Special Issue theme: Transcultural communication across academic spaces: Views from the Middle East and North Africa

This special issue aims to build on and extend current intercultural and transcultural communication research that has examined issues of language, culture, and power in higher education institutions, formal and institutional policies, and classroom practices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The special issue is timely as it provides a range of current investigations that serve as a significant resource for intercultural and transcultural communication researchers and policymakers at a time when English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) programs, particularly in the MENA region, are receiving substantial attention. As a collection of empirical studies situated in diverse national contexts, this special issue also aims to address the need for empirically grounded work in the region. Hence, the collection of articles in this issue aims to shed light on the current intercultural and transcultural communication knowledge base, views, policies, and practices in the MENA region to pave the way for reforms in institutional policies and conceptual and empirically informed research recommendations in relation to intercultural communication education.