This study seeks to describe the dynamics of identity formation and negotiation of freedom and coeducation in the shadow of dominant discourses of Islamic hijab and segregation, in an English language college in Iran. A brief historical view of the cultural concerns of the Islamic state vis-à-vis the existing economic and socio-political contexts indicates a shift from the original discourses of segregation and Islamic hijab by state agents in the early 1980s (known as the ideals of Imam), arguably negotiated through the post-war period, i.e. since the 1990s. Language learning is viewed as parallel to higher education, legitimising the presence of women in social spheres, and their interaction with men: in the segregated and policed society of Iran, such schools are viewed as mixed spheres both by the students and by the programme designers who develop the businesses. The ethnography of a language school in Mashhad takes the alternative discourses, indicating the learners' giving precedence to the socialising aspect of the classes rather than the educational quality in these classes; the female learners' concern about how empowering the oral production of the foreign language is vis-à-vis their male counterparts, not only in language education but also for their future professional milieus; and how they are prepared, as prospective students in English speaking universities and immigrants for their lives in the 'imaginary world of abroad'. Both teachers and learners participating in this study see the language classes as a liminal space between their present identity, their ideas, entertainments and jobs, and their ideal identity, relationships and ideas, which is imagined in the fancy world created mostly through the English language textbooks. In conclusion, other than the shift of the dominant discourses, this study demonstrates the divergence between the ideals of the Islamic state for the identity and role of the people, and the alternative voices that have negotiated their freedom with such strategies as paying tuitions and language learning in mixed spaces.