Challenges of teaching english in a multilingual classroom

The exposure of English in education has led to many countries becoming bilingual or even multilingual rather monolingual. So, teaching English to MLs has turned into a demanding challenge for teachers due to the linguistic background in the classrooms. However, challenges are neither perturbing nor overwhelming. Thus, teaching without challenges is featureless and ineffective. This systematic review aimed to explore the challenges English teachers face when teaching English in multilingual classrooms. Some of the challenges faced were lack of teacher training, appropriate use of methods and strategies by the teachers, lack of English proficiency among learners due to their linguistic backgrounds, and lack of resources. For this study, 20 articles published between 2010 and 2023 were collected to analyze their data and main findings about teaching English to MLs. Major findings showed methods that can be applied in multilingualism as well as strategies to promote teachers and students’ interaction in the classroom. Finally, in this systematic review, consistent teacher training programmers are required. It is imperative to have committed, innovative, dynamic, empathetic, and organized teachers to promote quality multilingual education, teachers should be expertise in the discipline.