Teaching English to young learners in private sector of Iranian ELT: Challenges and local realities

Abstract

The growing phenomenon of (pre)primary English education worldwide has resulted in the rise in prominence of the discipline of teaching English to young learners (TEYL). Under the global forces and parents' pressure, early EFL learning has also turned into a pervasive trend in the marketized private sector of Iranian ELT as evidenced by the ever-growing number of classes of ever-younger learners. However, it is not clear what stands at its core because it has not received the attention it deserves, and reports on its status quo are almost non-existent. This qualitative study was conducted to shine the spotlight on some local realities and challenges faced by Iranian TEYL to trigger more intensive research and informed discussion into this Cinderella area of scholarship. The findings regarding each aspect are presented and discussed along with implications and directions for future research.

Preschool English language planning in China: Tensions between policy and practice

“…Most Asian countries introduce English into formal curricula from the primary stage, while at the preschool level, English provision is a bottom‐up initiative rather than mandated by policy (Zhou & Ng, 2016). The present study's findings echo research by Tavakol and Tavakoli (2023) on preschool English learning in Iran, which found that the government ban did not decrease micro‐level enthusiasm for early years English learning. However, this study differs from the Iranian context where English is banned for concerns about Westernisation and cultural invasion (Tavakol & Tavakoli, 2023).…”

“…The present study's findings echo research by Tavakol and Tavakoli (2023) on preschool English learning in Iran, which found that the government ban did not decrease micro‐level enthusiasm for early years English learning. However, this study differs from the Iranian context where English is banned for concerns about Westernisation and cultural invasion (Tavakol & Tavakoli, 2023). None of the education officials and school participants in the Hefei study expressed such concerns.…”

“…(2015), the school participants in the present research expressed their beliefs that an early start in English lays foundations for children's future learning, boosts their confidence in using English and exposes them to the wider world and more diverse experiences. These attitudes illustrate that at the micro level, skills in English as the world's lingua franca are still regarded as a very important form of human capital for better life and learning (Tavakol & Tavakoli, 2023). The earlier a child learns English, the more choices and experiences this may promote—for example, travelling or learning abroad.…”

“…As parent E2 alluded to in the above extract, the “critical period hypothesis” is highlighted as another justification for early English exposure. Although there is academic controversy on the questions of whether the critical period exists for foreign language learning in low‐exposure contexts and whether early exposure increases the potential for achieving native‐like proficiency, the idea of the critical period appears entrenched with the public (Tavakol & Tavakoli, 2023; Zhou & Ng, 2016).…”

“…These benefits of English language proficiency are recognised in the English curriculum at other education levels in China (MOE, 2022b). Researchers have observed that faced with increasing academic and career competition in Chinese society, parents are now seeking educational advantages for their children even earlier than the primary school stage (Liu & Liu, 2022), despite the insufficient empirical support for the assumption of “the earlier the better” (Tavakol & Tavakoli, 2023; Zhou & Ng, 2016). Such parental enthusiasm for early years English learning makes it difficult for officials to achieve their well‐intentioned goal of allowing children to enjoy their early childhoods free of academic burdens.…”