Teacher sensemaking and adaptive enactment of curriculum reform based on the CEFR in Malaysian secondary ESL classrooms

Mat Yusoff, Shahazwan and Mohamad Marzaini, Anwar Farhan and Ahamat, Mohd Iqbal and Abdullah, Mohammad Ridhuan and Seyapalan, Evanna Devi and Ali Huddin, Muhammad Ridha (2026) Teacher sensemaking and adaptive enactment of curriculum reform based on the CEFR in Malaysian secondary ESL classrooms. Discover Education, 5 (1152). pp. 1-17. ISSN 2731-5525

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Abstract

CEFR implementation in Malaysia remains uneven despite its promise to strengthen proficiency-based, skills-oriented, and communicative English language teaching. Although previous studies have documented teachers’ positive perceptions and implementation challenges, less is known about how teachers interpret, negotiate, and adapt the CEFR-aligned curriculum in everyday classroom practice. Addressing this gap, this qualitative case study examined how secondary school ESL teachers in Petaling Utama, Malaysia, made sense of and adaptively enacted the CEFR-aligned curriculum. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with ten ESL teachers from three government secondary schools, comprising five novice and five senior teachers. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically using deductive and inductive coding. Three findings emerged. First, teachers viewed CEFR as a structured framework for organising learning objectives, language skills, and communicative activities, although some understood it mainly as a syllabus guide rather than a proficiency-based framework. Second, teachers negotiated implementation through classroom realities, including low and mixed learner proficiency, limited instructional time, unfamiliar cultural content, examination pressure, and guided learner autonomy. Third, novice and senior teachers reported differences in adaptive enactment. Novice teachers mainly described task selection and difficulty adjustment, whereas senior teachers reported a broader range of strategies such as scaffolding, differentiation, intervention, motivation, and low-anxiety communicative support. The study shows that CEFR enactment is shaped by teacher sense-making, classroom realities, professional experience, and local classroom practice conditions

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	CEFR-aligned curriculum, ESL teachers, Qualitative case study, Curriculum implementation, Pedagogical adaptation
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Education > Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Depositing User:	Dr Mohamad Ridhuan Abdullah
Date Deposited:	02 Nov 2026 11:54
Last Update:	02 Nov 2026 11:54
Queue Number:	2026-10-Q5930
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/132020
Indexed In:	SCOPUS, Google Scholar

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