Document Type : Original Research Paper
Authors
Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Background and Objective:Globalization and moving towards an interconnected international community has been facilitated through major changes in the field of technology such as the advancement of digital communications and the continuous transfer of large volumes of data around the world and the advances in the transportation industry for easy and fast transportation of passengers and goods. This globalization has created a level of interaction between people of different nationalities, cultures and ethnicities that is not comparable to the past. Although successful communication in the past has been one of the most important features of an effective social interaction, in recent years, this fruitful communication has become a vital feature. The present study, using a one-of-a-kind questionnaire, investigated Iranian English language teachers’ attitudes toward the phenomenon of language education glocalization for the first time.
Methods: The participants of the study had different academic, age, teaching experience, and gender backgrounds. The study was conducted in two phases in the first of which a validated questionnaire was designed and developed. In the second phase, the questionnaire was employed to collect the information regarding the preferential attitudes of the teachers and descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data.
Findings: The results of the questionnaire data analysis revealed that the teachers believe that there is no more only American or British English. There are, however, also varieties of English which have their own independent growth and special features according to the needs of their users. Furthermore, they think that the glocal needs of the users must be met in the process of English language education glocalization. Likewise, the teachers are for the idea that language education should not only be at the service of reflecting the native speaker English variety and culture, but it should serve all cultures to play their equal role in intercultural communication.
Conclusion: Helping teachers to find their real role in their profession, the findings of the study increases the perception of language education glocalization leading to a more appropriate education program planning. The results of these studies can inform educators of teachers about their individual abilities and help to design and implement educational programs as well as possible. Access to teachers' attitudes and abilities can also help policymakers and syllabus designers develop and implement instructional materials to better perform their tasks.
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COPYRIGHTS
©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.
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