How is Foreign Language Teaching to Children and Adolescents Conducted?

The head of the Non-Governmental Schools Organization of the Ministry of Education states that teaching foreign languages in preschool and even elementary schools has not been approved by the Ministry of Education and is prohibited. The issue of foreign language education in schools has been a point of contention between Ayatollah Khamenei and Hassan Rouhani, which became a hot topic in the Iranian media in mid-April. Marzieh Ghard, head of the Non-Governmental Schools Organization, informed the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) about the crackdown on preschools and elementary schools that teach foreign languages. Meanwhile, in recent years, many of these centers have even received licenses to operate as bilingual centers from the Ministry of Education and the Welfare Organization. A simple internet search about preschools or kindergartens in Tehran and other major cities in Iran reveals that most of these centers are trying to compete by introducing themselves as bilingual kindergartens. In an interview with Radio Farda, sociologist and education expert Saeed Payandi discusses the impact of foreign language education in preschool and elementary levels: "If we look at other educational systems worldwide, we see that if the process of language education begins at a young age, children learn foreign languages better and faster. However, in Iran, the issue of foreign language education is approached from an ideological and political perspective." The imposition of restrictions on English language education in preschools and elementary schools began following Ayatollah Khamenei's criticism on May 3, where he stated: "Promoting the English language in our country is an unhealthy act. Foreign languages should be known, but foreign languages and the language of science are not limited to English. Why are other languages not designated as language subjects in schools? This is a legacy of the Pahlavi era. Now, in addition to making English the main foreign language in schools, we are constantly lowering the age of its instruction to lower levels like elementary schools and kindergartens." One day after the criticism from the Supreme Leader, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, mandated the Ministry of Education to examine how foreign languages are taught in schools "in terms of quantity and quality" and report back to the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council. However, Hassan Rouhani presented a viewpoint contrary to Ayatollah Khamenei, which also drew critical reactions from Friday prayer leaders: Rouhani stated, "Which language and how many foreign languages we learn depends on our resources and the number of teachers familiar with foreign languages, and of course, it is also related to the people's demands. The people themselves must want it, and the student must also want it and be able to choose how many languages they want to learn." According to Marzieh Ghard, the head of the Non-Governmental Schools Organization, the current number of students in non-governmental schools, including preschools, reaches two million in the country. These students, according to Saeed Payandi, are being pursued politically rather than educationally: "Instead of seeing foreign languages as an educational phenomenon, we view them as a political and ideological phenomenon, thinking that if our children learn these languages from childhood, they may become culturally deviated or that foreign culture may have more influence in Iran. This is an anti-educational and anti-cultural perspective that primarily harms a generation that cannot speak a foreign language well even at older ages." While the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran speaks of Western influence on the new generation through language education, according to the independent Pew Research Center in Washington, the age at which most students in Europe begin learning their first foreign language is from the age of 9. In Belgium, the age for teaching the first foreign language to children is set at three years. This age is seven in Finland and Sweden. In addition to the first foreign language, most students in various European countries learn a second foreign language between the ages of ten and fifteen.