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Investigating the Concept of Mother Tongue in the Educational Documents and Examining its Manifestation in Society Based on the Critical Discourse Analysis Approach

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Madani University of Azerbaijan, Tabriz, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shahid Madani University of Azerbaijan, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

One of the most prominent features of Iranian society is its linguistic and cultural pluralism. Archaeological and historical findings prove that since thousands of years ago various ethnic groups with multiple cultures and languages have lived in Iran. The policymakers of each society adopt different approaches to the issues of linguistic and cultural diversity depending on the circumstances, which sometimes leads to challenges in different fields. Among the most challenging fields in which these issues are involved is the field of education. In such diversity, the centralized educational system becomes more apparent. Currently, there are about 200 independent countries in the world and it is estimated that there are about 4,000 to 5,000 different languages. The present study examines the position and representation of the concept of the mother tongue in educational documents and its reflection and manifestation in society based on the critical discourse analysis approach. For this purpose, the reference documents as well as the approved documents in the structure of Iran's educational system were analyzed. Then, the representation of the concept of education in the mother tongue was analyzed by considering the ideas of trustees, policymakers, politicians, and experts. With the use of a descriptive-analytical method and relying on Fairclough’s (1995) model of critical discourse analysis, the results implied that despite the claims mentioned in the reference documents and the explicit and implicit references of the educational documents on the importance and necessity of teaching in the mother tongue, the dominant discourse of Beneficiaries and stakeholders in this field are using words with nationalistic and ideological empirical value and creating a false dualism of "national identity" and "mother tongue education". Considering education in the mother tongue as an obstacle to the creation of national identity and a threat to national unity has caused the position of education in the mother tongue to decline and despite having theoretical, scientific support and legal requirements, there is no will to implement it in practice.

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References
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Language Research
Volume 14, Issue 2 - Serial Number 27
March 2024
Pages 131-160
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  • Receive Date: 21 July 2023
  • Revise Date: 09 March 2024
  • Accept Date: 10 March 2024
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