PEDAGOGICAL SHIFTS IN FLIPPED ESL/EFL CLASSROOMS WITH MULTIMODAL INTEGRATION: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW OF DIGITAL TOOLS, ENGAGEMENT, AND ASSESSMENT

Abstract

This review examines pedagogical shifts in flipped English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) classrooms from a multimodal perspective, focusing on digital tools, student engagement, and assessment. It explores how multimodal technologies are used in flipped ESL/EFL contexts, compares patterns of learner participation, identifies emerging assessment practices, and analyses challenges related to technology, engagement, and evaluation. Using a structured integrative literature review approach, the study synthesises relevant scholarship published between 2015 and 2025. Fifty empirical, review-based, bibliometric, and conceptual studies from diverse international contexts were selected as the core analytical sample because of their relevance to flipped ESL/EFL classrooms, multimodal integration, digital tools, student engagement, assessment practices, and pedagogical change. The findings indicate extensive use of multimodal digital technologies, including AI applications, gamification platforms, learning management systems, and video-based tools, which appear to support learner autonomy and participation. However, their effectiveness is often constrained by infrastructural limitations, unequal access, uneven digital literacy, student readiness, and self-regulation challenges. The reviewed studies also highlight collaborative and interactive teaching practices that may enhance engagement, while showing that multimodal and AI-mediated assessment practices remain underdeveloped in relation to validity, reliability, and standardisation. Overall, the review suggests a shift toward more constructivist and learner-focused pedagogy, while indicating the need for more robust, context-sensitive research and clearer assessment frameworks.