Is it a method or approach? A systematic review of communicative language teaching in Japan

Abstract

In many FL contexts, pressure to adopt Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has surged. In Japan, CLT is gradually being implemented by teachers and schools following the Ministry of Education’s efforts to improve Japanese learners’ communication skills. This systematic review article has two primary goals: to understand how the Japanese research community define and conceptualize CLT in the context of the ongoing policy shift, and to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom-based CLT research on Japanese learners’ language development. Analysis reveals significant inconsistencies in how CLT is defined and conceptualized, often conflating it with a method of training speaking proficiency. This framing of CLT as a method primarily for speaking is argued to stem from misinterpretations of domestic macro-level policies and CLT’s positioning in duality with traditional methods which inaccurately shoehorn it into the same categorical container of a method rather than approach. Moreover, while classroom-based research in Japan offers some empirical evidence that CLT has language learning benefits, there are insufficient studies which show how CLT can be effectively adapted in contextually appropriate ways, which is partly due to methodological issues and a lack of robust testing instruments. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for future research.