Coloniality and social sciences research: ERPP realities and border thinking in the Arab world

Abstract

This empirical study explores some of the effects of coloniality on social sciences research writing and publishing in the Arab World. The study investigates some aspects of the English for Research Publishing Purposes (ERPP) practices of Arabic-speaking academics who have English as an additional language (EAL) and Native English-speaking (NES) academics who write and publish about issues pertaining to the Arab World, from the Arab World. Employing qualitative interviews, this study examines the accounts of 11 EAL and 11 NES scholars in social sciences (SS) and science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) disciplines about their ERPP practices. The study answers critical questions about the ERPP challenges EAL and NES academics face when writing about their local issues. The study's findings suggest that SS academics face significant challenges with epistemological dependency, discouraging border thinking, and managing the demands of disciplinary writing conventions. The study's accounts, from the Arab World, suggest how embracing border thinkers, who employ local and/or Western epistemic frameworks develops academic research and knowledge construction. The study's findings contribute essential considerations about the necessity of critically approaching the buzzing conversation on decolonization in ESP and ERPP scholarship by recognizing the experiences of EAL and NES scholars with decoloniality.