Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the types of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading instructional approaches that are reflected in the Malaysian English Language Secondary Curriculum. Based on such analysis, a comparison was made to explore if reading instructional approaches reflected in the curriculum are in alignment with communicative instructional approaches under the umbrella of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in line with the current communicative label of the Malaysian English Language Secondary Curriculum. This study used document reviews as the primary data collection. The coding of data analysis was based on the modifications of the components of Richards and Rodgers’s (2001) method of analysis for language teaching model. The Malaysian English language secondary reading curriculum was elicited from two primary curriculum documents. The curriculum was examined in terms of theories of second language (L2) reading, theories of L2 reading processing, learner roles, and teacher function in relation to communicative L2 reading instructional approaches. In general, the findings of the study suggest that the majority of reading tasks in the Malaysian English language secondary reading curriculum do not reflect the characteristics of CLT in contrast to its current communicative label. The results of the study were discussed in terms of the setbacks of incoherent curriculum and its instructional impact at the current and next school levels in the selected setting.