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Teaching Advanced Persian through Persian Media
Abstract
As Persian language programs are growing along with centers for Iranian studies post-graduate settings, so does the need for establishing some kind of unanimity in their respective curricula. One way to ease this transition is through textbooks that can accommodate university students’ needs and be attractive to the Persian language pedagogists. Throughout the last two decades or so, many an introductory level Persian textbook is published. However, one can find very few higher-level Persian course books, and those that do exist do not have a particular focus. The aim of this talk is to discuss using content-based materials in teaching advanced level students of Persian. Some content-based materials include translation of literary texts, simultaneous translation of films, classical literature, modern literature, film studies, and media, to name just a few. Teaching the advanced level encompasses structural and lexical and discourse or pragmatic subtleties of the language; therefore, any of the afore-mentioned topics can be adopted in order to demonstrate the higher-order complexities of the language. In this paper, I will give an example of such texts, with a focus on journalistic texts. I will discuss various relevant topics, including but not limited to the analysis of Advanced level students’ needs on the one hand, and higher education curricular needs on the other, as well as how to bridge the two. In my discussions, I will adopt a linguistic point of view in regards to learning and teaching a second language, and an applied linguistic approach in regards to the curricular demands and meeting those demands by the pedagogists. Most teaching methodologies, from the earlier ones, such as natural approach to later ones, such as the task-based approach are more apt to the beginner level or at most, the lower intermediate level. We cannot expect the advanced level students to pick up the fine differences between their first and second language on their own or to master different registers used in different texts and contexts without making them conscious of those differences. Therefore, a lot of care must be taken when designing material for this level so that students will reach near-native level of proficiency.
Discipline
Linguistics
Geographic Area
None
Sub Area
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