Exploring how to use conscious exercises in teaching Persian grammar to non-Persian speakers

One of the influential factors in deep language learning is the usage of consciousness raising tasks in grammar teaching. These tasks facilitate language learning through strengthening the link between grammar rules and the real contexts of using them. This study explored the way consciousness raising tasks are employed in Persian Language Teaching (PLT) series. In so doing, it randomly selected and analyzed three  grammatical structures common to the most famous PLT series in Iran.  Based on our research, these textbooks mainly follow the Presentation-Practice approach of grammar presentation which leads to high levels of grammatical accuracy. The series use the deductive way of grammar presentation, and do not use the consciousness raising tasks. Although the deductive approach decreases teaching time and involves more accurate explanations, it privileges the idea that language learning doesn’t nead learners` engagement in the learning process. Moreover, it doesn’t cover learners` analytic and holistic learning styles and does not improve their critical thinking. Thus, material developers need to pay more attention to the potentials of the grammatical tasks they employ.
Extended Abstract:
Introduction
The necessity and method of grammar teaching have always been among controversial issues in the field of second language teaching and learning. Proponents of the fossilization and fine-tuning theories believe that paying special attention to grammar in the field of second language teaching and learning means facilitating the growth of the linguistic knowledge leads to the production of well-constructed sentences of positive influence on students` meaning transformation during the communication process (Thornberry, 1999). Chand Sharma (2002) believes that grammar teaching pursues such general goals as creating a relatively formal framework for communication during meaning-based exercises and activities. In working toward this goal, he recommends the descriptive method of grammar teaching considering the practical application of different grammatical categories. The functional method of teaching grammar mainly involves taking social relations into account and trying to make learners understand why in some communicative situations some language structures seem more suitable than others.
Methodology
 In this research, we aimed to determine the extent to which the Iranian books used for teaching Persian as a foreign language follow the consciousness-raising method of grammar teaching. The importance of the issue lies in the fact that despite the recent significant rise in the number of learners of Persian as a foreign language in Iran, the content of relevant books has not been much criticized, especially when it comes to the issue of grammar teaching. No comprehensive research has been conducted on the form and the applicability of the grammar exercises, while the way grammar is presented can lead to deeper and more successful language learning. In this research, the grammar exercises of three books namely, "Persian is Sweet" by Brookshaw and Shabani Jadidi, "Learn Persian" by Zulfiqari, Ghafari and Bakhtiari and "Persian Language" by Moghadam were analyzed considering the framework of Nitta and Gardner (2005) which is used to identify and classify the grammar exercises. We aimed at revealing whether the Persian language teaching books in Iran follow the consciousness-raising approach of grammar teaching. Further, we aimed to improve the grammar teaching method based on the consciousness-raising principles. Ellis (1993) divides consciousness-raising exercises into three groups according to the level of awareness they create in learners` minds: consciousness-raising tasks, interpretation tasks, and focused communication tasks. The tasks of the first group are the most obvious and important type of awareness exercise because they create the highest amount of mental awareness. As for the tasks of the second and third types, however, the awareness characteristic is gradually reduced. Ellis`s (1993) classification was later used by Nitta and Gardner (2005) and formed the first three categories of their framework. In their new framework, Nitta and Gardner called consciousness-raising tasks, interpretation tasks, and focused communication tasks traditional grammar tasks and combined them with grammar tasks and what Ur (1998) calls focused communicative tasks to form a five-level model. In the new framework, traditional grammar exercises are considered as consciousness-raising tasks and the last two categories as continuous repetition exercises.        
 Results
The general review of the grammar part of the selected books shows that they use different teaching methods. As for the grammar teaching, however, they mainly rely on the direct presentation method. "Persian is sweet" and "Persian language" follow the presentation-practice method and their practice part mostly shows the use of grammar tasks. Unlike these two collections, "Learn Persian" follows the presentation-practice-production method and in this way tries to allow learners to use these structures in real and close-to-reality situations. The tasks used in the language production section of this book try to encourage learners to produce language creatively going beyond practicing grammatical structures. Therefore, these tasks focus on learning linguistic structures and obtaining a high level of accuracy in producing grammatical structures (Thornbury,1999). The books reviewed in this study also prefer the deductive method to the inductive method to meet the possible expectations of learners regarding grammar learning (Ellis, 2002). Although this rule-based method leads to less wasted time during training and more accurate explanations by teachers, designers of educational materials should care about the consequences of the idea that this type of presentation of materials unconsciously promotes; learning a language means learning a series of grammar rules and ignoring the amount of communication that learners establish with books and educational materials. This study also shows that in relation to the examined books, focused communicative tasks are the most important manifestation of the consciousness-raising flow in learners` minds. In addition, except for the "Learn Persian" collection, which uses a combination of consciousness-raising and grammar tasks, the other reviewed books only rely on grammar tasks. This is contrary to the recommendation of Fox (1998) who points out the benefits of consciousness-raising tasks such as covering both analytical and holistic learning styles, providing different situations for learners to be exposed to the language and developing their analytical power.
 Conclusion
 This study encourages increasing awareness of the designers of educational materials about the structures and formats of grammar tasks as one of the important parts of language teaching books. Using consciousness-raising tasks in the form of presentation-practice-production is more effective than relying only on repeating grammatical items because in this case, temporary consolidation of the learned material is usually done in the practice phase and language production is easier. Another advantage of this pattern is meeting the linguistic needs of both groups of learners who use the method of continuous repetition and mental exploration to learn. Teachers of these types of books can make necessary changes in their textbooks in order to take into account the dominant way of learning grammar among their students.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgment
We would like to express our gratitude to Imam Khomeini International University for providing financial support for this study.