Equity and Epistemic Justice of English-Medium Instruction in the Middle East and North Africa: A Critical Realism Perspective

Higher institutions of learning are dominated by the English language. This paper interrogates equity and epistemic justice posed by the dominance of English-medium instruction in educational institutions. It argues that the processes of internationalisation and globalisation work in complicity with neocolonialism, perpetuating the subjugation of local languages and barring access to knowledge for the majority. The underpinning arguments are based on the realities of six Middle Eastern institutions of higher learning and six in Africa. The study is contextualised in the educational policy transformation imperatives that adopt English-medium instruction. The paper has adopted critical realism in order to highlight the epistemic injustice and linguistic inequality resulting from the hegemony of the English language. Uncritical adoption of the English language perpetuates injustices suffered by the users of other languages. The paper highlights epistemic access challenges in the context of knowledge economies. The main argument is that English-medium instruction is responsible for the troubles of epistemic access because it serves the aspirations of the minority elite at the expense of the majority.