Shima Alsadat Tabatabaie Sepehr

TESOL in Iran in which it is practiced is still in modern era. To name a few, language learning andteaching at schools, holding high stakes tests, focus on grammar, centralized educational system, andteacher-fronted and teacher-centered classes, all show that TESOL in Iran has not been affectedmuch by postmodern ideas and ideals. To be in line with the postmodern notions, authorities incharge are expected to modify the system of education in Iran. Educational system should bedecentralized, high stakes tests should be eliminated, schools should be given more autonomy,teachers should be empowered; they should be given more freedom to design and select books,action research should be encouraged, individual differences should be embraced, the idea of “thebest” should be jettisoned, holding seminars to pinpoint the features of “the best” teachers should bebanned, the concept of “World English” - American and British English as “the best” types ofEnglish- should be discarded, native speaker should not be the only yardstick anymore, localdecisions should be made, the idea of the product-based education should be undermined, the notionof the process-based education should be underlined and finally, critical pedagogy and participatoryeducation should be mainstreamed.