cogan (2002) and O’Brien and Parry (2002),
global citizenship education has been introduced to schools as a compulsory cross-
curricular theme in the beginning of the 21st century. De La Caba and Atxurra (2006)
identify human rights, conflict resolution, democracy, responsibility and diversity as
popular themes around which Spanish primary school textbooks build discussions of
citizenship. Nevertheless, the researchers note that these textbooks present forms of
bias concerning the number and the diversity of contexts and perspectives they
illustrate.
In the Moroccan context, few studies have tackled the issue of global citizenship
education as a cross-curricular theme. Life Skills and Citizenship Education [LSCE]
(2017) reports that citizenship education is still in its initial stage in the MENA
region. It also observes that this topic has not yet acquired its global dimension as it is
mainly concerned with national and social issues. To improve the situation, LSCE
suggests developing new learning contents and tools that would promote a better
integration of global citizenship education among adolescents in formal education.
LSCE (2017, p. vi) describes Morocco as a model for best practices of promoting peace
and global citizenship through religious education. In the same token, Ait Bouzid
(2016) presents an analysis of the extent to which Moroccan ELT textbooks provide
contents that promote religious tolerance, peaceful coexistence, respect for difference
among people of both foreign and local cultures. Findings indicate that such contents
are scarce in the three textbooks that were examined. Similarly, El Karfa (2007)
investigates whether EFL classes provide learners with knowledges, values and skills
to prepare them to become effective citizens. The study also discusses the selection of
contents and activities that promote civic education among Moroccan EFL learners.
 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242 233

The researcher suggests learner-centered activities including problem-solving

activities, group work, role-plays, simulations, opinion-gap activities and information-
gap activities as techniques for promoting learners’ civic engagement.
A common trait of the two above mentioned studies conducted in the Moroccan
context is their focus on national citizenship at the expense of global citizenship. Also,
it is found that they stress the role of teachers, learners, policy-makers and overlook
the role of the teaching material, namely the textbook, which commonly presents,
organizes and illustrates the content to be taught. It is also noted that these studies
do not tackle the issue of global citizenship in its totality; they merely investigate sub-
traits of global citizenship including national citizenship, values of tolerance, peace,
coexistence and diversity. Other aspects including the local and the international
dimensions of citizenship, themes, skills and behaviors are to a great extent left
undiscussed.
The present study is different from previous studies in the Moroccan context in
three ways. To start with, while the above stated studies consider global citizenship
as a secondary theme in their analysis, the present one makes global citizenship its
focal point as it is concerned with investigating, analyzing and discussing themes,
knowledges, skills and values of global citizenship. The second distinction is that the
present study examines the presentation of global citizenship in Moroccan EFL
textbooks within two main theoretical frameworks, one of which (UNESCO’s) is
specifically designed for measuring the effectiveness of global citizenship education.
The third difference is related to the rationale of the study since this one particularly
addresses textbook designers and draws their attention to the importance of
incorporating activities that promote different domains of global citizenship in future
Moroccan ELT textbooks. Thus, the present study is to a great extent different from
previous ones with regard to its scope, content and rationale.

1.4. Objectives and research questions

In light of the previous studies, the present study aims to develop a more general
analysis of global citizenship. It sheds light on how the three dimensions of citizenship
(local, national and global) interact within Moroccan ELT textbooks with more focus
on identifying the global citizenship skills, knowledges, values and behaviors which
are promoted through these textbooks. The study also examines the amount and types
of activities and themes that are used to develop learners’ awareness of global
citizenship issues.
In this regard, this paper aims to explore the extent to which Moroccan ELT
textbooks currently used in teaching 2nd year Baccalaureate promote values of global
citizenship. It also examines the nature and types of activities that are promote global
citizenship values with regard to selection, organization and presentation. The
present paper hopes to draw the attention of ELT practitioners to the viability of
using the ELT textbook as a means to reinforce global citizenship education and
234 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242

eventually suggest ways in which future textbooks can help students become global
citizens. To this end, this study addresses two main research questions:
1. To what extent do 2nd year Baccalaureate textbooks provide activities that promote
cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioral domains of global citizenship?
2. What kind of activities and themes do these textbooks use to promote cognitive,
socio-emotional and behavioral domains of global citizenship?

2. Method

2.1. Design

To answer these questions, the present study adopts a convergent parallel mixed-
methods design. This design allows the simultaneous collection of both quantitative
and qualitative techniques and facilitates cross-comparing the quantitative and
qualitative findings to build a comprehensive understanding of the representation of
global citizenship in Moroccan ELT textbooks. The rationale for a convergent parallel
mixed-methods design “is that one data collection form supplies strengths to offset the
weaknesses of the other form, and that a more complete understanding of a research
problem results from collecting both quantitative and qualitative data” (Creswell,
2012: 540). It is a one-phase design that allows for collecting the qualitative and
quantitative data concurrently, analyzing the two datasets separately, comparing the
results and interpreting them to identify whether they support or contradict one
another. The strong point of this design is that the two data sets complement and
compensate for each other’s weaknesses allowing the researcher “to gather
information that uses the best features of both quantitative and qualitative data
collection” (p. 541). While the quantitative data allows for generalizing the findings,
the qualitative data provide information about their context and setting.

2.2. Procedures

Initially, the procedures of data collection and analysis start with the qualitative
identification of themes of activities included in the textbooks. This qualitative
process is based on identifying whether activities present a central theme that is
directly related to global citizenship. Accordingly, reading comprehension texts,
exercises, dialogues, grammar and vocabulary exercises, writing activities and
project-work activities are scanned to identify themes that are related to global
citizenship. Conventionally, global citizenship themes include: global citizenship,
citizenship, environmental issues, role of NGOs, cross-cultural dialogue, immigration,
brain drain, unemployment, poverty, racial and ethnic diversity, conflict resolution,
democracy, religious tolerance, social and political activism, youth engagement,
voluntary work, human rights, global health, legal and constitutional issues, gender
issues and economic issues. Any activity that tackles one of these themes is counted
and classified according to the quantitative procedures explained below.
 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242 235

After identifying activities that discuss global citizenship issues, they are
immediately counted and classified according to whether they aim to promote the
cognitive, the socio-emotional or the behavioral domains of learning. To perform this
procedure, a checklist is developed based on the UNESCO framework. The purpose of
the checklist is to reinforce the inter-coder reliability and facilitate the process of
making frequency counts that measure frequency of occurrence of contents that are
related to global citizenship. In accordance with UNESCO (2015), the checklist is
divided into two levels. The first level includes three sections that represent the three
global citizenship domains of learning. The first section of the checklist includes the
cognitive domain in which are counted all activities whose aim is to provide learners
with knowledge and information about how local, national and international issues
are interconnected. The second section of the checklist is about the socio-emotional
domain where activities that promote learners’ sense of belonging to a global
community and empathy towards humanity are classified. The third section of the
checklist presents the behavioral domain which includes frequency counts of all
activities that encourage learners to plan and take action at local, national and global
levels towards a more sustainable world. The results of this analysis are shown in the
form of frequency counts and percentages in Table 1. A chi-square statistic was
calculated to examine whether the results of the frequency counts are statistically
significant.
On a second level of the checklist, each section of a learning domain is further
divided into three subsections that include Topics. These topics allow for a succinct
identification and classification of the activities included in the textbooks according to
the nature of their content. Consequently, the activities of the Cognitive domain of
learning are further examined to identify whether they discuss topics of (1) local,
national and global system structures, (2) local, national and global community issues
or (3) power dynamics. Similarly, the activities of the socio-emotional domain of
learning are further classified within topics of (1) different levels of identify, (2)
belonging to different communities and (3) respect for difference and diversity.
Activities belonging to the behavioral domain of learning are categorized into (1)
actions taken individually or collectively, (2) ethically responsible behaviors and (3)
getting engaged and taking action. The results of this analysis are presented in terms
of frequency counts and percentages illustrated in Table 2. A chi-square statistic could
not be calculated to examine whether the results of the frequency counts are
statistically significant because some of the values of the frequencies are below

2.3. Materials

This study aims to evaluate the content of three Moroccan ELT textbooks currently
used in teaching second year Baccalaureate students in public schools, namely
Gateway to English 2 (Hassim, Blibil, & Rasmy, 2007), Insights into English 2 (Najbi
& El Haddad, 2007) and Ticket to English 2 (Hammani, Ahssen, & Tansaoui, 2007).
These textbooks contain ten units that are presented in different orders. These units
include several themes which have direct links to global citizenship such as
236 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242

citizenship, international organizations, sustainable development, brain drain and

culture. The choice of these textbooks is based on a general assumption that students
at their final year in high school need to be equipped with basic knowledges, skills
and behavior that will enable them to become active global citizens. Therefore, they
are expected to present contents that facilitate the task of teaching and learning
global citizenship values for both teachers and students.

3. Results

Table 1 offers a statistical representation of the number of activities that promote

cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioral learning domains within each of the three
textbooks.
Table 1. Number of activities promoting different global citizenship’s learning domains

Domain Gateway 2 Insights 2 Ticket 2 Total

Cognitive 19 35.8 % 14 27.5 % 13 25 % 46 29.5%
Socio-emotional 23 43.4 % 28 54.9 % 25 48 % 76 48.7%
Behavioral 11 20.8 % 9 17.6 % 14 27 % 34 21.8%
TOTAL 53 100 % 51 100 % 52 100 % 156 100%

Table 1 shows that the three textbooks contain a total of 156 activities that promote
global citizenship. It is observed that there is no big difference among the three
textbooks in terms of the number of activities they include as they contain
approximately the same number: 53 in Gateway to English 2, 52 in Ticket to English 2
and 51 in Insights into English 2. However, the discrepancy is seen in the distribution
of activities among the three learning domains. In this regard, it is observed that
activities promoting socio-economic domains dominate (48.7%) over those promoting
both the cognitive domain (29.5%) and the behavioral domain (21.8%).
A chi-square statistic is calculated to examine whether the frequencies and
percentages illustrated in Table 1 are statistically significant. The results of the chi-
square test are illustrated in Table 2 which compares the observed values (O) to the
expected values (E) and calculates the chi-square statistics of each (X²). The test is
found to be statistically insignificant as the chi-square statistic is 2.9234. The p-value
is .570723. Thus, the results are not significant at p<.05. The results in Table 2
therefore suggest that there is no significant difference among the three textbooks in
terms of the number of activities that promote the cognitive, socio-emotional and
behavioral global citizenship domains of learning.
Table 2: Chi-square test results

Gateway 2 Insight 2 Ticket 2

Domain O E X² O E X² O E X² Total
Cognitive 19 15.63 0.73 14 15.04 0.07 13 15.33 0.36 46
Socio- 23 25.82 0.31 28 24.85 0.40 25 25.33 0.00 76
Emotional
 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242 237

Behavioral 11 11.55 0.03 9 11.12 0.40 14 11.33 0.63 34

Total 53 51 52 156

Table 3 provides insights into the number of activities that address the sub-themes
of the three learning domains of global citizenship. It indicates that the 23.7% of these
activities offer discussions of themes related to local, national and global community
issues while activities of local national and international system structures are really
scarce (0.6%). Table 3 also reveals that the three textbooks contain a statistically
balanced number of activities that foster learners’ sense of identity, belonging to local,
national and international communities and respect for difference and diversity with
percentages that reach 14%, 18% and 16.7%, respectively. However, activities
targeting the development of learners’ engagement in collective, ethically responsible
actions are not as abundant as the aforementioned ones.
Table 3: number of activities promoting different sub-themes of the learning domains

Domains Topics Gateway 2 Insights 2 Ticket 2 Total

Cognitive Local, national & global system 0 1 0 1
structures (0.6%)
Local, national & global 17 10 10 37
communities issue
(23.7%)
Power dynamics 2 3 3 8
(5.2%)
Socio-emotional Different levels of identity 6 8 8 22
(14%)
Belonging to different 8 9 11 28
communities
(18%)
Difference & respect for 9 11 6 2 (16.7%)
diversity
Behavioral Actions taken individually or 3 2 4 9
collectively
(5.7%)
Ethically responsible behaviors 5 5 4 14
(9%)
Getting engaged & taking action 3 2 6 11
(7.1%)
Total 53 51 52 156
(100%)

Table 3 provides a general account of the themes which are included in global
citizenship activities throughout the three textbooks. It is concluded that textbooks
present activities that usually promote learners’ knowledge of various local, national
and global issues (see Table 4 below) alongside fostering values of tolerance of
difference, respect for diversity, reinforcing their sense of belonging to multiple layers
of communities, and raising their awareness about plural identities. However, these
textbooks do not allocate much room to activities that build learners’ knowledge about
how different system structures interact on the local, national and international levels
and how power dynamics affect voice, influence, access to resources, decision-making
238 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242

and governance. More details about the nature of activities are provided in Table 4
below.
Table 4 reveals the themes discussed by those activities which promote different
learning domains throughout the three textbooks. As far as the cognitive domain is
concerned, Table 3 shows that Insights into English 2 is the only textbook which
discusses the structure of the Moroccan parliament as indicated previously in Table 1.
It is also observed that the three textbooks provide information about issues related to
local, national and global communities such as brain drain, environmental problems,
culture shock, stereotypes, racism and unemployment. Table 4 demonstrates that the
three textbooks offer insights into how power dynamics influence various communities
through NGOs, international organizations, associations and governmental
institutions.
Table 4 indicates that the three textbooks include activities that promote the socio-
cultural domain. It reveals that they present a plethora of activities which raise
learners’ awareness of various levels of identity including gender, social, national and
racial identity in ways that promote peaceful coexistence among people from different
groups. The socio-emotional domain is further fostered by including activities which
encourage learners to consider themselves as potentially belonging to different
communities through discussions of immigration, brain drain, tourism all of which
themes promote learners’ understanding of how different groups, communities and
countries are interconnected. The table additionally reveals that these textbooks boost
learners respect for diversity by offering discussions that compare and contrast
foreign and local perspectives, practices and products in ways that develop positive
attitudes towards diverse groups, opinions and perspectives.
Table 4 displays evidence that the three textbooks include activities that enhance
learners’ global citizenship behaviors. It indicates that they contain activities that
encourage learners to take action either individually or collectively through themes of
community service, role of associations and NGOs and youth engagement in socio-
political issues. It is also noticed that these textbooks provide discussions of themes
that raise learners’ awareness of ethically responsible behaviors aiming at promoting
social justice through topics related to reacting against gender inequality,
discrimination, racism, marginalization and oppression. The three textbooks offer
learners opportunities of getting engaged and taking action against glocal issues by
writing emails to officials suggesting solutions to these problems, or taking action
through voluntary work and community service in their immediate environment
against problems of environment, illiteracy, anti-smoking campaigns and health
issues.
 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242 239

Table 4: Themes representing the learning domains in the textbooks

Domains Themes
Cognitive Moroccan Parliament structure
Brain drain, environment, culture shock, stereotypes, racism, unemployment
NGOs, international organizations, associations, governmental institutions, cooperatives
Socio-emotional Gender, ethnic, national, racial identities
Immigration, brain drain, tourism
Compare different cultures, promote equality despite difference,
Behavioral Community service, NGOs, Associations, youth engagement
Promote social justice, fight discrimination, tolerance
Brain drain, environment, voluntary work, political activism

4. Discussion

In response to the first research question, the three textbooks present a sufficient
number of activities that are capable of developing the various knowledges, skills,
values and behavior of global citizenship, as claimed by Byram (2011) and Weninger
and Kiss (2013). With an average rate of 5 activities per unit, these textbooks succeed
in offering opportunities for fostering learners’ global citizenship awareness. In line
with Byram (2011) and Weninger and Kiss (2013), it is observed that these activities
are mostly integrated within main language courses including reading, listening,
writing, speaking and project-works. The issue of whether these activities are
appropriately used remains the choice and responsibility of the teachers as clearly
stated by EL Karfa (2007).
With regard to the second research question, the findings indicate that the three
textbooks contain a diversified set of activities and themes that develop the different
global citizenship domains of learning. Similar to Basarir (2017) and Erfani (2013),
the three textbooks offer numerous opportunities where learners can learn about a
plethora of themes that develop their global citizenship knowledges, skills, values and
behaviors. Another point in favor of these textbooks is that they have succeeded in
incorporating these themes within activities under the major lessons of reading,
listening, writing, speaking and project works. Most global citizenship activities
included within reading and listening merely present facts and information about
topics included in Table 3. Those activities integrated in writing and speaking
activities usually ask learners to plan or suggest actions to be taken either to solve or
promote some aspects of global citizenship, but they rarely ask them to reflect
critically about these aspects. Project works often require learners to engage in
immediate out-of-the-classroom action in form of extracurricular activities that
enhance learners’ sense of responsibility, belonging and civic engagement.
However, contrary to De La Caba and Atxurra (2006) and Erfani (2012), popular
global citizenship theme of democracy, human rights, global health issues and conflict
resolution are to a great extent not addressed in Moroccan 2 nd year Baccalaureate
240 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242

textbooks. Also, it is noted that the ways in which these themes are presented does
not allow for meeting the overall objectives set for upper-secondary level by UNESCO
(2015). The activities mainly provide learners with knowledges, skills, values and
behaviors in ways that are superficial and factual. As previously indicated by De La
Caba (2013), most activities included in the Moroccan ELT textbooks we investigated
do not present contents that contribute to developing global citizenship values. They
do not offer enough opportunities for learners’ to critically† discover, analyze,
question, assess and evaluate the efficiency, appropriateness, relevance and
suitability of knowledges, skills, values and behaviors to socio-economic and cultural
environment of these learners. Reinforcing Zhu’s (2013) findings, it is noticed that the
themes included in these textbooks target more national and international issues
than local ones, except at the level of behavior where the moto ‘think globally act
locally’ is applied (see for example Hammani, Ahssen, & Tansaoui, 2007: 124; Hassim,
Blibil & Rasmy, 2007: 117; Najib & El Haddad, 2007: 122).
In short, the three textbooks testify for the fact that Global Citizenship Education
is at its initial stages in Morocco as already stated by LSCE (2017). They have set a
good example to follow by textbooks from other subjects so that global citizenship will
be integrated across the curriculum as a major cross curricular theme (see UNESCO,
2015). Yet, as El Karfa (2007) noted, careful selection, organization and illustration of
the content is highly required.

5. Conclusions

This paper investigated the extent to which three Moroccan ELT textbooks
currently used in public high schools present activities that develop learners’ sense of
belonging to global and local communities and provide them with skills, knowledges
and behaviors that would make them good citizens of the world. The research was
informed by the theoretical framework of the Standards-Based Approach and
UNESCO’s (2015) global citizenship learning domains. It adopts a convergent parallel
mixed-methods design and uses content analysis as a data analysis method which
combines both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The materials included three
textbooks: Gateway to English 2, Insights into English 2 and Ticket to English 2. The
findings demonstrate that although the three textbooks actually provide a number of
activities that promote aspects of citizenship, there is still room for improving
learners’ awareness of various global issues including democracy, human rights and
conflict resolution. Other problems related to developing learners’ critical perspective
towards global citizenship themes in reading texts, speaking, listening and writing
activities, writing and project works are identified.
In light of the findings, this study concludes with a set of implications addressed to
textbook designers. To start with, textbook designers need to include activities that
promote understanding of how local, national and global political, economic and social
structures work, interact and influence our communities. Such activities include

†
My emphasis
 Ait-Bouzid / Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2) (2020) 229–242 241

reading, listening, speaking, writing and project work activities which encourage
learners to use their critical thinking to identify ways in which individual actions
towards glocal issues may have global consequences and vice-versa. One major point
that could be emphasized throughout these activities is questioning the utility of
global, national and local systems, laws and constitutions in promoting democracy by
comparing, contrasting and evaluating excerpts of official documents. Textbook
designers are expected to move beyond the mere superficial presentation of facts and
information about global citizenship issues to creating learning situations where
learners are required to critically analyze, interpret and evaluate causes,
consequences and possible practical solutions for global phenomena. Textbook
designers are also encouraged to design activities that allow for discussing local issues
that have national and global dimensions and inspire students to plan and take
individual or collective action by providing examples of successful people who take
local action against global problems. It is of crucial importance that students are
made aware that individual small actions on the local scale can certainly make a
difference on the national and global scale as well.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Bouchaib Benzehaf for proofreading the final version of
the paper.

The Conflict of Interest Statement

In line with the statement of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), I hereby

declare that we had no conflicting interests regarding any parties of this study.

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