Evaluating the grammar content of TPSOL materials based on pedagogical grammar approach

The present study attempts to evaluate the grammar content in teaching Persian to speakers of other languages materials by introducing the principles of pedagogical grammar, which is considered as a new approach for teaching grammar to learners of a second language. To this end, the pedagogical grammar principles have been first introduced, which are the theoretical frameworks of the present study. A checklist has been then developed and after measuring its content validity, two hundred and six(1334-1396) the TPSOL materials have been evaluated based on the checklist, which they have introduced in the authentic bibliographies, and teaching grammar is expected to be a part of these material's content. Results indicate that there is still no definite and specific approach for teaching Persian language grammar to speakers of other languages after more than sixty years of writing the early works in this field as well as the subject of grammar has been studied based on the style and experience of the author in more than thirty-two percent of such works and no attention have been paid to teaching grammar in thirty percent of them.
Extended Abstract: The current study attempted to evaluate the content of grammar in Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers’ materials by introducing the principles of pedagogical grammar which is considered as a new approach in teaching grammar to second language learners. This article is composed of a basic theoretical section and an applied section. In the theoretical section, the attempt is made to introduce one of the best and most effective methods in teaching grammar in second language by providing a particular approach to teaching grammar and stating the principles of this approach which is called pedagogical grammar. Then, in the main part of the article with an applied aspect, the answer to the following question is examined: Which educational approach to grammar is superior in the existing texts for teaching Persian language to non-Persian speakers? Based on the study of reliable resources, the main features of pedagogical grammar include: 1- simultaneous teaching of vocabulary and grammar; 2- being corpus-based; 3- the need to provide feedback; 4- simultaneity of explicit and implicit instruction; 5- considering processing considerations and learning capability; 6- compliance of form, meaning and function; 7- teaching grammar based on tasks and communication exercises; 8- combination of extensive and intensive methods in teaching grammar; 9- filling the gap of attention and eliminating the gap between declarative and applied knowledge. The sources of Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers used in this research consisted of Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers books published from 1955 to 2017. To prepare a reliable list of these books, second edition of Descriptive Bibliography of Persian Language Teaching to Non-Persian Speakers (Dabir Moqaddam, Qare Gazi, Asgharpour, 2017) was used. To analyze the books, a checklist consisting of 49 items was designed which evaluated the compliance and non-compliance of Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers’ materials with the principles of pedagogical grammar (these items had a score between -24 and 168).The checklist used in this study was a researcher-made one. Thus, it is necessary to provide explanations about it. This checklist was developed based on the study of over 40 different checklists and various evaluation models and textbooks and its validity and reliability were examined based on valid models. By examining the text and exercises of Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers books, these books were divided into five main categories based on the designed checklist: 1. First group: Relatively desirable books which have paid attention to the principles of pedagogical grammar. 2. Second group: Average books (these books have received a score of 40 to 79 in quantitative terms.) 3. Third group: Books based on the author’s experience and styles (these books have received a score between 10 and 39.) 4. Fourth group: Books with no attention to grammar (these books were recognized by a score between 0 and 9.) 5. Fifth group: Books that teach grammar through a traditional approach and thegrammar translation approach (this group was recognized by a score between -1 and -24.) In the first cluster, we had relatively desirable books with a score of 80 to 130. In this cluster, The Book of Mina (Sahraei, 2017) achieved the first rank by obtaining 130 points. From a total of “two hundred and six” titles of books reviewed, “twenty three” titles of books (11.1%) were placed in this group. “Twenty four” titles of books (11.6%) were put in the second cluster, which partly complied with the principles of pedagogical grammar. The third cluster included the books of Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers with a score ranging from 10 to 39 and amounted to 66 books. Books of this cluster expressed grammatical points based on the author’s experience and styles and made up 32% of all books. Although this category of books was in a better condition in terms of scoring and rating compared to the fifth cluster books, it was even weaker than the books in the fifth cluster in qualitative terms since the fifth cluster books were mainly based on long-standing teaching traditions such as grammar translation and hence obtained numerous negative scores from the first part but at least followed a specific method and model in second language teaching. The fifth cluster, which covered the range from -1 to -24, was dedicated to books in which teaching grammar followed traditional patterns and grammatical points were taught from beginning to end regardless of Persian language learners’ need and the practical and actual form of Persian language. This cluster comprised of 31 titles of books and totally covered 16% of all books. With regard to the evaluation of Persian language teaching books and the overall findings of this article, it can be concluded that although many efforts have been made in the compilation of basic texts in Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers, there is still a long way until the achievement of applied and ideal texts in the field of Persian language teaching to non-Persian speakers_ especially teaching grammar. To achieve this goal, a graded list of required and widely used grammatical structures should first be developed, whose realization involves the enjoyment of a rich and reliable corpus of today’s spoken and written Persian language. In addition to this list, the meaning and function of these target grammatical structures should also be developed and various examples and exercises tailored to each level should be designed. Further, practical guides and suggestions should be prepared to make teaching more applicable. Original texts should also be provided for teachers so that they can experience more successful teaching using these guides.