The Most Frequent Verbs in the Written Production of non-Iranian Learners of Persian: An Analysis Based on Systemic Functional Grammar

Based on Halliday's systematic functional grammar, this research investigated verb usage in Persian language learners’ written production. The population of this study included learners of Persian language which studied at Persian Language Center of Ferdowsi University. This field study used random sampling for participant selection. Recognition related data were collected through tests and production related data were collected through writing assignments. In the functional approach, the process appears in the form of verb. Thus, to make sure of understanding of each type of process by Persian learners, considering their language skills at all levels, tests which dealt with verb meaning were designed and implemented in three stages. Then, by investigating the processes in the learners’ compositions, it was concluded that material and relational processes were the most common in all three levels of learners’ compositions. The interesting result was that relational and material processes accounted for 70 percent of all processes.