Policy and ELT Curriculum: A Systematic Review of the Research Literature in the Years 2010-2020

This study was conducted to systematically review the English Language Teaching (ELT) curriculum and policy studies. A systematic literature review was utilized to describe the features, trends, and patterns of ELT curriculum and policy studies through the Preferred Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Seventy-three empirical articles published between 2010 and 2020 were analyzed based on geographical region, research methodology, participants, and research focus. Results revealed that most of the reviewed studies (58.90%, n=43) were conducted between 2016 and 2020, whereas about 41.1 % (n=30) of the reviewed studies were carried out between 2010 and 2015. Moreover, about 68.49% of the reviewed studies employed a qualitative research design, followed by a mixed-method (about 24.65%), whereas only about 6.86% used a quantitative research methodology. Results showed that most of the studies targeted ELT policy and curriculum in Asia (54.79%), followed by Europe (20.55%), America (13.70%), and Africa (6.84 %). Furthermore, 4.10 % of the studies examined ELT curriculum and policy globally. Thirty-four ELT policy and curriculum studies focused on teachers, three articles focused on learners, and only two papers targeted other participants. Findings showed that it would be difficult to discern a strong pattern in the ELT curriculum and policy studies since they targeted various issues. The majority of the reports were small-scale qualitative studies conducted in Asian countries; therefore, to address the issue of generalizability in ELT, more extensive quantitative studies in different geographical areas are needed.