Discourses on language teaching, language learning and linguistic diversity in teacher education: the case of English in Iraqi Kurdistan

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigate linguistic diversity in teacher education in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a setting where discourses on emigration and re-emigration are strong. The aim is to explore social discourses on linguistic diversity as constructed in teacher training programmes for teaching English to primary and secondary school pupils, in course descriptions at two universities, and the implications of these discourses for the suggested teaching practices. Four discourses were identified: double monolingualism, contrastive perspective, linguistic diversity as one of many types of diversity and English as a gateway to future possibilities. Students’ earlier linguistic resources in other languages were treated as negative for the development of their English-language skills. English and Kurdish were treated in ways that suggest they should be kept separate and skills in other languages were rendered invisible. This is likely to have an impact on students’ teaching in the future, making them less inclined to recognise their pupils’ prior knowledge of other languages. We conclude that, more research is needed focusing on issues of circular migration and diaspora, and on other themes than those dominant in the West and the Global North, such as high number of immigrants and issues of integration and assimilation.