A Critical Investigation into the Content of Rahleh Ma Al-Farsiya Based on Indicators of Developing Educational Content for Persian-Speaking Students of Arabic Language

Extended Abstract:
Persian language education centers in Iran have made efforts to develop and improve Persian language education curricula, especially the production of standard educational content. They have also presented works in this field, but most of the works in this field are general and do not suit the diverse linguistic needs of Persian language learners. Some educational books are designed without considering the level of learners, linguistic elements of the target language, expected language skills, type of educational content, and cultural indicators. One of the educational books for Persian-speaking Arabs who are learning Persian in recent years is the two-volume book "Rihlah Ma Al-Farsiya". Although this book has video files and is designed based on different situations, it seems that it has not been written in accordance with some indicators of the preparation of foreign language educational content. The aim of this research was to introduce this book, analyze its content based on the indicators of preparing the content of foreign language teaching books, and finally, according to these indicators, provide suggestions for improving the content of this book and similar books. To achieve the goals of this research, the following questions were considered:

Based on the basics of foreign language education, what are the indicators of educational content for Arabic speakers who learn Persian?
How is the book "Rihlah Ma Al-Farsiya" in terms of educational content indicators for Arab speakers who learn Persian?

To carry out this research, descriptive-analytical and qualitative content analysis techniques were used. In this way, first by referring to the sources related to the indicators of the preparation of educational content of foreign languages, five essential indicators in the preparation of educational content (including assessment of needs and attention to the level - type of educational content, language skills, linguistic elements, and culture) were extracted in the form of a checklist made by the researcher, and then the aforementioned book was analyzed based on those indicators. Of course, the validity of the mentioned checklist was also confirmed by two expert professors in the field of language education.
The findings of this research were in accordance with the research questions:
With regard to the first research question, the findings showed that it is necessary to consider five indicators of "linguistic needs and attention to levels", "linguistic skills", "linguistic elements", "type of educational content" and "culture" to prepare the educational content of Persian language teaching books for Arab speakers.
Concerning the second research question, the results showed that in terms of paying attention to the language needs of the learners and determining their level, this book is at the basic language levels (level 1-3) and is not suitable for teaching at an advanced level because it only deals with the basic and essential topics of Persian grammar such as recognizing the tenses of verbs and most of the vocabulary, and the selected sentences in the book are related to the needs and daily situations of human life, such as "asking about status, shopping, going to the bank, etc." In terms of paying attention to the "language skills" index, this book pays the most attention to strengthening speaking and listening skills because each lesson contains two conversations along with video files. In the selection of content, the book "Rahleh Ma'al Farsiyya" has mostly followed situation-oriented content among the six types of content (structure-oriented, concept-oriented, situation-oriented, skill-oriented, task-oriented, and topic-oriented). Based on the table of contents of the book, it could be figured out that each lesson includes a situation from everyday life (for example: in the bank, in the gym, in the vegetable market, etc.). In terms of dealing with language skills, this book has paid attention to all four language skills to the extent of meeting the language needs of elementary-level learners. However, more attention has been paid to strengthening some skills, such as listening and speaking skills, because each lesson contains two audio-video conversations that help a lot strengthen the listening and speaking skills of the learners. This book, from the point of view of paying attention to the linguistic elements in the three sections of "vocabulary", "grammar" and "pronunciation", has been done in such a way that in the vocabulary section, most of the words are suitable for the level of beginner learners, in a sensory way and related to everyday situations, and the exercises related to vocabulary strengthening are also presented based on the comparative approach, the discovery of semantic relationships and synonyms. In the grammar section, grammar tips which are suitable for beginner levels are not provided at the end of each lesson, regardless of language roles and situations. Furthermore, the category of pronunciation of letters has not been given special attention, and criteria such as the simplicity of pronunciation, the shortness of the word in terms of the number of phonemes and syllables, have not been considered. In this book, in terms of paying attention to the category of "culture" in the two parts of macro and micro cultural elements, some cultural indicators have been given a lot of attention. The most important macro-cultural indicators included in this book are artistic, geographical, historical, and literary indicators; indicators such as religious beliefs, daily life and family issues, interpersonal relationships, and food are also among the most important intellectual cultural indicators that are included in this book.
Abstract:
The development of educational content according to the needs of Arab-speaking Persian learners has become one of the pivotal concerns of educational resource designers. According to the findings of previous research studies, most of the books authored for teaching the Persian language are not based on foreign language teaching standards, and sometimes they have weaknesses in the arrangement of the contents, little attention to cultural and intercultural elements, and lack of simultaneous strengthening of language skills, etc. Therefore, this research followed a qualitative content analysis method based on the fundamental considerations of foreign language education content preparation, while presenting the essential indicators of writing books for teaching the Persian language to Arab speakers, to review one of the two-volume books on teaching Persian language to Arab speakers titled " Rihlah Ma Al-Farsiya" by "Masoud Fakhri and Seyyed Ali Abutalebi". The findings of this investigation showed that although the mentioned book tries to strengthen the listening and speaking skills of Persian learners, it has shortcomings such as not paying attention to advanced language levels and neglecting some language elements such as pronunciation. Therefore, it is necessary to revise the book from these aspects. Paying attention to the skill of "reading" in order to strengthen the pronunciation and understanding of the students, adding a special section for pronunciation, especially difficult words, and paying attention to the inclusion of macro and micro cultural indicators in the book are among the practical suggestions to improve the content of the said book.