Framing the Role of English in OER from a Social Justice Perspective - A Critical Lens on the (Dis)empowerment of Non-English Speaking Communities

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet

Open Educational Resources (OER) are intended to support equitable access to education, yet participation in OER creation, use, and adoption remains limited. A key barrier is the language of instruction, especially English. Drawing on Hodgkinson-Williams and Trotter’s (2018) framework, the study analyzes English’s role in knowledge dissemination and addresses three social-justice concerns: linguistic complexity, translation as adaptation, and limited local-language OER development, ending with recommendations for practice, pedagogy, and policy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Global role and adoption of OER

Language as a barrier in OER

Purpose and research focus

Paper structure (overview)

Framing the Role of English in OER from a Social Justice Perspective: A Critical Lens on the (Dis)empowerment of Non-English Speaking Communities Kadir Karakaya, Ozlem Karakaya Abstract: Open Educational Resources (OER) have received considerable attention for their potential to provide equitable access to education for all. However, OER creation, use, and adoption among learners, practitioners , and educational circles have remained low. One significant factor leading to this low engagement arises from the language of instruction employed in OER, notably English. Drawing on Hodgkinson-Williams and Trotter’s (2018) conceptual framework, this study examines the role of English in knowledge dissemination through OER and discusses three language-related concerns from a social justice perspective: 1) linguistic complexity in OER, 2) translation as a method of OER adaptation, and 3) lack of OER development in local languages. The paper concludes with several recommendations for practice, pedagogy, and policy in OER development. Keywords: English, open educational resources, social justice, translation, linguistic complexity Introduction Global initiatives have pursued ways of promoting access to educational materials across the world (e.g. , OECD, 2015; UNESCO, 2019) . Open Educational Resources (OER) have been viewed as an instrumental medium to distribute high-quality educational resources and improve access to learning opportunities , especially for those disadvantaged who are deprived of quality education for various reasons (Bliss et al. , 2013; Cape Town Declaration, 2007; Willems & Bossu, 2012) . Since their emergence at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries, OER has garnered considerable attention in educational contexts (Bozkurt et al. , 2019; Hilton, 2020; Otto, 2019; Zawacki-Richter et al. , 2020) . In line with the increasing interest in OER, their affordances have been extensively documented in the literature as reduced educational costs, increased knowledge exchange, broadened access to education, and accessibility to materials (e.g. , Bossu et al. , 2012; Bozkurt et al. , 2019; Kanwar et al. , 2010; McGreal 2017; Otto, 2019) . Despite the increasing adoption of OER for their potential to share knowledge freely for the benefit of all, it is hard to claim that OER have fulfilled their mission to ensure educational equity in the globe (Bozkurt et al. , 2019; Ehlers, 2011; Pulker & Kukulska-Hulme, 2020) . Various barriers diminishing the expected adoption of OER in educational contexts have been identified such as language, contextualization, sustainability, quality, technical infrastructure, awareness, policy issues, and lack of training (Atkins et al. , 2007; Belikov & Bodily, 2016; Bozkurt et al. , 2019; Bossu et al. , 2012; de Hart et al. , 2015; Willems & Bossu, 2012) . Although each of the mentioned barriers in OER use deserves meticulous attention, this article focused on the language of instruction employed in most OER, framing it as an inhibiting factor to OER 175 Published by EdTechReview (ETR) , New Delhi, India ISSN 1347-9008 [http://www.asianjde.org](http://www.asianjde.org) This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license engagement , especially in non-English speaking contexts. In parallel to its pivotal role as a global language connecting people in the world, English has become the predominant medium of language in numerous OER and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) . For example, Adam (2019) has recently reported that more than half of the current 11,400 MOOCs in the world are produced in English. In a similar vein, Cobo (2013) searched eight queries about OER in English, Spanish, and Portuguese in two academic journal databases (Web of Knowledge and Scopus), one video-sharing website (YouTube), and one document-sharing website (Scribd) . His results indicate “a growing language gap between the number of question

FAQs

Why does the paper focus on English in OER from a social justice perspective?

It argues that English predominance can reduce educational opportunities for non-English speakers and increase cultural and epistemic injustices, potentially undermining educational equity.

Which language-related concerns does the study examine?

The study discusses three concerns: linguistic complexity in OER, translation as a method of OER adaptation, and the lack of OER development in local languages.

What is the study’s overall purpose?

Through a critical examination, it aims to analyze how English shapes knowledge dissemination and (dis)empowerment of non-English-speaking and non-native-English-speaking learners, based on Hodgkinson-Williams and Trotter’s framework.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet