ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN IRAN

It has been accepted that language is more than a simple system of rules. Language is now generally seen as a dynamic resource for the creation of meaning. In 2007, the first Iranian national curriculum for teaching foreign languages was being developed by a team who was working under the supervision of the Ministry of Education based on CLT. Considering the extent of compatibility of the curriculum with CLT was felt to be important in evaluating the degree of success in achieving the goals of CLT. There were also efforts taken into consideration in order to consider the ELT in Iran from other perspectives. To do so, since the current programme and textbooks had been designed prior to introducing the new curriculum; therefore, it was felt necessary to consider them as well. The analysis and interpretation of the collected data suggested that while the newly designed curriculum document is to a great extent compatible with communicative pedagogy, the materials being used by teachers, as well as the current ELT programme, are mainly structurally based and cannot be considered as communicative.

Dr. MAHDI DAHMARDEH has received his BA in English Language Translation from Iran. He has then come to Great Britain in order to pursuit his studies. He has received his PhD from the University of Warwick and his MA in TEFL from Lancaster University. Dr. Dahmardeh's academic interest lies in CLT along with research on TEFL/TESL.