Native and Non-Native Speaker Models of English: EFL Teachers' Preferences and Their Implications

Given the global spread of the English language and the advent of novel pedagogical paradigms, the current study scrutinizes the perspectives of 346 Iranian English educators, identified as members of the Expanding Circle (EC) within Kachru's (1992) framework, regarding the adoption of preferred teaching models that align with the concept of World Englishes (WEs). The survey data was collected through a questionnaire accompanied by interviews with 64 volunteers from among the participants who had completed the questionnaire. The results of the study show that adopting American English as the sole model was seen as a dominant feature of teaching English in Iran, supported by the enduring prestige of this variety amongst Iranians. The participant teachers seemed to take it for granted that it is the most desirable target language variety. Incorporating other varieties of English was seen as a waste of time, mostly because of the orientation of language education toward high-stakes tests. The results of the analysis of teachers’ perceptions of native and non-native speaker models provide pedagogical implications for teachers and highlight the importance of WEs-aware education in the EFL context of Iran. This and other implications of the results for teachers and policymakers are discussed.