Debriefing and Structured Reflection after Communicative Tasks in Second Language and ESP Learning: A PRISMA-Guided Systematic Review with VOSviewer Bibliometric Mapping (2000–2026)

Background. Simulations, role plays, and other communicative tasks are central to second language (L2) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching. Experiential-learning and simulation theory treat the reflective phase that follows such tasks (debriefing, guided reflection, self-review) as the place where experience becomes learning. No review has yet synthesised what is known about this post-performance phase in L2 learning. Methods. Following PRISMA 2020, three Boolean queries were run in OpenAlex (2000–2026). A documented rule-based screen produced a bibliometric corpus of 888 records, which was mapped in VOSviewer 1.6.21 through term co-occurrence, overlay, and co-citation analyses. From this corpus, 405 candidates were screened against eligibility criteria for empirical studies in which L2 learners engaged in a structured reflective phase after an oral or interactive task. Included studies were coded for context, design, reflective modality, and outcomes, appraised with an MMAT-informed rubric, and synthesised narratively by modality. Results. Forty-three studies (46 reports) met the criteria. They used five reflective modalities: structured debriefing (10 studies), post-task transcription (10), guided self-reflection or self-assessment (15), recording-based self-review (9), and peer or multi-source feedback with reflection (13). The most consistent controlled evidence concerned accuracy gains from transcription and guided reflection between task repetitions, although one randomised study found no added benefit. Evidence for structured debriefing of simulations and role plays rested mainly on qualitative, survey, and action-research designs. Only 12 of the 88 corpus records that mentioned debriefing described it as a pedagogical phase after an L2 task. Co-citation analysis showed that the field draws on experiential, task-performance, task-based-pedagogy, and interaction/noticing traditions, but not on the simulation-debriefing literature. Conclusions. Post-performance reflection in L2 learning is promising, but the evidence is fragmented and methodologically uneven. A five-phase reflective cycle (performance, evidence capture, structured reflection, calibration, and feedforward) is proposed to guide practice and a research agenda that prioritises controlled comparisons of debriefing formats, interactional and professional outcomes, and transparent reporting.