A comparative analysis of cultural features in the textbooks of teaching Persian as a second language

This study offers a brief evaluation of the quantity and the impact of teaching cultural characteristics parallel to teaching Persian using Byram's checklist (1993). For this purpose, the following three books have been selected as research samples to investigate the process of cultural transmission in a comparative analysis: ‘Zaban-e Farsi: Book 3’ (1386 - Ahmad Saffar Moghaddam), Amoozesh-e Zaban: book 1’ (1384 - Mehdi Zarghamiyan), and ‘Dars-e Farsi’ (1386 - Taghi Pournamdariyan). In the mentioned-above books, “Big C culture” refers to cultural items and materials such as national history, music, literature and art, while “Little c culture” denotes to social practices including behavior, etiquette, beliefs, values, and rules. This method counts on the examplars of teaching language with focus on themes like life, family, school and workplace, while keeping track of the quantity of cultural themes and the pertinent interactions.
This study tries to develop a theory in which teaching culture is fully incorporated within teaching language.
 
Extended Abstrac
 
 1. Introduction
This study will analyze the three books Zaban-e Farsi by Ahmad Saffar Moghaddam, Dars-e Farsi by Taghi Pournamdariyan and Amoozesh-e Zaban by Mehdi Zarghamiyan using Byram’s checklist (1993), and will determine the impact of teaching culture on learning language. In this study, “Big C culture” includes features like history, music and literature, whereas “Little C culture” includes traditions, beliefs and values. The quality and quantity of the mentioned features will be assessed in the present survey as well as to theorize that language and culture are absolutely intermingled.
 
2. Theoretical Framework
Language and culture are two immensely important and intertwined aspects of social life. In consideration of the fact that language reflects the cultural wealth of the society, teaching culture is viewed as a crucial element in modern language teaching.
In this regard, teaching language and teaching culture should be treated as inseparable elements, so as to prepare the learner for a better, more contextually-aware international life. Language scholars believe that language textbooks should also include cultural studies, so that the students may learn the language in an appropriate context and use it properly.
Based upon the theoretical framework of this study namely Byram, 1993, the importance of culture in the target language is strongly declared which in turn make the statistical population be better analyzed. That is to say, we can ask “How can language learners benefit from learning about the traditions and lifestyles of Persian people?” And receive the answer “Students can communicate much better this way, hence they can become more effective language learners.”
 
3. Methodology
Mankind has always been in need of culture and has constantly tried to perfect it. Culture includes “Little c culture”, refers to people’s lifestyles and their traditions and morals and beliefs, and “Big C culture”, is defined as the history of a society and its artists, politicians, and champions. In connection with this point, language teaching textbooks play a key role in teaching target language culture to the students.
The subject of teaching Persian language to non-Persian learners and the fact that all three books have been written at around the same time, is the reason behind this study. Building on these, we will attentively analyze the above-mentioned books to find out whether or not the Persian culture is transferred through the educational contents. Moreover, in order to get a better understanding, the works of Persian and foreign scholars on the subject has also been analyzed.
4. Results and Discussion
Comparing the samples from the aforementioned books showed that:
Both Zaban-e Farsi and Amoozesh-e Zaban contain a unit dedicated to the Iranian elites while Dars-e Farsi has devoted only a number of exercises to the subject.
Regarding moral issues, Dars-e Farsi has briefly mentioned the issues, whereas Zaban-e Farsi and Amoozesh-e Zaban have widely expanded the subject  and have mentioned the morality in different historical religions.
It was observed that Zaban-e Farsi has mentioned a wider variety of topics in regards to lifestyle, religion and morality, conversely, Amoozesh-e Zaban and especially Dars-e Farsi are symmetrically opposed in position as Zaban-e Farsi is, in that, the doctrine seem to be thoroughly non-Iranian.
With reference to art, history and traditions, Zaban-e Farsi has mightily highlighted Persian art and national history, the everyday life of Iranian people, the so-called culture of Taarof, the traditions, and the cuisine etc. These explanations are also present in Amoozesh-e Zaban, but Dars-e Farsi has almost neglected the mentioned cultural subjects and has only incorporated the elements into the lesson exercises.
Finally, it was perceived that Zaban-e Farsi is best teaching cultural features, whereas Amoozesh-e Zaban is addressing the issue relatively. Therefore, generally speaking, students can learn a great deal about Iran and the Persian culture through the mentioned books.
 
5. Conclusions and Suggestions
a. Language is the most important means of communication among people.
b. Language teaching has always been of utmost importance, and hence the language teaching textbooks as well as the teachers play a key role in the learning process.
c. Textbooks and teaching aids are highly important tools.
d. The goal of learning second language is to learn the cultural items of the target society. With this definition in mind, the worst kind of language teaching is teaching the basic concepts.
Teaching language without teaching culture is not achievable. While teaching culture does not include a certain set of rules, e.g. alphabet, it is integrated within all language skills, such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. That is why all writers, scholars and teachers should come to an agreement with a common definition of culture, so that they can keep the students interested