The use of the word “ideologies” is an attention-getter when it comes to multilingual, global educational courses, especially those who are designed to train non-native English speakers to teach English.

At its source, in its heart, the teaching of English is “ideological,” and this fact needs to be planted firmly in the minds of every teacher who is involved in the instruction of this language in any way. The simple fact that teaching English is a global phenomenon and seen as crucial is ideological in itself. The ideological viewpoint of the teachers and of the students is often a common one, not one of variance. It may, however, conflict with the ideological point of view of the country's educational ministry.

It is significant when the teachers come from Arabic countries, and this fact lowers “ideological” input from the start; in particular, their (the prospective teachers’) viewpoint is culturally similar and often, as expected, is linked to their religious backgrounds. As an American Muslim scholar who is engaged in multilingual pedagogy and andragogy, and as a current learner of languages, I can absolutely say that my pervasive Western-trained mindset and my philosophy of education are in stark contrast to the Middle Eastern educational and methodological points of view. This is how ideology interferes with instruction; I battle against it daily. I teach in the MENA region (more than four years now), so I am aware of the consistent cultural and foundational barriers I face every day, all day, as I work to make myself understood in English and to help my students understand English in an academic and professional way. It is one of the main reasons that I place such a high importance on my own learning of their language and of their culture – I use their language and cultural systems as a base for my own instructional methods.

As a recent immigrant to Eastern Turkey, where I work with almost exclusively native Arabic speakers, I can say that even if their acquisition of English is at an advanced level, their comprehension, their learning, their oral and written use at the semantic level of English language structure is extremely low.
This deficit is due to the instructional, andragogical and pedagogical methods that were used when they were taught English. Many of my students even teach English as their current job, but they do not understand it or how to use it – this level of understanding, as many EFL students state if they are interviewed, requires thousands of hours of work, linguistic immersion, translation studies, and all these activities should be with a NATIVE English speaker, not someone who learned English as their second or third or fourth language and who now is an English instructor.

In our modern world English must be used to teach and to learn in more technological areas, such as mathematics or science or computer technology, but these areas are also laden with ideologically embedded points of view in their vocabulary usage especially. Because of this embedded viewpoint, your training courses for English instructors must include the development of an awareness of the distinct and often, unintentional presence of the desire of users/producers of English to share not only information but also to embed their philosophical and cultural points of view within the development of their knowledge sharing frameworks. This is true ideology, and this is unavoidable in any language system worldwide. But for English, for Global English, it is an ideology that must be brought to the forefront when you are designing EFL course structures.

For now, I agree that teaching at least mathematics in English is a fundamental and crucial point – but care must be taken when instruction begins in English in ANY subject (even Maths) – as I said, the vocabulary, the underlying philosophical systems of belief (or disbelief) must be addressed instructionally, and the lack of a basic understanding of how English works as a tool of enculturation MUST be remedied in the training of EFL teachers.

These final points must be respected. English is not just a language – it is an historical system of beliefs collected for purposes of progressive economic and educational development. When you teach English, you are not just teaching a language; yes, you may be opening doors for students to succeed in areas of science, medicine, technology, and mathematics, but you are also opening the door to a powerful and invasive mindset that lays deep within the language itself.

When I teach English, I also teach these facts – the ones I just stated above. I want my students to be aware of what they are doing as they acquire, learn, and assimilate the divergent language system of English into their minds and their work. Properly done, English instruction can definitely benefit and enhance any non-native speaker’s ability to critically view alternative philosophical and religious frameworks. But the student must be made aware of what s/he is doing when they acquire and incorporate English into their life. English, as Arabic, as all languages, contains a way of life, not just words or ideas.

The study of English can change one's personal or global perspective or alter an academic worldview.
Caution must be taken during the course of English language study.

I respect and admire the efforts of the countries of the Middle East to appropriately design their EFL/ELT course formats to include English in their overall curriculum with a deep regard for their historically valued cultural and religious viewpoints.

Herein lies the Ideology of English Language Teaching.