عباس منفرد

The pluricentricity of English language has led to the appearance of new trends in English language education. This is especially important in Expanding Circle (EC) countries to develop intercultural communication among learners. The current study attempted to investigate the views of Iranian Englishteachers towards the relevancy of English as an international language (EIL) to their practice of English language teaching and the influence of teacher education on shaping their attitudes. To this end, a mixed method sequential research design was used to collect data, sing a questionnaire delivered to115 EC teachers who, at the time, were taking an online teacher education workshop held in a Language Institute in Tehran regarding EIL and varieties of English. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 34 teachers who had expressed their agreement to be interviewed. The analysis of the data showed that although the EC teachers had mostly expressed positive perceptions about EIL and varieties of English, their perceptions misaligned with their practices in ELT classes. The mismatch between teachers’ conception of EIL and its relevance to their context of teaching seemed to have undermined their self-confidence in applying this concept to practice. They seemed to have taken it for granted that American English is the sole variety to be practiced in Iran, as it is considered the most desirable target language variety. Implications of the results for educators and policy-makers on bridging the gap between theory and practice in ELT classes are presented.

Considering the pluricentricity of English language and more orientation towards intelligibility in multilingual and multicultural contexts, this article presents an attempt to explore 480 Outer Circle (OC) and Expanding Circle (EC) learners’ attitudes towards pronunciation and varieties of English within the framework of global Englishes. Adopting a questionnaire accompanied by interviews with some participants, the analysis shows the degree to which acceptance of pronunciation and pluricentricity of English vary among learners. In particular, the EC participants’ exonormativity was found to be greater. The results also highlight the concept of “identity” and nativism myth which shows native-like preference anchors more in EC learners’ attitudes compared to OC participants. This article argues that English learners must be made aware of the realities of today’s English and global English ownership which can be really helpful to instigate a paradigm shift in language learning to make sure that it is reflective of how English functions globally and all varieties of English in different cultures are respected.

Drawing on the literature on the emergence of different varieties of English in the globalized world, current debates surrounding English as an international language (EIL), and more orientation towards intelligibility and mutual understanding in international communication, this article reports the findings of a quantitative and qualitative research study with 112 native American and British, 120 Indian and 120 Iranian teachers as members of Inner Circle (IC), Outer Circle (OC) and Expanding Circle (EC) (Kachru, 1992) to explore their attitudes towards pronunciation pedagogy within the framework of English as an international language and  how they see their role in relation to different varieties of English. The findings demonstrate the extent to which teachers’ acceptance of pronunciation and varieties of English differs. In particular, the Iranian teachers’ norm-bound orientation was found to be the greatest among the three groups. Native English teachers’ replies were also indicative of their acceptance of different varieties of English. Teachers’ preferences will be discussed with consideration of their attitudes towards varieties of English which might have influenced the construction of English teachers’ identity and the educational policy of each country. The findings also highlight the localization of L2 language planning and policies in an EIL pedagogy. This article argues that, together with encouraging and valuing different varieties of English, it is important to acknowledge and promote ways to raise awareness of teachers and learners towards global spread of English and the realities of English today which can be really helpful to be more realistic and not just blind followers of a particular model. Keywords: Pronunciation, Intelligibility, English as an International Language, Language Awareness, Identity   نگرش معلمان نسبت به انواع انگلیسی جهانی: معیار های تلفظ در زبان انگلیسی و  نوع آموزش تلفظ زبان انگلیسی در لایه های درونی، بیرونی، و رو به گسترش زبان انگلیسی یکی از مهمترین موضوعات در حوزه آموزش زبان توجه به انواع انگلیسی جهانی از دیدگاه تلفظ زبان انگلیسی و نوع آموزش تلفظ می باشد. تمامی افراد حتی غیر بومی ها عضوی از جامعه انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی می باشند و هیچ گروهی دستور زبانی خاصی راتعیین نمی کند. بومی سازی زبان نقش مهمی در ارتباط میان افراد در یک جامعه خاص را دارد. اهمیت موضوع تلفظ می تواند به دو دلیل اصلی است: اول، ساخت فهم که اشاره به ایجاد یک گفتمان قابل فهم در میان شرکت کنندگان در یک چارچوب ارتباطی دارد. دوم، با در نظر گرفتن نقش اصلی تلفظ درزبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی و راه آن است که شکل آگاهی زبان آموزان نسبت به هویت فرهنگی اجتماعی خود را شکل می دهد .مقاله حاضر با استفاده از روش تجزیه و تحلیل کمی و کیفی به بررسی دیدگاه معلمان در سه لایه زبانی (112 معلم بومی انگلیس و آمریکا: لایه درونی؛ 120 معلم هندی: لایه بیرونی؛ و 120 معلم ایرانی؛ لایه روبه گسترش)، اعتقادات و نگرش آنها نسبت به هنجارهای تلفظ و آموزش آن می پردازد، چرا که آنها می توانند با توجه به عوامل اجتماعی فرهنگی و سیاسی متفاوت  تغییر کنند.  این مطالعه همچنین نسبت به تغییر نگرش معلمین نسبت به انگلیسی بومی و سوق دادن آنها بسوی اهمیت زبان بر اساس قابل فهم بودن و توجه به ارتباط میان مخاطبین تا تلفظ بومی خاص زبا انگلیسی توجه دارد. توجه ویژه به انواع انگلیسی های جهانی و حفظ هویت فرهنگی خود به هنگام یادگیری زبان خارجی از دیگر اهداف این تحقیق می باشد کلمات کلیدی: تلفظ، گفتمان قابل فهم ، انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی، آگاهی زبانی ،  هویت

The study of lexical bundles, among types of text analysis, is gaining importance over the others in the last century. The present study employed a frequency-based analysis approach to the use of lexical bundles. The discussion section of 60 political science articles, with corpora around 253,063 words were investigated in three aspects of structure, form, and function of lexical bundles. The present study selected its data pool out of scholarly articles from qualified journals in the field of political sciences. One part of the data pool was made up of 30 articles written by American native speakers. The second half of the data comprised the 30 articles written by Iranian scholars in political sciences. The findings showed that native and Persian-speaking writers employed the same forms of lexical bundles, and there were significant differences concerning the nativeness and functions. Bearing in mind the findings of the present study, material developers would think of the possibility of the addition of lexical clusters into the materials. It can similarly be valuable for the development of the second language writing strategies, for those who need to write in academic contexts especially political contexts.