Abstract:
Critical English for Academic Purposes (CEAP) is a site where English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and Critical pedagogy are combined. Through CEAP, participants in academia can question the status quo for better education. Few studies have addressed the critical issues in the context of Iranian universities, which take account of both authorities and practitioners. The present study investigated the perceptions of students, professors (practitioners) and policy makers (authorities) in terms of the three prominent modules in critical pedagogy in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in terms of textbooks and instruction in the Iranian universities, namely power, English hegemony and ideology. Data was collected from three Iranian universities. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Chi-squares and ANOVA procedures were employed to analyze the quantitative data. The interviews were analyzed through thematic content analysis. We investigated whether there was a significant discrepancy in perspective among students, professors and policy makers regarding decision-making power, English hegemony and ideology in the context of Iranian EAP instruction. Results of the quantitative and the qualitative analyses for the module of power showed that based on the participants’ perspectives, neither the students nor the professors enjoy power to be active in the policy making. Regarding English hegemony, the participants believed that it does not exist in the EAP textbooks. With reference to ideology, they believed in the absence of a certain ideology in the Iranian EAP textbooks and instruction.
Machine summary:
We investigated whether there was any significant discrepancy in perspectives among students, instructors and policy makers regarding decision-making power, English hegemony and ideology in the context of Iranian EAP instruction.
In other words, when the critical issues of ideology, English hegemony and decision-making power are resolved in universities, students can openly express their perspec- tives regarding the EAP textbooks and instruction.
2. Do the students and instructors in the basic sciences of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, and policy-makers have common perspectives toward the concept of English hegemony in the Iranian EAP instruction?
Apart from a few studies of critical EAP in Iran, which have considered the students’ rights in determining the course content and in- struction (Khany & Tarlani- Aliabadi, 2016), there are no studies on power, ideology and English hegemony, taking into account the perceptions of stu- dents, instructors and policy-makers in the Iranian EAP context.
Students, instructors and policy-makers were asked on their perspectives regarding ideology, English hegemony and decision-making power in the textbooks and instruction in Iranian EAP context, through interac- tive sessions.
Percentage of the instructors and students who did not agree (View the image of this page)The findings demonstrated that participants at Sharif University of Technol- ogy, University of Tehran and Kharazmi University in the three fields of study in basic sciences believed that English hegemony does not exist in the textbooks and instruction in the context of Iranian universities.
As for the second research question, results demonstrated that the students, instructors and the policy-makers believed that English hegemony does not exist in the EAP textbooks and instruction in the Iranian universities.