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Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 17. Number 2, June 2026 Pp.310-325
Department of English, Faculty of Languages, Letters and Arts
Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco
Department of English, Faculty of Languages, Letters and Arts
Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco
This article examines the expansion of English-medium instruction in Moroccan higher education, with particular attention to institutional location, pedagogical preparation, and linguistic equity. It analyzes how six lecturers and ten doctoral students at Mohammed Ibn Abdellah University in Fez and the Polydisciplinary Faculty of Taza experience the growing use of English in teaching, academic research, and institutional life. Although French retains strong academic and professional prestige, recent reforms, especially the National Plan for Accelerating the Transformation of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation System (PACTE ESRI 2030), have shifted policy attention toward English-medium instruction (EMI), particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs and, to a lesser extent, in the humanities. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted between January and April 2025, the study suggests that participants associate English with international research, publication, and employment mobility, while also linking EMI implementation to uneven institutional resources, unequal linguistic preparedness, and limited recognition of Arabic and Tamazight in academic knowledge production. As such, the article contributes to language-policy scholarship by foregrounding stakeholder perspectives from both a flagship university and a peripheral faculty. It concludes that EMI reforms may reproduce earlier patterns of linguistic stratification unless they are accompanied by faculty preparation, curricular adaptation, student bridging support, and greater resource equalization between center and periphery.
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Kamal BOUAZIZ is a PhD student at Ibn Tofail University (Kenitra, Morocco) and an English teacher. Academic interests relate to education, gender studies and feminism, international relations, and women’s issues. Current research focuses on students’ soft-skills development and educational practices in Moroccan contexts. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7558-2080
Dr. Souad EDDOUADA is an Associate Professor of cultural and gender studies at Ibn Tofail University (Kenitra, Morocco) and is a native of Rabat. She earned a PhD from Mohammed V University (Rabat). Her research has examined women’s NGOs, gender and Islam in the MENA region, as well as women’s land-rights movements, including fieldwork on Solaliyat movement.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9358-7974