Abstract:
Globalisation and the rise of neoliberalism have produced a fundamental shift in the way universities define and justify their institutional existence. The English language, as the international language of science and technology, plays an enormous role in assisting countries to develop their higher education institutions. The unprecedented spread of English as the lingua franca of international communication has generated considerable impact on the language policies of many non-English speaking countries worldwide. Given the political tension between Iran and English speaking countries, in particular the United States, the English language has had a problematic and ambivalent place in Iran. Taking a sociological approach, the thesis examines a country stuck in deep and irreconcilable contradictions which shape not only all state activity, but intrude deeply into the lives of individuals. It examines the deeper socio-political forces that contribute to the ways in which English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is taught by lecturers and experienced by students in one Iranian university in 2011. The thesis found that individuals tend to lead double lives; conforming to the societal norms meant they behaved in one way in the EAP classroom, but outside the classroom different attitudes and behaviours with respect to English, but also more generally, were practised. The deep seated contradictions are explained as the result of the conflict between the country’s character as a theocratic fundamentalist state and its desire to move into the contemporary global capitalist economy framed by neoliberal regulation. Given the place of English at the intersection of these contradictions, the case study of EAP illustrates the tension existing in the Islamic Republic of Iran as a consequence of the country’s structural contradictions.
