Exploring the Relationships between Texts and Images In Persian Language Textbooks Based on Marsh and White’s Theory: The Case study Of a Persian Language Textbook Series

Today, in addition to the verbal text, the visual aspects of language teaching scripts, which are designed in a multi-modal way, are emphasized, because the two aspects are believed to be consistent. In this research, we analyzed a multi-modal book of Persian language compiled by Ahmad Saffar Moghaddam (2012), which has two visual and textual layers, and how the meaning is created through textual and visual components. This paper intends to examine eight images of Persian textbook collection based on Marsh and White (2003) descriptive and content analysis method. They created a taxonomy of image functions in text and based their function types on earlier studies. The findings of the research show that in the textbook studied, about 25% of the images were little relation to the text, 50% had a close relation to the text and 25% of the images express more information than the text express. After evaluating the images of these lessons in terms of the relation between text and image, it can be concluded that in the textbook studied, in general, images are consistent with the verbal text. In this regard, it is suggested that the authors of educational textbooks speed up the language learning process by choosing the image appropriate to the educational purpose of the texts, so that the educational goals of the image can be achieved.
There is a wide range of approaches to picture books among the existing studies on textbooks . In most of these studies, the visual aspects have been considered as secondary, and their relationship to the verbal text has been practically ignored. In the past 25 years, however, a number of critics have analyzed how these two forms of communication, the verbal and the visual, work together to create meaning in picture books (Nikolajeva and Scott, 2006). They all seem to agree that the possible relationships between verbal and visual components range from those in which images simply illustrate or translate what is related in the words, to more complex and sophisticated forms of interaction. The more intricate interplay occurs when verbal and non-verbal elements are not mutually reproductive or when they tell different or contradicting sentences. Thus, the understanding of meaning not only requires the analysis of language in text, but also the study of other semiotic resources, such as images, gestures,.... The present study investigates the central concerns of the use of text and visuals within the Language learning textbooks taught at University which have been prescribed by Ahmad Saffar Moghaddam. To do this, the Language learning textbooks  were evaluated and analyzed. In this research, we analyze the multi-modal book of Persian language compiled by Ahmad Saffar Moghaddam, which has two visual and textual layers, and how the meaning is created through textual and visual components. The image is one of the key elements of educational books that many theorists, including Marsh and White, have been focusing on. The conceptual framework follows Marsh and White’s approach.The main objective is to “identify the verbal and visual strategies used by writers and illustrators, to convey a representation of reality, to create interaction with readers and to form coherent wholes of communication. This paper establishes a taxonomy of image‐text relationships that reflects the ways that images and text interact. It is applicable to all subject areas and document types. The paper intends to examine eight images of Persian textbook collection based on Marsh and White (2003) descriptive and content analysis method. By defining the relationships between image and text, this theory provides the effectiveness of educational books in coordinating the image with text in order to facilitate the learning process.They created a taxonomy of image functions in text and based their function types on earlier studies.The taxonomy was developed to answer the research question: how does an illustration relate to the text with which it is associated, or, what are the functions of illustration? The 3 general image functions from the first level represent 3 types of strength of relation between image and text. The first group (A) contains functions of images that express little relation to the text. The second group (B) contains functions of images expressing a close relation to the text. The last group (C) contains functions of images where the image expresses more information than the text expresses. The findings of the research show that in the textbooks studied, about 25% of the images were little relation to the text, 50% had a close relation to the text and 25% of the images express more information than the text express. After evaluating the images of these lessons in terms of the relation between text and image, it can be concluded that in the the textbook studied, in general, images are consistent with the verbal text. In this regard, it is suggested that the authors of educational books, by choosing a picture tailored to the purpose of teaching the texts, will accelerate the process of language learning to realize the educational goals of the picture.The analysis reveals how the verbal and visual modalities contribute to each other’s meaning and makes the potential of combining verbal and non-verbal language in picture textbooks. The study is intended to serve as a framework for assisting authors, teachers and other professionals involved in writing and teaching textbooks that are “appropriate for students specially students of Persian language. ” Findings of the study pedagogically call for using appropriate pictures of real people and real environment which provide sufficient input for language learners.  All in all, this study encourages students and teachers to be critical thinkers, and helps them to figure out hidden or functional parts of images and their related texts.