An Exploration of Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perceptions on the Globalization and Hegemony of English

Abstract

Globalization as an increasingly influencing force has led English language to become the lingua franca of the world. However, the global spread of English is considered as linguistic and cultural imperialism of English speaking countries to exert their dominance, power, culture, ideology and language over the periphery countries. The devastating consequence of this hegemony, according to Canagarajah (2005) can be putting learners in danger of losing their languages, cultures, and identities, giving rise to the devaluation of their local knowledge and cultures. Here, the researchers administ interview to explore thirty-seven experienced Iranian EFL teachers’ (18males/19females) perceptions on English globalization and its hegemony, who were selected based on purposive sampling. The researchers’ adoption of Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) constant comparative method revealed that although Iranian English teachers admitted globalization as an inevitable reality and English language as a tool in the service of globalization to smooth communication among people, they took up a counter-hegemonic stance and resistance towards the values associated with its use. They also suggested some anti-hegemonic strategies to de-colonize the power, culture, values, and ideologies of the West which tries to marginalize other countries and people.