English language in African higher education: A systematic review

Abstract

One of the features of the internationalisation of higher education is the increasing use of the English language as a medium of instruction and research in higher education. This growing use of English spurs this article’s attempt at systematically reviewing literature focusing on African higher education systems. The analysis of the selected literature focuses on assessing the main themes, theoretical assumptions and core findings. As a result, 30 articles accessed through continental and international research databases were included in the final analysis after a five-step selection process using relevant keywords related to the topic and the context of the study. The findings indicate that research on the English language in higher education in African contexts overwhelmingly focuses on the language as a medium of teaching and learning. The other aspects, such as the role that the language plays as a medium of research and archiving knowledge, seem to be overlooked. The findings of the majority of both empirical and review papers seem to present critical and, at times, unfavourable views on the role English plays in the specific contexts studied. In light of these findings, the recommendation is that the role of the English language as a medium of instruction should be expanded to cover issues related to research, publication and archiving knowledge. This indicates that the continent’s higher education systems need more research on English language, which suggests that robust and pragmatic theoretical approaches might also be needed in future studies. A further observation is that the findings from the reviewed studies might be the result of using theories that are underpinned in traditions that are already critical of the use of the English language. Thus, more research attention could be given to strengthening the efficacy of using multiple theoretical perspectives to render the African contexts studied more intelligible.