The global shift toward communication-driven education has positioned Communicative Language Instruction (CLI) as a vital approach in teaching English, particularly in Indonesian secondary and vocational schools. Despite its increasing application, a systematic understanding of CLI's scholarly development remains limited. This study aims to fill that gap through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of CLI research published between 2014 and 2024. Using structured searches across Google Scholar, Scopus, and Dimensions, an initial dataset of 223 articles was collected. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria focusing on peer-reviewed studies in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, a total of 97 articles were selected for analysis. Bibliometric tools including VOSviewer and Publish or Perish (PoP) were employed to examine metadata such as publication trends, authorship patterns, keyword frequencies, and country distributions. The results show a substantial rise in CLI-related publications, from 7 in 2014 to a peak of 29 in both 2021 and 2022. Indonesia produced the highest number of studies (n = 11), followed by Iran (n = 10). Keyword co-occurrence revealed dominant themes such as "language teaching," "practice," and "interaction," with a strong emphasis on English for Specific Purposes (ESP), particularly in tourism and hospitality. Citation mapping identified three major research clusters and emerging authors contributing to this field. These findings highlight the growing relevance of CLI in vocational education and underscore the importance of integrating ESP content, intercultural competence, and technology-enhanced learning to prepare students for participation in an increasingly globalized workforce.
Arbain et al. (2025) studied this question.