Analyzing the Content of 2nd Secondary School Grade English Language Textbooks in Light of Life Skills in Jordan

- - Abstract: This descriptive-analytic study aimed at identifying the included life skills in the content of 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan through a model for classifying life skills. The researchers designed the content analysis card sought to collect data relevant to the study. The findings of the study showed that there is variance in presenting the nine main domains in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks. Even in the one domain, there is a variance in presenting the items. The findings indicated that there are 2676 life skills included in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan; the effective communicative 24.96%, interpersonal relationship 13.57%, decision-making 11.43%, problem-solving 10.61%, self-awareness building 10.54%, creative thinking 7.70%, empathy 7.66%, coping with stress and emotions 7.51%, critical thinking 6.02%. Also, the findings indicated that the effective communication life skills in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan have the highest percentage. the 5th basic grade English textbooks of Jordan and Finland. The findings indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the degree of inclusion of overall life skills in the 5th grade English language textbooks between Jordan and Finland in favor of the Finnish textbook, and the findings also indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the degree of inclusion of the fields life skills in the 5th grade English language textbook between Jordan and Finland; where the Jordanian English language textbook surpassed the Finnish English language textbook in both mental and manual skills. However, the Finnish English language textbook surpassed the Jordanian English language textbook in social skills.


I. Introduction
The importance of English in the non-English world has made individuals try to develop their English in order to communicate well with individuals all over the world. Consequently, English has been one of the essential subjects for all stages in Jordan. Jordanian students learn English as a foreign language starting in the first grade and continue to do so until the twelfth grade.
English Language textbooks have a crucial role in the teaching-learning process. Textbooks provide resources to be educated by an instructor to learners and provide knowledge and information for learners (Cozens & Parker, 2020;Srivastava, 2017;Richards, 2001;Keshta, 2000).
English language textbooks serve as means of teaching and learning for both teacher and learner. EFL educators employ textbooks to guide their instructions. So textbooks greatly impact how content is delivered (Carretero Gómez, 2021;Tan, 2018;Irannezhad, 2017;Parry&Nomikou, 2014). Besides, textbooks such as English language textbooks are essential materials of the English curricula since it is the essence of teaching and learning English. In addition, there are many calls to activate these life skills as crucial substantial skills in the curricula, mainly EFL curricula (Bani Amer, 2021, Gayatri et al., 2017, Lagat, 2017. In Jordan's educational system, textbooks are considered the key components of the curriculum. The Directorate of Curricula in the Ministry of Education improves the content, the techniques, and the procedures for teaching and learning in the teaching space. They also provide an organized syllabus for instructors to follow in teaching a certain subject. In Jordan, the textbook is designed by authorized publishers based on the latest curriculum (Bani Amer& Al-Khataybeh,2021). Recently, the Ministry of Education launched curriculum 2015 which purposes to prepare productive, creative, and innovative generations of Jordan. As the new curriculum is applied, there are changes in the educational system, including the teaching materials. A textbook must be of a suitable quality, beneficial and appropriate for the context and individuals with whom they are being used if an instructor is going to use it in language teaching (Javrh& Mozina, 2018;Dhanasekaran, 2018;Kwauk & Braga, 2017).
The learners are witnessing rapidly changing social, moral, ethical, and religious values around them. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide learners with a new set of ways and systems to deal with the demands of life; it is Basic that the learners be helped to develop their life skills to handle a variety of choices and changes (Saravanakumar, 2020;Ahmad, 2016;Fahim, 2005). Life skills grant the learners self-esteem and confidence through the implementation of life skills. This allows learners to be more competitive in a positive sense. Life skills encourage healthy behavior, maintain mental well-being and prevent behavioral and health problems (UNICEF, 2012). Therefore, life skills have been implemented in education settings and integrated into the curriculum of many countries (Monteiro & Shetty, 2016;Yadav & Iqbal, 2009).
Life skills are basic learning needs for Basic and Secondary stages learners' such as communication, intellectual capacity, interpersonal skill, self-esteem, leadership, and responsibility. Life skills enable learners to translate knowledge, attitudes, and values into actual abilities and enable learners to behave in correct ways; life skills improve the academic performance of learners (Nivedita & Singh, 2016;Al Masri&Smadi, 2016;Reddy, 2017).
Life skills are very useful for good adjustment in society. These are skills that motivate even more learners to behave in a healthy way if they wish to do so and have the scope or opportunity to do so. It forms a link between self-help and self-discipline. These skills also help to improve interpersonal relationships with a sense of physical and mental well-being. It promotes physical health, and positive mental and social attitudes. It also prevents mental disorders and behavior problems, as well as avoids health problems (Rani &Menka, 2019; Tan, 2018;Bardhan, 2016;Fitzpatrick, 2014).
Life skills can be mostly defined as abilities that enable individuals to deal dynamically with life's demands, problems, and challenges. They may also be defined as psychosocial skills, as they are psychological in nature and cover thinking and behavioral processes. Some define life skills as behavioral, cognitive, or interpersonal skills that enable persons to succeed in the parts of life, life skills are often broken down into three types; Thinking skills, social skills, and emotional skills. (Sharma, & Sharma, 2017 ;Borba,2016;Singh&Gera, 2015;Yadav& Iqbal 2009). The researchers believe that life skills are a series of experience that provides people with needed skills that develop their characters to be good members of their societies. There is a serious need to provide Jordanian 2nd secondary school grade with a list of life skills to cope with the progress of the world. In the current study, the researchers intend to investigate the extent of the existence of these life skills in the content of 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan through a model for classifying life skills.

Justification of Study
Textbook plays an important role in the overall development of human beings. School education helps in the formation of a sound personality in the secondary stage learners. Today, more and more societal pressures, greater complexity, uncertainty and diversity, rapid changes in the environment, and continued deprivation put 2nd secondary school grade students' at the crossroads of their lives facing an uncertain future in facing the responsibilities of adulthood and entering the world of work. During the 21st century, life, globally, is undergoing significant transition and change. Among the most affected are secondary school students. Life skills play an essential part in secondary school students which are the future of our country. If learners have better life skills they will adjust in a better way and their selfconfidence will be higher. The young generation is the one who can easily bring about changes in society with their enthusiasm and zeal. That is why the researchers have selected the 2nd secondary school English language textbooks to analyze how well these textbooks include life skills. All the above factors provided enthusiasm to the researchers to take up the topic for this study.

Statement of the Problem
In light of the above justification, the researchers had planned to conduct the study entitled, "Analyzing the Content of 2nd Secondary School Grade English Language Textbooks in Light of Life Skills in Jordan."

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the current study is to analyze the content of 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan based on the availability of life skills and to determine the frequencies and percentages of the life skills present in these textbooks.

Questions of the Study
To achieve the purposes of the study, the following questions were answered: 1. What are the life skills included in the 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan? 2. What are the occurrences of the sub-categories of life skills included in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan?

II. Review of Literatures
Alsayel (2021) conducted a study aimed at analyzing the content in the 5th basic grade English language textbook of Jordan and Finland in light of life skills. The researcher prepared a list of life skills that have to be included in the 5th basic grade; she prepared a content analysis card consisting of three fields of life skills: mental, manual, and social. The study used a descriptive-analytical approach; the study sample was the 5th basic grade English textbooks of Jordan and Finland. The findings indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the degree of inclusion of overall life skills in the 5th grade English language textbooks between Jordan and Finland in favor of the Finnish textbook, and the findings also indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the degree of inclusion of the fields life skills in the 5th grade English language textbook between Jordan and Finland; where the Jordanian English language textbook surpassed the Finnish English language textbook in both mental and manual skills. However, the Finnish English language textbook surpassed the Jordanian English language textbook in social skills.
Al Jurani & Al Khalidi (2021) conducted research aimed to analyze the chemistry textbooks for the preparatory stage according to life skills. The researchers prepared a list of life skills included thirty skills for seven fields that are necessary for analyzing chemistry textbooks for achieving the aims of the research. The research adopted the analytical descriptive approach, the research sample consisted of three textbooks, a chemistry textbook for the 4th scientific grade, and a chemistry textbook for the 5th grade for (bio-applied), the researchers analyzed the content of the chemistry textbook for the 4th and 5th scientific grades in the (biological -applied) branch according to the modified tool. The researchers adopted the concept unit (explicit and implicit) as a unit for recording and repetition and as a unit for the census and to ensure the validity of the analysis, then analyzing a random sample and presenting it to a group of arbitrators. The arbitrators agreed on the validity of the analysis, and the stability of the analysis was calculated between the researchers and themselves over a period of time and presented to external analysts using the Copper equation. The results showed that the chemistry textbook for the 5th preparatory scientific (biological) grade at a frequency of (4791) with a percentage of (40.80%) among the three textbooks, The Chemistry textbook for the 4th preparatory scientific class came in second place with a frequency of (3547) with a percentage of (30.21%), and in the last place was the Chemistry textbook for the 5th preparatory class, the scientific branch (applied) with a frequency of (3402) with a percentage of (28.97%).
Al-Khlan's (2021) study aimed to identify the extent of integration, division, and balance of life skills in the Sharia sciences textbooks in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades of the basic stage. The population and sample of the study consisted of the whole content of the pupils and activities' textbooks for those three grades of basic stage. The areas of life skills analyzed were time management, decision-making, problem-solving, social communication, personal skills, and higher thinking skills). The descriptive-analytical approach was used to collect and analyze data. The findings showed that the life skills areas were distributed unevenly in Sharia sciences textbooks. The findings also showed that the area of social communication was incorporated more than the remaining areas and that the areas of personal skills and higher thinking skills were fairly incorporated in some textbooks. The rest of the areas of life skills were incorporated with a less-than-expected ratio and the time management area were among the least incorporated areas, which demands reconsideration of life skills distribution and incorporation in the Sharia sciences textbooks to create a balanced distribution.
Al-Deiri (2019) conducted a study aimed at identifying the degree to which Secondary school teachers in Jordan possess 'life skills". A descriptive survey method was used. The study consisted of 91 Secondary teachers in the Za'tari Camp distributed among six (6) Secondary schools. The researcher developed a questionnaire consisting of (36) items addressing four main domains: communication skills، positive thinking، anger management، and decision-making and problem solving. The study showed that the Secondary school teachers exhibit a moderate level of life skills، and there were statistically significant differences in life skills between genders، with female teachers possessing slightly higher level of life skills. There were statistically significant differences also based on time in the teaching profession، with teachers with more than 10 years of experience demonstrating higher life skills. There were also statistically significant differences based on academic qualifications among teachers، in favor of those teachers who have completed postgraduate studies. The life skills of decision-making and problem were ranked highest، with an average of (3.96) ، while anger management came last with an average of (2.75).
Al-Qusairy( 2018) conducted a study aimed to identify the degree to which students in the first three grades achieve life skills from the female teachers' perspectives. The sample consisted of (112) female teachers of Bani Kenanah educational directorate. The researcher has chosen the sample according to random-cluster sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to elicit data to identify the degree to which students in the first three grades acquire life skills from the female teachers' perspectives. The findings indicated that the degree to which students achieve life skills fell in the "medium" category. The obtained findings also showed that there were statistical differences in the female teachers' ratings attributed to academic qualifications in favor of female teachers holding bachelor degree or lower. In addition, the results revealed no statistical differences in the female teachers' ratings attributed to female teachers' years of teaching experience or the class they teach.
Abu Saiba& Al Hadidi(2018) conducted their study aimed to identify the life skills included in the text book of English for the sixth Basic grade in Amman and the degree of students' acquisition it of these skills, from their teachers ' perspective. The sample of the study contained from all pages of the text book of English for the sixth Basic grade. Teachers sample consisted (322) teachers from three directorates. The researchers prepared both instrument of study the form, and the analysis of the level distributed on three main fields: mental skills, practical skills and social skills. Also they prepared a questionnaire consists of (26) items in three domains. The results indicated that the degree of availability of life skills included in the English language textbook for the sixth Basic grade was high in the field of mental skills, with a percentage (45%), and in the field of practical manual skills, it came with a moderate degree, at a rate of (34%). Social skills came at a low rate, at a rate of (21%). Also, the finding showed that the degree of students' acquisition it of these skills, from their teachers ' perspective with an intermediate degree and in all three fields of study and there are no differences according to the variables: gender, educational qualification, and level of experience, with the exception of the gender variable in the field of social skills and in favor of females.
Al-Faraji (2017) aimed in his study to analyze the life skills included in the sciences books for the elementary stage in Iraq. Content analysis has been applied using a valid and reliable instrument included the life skills distributed to five domains: health skills, nutrition skills, and environmental skills and manual skills. The sample consisted of the sciences textbooks for fourth, fifth, and sixth elementary grade in Iraq. The findings indicated that the fourth grade textbook come at the first rank regarding the life skills by (10) frequencies, followed by the sixth grade textbook by (11) frequencies, and finally the fifth grade textbook by (11) frequencies. The manual skills field came first in the three textbooks together by (11) frequencies, then environmental skills field by (11) frequencies, then the health skills field by (18) frequencies, then, the nutrition skills field by (16) frequencies, and finally the precautionary skills field by (61) frequencies.
From the reviewed studies, it is clear that all studies were related to life skills through analysis and the level of achievement. The researchers analyzed different school subjects, such as (Alsayel, 2021;Abu Saiba& Al Hadidi, 2018) who analyzed the life skills in English language textbooks. The study of (Al Jurani & Al Khalidi, 2021;Al-Faraji, 2017) analyzed life skills in science textbooks. Moreover, the study of (Al-Khlan, 2021) analyzed the life skills in Sharia sciences textbooks. The study of (Al-Deiri, 2019; Al-Qusairy, 2018) identified the degree to possess life skills. The present study seeks to analyze the content of 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan and to find out the degree of the availability of life skills. This study differs from the reviewed studies because it analyzes the content of 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan. There are no, to the researchers' best knowledge, studies that analyzed English language textbooks, specifically under the study.

The Population of the Study
The population of the study consisted of 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks which are instructed in Jordan in the scholastic year 2021/2022.

The Sample of the Study
The sample of the study consisted of all content included in the 2nd the secondary school grade English language textbook "Action Back" (Student's Book and Activity Book).

The Instrument of the Study
To achieve the study purposes, the researchers developed a life skills list included in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan based on the educational literature in this context, life skills list consisted of (9) categories, while each category has a number of the sub-category. The researchers developed life skills with the nine categories: (1) Problem-solving (2) Critical thinking (3) Effective communication, (4) Decision making, (5) Creative thinking (6) Interpersonal relationships (7) Self-awareness building (8) Empathy (9) Coping with stress and emotions, to analyze the content in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks to judge the availability and distribution of life skills in these textbooks.

Validity of the Instrument
Instrument validity has been referred for examination by a number of professional experts and professors in Mutah University and English language supervisors in order to ascertain thorough wording of the life skills list, accurate phraseology, and clear components, some skills, and phrases have been amended for improving the degree of life skills list validity.

Reliability of the Instrument
The verification of the reliability of the analysis by employing a re-analysis of the content of 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks by the researchers after a period of four weeks, then the percentage of agreement between the number two times of Analysis was calculated using the Cooper equation to ensure ratios agreement for the purposes of the reliability analysis and the results were ranged from (89%-92%) for each textbook, which is high ratios indicate the availability of high degree of reliability in the analysis.

Analysis Procedures 1. Unit of Analysis
The unit of analysis used in this study was the sentence, the word, the picture, the sign, and the expression which shows or indicates a specific life skill.

Categories of Analysis
Understanding the essential domains of the proposed life skills included in English language textbooks for the Secondary stage in Jordan, and the sub-skills that fall below it and belonging to it, it has represented the following areas: (1) Problem-solving (2) Critical thinking (3) Effective communication, (4) Decision making, (5) Creative thinking (6) Interpersonal relationships (7) Self-awareness building (8) Empathy (9) Coping with stress and emotions.

Analysis Method Used
This study used the content analysis method for the detection of life skills in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan.

Statistical Analyses
This research is descriptive in nature. The researchers used the analytical approach design (content analysis, frequencies, and percentages)

IV. Discussion
The current study aims to investigate the existence of life skills in the content of 2 nd secondary school English language textbooks in Jordan. These life skills are Problem-solving, Critical thinking, Effective Communication, Decision making, Creative thinking, Interpersonal relationship, Self-awareness building, Empathy, Coping with stress and emotions life skills. Another purpose is to identify the occurrences of the sub-categories of life skills included in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan.
This part introduces the findings of the study as they are statistically treated in addition to the analysis and discussion of the results in light of the questions of the study. The researchers used different statistical analyses such as means of frequencies and percentages to show the final collected data results.

Findings related to the first question "What are the Life Skills Included in the 2 nd Secondary School Grade English Language Textbooks in Jordan?"
The content analysis card was designed to collect the relevant data regarding the first study question "What are the life skills included in the 2 nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan?" In order to answer the first question, the researchers analyzed the content of 2nd secondary school English language textbooks in Jordan. The analysis included the student's book and the activity Book of 2 nd secondary grade.
Table (1) shows the total number of life skills that appear in the Basic stage English language textbooks. These life skills are classified into nine domains namely; (1) Problemsolving (2) Critical thinking (3) Effective communication, (4) Decision making, (5) Creative thinking (6) Interpersonal relationships (7) Self-awareness building (8) Empathy (9) Coping with stress and emotions.   (2676) life skills included in 2 nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan, the effective communicative life skills domain gets the highest score of 668 frequencies, 24.96%. The next score is the interpersonal relationship life skills domain. It got a score of 363 frequencies, 13.57%. Decision Making Life Skills is in the third position with 306 frequencies, 11.43%. The fourth is problem solving life skills domain that gets 284 frequencies, 10.61%. The fifth is self-awareness building life skills domain that gets 282 frequencies, 10.54%. The sixth is creative thinking life skills domain that gets 206 frequencies, 7.70%. The seventh is empathy life skills domain that gets 205 frequencies, 7.66%. The eighth is the coping with stress and emotions of life skills that gets201 frequencies, 7.51%. The lowest score is critical thinking life skills domain with only161 frequencies, 6.02%.

Findings Related to the Second Question "What are the Occurrences of the Sub-Categories of Life Skills Included in 2 nd Secondary School Grade English Language Textbooks in Jordan?"
In order to answer the second question, the researchers put each domain of life skills included in 2 nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in separate tables which present more accurate the frequencies and percentages of the main life skills and sub-skills as shown below; Table (2) presents the frequencies and percentages of the Problem-solving life skills included in 2 nd secondary school grade English language textbooks.  Table (2) presents the percentage of frequencies for each item in the Problem-Solving life skills domain out of the total percentage of frequencies. The item "Planning various alternatives" got the highest scores 80 frequencies, in a percentage 28.17%. The researchers consider these results strong if they are compared with the total percentage of the domain.   Table (3) presents the percentage of frequencies for each item in the critical thinking life skills domain out of the total percentage of frequencies. The item "Observational skills" got the highest score 45 frequencies in a percentage of 27.95% .The researchers think that organizing thoughts is a very important. Table (3) presents the frequencies and percentages of the Effective communicative life skills included in in 2 nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan.  Table (3) presents the percentage of frequencies for each item in the effective communicative life skills domain out of the total percentage of frequencies. The item "Written communication" got the highest score 236 frequencies in a percentage of 35.33%. The researchers think that written communication skills got this score because English language textbooks for 2 nd secondary school grade English language textbooks depend mainly on communicating with others.     (5) presents the percentage of frequencies for each item in the creative thinking life skills domain out of the total percentage of frequencies. The item "Prediction" got the highest scores 68 frequencies in a percentage of 33.01%. The researchers think that Prediction is a very important skill.    (7) presents the frequencies and percentages of the Self-awareness building life skills included in 2 nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan.   (7) presents the percentage of frequencies for each item in the self-awareness building life skills domain out of the total percentage of frequencies. The item "Demonstrating honesty and integrity "got the highest score 83 frequencies in a percentage of 29.43%.     (9) presents the percentage of frequencies for each item in the coping with stress and emotions of life skills domain out of the total percentage of frequencies. The item "Expressing own feelings" got the highest score 54 frequencies in a percentage of 26.87%.

V. Conclusion
The main findings touched on the variance that occurred in the distribution of the nine main domains in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan. There is (2676) life skills included in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan; the effective communicative life skills domain gets the highest score of 668 frequencies, 24.96%. The next score is the interpersonal relationship life skills domain. It got a score of 363 frequencies, 13.57%. The Decision-Making Life Skills domain is in the third position with 306 frequencies, 11.43%. The fourth is the problem-solving life skills domain which gets 284 frequencies, 10.61%. The fifth is self-awareness building life skills domain that gets 282 frequencies, 10.54%. The sixth is the creative thinking life skills domain which gets 206 frequencies, 7.70%. The seventh is the empathy life skills domain which gets 205 frequencies, 7.66%. The eighth is the coping with stress and emotions of life skills that gets201 frequencies, 7.51%. The lowest score is the critical thinking life skills domain with only161 frequencies, 6.02%.
The findings of the study show that there is a variance in presenting the nine main domains in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan. Even in the one domain, there is a variance in presenting the items. Also, the findings indicated that the effective communication life skills in 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan have the highest percentage. It is clear that the 2nd secondary school grade English language textbooks in Jordan focus on communication.Life skills' distribution indicates the lack of a good strategy based on the design and development of English language textbooks for 2nd secondary school grade in Jordan in the distribution of life skills and the extent mentioned in these textbooks, and the appearances of some life skills were not demanded level, in spite of its significance and the necessity of the learners. Whereas, some of the life skills record very few percentages which are not accepted, where is considered effective on the level of learner education life skills. So what is required is to include these life skills in English language textbooks for 2nd secondary grade.