Linguistic Imperialism or Imperialism of Language: Necessity to Confront English Hegemony in Islamic Countries

In the era of globalization, the worldwide spread of English, especially through English Language Teaching (ELT), is known as one of the most controversial issues in the field of applied linguistics and political sciences. Conceiving the importance of this conceptual shift in the field of applied linguistics which introduces English spread and the mainstream of ELT as inherently problematic phenomena as well as concerning the cultural, social, ideological, and political differences between the Center and the Iranian society, this research aimed at studying the situation of ELT in Islamic countries in the Middle East in the line of Linguistic Imperialism and pathology of teaching English in Iran as a member of Islamic world. The review of the previous studies showed that ELT community has been affected by this critical conceptual shift in such a way that in some important categories including methods, material and curriculum development, English spread and policy, the linguistic imperialism theory dominates. It can be concluded that linguistic imperialism position carries special weight alongside the mainstream of ELT in ELT community's perspective in Islamic countries such as Iran. Some strategies are suggested in this study to prevent damage caused by globalization through linguistic imperialism. The previous studies showed that English Imperialism cause cultural, social, political, and ideological damages in Islamic countries in the Middle East such as Iran. Solving this problem requires research and investigation in this area. In the present study, the author analyzing the situation in Iran context as an Islamic country, concluded that, using their own strategy in dominating the culture of English language countries, policy makers in Islamic countries can reserve the flow in dominating Islamic notions and cultures in these countries by adopting a new trend in English Language Teaching strategies with inclination to Islamic thoughts.