Corpus-based study on the use of conversational Persian by learners of Persian
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DaghbandanS_2023.pdf (4.344Mb)
Date
14/08/2023Author
Daghbandan, Sepideh
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Abstract
Conversational Persian, or Colloquial Persian as it is also referred to, is at its early
stages of receiving attention in the field of Teaching Persian as a Second Language.
However, research on the use of Conversational Persian by learners of Persian
remains scarce. Therefore, this study aims to explore the use of Conversational
Persian by language learners using a novel methodology in this field, namely, by using
a corpus-based methodology.
To this end, after performing a pilot study, first, a spoken learner corpus, namely, the
Learner of Persian Spoken Corpus (LoPSC) was compiled. LoPSC is the first spoken
corpus collected from learners of Persian. It is also the first learner corpus in Persian
focusing specifically on Conversational Persian. Data from LoPSC consists of
approximately 40,000 words of transcribed audio recordings from conversations
between advanced learners of Persian in the UK. After the compilation of LoPSC, to
gain a better understanding of the use of the linguistic forms used by the learners,
LoPSC was compared to a reference corpus, namely, the Conversational Persian
Corpus. This corpus consists of 60,000 words of audio-transcribed recordings from
conversations between first language speakers of Persian living in Iran. In addition to
a comparative corpus-based methodology, this study also conducted interviews with
learners of Persian to further investigate the factors influencing the differences
between learner and first language speaker production of Conversational Persian.
The results from this study showed that the most significant difference between the
use of Conversational Persian by learners and first language speakers of Persian was
the word choice of these two groups of speakers. This difference in word choice was
significantly reflected in the use of different discourse markers. In addition, the use of
corpus analytical tools showed significant differences in one category of Vague
Language, namely, the use of Vague Category Markers. Learners and first language
speakers not only used Vague Category Markers differently regarding frequency but
variations in forms were also found. Finally, the findings from the interviews with the
learners revealed that in addition to factors such as possible first language transfer
and the influences of learner language itself, the learners also displayed certain
negative attitudes toward using linguistic forms associated with Conversational
Persian.
This study has three main contributions. First, it provides empirical findings in a novel
context, namely, the use of Conversational Persian by learners. Second, this study
also provides further empirical evidence on how learners use discourse markers and
Vague Category Markers in Conversational Persian. Finally, as the first study to
compile and analyse a spoken learner corpus in Persian, this study also provides
insights into the challenges when compiling a learner corpus in this language,
especially regarding the conversational register of Persian.
From the empirical and methodological contributions and findings of this study stem
implications for textbook developers for Conversational Persian, Persian Language
Instructors, learners of Persian and researchers in this field. This study has direct
pedagogical implications by not only providing further insight into the actual use of
Conversational Persian by learners but also their perceptions regarding this register.
This insight, especially, highlights the forms that require further emphasis when
developing teaching material for this specific register. The learner corpus developed
in this study provides methodological implications by providing a dataset that can
assist future research in this field.
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