Communicative Language Teaching Implementation in Vietnam: A Protocol for a Qualitative Research Synthesis

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been the cornerstone of English language education reform in Vietnam since the launch of the National Foreign Language Project 2020, yet a substantial gap persists between communicative policy orientations and the pedagogical realities reported by teachers across different educational contexts. Despite a growing body of qualitative primary research documenting this implementation gap, no systematic synthesis has been conducted using rigorous qualitative research synthesis methodology. This paper presents a protocol for a qualitative research synthesis that will systematically map, synthesise, and appraise qualitative evidence on CLT implementation in Vietnamese EFL contexts from 2008 to the present. The protocol follows an established framework for qualitative research synthesis in TESOL and the Synthesis Methods and Reporting Tool developed for research syntheses in applied linguistics. Three research questions direct the synthesis: and what methodological patterns characterise the existing qualitative literature; and what barriers are reported by Vietnamese EFL teachers; what facilitative conditions are identified. The protocol specifies search strategies, inclusion and exclusion criteria, a coding framework, and a quality appraisal approach. This synthesis will contribute to the evidence base for curriculum designers, teacher educators, and policymakers in Vietnam and comparable EFL reform contexts in Southeast Asia.