English in Post-Revolutionary Iran

Abstract

The expanding role that English, and English education, has played in the world has received much scholarly attention. Despite the critical work on the impact of English on local people, cultures and languages, spearheaded by Robert Phillipson and Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, English continues to make inroads and to gain speakers. Globalization and its neo-liberal economic policies have spread English even further, but there has been resistance to these forces not only from individuals and groups, but also from entire nationstates. One of the most prevalent cases of countering global forces and Westernized versions of modernity and development today is the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), the subject of Maryam Borjian's book.This book studies the role that English has played in the modern history of Iran, and of the linguistic flows that have accompanied moves towards indigenization to internalization and back again. Although the focus is on the role that English has played in Iranian history, its contribution here goes beyond English and Iran. Blending scholarship on sociolinguistics and critical applied linguistics, but also on comparative education and educational policy, this multidisciplinary study delivers a broad treatment of the role that English and English education play in the life of Iran. The focus is not solely on language and education, but the multi-level analysis is grounded in the political economy of the context.The organization of the book into Iranian historical periods makes it evident that positions on language education shift according to political motives. Sometimes those reasons have to do with sociopolitical and economic changes in the country itself, while at other times they have to do with external forces that impinge on the country's evaluation of its own performance. The author's multi-level analysis also makes it apparent that historical periods are not monolithic, and that supranational, subnational and national forces interact and are often in tension, even within one historical period. That is, individuals have agency to accept, resist or negotiate policies. Finally, within each historical period there are different flows that have to do with the stage of the language

‘Should textbook images be merely decorative?’: Cultural representations in the Iranian EFL national textbook from the semiotic approach perspective

“…The authors justified this finding by explaining some reasons; first, a lack of cultural exchanges and intercultural communication in the Iranian EFL context, second, the uncritical nature of the Iranian educational context, and third, the influential role of the geopolitical, religious, cultural, and socioeconomic background of the country in 'the process and product of curriculum development and syllabus design, and the discourse of English textbooks and even language instructional activities across the country' (p. 15). The last reason was in line with the findings of our study and Borjian's (2013) assertion that the discourse of brand-new Iranian localized textbooks, namely Prospect series and Vision series, leaves little space for the raise of cultural awareness and development of intercultural competence.…”

“…Ahmadi Safa et al, 2015;Hayati & Mashhadi, 2010;Razmjoo, 2007). In a similar vein, Borjian (2013) has declared that in Iran, the national English curriculum gives priority to syntactical, phonological, and morphological dimensions of the language while considering its sociocultural aspects as unsuitable to be taught. This notion was well reflected in Tajeddin and Teimournezhad's (2014) findings that localized EFL textbooks in Iran are bereft of adequate reference to students' source culture, target culture, and international culture elements.…”

Investigating the relationship between language teachers’ occupational self-efficacy, satisfaction and meaning at work, and their subjective wellbeing

“…Concerning the study context, English is taught as a compulsory subject from the first year of primary school, and students study it until the end of high school. ELT in Iran faces several challenges, such as inadequate materials and resources, insufficient teacher training, and a lack of exposure to English outside the classroom (Borjian, 2013).…”

Adult Iranian English Language Learners’ Identity Work: An Exploration of Language Practices and Learner Identities

“…The 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran revolutionized the national ideological framework by, for example, overhauling the educational system based on Islamic values (Borjian, 2013). A new Islamic discourse was instigated.…”