فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Culture and language are fundamentally interconnected, and the significance of culture must be acknowledged in discussions of language. Therefore, the aim of this research was to examine the cultural elements in Persian as a foreign language (PFL) textbooks published by both Iranian and foreign publishers, and how these cultural components portray the Persian language for non-native speakers. The documentary technique was used for data collection, while thematic analysis was implemented for data analysis. Two Iranian primary school textbooks (Persian Language Teaching and Persian Language) and two additional textbooks from international publishers (Persian of Iran Today and Persian is Sweet) were chosen, and the cultural elements included in each were gathered and categorized. The vocabulary of these textbooks was analyzed, and the findings were presented through tables and graphs. The findings revealed that across various semantic fields, certain words, including Juma, Toman, Qur'an, Hafiz, Nowruz celebration, Islam, football, and Tehran, appear in all four books. The presence of these words may signify shared ideologies among the authors of the textbooks. It also indicates that some phrases have more significance for them owing to their closeness to Iranian national culture. The book Persian of Iran Today emphasizes the semantic domain of literature, with its writers concentrating mostly on recent works. Predominantly, the majority of the offered terms are rooted in Iranian national culture. The authors of the domestic textbooks have not performed as effectively as their foreign counterparts. Although the total number of words in these textbooks texts is comparable, approximately 50% of the vocabulary pertains solely to verbal communication, while other semantic domains, such as literature and customs, have been largely overlooked. At the conclusion of the paper, some practical suggestions for equitable cultural representations in PFL textbooks are presented.