The “Cultuling” Analysis Model as an Effective Approach in Teaching Iranian Culture to Non-Persian Speakers: The Case of the Cultuling of Mortal Thoughts in the Shahnameh

In view of the fact that culture is of importance in teaching Persian, the application of cultulings sounds relevant. Cultuling are words and phrases reflecting the culture of people; notably Shahnameh, appears to be good sources for education. Intending to reflect on a method for teaching culture in light of “cultuling analysis model", that is a comprehensive model for pinpointing cultural models and patterns, this study examined the cultuling of mortal thoughts in the Shahnameh. In doing so, 130 pieces of utterances concerning mortal thoughts were taken from Dehkhodā’s Proverbs and Mottos, which originally belonged to the Shahnameh. They were analyzed from the perspective of the SPEAKING model the type of emotion and frequency of people’s experience with this cultuling was evaluated based on the emotioncy model and the embedded culture in this cultuling was scrutinized. The results show that this cultuling holds a high frequency in the Shahnameh. Together with their auditory, visual and kinesthetic ways of experiencing mortal thoughts, people tended to use this culturing for encouraging charity, dealing with the inevitability of death, acknowledging the fear of death, avoiding worldly desires and acknowledging the universality of death. The cultuling of mortal thoughts mirrors an Iranian culture featuring collectivism, restraint, short term orientations and uncertainty avoidance. To teach these cultural values and patterns, the researchers chose a text, which contained the cultulings in questions and was designed according to the SPEAKING model. The text was then taught in light of emotioncy; a model underlying the of emotions in learning and teaching.