Foreign Language Education in Iran - Case Study Example

Foreign Language Education in Iran s Foreign Language Education in Iran Introduction The education sector has been very crucial in for numerous decades. However, it is its evolution that has been impacted by various factors. Foreign language education is described learning a language that is indigenous to another country. Foreign language education is affected by globalization, development and sustainability. In this regard, globalization in education is a phrase that refers to the use of education to prepare students who enrol in the system to have the ability to keep up with other educational concepts and diversities across the globe. Likewise, the apprehension of the development from education depicts the use of education in ensuring that the challenges that deter growth are eliminated and development takes place. On the other hand, sustainability from education is the desired impact of education enabling self-reliance of the globe. In this perspective, the paper will discuss the foreign language education system in Iran with respect to the development, globalization, and resultant sustainability as they relate to language education. Discussion Increased globalization has resulted to numerous people to communicate in multiple languages. As cited by Crystal (2003), language education entails the teaching as well as learning of a foreign language. Hudson (2000) argues that a foreign language is not the native language which the majority of people in a certain country or region use as a medium of instruction in learning institutions, places of work, and for general communication. Richard and Schmidt (2002) note that foreign languages are taught as school subjects with an aim of communicating with foreigners. Foreign language education (FLE) in Iran has experienced many ups and downs in the contemporary history of the country. While most countries around the world have already responded to the issue of globalization and internationalization in the world by means of a bilingual and multilingual education system, Iran has not been willing to move in this direction to globalization (Farhady, Hevezah, & Hedayati, 2010). The English language has become a lingua franca of international communication which has impacted language policies of non-English speaking countries and played a significant role in globalization, but it has been simply neglected in Iran (Crystal, 2003). If English language education system in Iran is not prepared for the ever changing world, therefore, the teaching and learning of English in the country is not regarded as the key to the competitive world of business, education, science and technology. As a consequence, Iran will lag behind in the international commercial opportunities and cannot make progress globally (Farhady, Hevezah, & Hedayati, 2010). The history of foreign language teaching in Iran shows that the nation seems to be more conservative when it comes to policies about English language education. The national policy documents reflect that the country needs to experience rapid scientific and technological advancements in foreign language education. English as a global language is necessary to achieve this goal, and at the same time English is regarded as a threat to the Persian language and Islamic culture (Khubchandani, 2008). In addition, most of the changes introduced into the Iranian foreign language education were not linked to the country’s other policies and were mostly based on the politicization of language issues after Islamic revolution. According to a view shared by Kiany, Mahdavy and Samar (2010), the result has been unsystematic changes which reflect the motivation to teach and learn English and conservative attitudes about the effects of teaching English language in schools and English language institutes However, making the decision for a foreign language to be taught in a nation is not an issue of pure academic choice but a subject of government policy that is often motivated by social, political, educational, and economic factors. The history of education system in Iran pre-Islamic revolution The history of education in the Persian empire, (650 BC-651) reflected the religious ideas of Zoroastrianism. The education started by acquiring knowledge to understand the power of God and abide by His rules in order to achieve prosperity in both this world and the next (Ardekani, 2006). In addition, the documents from Achaemenids Dynasty indicate that the great Koresh built a wide country which required a powerful centre and some powerful and educated personnel. For this reason, the children of nobles and aristocrats were educated and sent all over the country to maintain the arrangement and security of whole empire and this program was continued over the next periods. This is how we can definitively say that ancient Persian governments were the main factors of education (Abolghasem, Siadat, & Seyed, 2012). During this era education was only limited to the royal families and high-ranking individuals in the society. However, little by little the educational system began to expand and middle-class people could also have access to education. An example of educational development in ancient Persia is the establishment of Gundishapur Academy in which subjects, such as, philosophy, medicine, science, astronomy, and theology were taught (Mahmoudian, Amuzesh, & Iran, 2010). Modern education began with the Safavid Dynasty (1502-1736) and continued during the subsequent governments. In 1850, the Daralfunun (house of vocational skills) was the first modern institution of higher education in Iran established by Amir Kabir. The subjects taught at Daralfunun included medicine, military sciences, and engineering, as well as theology. It became a source of the continuous progress and modernization of education in Iran (Akrami, 2004). The modernization of education continued at a faster rate during the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979). As a consequence, a systematic educational program with comprehensive policy statements was developed by the ministry of education. Foreign language education pre - Islamic Revolution After World War II, English became hugely important as an international language and it was learnt as the principal foreign language in most countries. During the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979), close political, social, economic, and military relationship between Iran and the United States speeded up the westernization in the country and it became the impetus for development of English as the most significant language (Kachru, 1986). Therefore, English came to be viewed as the language of ‘modernity’ or “great civilization”. In addition, teaching English became a social need and private language schools that recruited native speakers of English were established in many large cities. Knowledge of English became an essential requirement for many job opportunities for the younger generation. Many American branches opened in Iran and employed local Iranian people. English was kept as a vehicle to educational advancement in Iran (Kiany, Mahdavy, & Samar, 2010). Thousands of government-funded and self-funded students were sent to the U.S. and England mainly for higher educational. Moreover, one of the most important factors that promoted the development of the English language was the Iranian army which hosted a significant number of American personnel (Saxena & Omoniyi, 2010). Education system after Islamic revolution The Islamic Revolution in 1979 led to the implementation of Islamic values in the government’s infrastructure. Almost all pre-revolution administrative staff was replaced by new and sometimes inexperienced individuals or teams whose main objective was to bring about Islamic values in the education system as quickly as they could. In addition, all the education board of trustees that were tasked with designing educational policy were replaced by the council of Islamic Revolution (Saxena & Omoniyi, 2010). However, the new government could not seriously attend educational reform especially because of the pressure exerted by the long-lasting war between Iran and Iraq. In this regard, the highest priority for the authorities became defending the country. Nevertheless, the council of Islamic Revolution implemented some Islamic values to the appearance of students, teachers, and the school environment. These changes came with the Islamization of textbooks, segregation of males and females, and observation of Islamic laws in and outside the school environment. Religious ceremonies were enforced at the schools and students were required to adjust to and abide by Islamic values. However, the political parties which did not agree fully with the aim of Islamic Revolution caused unrest in the universities. As a result, the leader of Islamic Revolution issued an order to close down all universities and established a new centre called “cultural revolution secretariat” (Secretariat of the Higher Council of Education, 2006). In 1979, the Islamic Revolution complicated the relationship the Iranian people had with the English people. The post-revolutionary government at first viewed English as the language of the “Great Seaton” and several attempts were made to ban any form of English in Iran. On the other hand, the government soon realized that its aim of exporting the Islamic Revolution to the rest of world would require an international language that could reach the non-Muslim world (Saxena & Omoniyi, 2010). Therefore, the need for English language education was strongly felt and became a significant factor in the implementation of the policies because of few reasons. Firstly, after three years of universities closure, a large number of students were waiting to be admitted to the universities. Therefore, some of the eligible graduates were sent to foreign countries for further education and language proficiency was required to be accepted by host universities. Secondly, after the revolution, there was lack of faculty members as they had already left the country and majority of the local ones did not meet the requirements of the screening committees and were dismissed or simply immigrated to other countries. Additionally, in the absence of the political relationship between the U.S. and Iran, languages such as French, Germany, Italian, Spanish and Russian had been planned to be taught. However, because of lack of resources, insufficient number of teachers and applicants English was taught as the sole foreign language. The other reason was that the spread of English was not only influenced by external factors but also by the perceived needs and enthusiasm within the communities. Therefore, to respond these needs English language private institutes were established again (Kachru, 1986). During the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979) English was seen as an instrument for modernizing Iran. However, after the Islamic revolution in 1979, it was perceived as a threat to the national as well as Islamic identity. The creative interaction with advanced scientific and technological centres of the world and conducting joint research projects at international levels are the major priorities in the development of the country. Despite foreign languages being considered as instrumental in interpersonal and intercultural communication along with economic developments including improvements in tourism, business, technology and political awareness, Iran has not decided to see English as the key to enter the global world and continues to hold conservative attitudes towards it. There is a desire to neglect the foreign language due to the fact that the perceived negative effects can be less by not considering the importance of it (Dahmardeh, 2011). With regard to the relationship between language and sustainability, integrating environmental issues with foreign language education offers significant opportunities for the learners to enhance their language proficiency, become more involved in the global community, and improve their comprehension to ideas and concepts about the environment (Naeeni, 2004). After three decades of efforts in designing and redesigning the EFL policy in the country, some problems with the teaching of English at public schools and universities still persist. The main problems seem to be the implementation of the constructive policies in education environment instead of inflexible and predetermined procedures. These changes require time and much resistance to be accomplished. Also, the change has led to a certain number of dilemmas in the educational context in Iran. As cited by Cheng and Beigi (2012), brief accounts of some of the major dilemmas are as follows. The Iran‘s foreign language education system needs to be changed fundamentally and a new theoretical framework with new principles need to be implemented. New principles are not often directly practical and require changes in the beliefs of learners, teachers, community members, and administrators. Such a transitional process could be costly and difficult. So, it is essential to make sure that the facilities of a particular theory of teaching are available or else we will question the validity of the present policies without having a suitable replacement. New theoretical principles also need sufficiency of resources. During the years after the Iranian Revolution, several developments shaped the face of Iranian English language education. The government made an attempt to cleanse western English by commissioning local experts to develop local materials in English for school and university curricula. As a result, the English books students now study at school contain localized content written in English with no evidence of non-Iranian culture in the textbooks. Conclusion In summary, I believe that the factors influencing language instruction are correlated, and therefore, any reform should include as many factors involved in TEFL as possible. Training good teachers without providing them with good instructional materials along with technological facilities would not develop language education. Therefore, the variables involved in language education should be taken into account within the context of a particular educational community. In this direction, various parties should assume responsibility in Iran. First, the community should assume responsibility towards a different perception of language education. Learners, teachers, parents, authorities, and administrators need to understand that a reform is needed so that they coordinate their efforts in achieving this goal. Second, the government should be responsible to provide clear, practicable, and reasonable educational policies, and should subsequently support the implementation of the policy. Third, the teacher education centres as the main sources of training teachers should assume responsibility toward training teachers with ability to implement the new methods by giving attention to the teachers’ beliefs, understanding, attitude, motivation, and, most important of all, their needs. Last but not least, universities as one of the major sources of education in the community should assist students to realize that without constructing the educational system, getting degree will harm the nation and will not improve the quality of foreign language education Furthermore, the benefits of multilingualism are: The student is able to study how to utilise their first language with greater purpose and precision; knowledge of a second language helps the students to be interconnected with the world; in the global economy, a second language opens the door to job opportunities; learning a foreign language draws one’s focus to the language mechanics, such as grammar and sentence structure; foreign language education improves memory and problem-solving skills; finally, language knowledge is vital to humanistic inquiry into the histories and cultures of the world. References Abolghasem, F., Siadat, Seyed, A. (2012). Education in Ancient Iran. 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