Significance of the Study 

English language holds a key position when it pertains to secondary and tertiary education in almost two-thirds of the world space of education. The language has enjoyed, and still continues to enjoy, as the only medium of instruction for all streams of professional education in world acclaimed universities [1]. The purpose of this study pertains to the concept that a language teacher plays an indomitable role in deciding the competences and skills developed in a learner with respect to 21^st century skills and technology supported learning. The 21^st Century teacher and a teacher educator must also, not in any case, overlook the needs and challenges faced by learners of present age of education [2-3]. Cultivating the ability to navigate the complex life and work environments requires students to pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and career skills such as flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, and leadership and responsibility which in turn are the products of 21^st Century learning process to a good extent. In this context, the present study was undertaken by the researcher to study the relationship between 21st century skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers in Kerala state, India [4].

Objectives of the Study

• To study the significant relationship between 21^st century skills (4CS) and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• To study the significant relationship between critical thinking skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• To study the significant relationship between communication skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• To study the significant relationship between creative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• To study the significant relationship between collaborative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

Hypotheses of the study

• There is no significant relationship between 21^st century skills (4CS) and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There is no significant relationship between critical thinking skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There is no significant relationship between communication skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There is no significant relationship between creative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There is no significant relationship between collaborative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers      

In the present study the investigator followed normative survey method. stratified random sampling technique was adopted to select the subjects for the present study and about 500 in service English language teachers from different colleges in Northern Kerala were included as sample to collect the data. The Four Communication Skills Scale (4CS) constructed and validated by the investigator and Teacher Effectiveness scale constructed by Sujatha Mishra were used for data collection.The collected data was subjected to correlation analysis. This study is confined to only English language teachers working in colleges of Kerala state, India as the sample of the study.

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

In orderto study the significance of the relationship between 21^st century skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers ,the Four Communication Skills Scale (4CS) was constructed and validated by the investigator and Teacher Effectiveness scale constructed by Sujatha Mishra were used to collect the data for 500 in service English language teachers [5]. The collected data were subjected to correlation analysis. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (‘r) was calculated to test the hypotheses framed. The results of the findings are being tabulated below with interpretation.

Hypothesis 1

Table -1shows that, the co-efficient of correlation between 21^st century skills(4CS) and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers is found to be significant N = 500, r = .543 at 0.01 level which indicates that there is a positive relationship between 21^st century skills(4CS) and teacher effectiveness scores. Therefore, hypothesis 1 is rejected and it is concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between 21^st century skills (4CS) and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers.

Hypothesis 2

Table -1shows that, the co-efficient of correlation between critical thinking skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers is found to be significant N = 500, r = 0.438 at 0.01 level which indicates that there is a positive relationship between critical thinking skills and teacher effectiveness scores. Therefore hypothesis 2 is rejected and it is concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between critical thinking skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers.

Hypothesis 3

Table -1shows that, the co-efficient of correlation between communication skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers is found to be significant N = 500, r = .576 at 0.01 level which indicates that there is a positive relationship between communication skills and teacher effectiveness scores. Therefore, hypothesis 3 is rejected and it is concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between communication skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers.

Hypothesis 4

Table -1shows that, the co-efficient of correlation between creative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers is found to be significant N = 500, r = .312 at 0.01 level which indicates that there is a positive relationship between creative skills and teacher effectiveness scores. Therefore, hypothesis 4 is rejected and it is concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between creative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

Hypothesis 5

Table -1shows that, the co-efficient of correlation between collaborative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers is found to be significant N = 500, r = .568 at 0.01 level which indicates that there is a positive relationship between collaborative skills and teacher effectiveness scores. Therefore, hypothesis 5 is rejected and it is concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between collaborative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers.

Major Findings of the Study

• There exists a significant and positive relationship between 21^st century skills (4CS) and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There exists a significant and positive relationship between critical thinking skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There exists a significant and positiverelationship between communication skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There exists a significant and positiverelationship between creative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

• There exists a significant and positiverelationship between collaborative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers

Table 1: Showing the correlation values between 21st Century Skills (4CS) and Teacher Effectiveness among English Language Teachers

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

The present study was undertaken by the researcher to study the relationship between 21^st century skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers in Kerala state, India. For this purpose, the Four Communication Skills Scale (4CS) constructed and validated by the investigator and Teacher Effectiveness scale constructed by Sujatha Mishra were used for data collection. The sample consists of 500 in service English language teachers from different colleges in Northern Kerala, India by adopting stratified random sampling technique. The findings of the study revealed that there exists a positive and significant relationship between 21st century skills (4CS) and teacher effectiveness; critical thinking skills and teacher effectiveness; communication skills and teacher effectiveness; creative skills and teacher effectiveness; collaborative skills and teacher effectiveness among English language teachers.

1. Agarwal, Y.P. Statistical Methods: Concepts, Application and Computation. Sterling Publishers, 1986.

2. Richards, Jack C. Competence and Performance in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

3. Lavender, S. “Towards a framework for language improvement within short in-service teacher development programmes.” Language in Language Teacher Education, edited by H. Trappes-Lomax and G. Ferguson, John Benjamins, 2002, pp. 237–50.

4. Mini, V. and Veena S. “Construction of a tool to measure the 21st-century skills among English language teachers.” High Technology Letters, vol. 26, no. 8, 2020, pp. 618–631.
   http://www.gjstx-e.cn/gallery/63-aug2020.pdf.

5. Richards, Jack C. and Charles Lockhart. Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge University Press, 1994.