---
title: "From world Englishes to Hyperlingua: English as infrastructural"
description: "This sociolinguistics study asks how English becomes effectively mandatory in Jordan and neighbouring states even though… 40 references."
authors: ["Mohamad Almashour", "Hesham Aldamen", "Marwan Jarrah"]
year: 2026
venue: "Frontiers in Communication 11"
source: "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770/full"
doi: "10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770"
licence: "CC BY (journal licence per DOAJ; Frontiers in Communication)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/almashour-2026-world-englishes-hyperlingua-english-infrastructural/"
---
[Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/almashour-2026-world-englishes-hyperlingua-english-infrastructural/)

[home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [2026](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2026/page/31/) / From world Englishes to Hyperlingua: English as infrastructural governance in Jordan and the Middle East

# From world Englishes to Hyperlingua: English as infrastructural governance in Jordan and the Middle East

**Authors:** [Mohamad Almashour](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/mohamad-almashour/), [Hesham Aldamen](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/hesham-aldamen/) and [Marwan Jarrah](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/marwan-jarrah/) · **Year:** 2026 · **Venue:** [Frontiers in Communication 11](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/frontiers-in-communication/) ([Frontiers in Communication 2026](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/frontiers-in-communication/2026/)) · **Publisher:** [Frontiers Media](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/publishers/frontiers-media/) · **Licence:** [CC BY (journal licence per DOAJ; Frontiers in Communication)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770) · [PDF](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770/pdf) · [DOI 10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770](https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W7155209975)

**Citations:** 0 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14)

## Summary
This sociolinguistics study asks how English becomes effectively mandatory in Jordan and neighbouring states even though no law declares it dominant and Arabic keeps its constitutional standing. The authors combine Critical Language Policy with Critical Discourse Analysis and examine a purposively chosen corpus of 37 public texts and artefacts. The corpus covers three areas: state and institutional policy, public and digital interfaces, and scholarly and accreditation infrastructure. Jordan is the main case, and Saudi and other Gulf materials serve as comparators to check whether the same logic appears elsewhere in the region. Across all three areas, English is tied to employability and international benchmarks. It is also the language of the interface elements that let users complete actions, and journals require it for abstracts, keywords and indexing metadata. Arabic remains symbolically central but is weakly built into these systems. The authors call this configuration Hyperlingua, meaning English that draws its authority from metrics, templates and platforms rather than from its speakers. They argue that multilingual justice therefore requires redesigning infrastructure, not just granting languages symbolic recognition.

## Key points
- The corpus contains 37 publicly accessible texts and artefacts, sampled purposively across three domains: policy, public/digital semiotics, and academic/accreditation infrastructure.
- The design is Jordan-anchored, with Saudi and Gulf materials used as deliberately non-symmetrical comparators to test whether the pattern is portable.
- **Hyperlingua** is the authors' own diagnostic construct. It is explicitly not a new English variety and does not imply a linear path of language change.
- **Bureaucratic bilingualism** names the resulting order: Arabic is publicly affirmed, while English runs the procedures that make institutions auditable and comparable.
- The paper positions itself against Kachru's Expanding Circle, ELF and Englishisation research. Its claim is that these frameworks miss the institutional conditions that fix the language before any interaction takes place.

## Interesting ideas
- The paper separates a language's symbolic status (declared, affirmed) from its operational status (what the procedures actually run on), and shows that the two can diverge sharply.
- Interfaces, templates, metadata fields and platform defaults are treated as places where policy is enacted, even though they look neutral.
- The study checks where a language appears, not just whether it appears: English sits on labels that enable action, while Arabic sits in decorative or identity positions.
- The evaluation design uses one primary anchor case plus deliberately partial comparators to test whether a finding transfers, without claiming a full symmetric comparison.
- The authors reframe the research question from how something is used to how it is made necessary, which moves the analysis upstream to preconditions.

## For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

- **I1** (frames): speech-act analysis could tag a clause as either an affirmation of a value or a procedural instruction, so a reader can detect when a text praises one thing but requires another.
- **I2** (learn): pipeline defaults such as the fallback tag, the default dependency relation, or the default answer when parsing fails should be audited as hidden decisions that shape what counts as correct.
- **I3** (world): entities in the world model could carry their functional role in the text (the step that triggers an outcome versus background mention), not only their presence.
- **I4** (learn): keep one deeply annotated anchor benchmark and add small out-of-domain comparator sets that only test whether a learned repair rule or parser behaviour carries over.
- **I5** (answer): when explaining an answer, the reader could cite not only the facts used but the preconditions in the text that made that answer the only admissible one.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

## Institutions

- [University of Jordan](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/university-of-jordan/) — University, Amman, Jordan · 14 works · 171 citations

📚 Shelves (4): [🎭 Arts and Humanities](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · 16,039 works · [🗣️ Language and Linguistics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · 15,891 works · [🤝 Social Sciences](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/social-sciences/) · 1,772 works · [🤝 Communication](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/social-sciences/communication/) · 97 works

🧭 Topics (2): [English](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/) · 2,263 works · [Semitic languages](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/semitic-languages/) · 2,908 works

## Cite

Cite as: Mohamad Almashour, Hesham Aldamen and Marwan Jarrah. 2026. From world Englishes to Hyperlingua: English as infrastructural governance in Jordan and the Middle East. Frontiers in Communication 11.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@inproceedings{almashour2026world,
  title = {{From world Englishes to Hyperlingua: English as infrastructural governance in Jordan and the Middle East}},
  author = {Mohamad Almashour, Hesham Aldamen and Marwan Jarrah},
  booktitle = {Frontiers in Communication 11},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2026.1800770}
}
```

- [← previous From Words to Pixels: A Comprehensive Survey on Large Language Models in Visual Segmentation](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/wang-2026-words-pixels-comprehensive-survey-large/)
- [next → FusionFlow: Enabling Deep Structural Exploration for Automated Agentic Workflow Generation](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/wang-2026-fusionflow-enabling-deep-structural-exploration/)
- [↑ back to papers of 2026](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/2026/page/31/)

## References

40 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Abdel Latif, M. M. M., and Alhamad, M. M. (2023). Arabicization or Englishization of higher education in the Arab world? Controversies, policies and realities. Front. Psychol. 14:1093488. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1093488 [↗](https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1093488)
2. Alhabahba, M. M., Pandian, A., and Mahfoodh, O. H. A. (2016). English language education in Jordan: some recent trends and challenges. Cogent Educ. 3:1156809. doi: 10.1080/2331186X.2016.1156809 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2016.1156809)
3. Ball, S. J. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. J. Educ. Policy 18, 215–228. doi: 10.1080/0268093022000043065 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093022000043065)
4. Larkin, B. (2013). The politics and poetics of infrastructure. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 42, 327–343. doi: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155522 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155522)
5. Blommaert, J. (2010). The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511845307)
6. Mahboob, A., and Elyas, T. (2014). English in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. World Englishes 33, 128–142. doi: 10.1111/weng.12073 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12073)
7. Bolton, K. (2010). “World Englishes and globalization,” in Contending with Globalization in World Englishes, eds. M. Saxena and T. Omoniyi (Bristol: Multilingual Matters). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Bolton%2C+K%2E+%282010%29%2E+%E2%80%9CWorld+Englishes+and+globalization%2C%E2%80%9D+in+Contending+with+Globalization+in+World+Englishes%2C+eds%2E+M%2E+Saxena+and+T%2E+Omoniyi+%28Bristol%3A+Multilingual+Matters%29%2E)
8. Miller, C. (2003). “Linguistic policies and language issues in the Middle East,” in Islam in Middle Eastern Studies: Muslims and Minorities, eds. A. Usuki and H. Kato (Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Miller%2C+C%2E+%282003%29%2E+%E2%80%9CLinguistic+policies+and+language+issues+in+the+Middle+East%2C%E2%80%9D+in+Islam+in+Middle+Eastern+Studies%3A+Muslims+and+Minorities%2C+eds%2E+A%2E+Usuki+and+H%2E+Kato+%28Osaka%3A+National+Museum+of+Ethnol)
9. Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Harvard: Harvard University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Bourdieu%2C+P%2E+%281991%29%2E+Language+and+Symbolic+Power%2E+Harvard%3A+Harvard+University+Press%2E)
10. Ministry of Education of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2016). National Strategy for Human Resource Development 2016–2025 Government of Jordan. Amman: Ministry of Education of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Ministry+of+Education+of+the+Hashemite+Kingdom+of+Jordan+%282016%29%2E+National+Strategy+for+Human+Resource+Development+2016%E2%80%932025+Government+of+Jordan%2E+Amman%3A+Ministry+of+Education+of+the+Hashemite+Kingdom+)
11. Doiz, A., Lasagabaster, D., and Sierra, J. M. (2013). English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Doiz%2C+A%2E%2C+Lasagabaster%2C+D%2E%2C+and+Sierra%2C+J%2E+M%2E+%282013%29%2E+English%2DMedium+Instruction+at+Universities%3A+Global+Challenges%2E+Bristol%3A+Multilingual+Matters%2E)
12. Education and Training Evaluation Commission (2015). Academic Accreditation Policies (Policy Book) National Center for Academic Accreditation and Evaluation. Riyadh: Education and Training Evaluation Commission. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Education+and+Training+Evaluation+Commission+%282015%29%2E+Academic+Accreditation+Policies+%28Policy+Book%29+National+Center+for+Academic+Accreditation+and+Evaluation%2E+Riyadh%3A+Education+and+Training+Evaluation+)
13. Pangrazio, L., Auld, G., Lynch, J., Sawatzki, C., Duffy, G., Hannigan, S., et al. (2024). Data justice in education: toward a research agenda. Educ. Philos. Theory, 1–12. doi: 10.1080/00131857.2024.2320196 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2024.2320196)
14. Education and Training Evaluation Commission (2025). Rules and Provisions of the Saudi Global Ranking of Higher Education Institutions (SGR). Riyadh: Education and Training Evaluation Commission. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Education+and+Training+Evaluation+Commission+%282025%29%2E+Rules+and+Provisions+of+the+Saudi+Global+Ranking+of+Higher+Education+Institutions+%28SGR%29%2E+Riyadh%3A+Education+and+Training+Evaluation+Commission%2E)
15. Pennycook, A. (2007). Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows. London: Routledge. [↗](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203088807)
16. Pennycook, A. (2010). Language as a local Practice. London: Routledge. [↗](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203846223)
17. Fairclough, N. (2006). Language and Globalization. London: Routledge. [↗](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203593769)
18. Pennycook, A. (2017). The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. London: Routledge. [↗](https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315225593)
19. Foucault, M. (1991). “Governmentality,” in The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, eds. G. Burchell, C. Gordon and P. Miller (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Foucault%2C+M%2E+%281991%29%2E+%E2%80%9CGovernmentality%2C%E2%80%9D+in+The+Foucault+Effect%3A+Studies+in+Governmentality%2C+eds%2E+G%2E+Burchell%2C+C%2E+Gordon+and+P%2E+Miller+%28Chicago%3A+University+of+Chicago+Press%29%2E)
20. Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Phillipson%2C+R%2E+%281992%29%2E+Linguistic+Imperialism%2E+Oxford%3A+Oxford+University+Press%2E)
21. Power, M. (1997). The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Power%2C+M%2E+%281997%29%2E+The+Audit+Society%3A+Rituals+of+Verification%2E+Oxford%3A+Oxford+University+Press%2E)
22. Fricker, M. (2007). Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001)
23. Saraceni, M. (2015). World Englishes: A Critical Analysis. London: Bloomsbury. [↗](https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474249232)
24. Schneider, E. W. (2007). Postcolonial English: Varieties Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Schneider%2C+E%2E+W%2E+%282007%29%2E+Postcolonial+English%3A+Varieties+Around+the+World%2E+Cambridge%3A+Cambridge+University+Press%2E)
25. Galloway, N., and McKinley, J. (2021). “Englishization of higher education,” in Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics, eds. H. Mohebbi and C. Coombe (Cham: Springer). [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79143-8_123)
26. Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Seidlhofer%2C+B%2E+%282011%29%2E+Understanding+English+as+a+Lingua+Franca%2E+Oxford%3A+Oxford+University+Press%2E)
27. Hamdan, J. M., and Abu Hatab, W. A. (2009). English in the Jordanian context. World Englishes 28, 394–405. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-971X.2009.01599.x [↗](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971x.2009.01599.x)
28. Shohamy, E. (2006). Language Policy: Hidden Agendas and New Approaches. Abingdon: Routledge. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Shohamy%2C+E%2E+%282006%29%2E+Language+Policy%3A+Hidden+Agendas+and+New+Approaches%2E+Abingdon%3A+Routledge%2E)
29. Hillman, S., Selvi, A. F., and Yazan, B. (2021). A scoping review of world Englishes in the Middle East and North Africa. World Englishes 40, 159–175. doi: 10.1111/ weng.12505 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12505)
30. Spivak, G. C. (1988). “Can the subaltern speak?” in Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, eds. C. Nelson and L. Grossberg (Urbana: University of Illinois Press). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Spivak%2C+G%2E+C%2E+%281988%29%2E+%E2%80%9CCan+the+subaltern+speak%3F%E2%80%9D+in+Marxism+and+the+Interpretation+of+Culture%2C+eds%2E+C%2E+Nelson+and+L%2E+Grossberg+%28Urbana%3A+University+of+Illinois+Press%29%2E)
31. Jenkins, J. (2017). The Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca. London: Routledge. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Jenkins%2C+J%2E+%282017%29%2E+The+Routledge+Handbook+of+English+as+a+Lingua+Franca%2E+London%3A+Routledge%2E)
32. Star, S. L. (1999). The ethnography of infrastructure. Am. Behav. Sci. 43, 377–391. doi: 10.1177/00027649921955326 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1177/00027649921955326)
33. Kachru, B. B. (1985). “Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: the English language in the outer circle,” in English in the World, eds. R. Quirk and H. Widdowson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kachru%2C+B%2E+B%2E+%281985%29%2E+%E2%80%9CStandards%2C+codification+and+sociolinguistic+realism%3A+the+English+language+in+the+outer+circle%2C%E2%80%9D+in+English+in+the+World%2C+eds%2E+R%2E+Quirk+and+H%2E+Widdowson+%28Cambridge%3A+Cambridge+Uni)
34. Strathern, M. (2000). Audit Cultures: Anthropological Studies in Accountability, Ethics and the Academy. Abingdon: Routledge. [↗](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203449721)
35. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2016) Vision 2030. Available online at: [https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/media/rc0b5oy1/saudi_vision203.pdf](https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/media/rc0b5oy1/saudi_vision203.pdf) (Accessed February 18, 2026). [↗](https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/media/rc0b5oy1/saudi_vision203.pdf)
36. Tollefson, J. W. (1991). Planning Language, Planning Inequality: Language Policy in the Community. London: Longman. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Tollefson%2C+J%2E+W%2E+%281991%29%2E+Planning+Language%2C+Planning+Inequality%3A+Language+Policy+in+the+Community%2E+London%3A+Longman%2E)
37. Kirkpatrick, R. (2017). English Language Education Policy in the Middle East and North Africa. Cham: Springer. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46778-8)
38. Wodak, R., and Meyer, M. (2016). Methods of Critical Discourse Studies. Cobalt Park: SAGE. [↗](https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036235192)
39. Zuraiq, W. M. S., Jaradat, A. A., Abu-Joudeh, M., and Al-Shboul, S. (2023). The status and the future of the English language in Jordan. Theory Pract. Lang. Stud. 13, 949–956. doi: 10.17507/tpls.1304.16 [↗](https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1304.16)
40. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2008). Cultural Globalization and Language Education. New Haven: Yale University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kumaravadivelu%2C+B%2E+%282008%29%2E+Cultural+Globalization+and+Language+Education%2E+New+Haven%3A+Yale+University+Press%2E)

*Updated 1 November 2026*