The sociolinguistic problems of English medium instruction in the Middle East and North Africa: Implications for epistemic access.

The global spread and dominance of English in higher education has reached alarming heights. While there has been a drive to argue for the relevance and importance of education through local languages, English has snatched the biggest slice of the cake by subtly imposing itself as the sole global language of education. This paper interrogates the sociolinguistic problems posed by the hegemony of English language. It argues that globalization and internationalization work in tandem with neo-colonial and neoliberal operations to create a class of global citizens that must support the economic aspirations of English imperial expansion and sustenance. The arguments are drawn from the experiences of Middle East and North Africa as well as lessons from Eastern and Southern Africa. The paper adopts a critical approach in order to place urgency against the onslaught of English medium of instruction in global higher education. This is done by problematizing the rhetoric of globalized and internationalized education. The paper then draws conclusions on epistemic access in the context of burgeoning knowledge economies. It argues that English medium of instruction is implicated in stalling access to knowledge for the great majority in order to cater for and safeguard the economic dominance of the elite minority.

Brief Report: Gender-Based Stereotypical Roles of Parents Caring for Autistic Children in Nigeria and South Africa.

In Nigeria and South Africa, women often have less voice and are less visible given cultural norms and related gender stereotypes. It is important to understand parents' gender roles in the context of caregiving for children with autism spectrum disorder because inequality in caregiving roles may influence the health of children with autism and that of their parents. We explored the lived caregiving experiences of male and female parents with autistic children in Nigeria (n = 15) and South Africa (n = 10) using structured and unstructured questionnaire. Results showed that women often experienced stress in relationship to multiple and substantial caregiving roles while men commonly limited their caregiving roles based on a patriarchal ideology related to their culture.