Teaching Persian to Lari Speakers through Contrastive Analysis and Task-based Approach

The present research aims to examine the effect of task-based syllabus and contrastive analysis of nominal and verbal phrases in Persian and Lari languages on enhancing Persian knowledge of Lari speakers. To do so، a sample of 60 subjects in second year of elementary school was selected through multistage and purposive sampling. Then، they were divided into two thirty-student groups، one experimental and the other control (each including 30 applicants). Having implemented a grammatical pretest based on differences in nominal and verbal systems in Lari and Persian for both groups، the subjects in the experimental group received teaching Persian grammar on the basis of contrastive analysis and task-based syllabus as treatment (eight tasks for eight sessions) whereas the subjects in the control group received their regular syllabus based on the one designed in the second year of elementary school. Afterwards، two groups were provided with a parallel posttest to check the effectiveness of the treatment. To analyze the data، ANNOVA and ANCOVA were used. Findings showed that the designed syllabus on the basis of differences in contrastive analysis of Lari and Persian was effective in enhancing the Persian grammatical knowledge of Lari speakers; in fact، the interaction between contrastive analysis and task-based approach led to increase in applicants’ awareness through information exchange، communication and task talk which finally enhanced Lari speakers’ knowledge of Persian grammar.