Communicative Language Teaching in Low-Resource Multilingual Classrooms: A Critical Integrative Review of Principles and Material Dimensions with a Focus on Tanzania
Aug 2026· Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies· Vol 52, pp. 36-53· 0 citations
Abstract
Communicative language teaching has been adopted as the official orientation of English language curricula across much of sub-Saharan Africa, yet the conditions that the approach presupposes are frequently absent from the classrooms in which it is mandated. Tanzania presents a demanding test of the approach. English becomes the medium of instruction at the point of transition to secondary schooling, most learners arrive with limited command of it, Kiswahili functions as the national lingua franca alongside more than a hundred community languages, and classes are large while teaching materials are scarce. This review examines what can defensibly be claimed about the operation of communicative principles under these conditions, with particular attention to the material dimension of implementation, meaning textbooks, supplementary and authentic resources, and the ways in which such artefacts are used, adapted or circumvented in practice. Literature was identified through structured searching of multidisciplinary, education-specific and African scholarly sources, and evidence was appraised for design adequacy, transparency, contextual specificity and consistency with independent findings. Three findings emerge with reasonable confidence. First, the recurring account of failed implementation rests on a version of communicative language teaching that its principal theorists have long abandoned, so that documented departures from an activity template are weak evidence about communicative principles as such. Second, the material base functions less as a delivery vehicle for method than as a constraint that shapes which interactional possibilities exist at all, and locally developed language-supportive materials show promise that remains inadequately evaluated. Third, the Tanzanian evidence base is dominated by small qualitative and self-report studies concentrated in accessible regions, with almost no learning-outcome data and no replication. Priorities for research are identified accordingly, together with the design features that would allow the field to move beyond documenting non-implementation.
Multilingualism is a defining feature of South African higher education, yet university classrooms frequently remain organised around English as the principal language of teaching, learning, and assessment. This conceptual article examines how university students and lecturers use language in multilingual classrooms and proposes an inclusive framework for transforming linguistic diversity into a pedagogical resource. The article is based on an integrative review of scholarship on multilingual higher education, translanguaging, linguistic capital, epistemic access, and language-policy implementation, with particular attention to South African research and policy. The synthesis identifies five interrelated patterns. First, English offers mobility and access to global academic discourse, but simultaneously functions as a gatekeeping mechanism. Second, students use code-switching, peer explanation, translation, multilingual note-making, and digital communication to negotiate meaning. Third, lecturers employ multilingual practices unevenly, often informally and without adequate institutional support. Fourth, strategic translanguaging can strengthen conceptual understanding, participation, identity affirmation, and epistemic access. Fifth, implementation is constrained by multilingual class composition, limited terminology, assessment conventions, lecturer proficiency, workload, and monolingual institutional cultures. In response, the article develops the Inclusive Multilingual University Classroom Framework, comprising four connected dimensions: recognition of linguistic repertoires, purposeful multilingual pedagogy, equitable multilingual assessment support, and institutional enablement. The framework positions English and African languages as complementary rather than competing resources and assigns shared responsibilities to students, lecturers, departments, and university leadership. The article concludes that multilingual inclusion requires more than policy recognition or spontaneous code-switching. It requires planned pedagogical design, lecturer development, terminology resources, technology-supported access, and assessment practices that preserve disciplinary standards while widening opportunities to learn.
I. C. Mulaudzi, N. M. Nndwamato· International journal of res...· 0 citations
Few subjects in Indian education carry as much historical baggage and present-day urgency as the teaching of English. It arrived as an instrument of colonial administration, was retained after 1947 as a language of law, higher education, and the civil services, and now doubles as a marker of social mobility for some and of exclusion for others. This paper traces how these competing pressures have produced, over roughly a century and a half, a layered rather than linear history of pedagogy: colonial grammar-translation gave way to mid-century structuralism, which was in turn challenged by the communicative movement of the 1970s–90s, and all three now sit uneasily alongside the multilingual, learner-centred orientation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Rather than treating these as a tidy sequence of methods each superseding the last, the paper argues that they persist simultaneously, layered on top of one another in actual classrooms, because none of the underlying constraints that produced them — linguistic plurality, uneven teacher preparation, examination-driven assessment, and rural-urban resourcing gaps — has gone away. The review examines nine major models (Grammar-Translation, the Direct Method, the Structural-Situational Approach, the Bilingual Method, Communicative Language Teaching, Task-Based and Content-Based Instruction, the Eclectic Approach, multilingual/mother-tongue-based pedagogy, and technology-mediated instruction) against the specific realities of Indian classrooms, and closes by arguing that the country's diversity makes a single official method neither available nor desirable. What is available, and what the evidence supports, is a form of principled eclecticism: deliberate, trained combination of techniques rather than either nostalgic grammar-translation or an unreflective import of communicative orthodoxy.
Chandra Mukesh Swami (Assistant Professor)· International journal of re...· 0 citations
Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has been widely known as a promising approach within Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), yet its implementation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings frequently reveals a clear gap between theoretical ideals and classroom realities. This paper critically examines that gap, paying particular attention to how Long’s (1981) Interaction Hypothesis fares against the everyday constraints of managing instruction in Chinese middle schools. Drawing on empirical studies and key frameworks—including Krashen’s (1985) Input Hypothesis and Ellis’s (2003) work on task complexity—the analysis identifies a set of obstacles: teachers’ insufficient pedagogical preparation, students’ entrenched examination-oriented habits, and the logistical difficulties of fostering interaction in overcrowded classrooms. The tension between linguistic accuracy and communicative fluency is also addressed. Possible responses include differentiated task design, dynamic scaffolding, and strategic integration of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). The conclusion is that TBLT’s sustainability depends on pragmatic alignment with local socio-cultural conditions, not on wholesale replication of Western instructional models.
Shuming Qiu· Academic Journal of Educatio...· 0 citations
In contemporary language pedagogy, an array of effective methodologies and approaches exists for the English language classroom. While instructional styles have evolved across generations, traditional frameworks such as the Direct Method (DM) and the GrammarTranslation Method (GTM) remain widely utilized; yet, their student learning outcomes frequently fall short of learner expectations. To address the need for faster, more authentic communication within proper contextual boundaries, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) emerged as a prominent classroom approach. Rather than acting as a total replacement for previous methodologies, CLT serves as a contemporary framework that is heavily studied within the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). While substantial global literature exists regarding English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' perceptions of CLT, very few studies specifically investigate its practical implementation within Cambodian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Consequently, this study is designed to critically investigate EFL instructors' understanding of English pedagogy, focusing specifically on the challenges and constraints they encounter when implementing CLT in Cambodian HEIs.
Khun Choeurn· International Journal For Mu...· 0 citations
In South African multilingual classrooms, assessment remains constrained by monolingual English frameworks, creating a systemic contradiction with additive bilingualism policies. This qualitative study explores how pre-service teachers navigate this contradiction and argues that they are often socialized into a “pedagogy of compromise.” Within this approach, translanguaging is accepted as a scaffold in formative assessment but largely excluded from high-stakes summative assessment, thereby sustaining English's dominance. Drawing on questionnaire and interview data from twenty-fourth-year pre-service teachers, the study, using reflexive thematic analysis, identifies a persistent gap between beliefs and practices. While participants recognized the potential value of translanguaging, many showed conceptual confusion between translanguaging and code-switching. In practice, home languages were predominantly used as a bridge to support learning, rather than as legitimate resources for demonstrating knowledge in assessment. Informed by sociocultural perspectives on learning and language interdependence, and critically attentive to the dominance of English in education, the findings suggest that supporting translanguaging in assessment requires more than technical training. It also involves engaging with underlying language ideologies that shape South African classrooms and assessment practices. The paper concludes by recommending that teacher education programs should create opportunities for critical dialogue, provide practical experience in designing multilingual assessments, and support greater alignment between language policy and assessment practices.
Olabisi F. Olaoye· ACITYA Journal of Teaching &...· 0 citations
This paper investigates the potential, affordances, and systemic challenges involved in integrating corpus linguistics and Data-Driven Learning (DDL) methodologies into language and literature education at the tertiary level, with a particular focus on the teacher’s perspective. While electronic corpora offer substantial opportunities to bridge the divide between abstract grammar instruction and authentic language use, their adoption remains limited by traditional educational structures. The study examines the diagnostic value and specific applicability of corpus-based approaches for undergraduate students in India who have completed their primary and secondary education in regional-medium institutions. Employing both direct (learner-led) and indirect (teacher-mediated) corpus methodologies, the research identifies key institutional, pedagogical, and technical obstacles to the widespread implementation of corpora. The paper concludes by proposing a strategic framework for corpus literacy training, syllabus redesign, and blended pedagogical tools aimed at fostering student autonomy and enhancing linguistic competence within the distinctive context of the Indian ESL (English as a Second Language) classroom
B. M., Vanitha· International Journal For Mu...· 0 citations
