Language of Instruction in the Educational Systems: A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies in the Maghreb Region

This scoping review examines empirical research on the language of instruction within the Maghreb region, encompassing Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, and Tunisia. The unique linguistic landscape of the Maghreb, characterized by a mix of languages due to historical and sociopolitical influences, offers a compelling context for exploring the situation of the educational language. This study aims to examine the existing research in this area, addressing key questions regarding research contexts, focal problems, participant demographics, methodologies, outcomes, and recommendations. The methodology encompassed a four-phase, systematic approach beginning with an exhaustive search across academic databases, using a query string tailored to language instruction in Northwest Africa. This search, focusing solely on empirical studies in journal articles and excluding non-empirical sources, resulted in 352 articles. Through rigorous screening 21 articles were initially selected. A subsequent citation check added 12 more studies, while a targeted manual search in 22 selected journals known for their focus on language subjects added another 6 articles. This comprehensive and methodical process ultimately assembled a collection of 39 pertinent articles, laying a strong foundation for the scoping review by ensuring a wide-ranging examination of language instruction research within the Maghreb region. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of language instruction research in the Maghreb region, spotlighting Morocco with 27 studies across educational levels, yet revealing gaps in primary education and less focus on countries like Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania. Research has predominantly explored secondary and higher education, delving into language use, teacher and student experiences, and the impact of language policies, with a notable lean towards qualitative methodologies. The study’s findings underscore the challenges of using English as a language of instruction, highlight the crucial need for teacher training in multilingual settings, and advocate for the incorporation of local languages to embrace the region's linguistic diversity. Simultaneously, it identifies a pressing need for future research to tackle the underrepresentation of primary education in specific Maghreb countries. Additionally, it calls for the integration of quantitative methods to broaden the generalizability of findings