English in Post-Revolutionary Iran

English in Post-Revolutionary Iran NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION Series Editor: Professor Viv Edwards, University of Reading, Reading, Great Britain Series Advisor: Professor Allan Luke, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Two decades of research and development in language and literacy education have yielded a broad, multidisciplinary focus. Yet education systems face constant economic and technological change, with attendant issues of iden- tity and power, community and culture. This series will feature critical and interpretive, disciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives on teaching and learning, language and literacy in new times. Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. English in Post-Revolutionary Iran Maryam Borjian MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Bristol • Buffalo • Toronto For Habib Borjian, For his scholarly input, boundless support, generous commitment, and endless love. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Borjian, Maryam. English in Post-Revolutionary Iran/Maryam Borjian. New Perspectives on Language and Education: 29 Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. English language—Study and teaching—Iran. 2. English language—Spoken English— Iran. 3. Iran—Languages—Political aspects. 4. Language policy—Iran. 5. English language—Foreign countries. I. Title PE1068.I723B57 2013 428.0071'055–dc23 2012044139 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-84769-909-1 (hbk) ISBN-13: 978-1-84769-908-4 (pbk) Multilingual Matters UK: St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. USA: UTP, 2250 Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA. Canada: UTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada. Copyright © 2013 Maryam Borjian. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable for- ests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, prefer- ence is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by Techset Composition Ltd., Salisbury, UK. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Short Run Press Ltd. We shall one day learn to supersede politics by education. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1860 Contents Foreword: English Fissions in Iran ix Preface xiii Introduction 1 The Context 1 The Theoretical Debate 6 The Framework 7 The Purpose 13 The Design 14 The Organization 15 Part 1: Theoretical and Historical Perspectives 21 1 The Politics of Educational Transfers: Process, Causes and Agents 23 National Forces and Educational Transfers 23 Subnational Forces and Educational Transfers 29 Supranational Forces and Educational Transfers 33 Conclusion 38 2 The History of English in Iran (1836–1979) 40 English Under the Qajar Dynasty (1836–1925) 40 English Under the Pahlavis (1925–1979) 48 Conclusion 58 Part 2: English in Post-Revolutionary Iran (1979–Present) 63 3 The Revolutionary Period (1979–1988) 65 Introduction 65 Education and the Indigenization Movement 66 Resisting Linguistic Imperialism 71 Marginalization of Subnational Forces 79 vii viii English in Post-Revolutionary Iran The West, an Implicit Reference Society 80 Conclusion 84 4 The Period of Reconstruction and Privatization (1989–1997) 89 Introduction 89 The World Bank, a Reference Society 91 Implications of Policy Privatization Upon Education 92 English in the Period of Reconstruction and Privatization 94 Private English Language Institutes, Agents of Internationalization 102 Conclusion 106 5 The Period of Global Outlook (1997–2005) 110 Introduction 110 Partnership With Transnational Organizations 112 Transnational Education Model Production and the Expansion of English 115 The British Council, Another Reference Society 119 The Rise of Professional/Elite ELT Networks 124 The Expansion of Private Language Institutes 127 Conclusion 133 6 Returning to Revolutionary Roots (2005–Present) 136 Introduction 136 Education and the Re-indigenization Movement 137 Unfavorable Attitudes Towards the British Council 140 Unfavorable Attitudes Towards International Publishers 143 Private Language Institutes: Unfavorable Policies and Responses 144 Subtle Opposition at Universities 148 English Departments and ELT Materials 150 Low Research Output 151 State Ambivalence Towards English 156 Conclusion 158 7 Forces From Above, Forces From Below 160 Introduction 160 Forces From Above 161 Forces From Below 164 Appendix 167 References 172 Index 184 Foreword: English Fissions in Iran 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 nation- states. 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 evi- dent 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 ix x English in Post-Revolutionary Iran education policy. The initial discourse is frequently in tension with the action and implementation, which is often negotiated and adapted as it unfolds. The concept of agency is an important part of this book’s analysis. Whereas other critical sociolinguists treat non-English speaking spheres as helpless in their moves towards internalization and English, this study places agency both within international agencies and local recipients. The author does so by work- ing within a borrowing and lending framework, making sure that readers understand that language education policy is borrowed as well as lent, and that both those who borrow as well as those who lend are acting on their desires and agency. Contexts that borrow language education policy are not blindly emulating; instead, they’re often acting on their wishes. Lenders of education policy do not always do so through plain penetration; there is also cooperation and collaboration from the borrowing context. Borjian makes it clear in this book that, although international finance organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF have much to do with the spread of English language education policies throughout the world, local actors have also been involved. In the case of Iran, the ELT professional networks are active in such an endeavor. The rise and fall of English language teaching in Iran corresponds to different historical periods. However, despite expectations that English language teaching would have been curtailed in post-revolutionary Iran, Borjian shows how this is not necessarily so. The importance of language teaching within an Islamic ideology is emphasized by the founding father of the IRI, Ayatollah Khomeini himself. Although Khomeini closed down schools owned by foreigners and expelled foreign teachers, he also ordered a state publishing house that would produce homegrown material in English. And as he said in one of his speeches, he even emphasized that, today, learning a foreign language is necessary. The result of all these complex and frequent ebbs and flows with regard to English language education in Iran is that indigenized English, as well as Anglo-Americanized English, co-exist in Iran today. The author does not accept simple dichotomous

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