Ideologies of English Language Teaching in Iranian Academic Research: Mainstream, Alternative, and Beyond

Abstract

Mainstream trends of English language teaching (ELT) are predominantly constructed within the epistemological boundaries shaped by the traditional conceptions of linguistics, learning, and teaching as well as positivist research methodology. What tends to be overshadowed by such conceptions is the underlying foundational belief structure of ELT theory, research, and practice. Such beliefs may be named in various ways, including under the rubric of ideology. Despite the forbidding stigmas attached to the word ideology, rooted in the Marxist tradition, this study adopts a more tangible conception of the term as the most fundamental assumptions underlying any social practice, to explore ideologies of ELT in Iran. We examine the ideological assumptions detectable in the mainstream research scene of the country reflected in presentations at major national applied linguistics conferences within the past decade, as well as the ideological assumptions of a thread of alternative qualitative-critical ELT research in a few Iranian universities during the same period. The study uncovers a pentagonal dominant ideology as well as a struggling alternative ideological orientation. On this basis, the ideological landscape of the Iranian ELT arena is problematized and discussed along with probable extended messages for other contexts around the world.