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English-medium instruction in higher education in Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

The past decade has witnessed a rapid growth of English-medium Instruction (EMI) programs in many higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia (Alnasser, 2022; Al-Hoorie et al., 2021; Allmnakrah & Evers, 2020; Almoaily & Alnasser, 2019; Elyas, 2008, 2011; Elyas & Picard, 2010, 2013, 2018; Elyas & Badawood, 2016; Elyas & Al-Ghamdi, 2018; Phan & Barnawi, 2015; Barnawi & Al-Hawsawi, 2017; Barnawi, 2017, 2021a, 2021b). Commentators have identified several factors regarding this rapid growth of EMI in the Saudi context. These include the desire for internationalization (Phan & Barnawi, 2015), economic growth (Elyas & Picard, 2013; Elyas & Al-Ghamdi, 2018), the need to reform and shift educational policy (Allmnakrah & Evers, 2020) coupled with the desire to improve university rankings (Kirkpatrick, 2014; Tsou et al., 2017) towards a transnational world (De Costa et al., 2020). These driving forces have led to the expansion of EMI across Saudi universities, particularly in top-tier universities (De Costa et al., 2021), and the quest towards ‘global multiversities’ (Collini, 2012). The chapter reviews a range of historical and current investigations that may serve as an important resource for EMI researchers and policymakers at a time when EMI programs, particularly in Saudi Arabia, are getting increasing attention.
THE ROUTLEDGE
HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH-
MEDIUM INSTRUCTION
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
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19
ENGLISH-MEDIUM INSTRUCTION
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
IN SAUDI ARABIA
Tariq Elyas and Ali H. Al-Hoorie
Introduction
The past decade has witnessed a rapid growth of English-medium Instruction (EMI) programmes
in many higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia (Al-Hoorie, Al-Shahrani, Al Shlowiy, &
Mitchell, 2021; Allmnakrah & Evers, 2020; Almoaily & Alnasser, 2019; Alnasser, 2022; Barnawi,
2017, 2021a, 2021b; Barnawi & Al-Hawsawi, 2017; Elyas, 2008, 2011; Elyas & Al-Ghamdi,
2018; Elyas & Badawood, 2016; Elyas & Picard, 2010, 2013, 2018; Phan & Barnawi, 2015).
-
text. These include the desire for internationalisation (Phan & Barnawi, 2015), economic growth
(Elyas & Al-Ghamdi, 2018; Elyas & Picard, 2013), the need to reform and shift educational policy
coupled with the desire to improve university rankings towards a transnational world (Allmnakrah
& Evers, 2020; De Costa, Green-Eneix, & Li, 2020; Kirkpatrick, 2014; Tsou & Kao, 2017). These
driving forces have led to the expansion of EMI across Saudi universities, particularly in top-tier
universities (De Costa, Green-Eneix, & Li, 2021), and the quest towards ‘global multiversities’
(Collini, 2012). The chapter reviews a range of historical and current investigations that may serve
as an important resource for EMI researchers and policymakers at a time when EMI programmes,
particularly in Saudi Arabia, are getting increasing attention.
Description of the general sociolinguistic background
Since its founding in 1932, Saudi Arabia has been paying increasing attention to education gen-
    
serving the whole country, but since the late King Abdullah was crowned in 2005, the number
of universities has exploded to 29 public universities, 12 private universities, 13 colleges (both
public and private), and seven military colleges. The Saudi law mandates that Arabic be the
medium of instruction for all courses, unless otherwise approved by the respective university
council. Majors are, therefore, taught in Arabic, with the exception of certain ones such as medi-
-
tries, English serves as the de facto lingua franca (Alharbi, 2017). The foundation year, which
includes intensive English courses, is currently a requirement at most Saudi universities. Outside
Tariq Elyas and Ali H. Al-Hoorie
260
the nation’s borders, the country has also established a generous scholarship programme, mostly
to English-speaking countries, through which hundreds of thousands of undergraduate and gradu-
ate students have been admitted to over the years (for more on the history of teaching English in
Saudi Arabia, see Al-Hoorie et al., 2021; Barnawi & Al-Hawsawi, 2017; Elyas & Picard, 2018;
Mahboob & Elyas, 2014).
At a societal level, pre-9/11, conservative commentators in the country expressed concerns
about the introduction of English to education (Elyas, 2008). From their perspective, this move
was viewed as a threat to Arab and Muslim identity, ‘relegating Arabic to a second-class status’
(Habbash & Troudi, 2015, p. 71), and potentially creating a linguistic cultural dualism (Louber
& Troudi, 2019). Some went as far as describing it as a conspiracy targeting Islam and its values,
with the aim of westernising Muslim societies (Elyas, 2008, 2011). Calls were made to Arabise
Saudi curricula, including medicine, following the Syrian example where medical education
has been taught in Arabic for decades. From the government’s perspective, English is seen as
one tool to address the heavy dependence on foreign workforce in the country and lower the
unemployment rate in the country. This is because English is the lingua franca of science in
this globalised world, allowing citizens to gain knowledge and skills and to build intellectual
and economic capital. Furthermore, some view the Englishisation and internationalisation of
-
derstanding of the West and non-Muslims in an atmosphere plagued by extremism and othering
the West for about half a century (Barnawi & Al-Hawsawi, 2017). Thus, despite the legal re-
quirement of using Arabic as a medium of instruction, and in recognition of the value of English
skills in the global neoliberal market (Elyas & Picard, 2013), the Saudi government established
an ambitious 1-billion-dollar initiative, the Colleges of Excellence initiative, to provide locals
with technical and vocational skills needed in the job market. The business model for ‘Colleges
of Excellence’, established in 2013, invites international training providers to bid for training
services in a multi-stage tender process. Successful bidders then run their colleges within Saudi
Arabia independently while being regulated, funded, and overseen by the Colleges of Excel-
lence administration.
EMI is an essential element in these colleges. To date, around 20 colleges were set up in-
volving 30 different majors in 16 cities serving 200,000 students. Successful bidders have come
mostly from the UK and Canada, with some coming from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands,
Spain, and New Zealand. Since the language of instruction is English, this has resulted in a high
demand for teaching English to post-secondary students. Private language institutes took advan-
tage of this opportunity, creating ‘a growing shadow market’ (Phan & Barnawi, 2015, p. 56),
with centres such as Direct English, New Horizon, Education First, and Interlink. This situation
has created an attractive job market for English-language teachers, especially ‘native speakers’.
According to Phan and Barnawi (2015), ‘the country has become one of the most generous EFL
job markets on earth, in which wages on offer are extremely high’ (p. 56). Impressive as it is, and
overshadowing the discussion in the next section, the above situation was apparently also open
to abuse (Phan & Barnawi, 2015). Local newspapers, such as Al-Riyadh, Al-Watan, and Okaz,
reported that some providers resorted to subcontracting to local and international schools and

claiming that teachers were sometimes hired based on a short training course such as CELTA,

to Bin Ali (2018), the Colleges of Excellence initiative maintains a high level of secrecy and lack
of transparency about its operations and outcomes. Reportedly, its colleges have a high student
English-medium instruction in higher education in Saudi Arabia
261
turnover rate, its degrees are not recognised by the Ministry of Human Resources in the country,
and its graduates are not welcome in the private sector because of doubts about the quality of their

Ocial language policies relating to EMI higher education
English-language policies in Saudi Arabia have received growing attention in recent years by
homegrown scholars (Alnasser, 2022; Elyas & Badawood, 2016; Payne & Almansour, 2014), and
the policies in Saudi Arabia’s higher education seem to be implicit in nature. Saudi Arabian gov-
ernment is viewed as fully responsible for higher education and indeed all education (Elyas & Pic-
ard, 2013). Like the general education policies, the English-language teaching policies have been
 
Department Centre for Development. The general educational policies between 1970 and 2001 are
represented in Figures 19.1a, b (Elyas & Al-Ghamdi, 2018).
English pre-2000
English-language instruction, like the rest of the curriculum in Saudi Arabia, is directly linked to
the notion of ‘the faith of Islam’ () and thus the ‘network of educational practices’
which should serve the purposes of the Islamic religion (Meyer, 2001). The structure of the dis-
   
policy begins with a statement about ‘one of the goals of the education system in Saudi Arabia
emphasizes the role of the Islam in everyday citizen’s life’. It concludes with the role of English is
to ‘contribute to the spread of the faith of Islam and service to humanity’ (
), emphasising the vital importance of Islamic faith in every subject (Elyas
& Al-Ghamdi, 2018). Many changes were made at the beginning of 2001. The MoE consequently
developed the Ministry of Education Ten-Year Plan (2004–2014), which outlined the goals for
that ten-year period, as follows: (i) Building houses of expertise and instructional design centres;
(ii) complete development of interactive digital curricula which balances between the presented
amount of knowledge with learner’s needs and requirements; (iii) developing primary levels cur-
riculum that enhance stable personality and values and develop life skills for the learners; (iv)
developing secondary school curricula to contribute to the labour market; (v) forming general cur-
riculum and specialised material standards along with curriculum developments; (vi) orientation
of staff working in creating the curricula; and (vii) preparing experts in creating curricula (Minis-
try of Education, 2005). In this document, Islamic religious and national ‘aspirations’ are put aside
in favour of brief mentions of ‘legitimacy and national balanced vision’, which is interpreted as
valuing of both Islamic and ‘global identities.’ The rest of the document, focusses on educational
discourse, as well as the role of the individual and global ‘digital’ interactions. These interactions
are complex in nature and may challenge the dynamic and visible power hierarchy between the
teachers and students. Elyas and Picard (2013) claimed that MoE works on a
transnational neoliberal governmentality [at the time] which operates on the local educa-
tional hierarchy and the discourses are made visible in hierarchical policies and practices

governmentality as well as through the visible power of their institution.
(p. 36)
Tariq Elyas and Ali H. Al-Hoorie
262
English post-2000
After 2000, the General Director of Curriculum Department Centre for Development, Dr. Al-Mi-
kaizmi, introduced a new policy related to ELT. The central control of the MoE and the value they
placed on this policy is emphasised by the fact that this policy is included on the second page of
each student’s English textbook at elementary, middle, and secondary schools in the country. In-
terestingly, this policy has not been revised with the advent of Tatweer-Development () (Elyas
& Badawood, 2016),1 although the emphasis on information literacy is likely to impact the teach-
ing of English (Elyas & Al-Ghamdi, 2018). This document is represented in Figure 19.1a (Arabic
version) and 19.1b (English translation by authors). As with the previous policy documents, the
role of English as an instrument to acquire other knowledge ‘Arts and Science’ is emphasised.
However, this policy appears to adopt a ‘weaker Islamization’ position than the former one. The
emphasis is no longer merely on ‘modern-day knowledge’ in the form of science and technology;
knowledge in ‘arts’ is placed alongside and equal to sciences, as represented by the parallel gram-

and 2001 due to the MoE policy that highlighted the goals and objectives of education in the
country. This policy served as the primary guideline provided to teachers and curriculum design-

(Al-Attas, 1979). This document addressed a range of discourses prevalent in Saudi Arabia, most
importantly the notion of the centrality of the Islamic religion in every facet of life and the notion
of the ‘religious networks’ operating according to the tenets of the Qur’an and Hadith (Tibi, 1997,
2001). This ‘network of practice’ (Meyer, 2001), operated within religious as well as political
spheres in Saudi societal network of practices. Equally, as noted in a previous study (Elyas,
2011), Islamic studies and Arabic language instruction were compulsory for university students,
and all curricula were infused with religious and moral content. Educational policy relating to
general education, university education and even the teaching of English were likewise infused
with sacred texts (Elyas, 2011).
داﺪﻋإأﺎﻨﻟﺎﻔطماﺪﺨﺘﺳﻻﺔﻐﻠﻟاﺔﯾﺰﯿﻠﺠﻧﻹاﻲﺘﻟاﺖﺤﺒﺻأﻦﻣﺮﺜﻛأتﺎﻐﻠﻟاارﺎﺸﺘﻧاﻲﻓﻢﻟﺎﻌﻟا،ةدﺎﻌﺘﺳدروﻦﯿﻤﻠﺴﻤﻟا
ﻲﻓةرﺎﻀﺤﻟاﺔﯿﻧﺎﺴﻧﻹاﻦﻣلﻼبﺎﺴﺘﻛاﺔﻓﺮﻌﻤﻟاﻲﻓنﻮﻨﻔﻟامﻮﻠﻌﻟاوﺔﺑﻮﺘﻜﻤﻟاهﺬﮭﺑ.ﺔﻐﻠﻟاﻦﻜﻤﯾمﺎﯿﻘﻟاﻚﻟنود
ﺰﯾﺰﻌﺗقﻼﺧﻷاتادﺎﻌﻟاوﻲﺘﻟاضرﺎﻌﺘﺗﻊﻣﺎﻨﺗاﺪﻘﺘﻌﺔﯿﻨﯾﺪﻟا.ﺎﻨﺗادﺎﻋو
To prepare our children to use English, which has become one of the most widely used
languages in the world, for the resumption of the Muslims’ role in human civilization
through gaining knowledge in arts and science written in this language. This can be done
without promoting moral and customs that are contradictory to our religious beliefs and
customs.
ً
Figure 19.1 (a) Policy for ELT 21 century for all school levels ‘Arabic Version’ (Ministry of Education,
General Director of Curriculum, 2002). (b) Policy for ELT 21 century for all school levels
‘English Version’ (Ministry of Education, General Director of Curriculum, 2002).
English-medium instruction in higher education in Saudi Arabia
263
The expansion of EMI in Saudi Arabia
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, like elsewhere in the world, the Saudi government has placed a
great importance to its national education reforms and has made enormous efforts over the past
decade in improving its status quo by launching a series of reforms (Elyas & Al-Ghamdi, 2018;
Elyas & Picard, 2013). As its reforms have attracted a good share of criticism for not attain-
ing their desired outcomes, there is an imperative need to re-address Saudi education policies
to meet the increasing demand of Saudi’s new economic vision and strategic goals towards a
sustainable economy through school graduates (Allmnakrah & Evers, 2020). One of its reform
policies is the Saudisation of governmental and private jobs, which, among other objectives,
-
eign workers with Saudi nationals where English is being used as a lingua franca among the
diverse nationalities in large corporations and companies (Alharbi, 2017). Recently, there has
been a growing recognition of the urgent need for educational reform in Saudi Arabia, especially
after the launch of the Economic Vision 2030.2 Several researchers and experts have argued
Figure 19.2 Saudi Arabia’s Economic Vision 2030 initiative.
Tariq Elyas and Ali H. Al-Hoorie
264
that essential changes in the education system are also necessary if young Saudis are to remain

(2007) notes that ‘the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the places where people are starting
to question more, particularly under a reform-oriented king’ (p. 6). Saudi universities are likely
to internationalise their educational services in relation to the Saudi government’s 2030 Vision.
Most Saudi students recognise English as a language required for passing examinations, but it is
also of utmost importance in higher education, trade, and international business communication

biggest calls to link education with economic growth (see Figure 19.2 above).
Thus, the 2030 Vision has been a leading force towards the expansion of EMI (Macaro,
Curle, Pun, An, & Dearden, 2018; Wächter & Maiworm, 2014), especially in Saudi higher
education. This switch towards EMI across academic disciplines has occurred as a dyad with
curriculum ‘Englishisation’ across the globe (Rose & McKinley, 2018). This kind of rapid
and bold neoliberalism, some argue, serves as a covert language policy mechanism pushing
the global spread of English (Piller & Cho, 2013). According to McCarthy, Pitton, Kim and
Monje (2009), neoliberalism should be seen in the context of multinational capital’s strategic
translation of globalisation and the corresponding withdrawal and disengagement of the state
in a broad range of economic and political affairs. Although neoliberalism in education (and
higher education in particular) have been explored extensively over the past three decades
(Davies & Bansel, 2007), it is only more recently that neoliberal governmentality has been
explored in relation to education in developing countries such as in the Saudi Arabian context
(Ansell, Hajdu, Robson, Van Blerk, & Marandet, 2012). Neoliberalism ‘relies on a society
of individuals’ (Harrison, 2007, p. 1313) who are motivated by global market forces, while
transnational neoliberal governmentality transmits its non-corporeal power to individuals in
developing countries with the power to directly transmit these discourses, as in the case of

education sector. In the new ‘neoliberalism movement’, Elyas and Picard (2013) highlight that
‘neoliberalism could hopefully address the needs of local learners and teachers to operate in
a globally’ (p. 38) competitive environment to meet the ever-developing economy and educa-
tion in Saudi Arabia. As Baker and Fang (2021) surmise, EMI universities are a fertile place to
nurture global citizens.
It is apparent that English in higher education in Saudi Arabia has recently gained some
ground (Barnawi, 2022; Elyas & Picard, 2013). This shift has given English a new status in
higher institutions in Saudi Arabia. The English language is used to teach academic subjects

2018). Others have described the process of Englishisation of higher education as having ‘mud-
died the water of EMI’ implementation and causing various social and academic problems for
both students and lecturers (Hu & Lei, 2014; Piller & Cho, 2013), as well as inadequate learning
outcomes and poor teaching quality (Hu & Duan, 2019; Rose, McKinley, Xu, & Zhou, 2020;
Rose, Sahan, & Zhou, 2022). More than a decade ago, Elyas and Picard (2013) claimed that
Saudi Arabia adopted a ‘safe harbors’ approach of settled educational practices and philosophies
in order to better address the challenges posed to schooling by the dynamics associated with
globalisation and multiplicity and effectiveness of its EMI implications (Elyas & Picard, 2013;
McCarthy et al., 2009).
English-medium instruction in higher education in Saudi Arabia
265
The eectiveness of EMI in Saudi higher education
 
years (Elyas, 2008; Mahboob & Elyas, 2014). Saudi schools have started preparing students to
study abroad to seek a ‘Western education’, in keeping with twentieth-century skills and require-
ments. In 1936, the Scholarship Preparation School was established in Makkah, primarily to pre-
pare students to travel abroad (Al-Ghamdi & Abd-Jawad, 2008; Alsuhaibani, 2015). Essentially,

then started to teach at the Scholarship Preparation School (SPS). Most of those teachers were
     

(Mahboob & Elyas, 2014).
There is a general dissatisfaction with the quality of English-medium outcomes in the country.
To address this issue, most Saudi universities have implemented a foundation year programme,
benchmarked against the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The exit
level of the foundation year is typically set at B1, which is equivalent to an intermediate user of
English. However, this aspiration may be unrealistic once the secondary school exit level is taken
into account. According to Barnawi and Al-Hawsawi (2017):
it is undisputable that today Saudi public school students’ English literacy is very weak, to
the extent that some high school graduates cannot even differentiate between different phon-
ics of English, let alone accomplish the tasks of writing their names or conducting a basic
conversation in English.
(Barnawi & Al-Hawsawi, 2017, p. 210)
It seems fair to argue that it would be too ambitious to expect a student who is practically il-
literate in English to reach B1 within one year and be able to study an academic major taught
fully in English. This situation also raises questions about why schools have not succeeded in

If the factors that hindered school success are also present in higher education, one wonders why
higher education outcomes should be any different. Indeed, ‘local communities and the media
have been aggressively attacking the Saudi higher education system for producing manpower with

development’ (Barnawi & Al-Hawsawi, 2017, p. 206). In this section, we review some empirical
studies conducted in several higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia. These studies have
revealed some dynamics within these institutions and pointed out clear discrepancies between of-

In one study, Shamim, Abdelhalim and Hamid (2016) reported a case study on the foundation
year programme at a public university in Saudi Arabia. In this qualitative study, the researchers
collected data from students and teachers through classroom observation and interviews. The re-

endorsed the continued use of English as a means of instruction at their institution. Students with

that it was ‘not fair’ that English in the foundation year is the main factor that can ‘determine our
fate’ (Shamim et al., 2016, p. 40). Despite the endorsement of EMI by both teachers and most stu-
dents, the researchers’ classroom observations revealed that most instruction actually took place
Tariq Elyas and Ali H. Al-Hoorie
266
in Arabic. Teachers also used standardised PowerPoint slides developed by the course coordinator
and used across all campuses, thus leaving little room for teacher input and creativity. Although,


from the English textbook to study, and preparing mock exams, thus making the educational pro-
cess heavily exam-oriented. As for students, they spent most of their time translating study materi-
als word by word and memorising the information for the sake of exams. The students’ primary
focus was the lecture presentations and the class notes prepared by their teachers. This process
waters down the curriculum and limits students from expanding the scope of their study whether
by accessing additional learning resources or engaging in meaningful learning.
In another qualitative study, Louber and Troudi (2019) interviewed expatriate teachers of sci-


showed that Arabic was actually the de facto medium of instruction. The teachers attributed this


As one student put it, ‘we ask them [the teachers] to speak to us in Arabic because like this, we
do not have to translate into Arabic ourselves’ (Louber & Troudi, 2019, p. 65). Besides the low
level of students, the teachers also pointed out that EMI is a consumerist trend and a Western
model of education imported to their context in a top-down fashion and without negotiation.
They argued that textbooks were not suitable for their context in that they were originally de-
signed for ‘native speakers’ in the United States and the United Kingdom. According to one
teacher, these textbooks were simply a way ‘for western publishers to make money in the KSA
[Saudi Arabia]’ (Louber & Troudi, 2019, p. 66). Commenting on these textbooks, one student

book’ (Louber & Troudi, 2019, p. 66).
The issue of using EMI as consumerist trend was taken further by Barnawi (2021a), who con-

market, forcing higher education institutions to compete within and among each other for rank-
ings, accreditation, and status. One manifestation of this neoliberal ideology is speed. ‘Speed,

capitalist society’ (Barnawi, 2021a, p. 209). In order to investigate this topic more closely, Barnawi
(2021a) conducted a qualitative study involving interviews with engineering students at a Saudi
university where EMI is enforced mainly through employing teachers who do not speak Arabic.
Similar to the results of the studies reviewed earlier, Barnawi (2021a) found that the accelerated
pace of education coupled with EMI made students feel in constant pressure. As one student ex-
plained, ‘we do not have enough time to understand, read and write technical concepts and ideas

In a follow-up study, Barnawi (2021b) examined the perspective of teachers and administrators
in relation to the acceleration of EMI. In this qualitative study, the researcher found that there is a
strong desire by the institution to continuously update their programmes to keep up with the de-
mands of the industry, to align education with job market needs, and to seek international accredi-
tations. While teachers appreciated the value of this approach, they also stated that this speeded
environment leaves little time for deep learning and individual, meaningful feedback to students.
In other words, the role of the teacher shifted from an educator cultivating learners intellectually,
-

English-medium instruction in higher education in Saudi Arabia
267
EMI in higher education has, therefore, become a performative technology of acceleration with
  
competition, and aligning education with job market needs’ (Barnawi, 2021b, p. 9).
Problems with EMI in Saudi Arabia
It is a well-known fact that all Saudi universities contain English departments and English-lan-
guage institutes that provide language-teaching services to English and non-English major stu-
dents (Alnasser, 2022; Alsuhaibani, 2015). Almost every higher education institution in Saudi
Arabia has an English department that offers academic graduate and postgraduate programmes
and teachings of English courses to students at an institutional level (Alnasser, 2022). However,
a handful Saudi researchers have found that there are many pedagogical issues with using EMI
in most Saudi universities (Alnasser, 2022; Barnawi, 2021a, 2021b; Phan & Barnawi, 2015). Re-
searchers in the Arabian Gulf, have also voiced their concern with rapid expansion of EMI and its
impact on Arabic language and heritage. Such concerns centre around Arabic being pushed out
of both the public and educational domains, English acting as an academic gatekeeper for better
jobs, an increased cognitive overload for students, and a reduced sense of belonging (Hillman &
Ocampo Eibenschutz, 2018; Hopkyns, 2020a, 2020b; Hopkyns & Elyas, 2022). Scholars have
found that there is are apparent binary and divisive language ideologies surrounding the regions’
two dominant languages: Arabic and English in the Gulf countries (Hopkyns & Elyas, 2022).
Yet, Alhendi (2019) argues that setting one language in a country’s education can be positive and
stimulate its economy. The rapidly changing policies and socio-political environment and mixed
messages presented both in the media and policy documents are also likely to cause ideological

argued to not only increase pressure on students learning and using English, but also to lead to
inequity in the learning context (Hamm-Rodriguez & Morales, 2021).
Some scholars have argued that EMI policy in Saudi Arabia is not always based on solid foun-
dations. For example, Louber and Troudi (2019) claimed that the language policy did not undergo
careful analysis, including consultation with key stakeholders such as teachers and parents. A simi-
lar argument was made by Barnawi and Al-Hawsawi (2017), who gave several examples of key
policy changes throughout the decades that were made without clear and publicly announced ra-
tionales. Some of these policy changes include ceasing to teach French in Saudi schools, cancelling
English from elementary school, reducing the number of weekly English classes from six to four,
the blanket requirement that all universities have a foundation year focusing on English language,
and the uncritical adoption of the Common European Framework Reference for Languages despite
the issues raised about it. Clearly and explicitly formulated policies are an important element for a
successful educational system. One example of a nationwide policy has to do with accreditation.
All higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia are required to obtain accreditation both at the
programme level and the institutional level. However, as previously described, students, teachers,

has no relevance to actual classroom teaching and learning. Worse still, it might have a negative
effect on the quality of the educational process by introducing certain restrictions that may not be
inappropriate to the local context, or at least by making faculty and administrators too busy with
paperwork to devote their time and attention to introducing genuine change and improvement to
the educational process at their institutions.
Improving policy should ideally be based on solid empirical evidence. However, as can be seen
from the previous section, most research on EMI and its implementation and effectiveness concern
Tariq Elyas and Ali H. Al-Hoorie
268
small-scale qualitative studies. Education authorities in the country should encourage (and fund)
concerned academics to conduct large-scale and representative research in order to inform policy.

and communicate directly with policymakers in order to have mutual understanding and collabora-
tion. As an example, several commentators have called for Arabising higher education in Saudi
Arabia, including technical and medical programmes. However, such a radical step can lead to
disastrous outcomes if done without careful planning. Unlike the social science, technical, engi-

of their developments. This requires that educational institutions set policies to keep up with these
developments, such as by updating and translating textbooks regularly. Currently, faculty have to
rely on available textbooks in the market. This may be possible with English-language textbooks,

In addition, while Arabising curricula might be possible for undergraduate students, it seems
less feasible for graduate programmes. After all, English is the lingua franca of science, and
knowledge of English can undeniably provide individuals an advantage relative to monolingual

(for example, on a standardised language test) as part of their admission criteria. They may also
assign English readings as part of their courses. However, it has to be acknowledged that learn-
ing a foreign language is a long-term process and obtaining a certain score on a standardised test

language used in academic journals. This makes careful planning and consideration of the pros
and cons of such a policy, and its continuous evaluation once it is instituted, is urgently needed.
Conclusion
It is apparent that English in Saudi Arabia has shifted from being taught as a foreign language and
has become an important medium of instruction and has mushroomed at off-campus and satellite
universities across the region fostering intercultural citizens (Barnawi, 2017; Hillman, Graham,
& Eslami, 2021). De Costa et al. (2021) stress that ‘the possibility and promise of developing
such citizens is further enhanced as higher education through EMI programs implemented at local
universities where English is not the primary language of the student population’ (p. 120). Hence,
some argue that EMI seems a natural impetus towards an ever-needed globalised education. Other
researchers are advocating for linguistic hybridity where students are ‘dancing between Arabic and
English’, towards creative hybridity over linguistic purity (Hopkyns, 2020b, 2021; Hopkyns, Zogh-
bor, & Hassall, 2018). Therefore, stakeholders as well as teachers and students can bridge the ideo-
logical divide between English and Arabic (Hopkyns & Elyas, 2022), in Saudi higher education.
Notes
1 Tatweer is a project for the development of general education in Saudi Arabia, which began in 2007 and
ended in 2013, with allocated $293 million budget. The primary objective of this programme was to focus
on the quality of education to ensure that students in public education system in the Saudi Kingdom are
equipped with the necessary skills to participate in an increasingly globalised society and engage with the
complex and myriad problems that globalisation brings.
2 Under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Vision 2030 was launched. It is a road-
map drawn up by His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, to harness the strengths God bestowed upon
us – our strategic position, investment power and place at the centre of Arab and Islamic worlds. See
https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/.
English-medium instruction in higher education in Saudi Arabia
269
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