Creating classrooms conducive to 21st century students is one of the most difficult tasks faced by contemporary teachers. The critical thinking and problem-solving skills required by learners apply not only to the classroom environment, but also for the working world later because the world they will later inhabit is dynamic. The new geopolitical map of the world requires students to be proficient communicators, creators, critical thinkers, and collaborators. Hence, these are the communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity (4Cs) that we must help our students develop. Moreover, teaching can be rewarding when outputs from students demonstrate acceptable or strong indicators. These indicators according to Bruno (2019) are: the application of critical thinking, adaptability and adjustment to the continuously transforming labor force, capacity to work globally and the ability to lead an organization. Due to their exposure to the 21st century as learners, they should be able to exhibit not only possession, but also, productive application of these skills.

Many proponents (e.g., Rich, 2010; Levin-Goldberg, 2012; Scott, 2015; Ross, 2017) agreed that teaching in the 21st century does not only focus on how to teach, but one of its major concerns is also what to teach. Levin-Goldberg (2012) asserted that there are numerous pedagogical strategies educators can employ to infuse the 4Cs into their curriculum and instruction, for instance, the integration of technology in the classroom to create a richer learning environment. Research studies support that enabling our students to reach their educational goals and gain the skills they need to actively participate in the 21st century is important to all of us as language educators. The current study is driven by the aim of simplifying the definitions of the 4Cs. Accordingly, while communication is a factor of expressing views, queries, thoughts, and solutions, collaboration is working as a team to be able to achieve targets through combining talents, skills and expertise. Furthermore, critical thinking is approaching problems to arrive at possible logical and appropriate solutions; and creativity is experimentation, attempting new methods for the achievement of goals where innovation and invention are applied. These skills could be integrated into Business English instructions, and these four 21st century skills work together and are interdependent to ensure reasonable English proficiency for our students to successfully function in the contemporary world. The essential elements of these 4Cs of the 21st century have been deeply researched by many scholars. Scott (2015) talked in details about these 4Cs as communication, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. In terms of communication, she stated that it is the ability to relay ideas clearly and convincingly in both oral and written modes. It also includes learners’ ability to clarify thoughts, share comprehensible directions and stimulate the interests of others orally. She also clarifies that collaboration is defined as the ability to work effectively and respectfully with others, show flexibility and the ability to compromise to accomplish common goals. With the inception of new digital technologies in the educational field, collaboration among learners could be functional in face-to-face or distance interaction. Working as a team may involve the utilization of the social media for goals to be attained collectively. 21st-century skills are more relevant to learners nowadays since they do not only offer a context for effective acquisition of knowledge in the classroom, but also, guarantee how learners can grow in an environment where transformation is permanent and knowledge achievement is a continuous process (Ross, 2017).

Achievement of these among learners is positively contributory to global growth. By applying the 4Cs, contemporary ways of learning are created, and this, in turn, is commonly addressed as 21st century learning. To ensure the global growth of the students’ collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving are essential (Rich, 2010) as the current age is an age of awareness. Further, critical thinking includes accessing, analyzing and synthesizing information; skills under critical thinking are understood as the basic foundation to 21st century learning and creativity is the ability to construct new ideas and genuine solutions to existing problems. Hence, creative skills are defined as the ability to use a wide range of idea-generating techniques (e.g., brainstorming), develop new and useful ideas and communicate them to others, elaborate, analyze, refine, evaluate original ideas, and be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; and incorporate feedback and input from others. Learners who possess creativity can cope with global competitiveness (Scott, 2015). In renowned research finding, commissioned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ahmadi Conley (2007) found that students who were adept at analysis, interpretation, precision and accuracy, problem solving, and reasoning were successful. Critical thinking can be as or more important than content knowledge in determining success in college courses. In terms of digital literacy goals, the four Cs of 21st century learning are also the guiding principles for students where every learner is empowered as a digital citizen, knowledge constructor, innovative designer, computational thinker, creative communicator and a world collaborator. It is understood that while learners are involved in business English lessons where 21st century skills are integrated, digital literacy can also be realized.

The 4Cs of the 21st century have been investigated in various language learning settings in many studies (e.g., Suto and Eccles, 2014; Bedir, 2019; Imamyartha et al., 2019; Azhary and Ratmanida, 2021), However, there is a dearth of similar studies in a Saudi setting. Moreover, some of the research correlated the 4Cs with teacher training, e.g., Bedir (2019) and Erdoğan (2019), lesson plan (Azhary and Ratmanida, 2021), reading skills (Imamyartha et al., 2019), EFL classroom (Pardede, 2020), etc. Other studies linked one of the 4Cs skills with English language teaching (ELT), for example communication (Pheeraphan, 2013; Heinrichs, 2016; Pattiwael, 2016; Abd Rahman et al., 2019); collaboration (e.g., Laal et al., 2012; Alahdal and Al-Ahdal, 2019; Cannon, 2019; Putri et al., 2020); critical thinking (e.g., Yazici, 2004; Al-Shalabi, 2015; Chouari and Nachit, 2016; Tuzlukova et al., 2018; Rahman, 2019); and creativity, e.g., Henriksen et al. (2016), Kweldju (2016), Ahmadi and Besançon (2017), Sitorus et al. (2020), and Soykurt (2020). To the researcher’s knowledge, no study has so far explored the 4Cs skills in the business English classroom nor has a teaching model which integrates the 4Cs in Business English classroom been suggested. Therefore, this study is a pioneer in the field of ESP due to the practical model it designed and applied. Moreover, its importance stems from the identification of some of the gaps that appeared while applying the model and the suggested deliberate instructional steps required for application of the model.

Basic data on teachers’ education and teaching exposure and experience were also gathered as illustrated in Table 2 below. The majority of the respondents were Master degree teachers (F = 78) followed by Ph.D. degree teachers (F = 48) and only 14 of them had Bachelor degrees. Forty of them had teaching experience between 5 and 10 years, and 28 of them had taught business English for 4 years or less.

The data collected were analyzed in terms of percentage (%), mode and rank from the data obtained from a 7- point Likert scale for the first part of the questionnaire, i.e., the general perception of the framework, in which (1 = absolutely inappropriate; 2 = in appropriate; 3 = slightly inappropriate; 4 = neutral; 5 = slightly appropriate; 6 = appropriate; and 7 = absolutely appropriate). For the second part, i.e., the effectiveness of the framework, five-point Likert scale was used in which (1 = not effective and 5 = very effective).

To answer RQ1: How suitable or appropriate are the 4Cs integrated with Business English tasks? Seven levels of appropriacy were made available for the responses of the teachers. Table 3 demonstrates generally the suitability or appropriateness of the 4Cs with Business English tasks based on teachers’ perception of the framework. The majority of teachers, 60.71% viewed the framework as appropriate, 18.57% of them perceived the framework as absolutely appropriate. Also, 17.14% of the teachers discerned the framework to be slightly appropriate. Only, 3.57% of the teachers were neutral. Finally, only one teacher perceived the framework as inappropriate.

As can be seen from the data, findings clearly show the positive perceptions of the teachers toward the integration of the 4Cs in Business English. Seen together with the responses that pertain to RQ2, the overall picture reflected is of the teachers’ state of high readiness to adopt the framework as summarized in Table 4.

The following RQ2 was: How do teachers perceive the effectiveness of integrating the 4Cs 21st century skills in business English instructions through the paradigm?

Table 4 reveals the general effectiveness of the framework as perceived by teachers upon the application of framework in their classes, which answers RQ2, How do teachers perceive the effectiveness of integrating the 21st century skills in business English instruction through the paradigm?

A detailed discussion of the responses towards each of the 4Cs follows:

Statistics under critical thinking reveal that the central tendency (mode) of the paradigm’s application alongside the lesson under this C of the 21st century is four, which is equivalent to effective. Out of the respondents (44.28%) argued that it is effective while (33.571%) of the respondents claimed it is moderately effective whereas (14.28%) of them perceived the paradigm to be very effective.

As far as creativity goes, Table 4 shows the central tendency defining creativity in the lesson perceived as moderately effective by (41.42%) of teachers. In other words, using the introduced paradigm alongside Business English lessons is found to be moderately effective, while (33.57%) of them perceived the paradigm to be effective. Moreover, out of the respondent (15.71%) reported the integration of creativity in the EFL classroom to be very effective.

Through a process of elimination, the researcher was able to come up with four lessons (Table 4) in business English where the 4Cs of the 21st century skills will be infused during instruction, which answers RQ3: What are some teacher-observations that may fill-in instructional gaps?

Some of the answers reported by teachers are:

Furthermore, other teachers recommended EFL teachers to integrate the 4Cs in the teaching of language skills. Some of the answers are:

Still some others focused on the preparation and availability of technology in the EFL classroom. They opined:

The researcher then developed a conceptual plan for Business English lessons which answers the next RQ4: What are some Business English instructions that could illustrate the formulated paradigm? The summary is presented in Table 5 below.

There are four pathways to bring the conceptual plan into the Business English classroom. Each of these is discussed as a Task in the following section. These Tasks are practical tips for the teachers to follow in the teaching process.

Task 1: Communication: The Flow of Communication/Communication Process.

The conduct of the lesson will have to consider the SLOs (objectives), the skills (receptive and productive) to be developed. and the language foci, the way they are going to be grouped (interaction patterns) and the expected result (output) of the lesson.

Task 2: Collaboration: Surveying actions to do/action research method.

Task 3: Critical thinking: Analyzing information in a table.

Task 4: Creativity: Constructing advertisement guidelines of a market product.

The study reported the perceptions of teachers of the appropriateness of the general framework. The study found that the majority of teachers viewed the framework as appropriate. The perceptions ranged from appropriate to absolutely appropriate to slightly appropriate. This finding shows us the positive awareness that EFL teachers have for integration of the 4Cs in the EFL classroom to produce learners armed with the skills needed for the 21st century. This finding is supported by other findings (Fandiño, 2013; Erdoğan, 2019; Pardede, 2020). Pardede (2020) which stated that EFL classrooms should do all it takes to enable learners to obtain and advance their 21st century skills. For instance, Erdoğan (2019) asserted that EFL learners should be given the opportunities to discover their innovativeness in preparation for global competitiveness in the 21st century. Fandiño (2013) pointed out that EFL classrooms should be equipped with intellectually and meaningfully engaging tasks in order to give time to students to apply their productive skills. Furthermore, Devkota et al. (2017) found that the classrooms should have a curriculum that caters to the 21st century needs of the students which means traditional learning should be converted into modern methodologies through suitable content, tools or equipment.

Moreover, the study also obtained feedback on how effective the integration of the 4Cs is in the lessons on Business English. It was found that teachers’ perception of this ranged from moderately effective to very effective. Abd Rahman et al. (2019) pointed out that communication is an important tool for learners’ broader interactions. In order to achieve modern communication capabilities, students need to be exposed to digital media, especially that which characterizes the 21st century involving the application of technological inventions and breakthroughs of social media. Similarly, Putri et al. (2020) found that focusing on collaboration in language teaching enhances the capacity of students to cooperatively perform their work effectively. Moreover, Tuzlukova et al. (2018) argued that language educators perceived activities to develop students’ critical thinking, that’s why these should be performed in an integrated setting. Language skills such as the receptive and productive skills should be in one way or another manipulated for critical thinking activities. Finally, Soykurt (2020) illustrated that framed innovative activities provided to students and contemporary teaching methodologies manipulated into English lessons can trigger creativity among students.

The study explored what is required to integrate the 4Cs in the EFL classroom and concluded that teachers’ training programs on integrating the 4Cs is the need of the hour. These findings are in line with some previous studies. Doringin and Sasmoko (2017) emphasized that professional development programs have a strong impact in transferring 21st century skills to learners. Further, Bedir (2019) pointed out that teacher training programs on 21st century learning skills are of great importance. Teachers are expected to be immersed and have acquired technological knowledge and instructional information for 21st century learners. Others recommended the teachers integrate the 4Cs through the four language skills. Imamyartha et al. (2019) pointed out that 4Cs can be integrated in reading instructions. The assumed integration could aid instructors to innovatively construct a learning 21st century setting that supports the metacognition of learners and the acquisition of sufficient level of knowledge. Finally, still others recommended the importance of good preparation of the classrooms and integrating technology with the 4Cs. This finding is confirmed by Henriksen et al. (2016) who pointed out that creativity and technology could be infused together in a way that both are enhanced.

Educational research is meaningful only when the impact of the findings can be seen in the classroom, and for this to happen, such research should be able to suggest pertinent pedagogical changes.

The Table 6 below summarizes pedagogical findings which may fill-in the gaps of integrating the 4Cs of the 21st century in language teaching such as in Business English. The current study also presents supporting instances from the available literature for further orientation of the teachers desirous of bringing the 4Cs model into the Business English classrooms.

The focal point of this study is to explore the integration of the 21st century 4Cs into business English instruction. With the use of an original framework teachers’ observations were obtained. The feedback gave way to the significant pedagogical values of the study and the emergence of the six principles to be observed in the utilization of business English lessons that integrate 4Cs of the 21st century. These principles can serve as standards for teaching and at the same time, recommendations for teachers in the ELT world.

This study has been reinforced by previous research on similar subjects that have reached similar findings. In terms of 21st century skills’ integration into ELT despite varied classroom settings, factors such as professional development, ELT methods of teaching, technological tools, curriculum, goals and objectives; learners’ backgrounds and variations of tasks and activities play a vital part in the learning and teaching process.

Finally, we should not forget that exposing learners to the 4Cs skills creates an overall impact in the lives of our learners for productivity, knowledge or awareness, independency and global competitiveness as Carvalho and Santos (2021) opined. The 4Cs, communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity, are not new. They’ve been with us for more than a decade. Yet, they are the basis for great teaching and eventual student success. We are educating our students to compete in a global society and meet the challenges of a constantly changing workforce that requires better prepared employees. Our students must be proficient communicators, creators, critical thinkers, and collaborators. These are the important 4Cs that we must help our students develop to succeed.

Due to the feedback provided by the respondents that were classified as general pedagogical findings on the 21st century skills, some principles to strengthen 21st century skills in business English instructions were formulated. I would like to present six principles that may serve as my recommendations to fellow educators that include the teachers, curriculum planners and education policy makers. Underpinnings are also mentioned to further emphasize that these are also advocated by other research.

The study is broad-based with a reasonable number of respondents. However, the researcher feels that it lacks qualitative data which would have added a new dimension to its applicability. In addition to this, replication of this study in different settings and with varied teacher respondents is likely to bring new insight into the challenge of keeping the language classroom updated with global trends. Finally, the direct input of industry which provides employment opportunities to university graduates needs to be considered to ensure that the educational paradigm is in tune with the workplace needs.

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/Supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.