The Necessity of Teaching Verbal and Non-Verbal Taboos to Non-Iranian Persian Learners from the Perspective of Teachers Teaching Persian to Non-Persians

Abstract

Teaching and learning verbal and non-verbal taboos in language classes have always been one of the issues attracting the researchers’ attention. Also, the current study is one of the studies which has dealt with the necessity of teaching verbal and non-verbal taboos to non-Iranian Persian learners from the perspective of teachers teaching Persian to non-Persians. The participants of the current study were 23 of the instructors of Persian Language Center of Iran’s Imam Khomeini International University. The participants were both male and female and all of them were 34-up years. The method of the current study was a descriptive one in which a researcher-made questionnaire was used. The questionnaire had 22 questions, all of which were based on the attitudes of 12 experienced instructors of Persian Language Center of Iran’s Imam Khomeini International University regarding teaching verbal and non-verbal taboos to non-Iranian Persian learners. The results of data analysis indicated that non-Iranian learners’ awareness of verbal and non-verbal taboos is essential, and teaching verbal and non-verbal taboos to non-Iranian learners is not essential. Based on the instructors’ perspectives, the age and gender of the learners cannot be a hindrance in answering their questions about laborious terms and non-verbal taboos. Moreover, the instructors’ strategies on how to teach the students the necessary verbal and nonverbal taboos and the role of teacher’s position when teaching verbal and non-verbal taboos were investigated and analyzed. The results showed that, in general, female young teachers and those having less experience in teaching directly try to avoid teaching taboos in their classes.