The Persian Taarof Comprehension Test

School of Continuing Education Resident Program at Ft. Ord Persian Department Intermediate/Advanced Program

Research Proposal developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat, M.A. Fall 2004 ED440 Educational Research Method Mentoring Professor: Jean Turner, Ph.D.

Monterey Institute of International Studies

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

The Persian Taarof Comprehension Test

Abstract
This study will investigate the effect of two different types of explicit and implicit instruction on speech production of taarof (form of compliment). Understanding the concept of taarof in the Persian language is important, a concept relating to speech act theory. The participants are the American military learners of the Persian/Farsi 1 language. In this study, I will measure the data collected from two sections of the advanced level: one is the experimental, whose members will receive explicit instruction of taarof; the other section is the control group, whose members will learn about the concept implicitly. The primary focus is to investigate whether the explicit instruction of taarof has an effect in developing a higher level of perception of taarof so students can use the exchanges of taarof more frequently in daily speech with native speakers. Students performance will be measured by a researcher-designed rating scale that was adapted from previous studies. The mean of performance scores will be compared between the groups at the beginning of the study (pretest) and three months later (posttest) using a Case II Independent Sample t-test to determine if there is a significant difference between the two classes. If a significant difference is found between the groups, this could have important implications on relevant strategies for language instruction at the School of Continuing Education Resident Program (SCERP) at Ft. Ord Persian Department in Monterey, California, for intermediate and advanced students.

Introduction
Taarof generally means to pay respect to someone and is counted as social etiquette. Behaviorally, one gives a compliment to someones good deed, admires someones elegant clothing, or praises someones statement. Beeman (1986) writes that taarof refers to the most common principle in interpersonal interaction in Iran, which is to indicate lower status for oneself while elevating the status of the person being addressed (p. 140). Beeman lived in Shiraz, Iran, for several years and writes about the nature of expression in the Persian/Farsi language and its relationship to general semantic theory. Iranians exchange phrases of taarof in all levels of daily interaction, in both
1

The Persian/Farsi language is spoken in Iran and is used to differentiate from the Persian/Dari language spoken in Afghanistan.

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

formal and informal settings such as the market places, restaurants, offices, and social gatherings. For several decades, sociolinguistics (the study of language in culture and behavior) has been defining and researching what has been called speech act theory. The speech act related to the concept of taarof in the Persian/Farsi language is used in formal and informal social interactions. The speech act is defined as units related to sociolinguistic competence conveying specific meaning. In regards to speech act theory, Cohen (1996) gives an example of the phrase Sorry about that and explains the phrase may serve as an adequate apology in some situations and in other situations it may not even be intended as an apology. Given this reality, second language researchers and teachers find that speech act behavior constitutes an area of continual concern. This means a word or phrase isolated from its socio-cultural context may lead to linguistic curiosities if phrases or words do not achieve their communicative purposes. Finegans theory (1999) of speech act explains that the linguistic meaning, or locution, portrays the intention of the speaker, or illocution. The effect of the act on the hearer is called perlocution. The concept of taarof can be described in three important components relating to speech act theory: 1) the social meaning, 2) the intention of the speaker, and 3) the effect of the act. The locution of exchanges of taarof can change depending on who offers taarof and whether the offer is sincere ( samimaneh) or deceitful (chaploosaneh), even manipulative. The locution of exchanges of taarof might vary depending on the illocutionary intent and its perlocution. For example, when the phrase ekhtiar darin, meaning you have the choice, is offered after someone mocks oneself with Am I crazy? the intent of the response ekhtiar darin is taarof: The hearer may not know whether the answer means Yes, you are crazy or No, you are not crazy. One

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

has to decide on the positive or negative connotation individually, depending on who offers it. The native Persian would be aware that the meaning might vary in context. The exchange of taarof is significantly prevalent within the Persian culture in almost all diverse regions among ethnic groups such as the Persians, the Kurds, the Baluchies, the Turks, and the Gilakies, as well as among the religious groups of Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. Taarof is sometimes sincere but there are times that these phrases are used as empty offers. A good example of the sociolinguistic meaning of the empty offer of taarof exchanged in the Iranian bazaar is explained by Roozbeh Shirazi, an Iranian-American student at Columbia University in New York. Shirazi responds to a New York Times article written by Nicholas Kristof, an American visitor in Iran. Shirazi gives a historical definition of the offer of taarof in response to what Kristof writes stating, People in Iran have been exceptionally friendly and fulsome in their praise for the United States, and often for President Bush as well the police were apologetic even when I was detained a couple of days ago in the city of Isfahan (p. 1). Shirazi non-apologetically states that Iranians often make polite, but empty offers to appease their guests in order not to offend them. Foreigners seem to unwittingly indulge in taarof they receive (p. 1). In the above example, the misunderstanding of the concept of taarof explained by Mr. Kristof is evident. This illustrates the need to comprehend the socio-linguistic meaning and the concept of taarof when learning Persian/Farsi. One can implicitly hear the taarof or use it in an inappropriate setting without comprehending the imbedded meaning. In fact, such phenomenon can be taught explicitly in the classroom to enable students to differentiate among the various meanings of taarof and the settings in which

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

taarof should be offered and to determine what meaning it might have (empty or sincere offer) contextually. Therefore, the explicit teaching of taarof could help L2 learners of Persian/Farsi to use taarof appropriately in their speech, or to understand the imbedded meaning when they hear it. The likelihood of such proficiency in understanding taarof is greater if suitable curriculum is devised for the intermediate and advanced classes and if taarof is taught explicitly. In this study, the research question is whether there are statistically significant differences between the two groups in perceiving, understanding, and using taarof at the end of the explicit instruction (treatment). The students in the experimental group will have explicit instruction of taarof for two weeks. The students in the control group will not have explicit instruction of taarof, but they will hear the exchanges of taarof in conversations, which in this study is called implicit learning of taarof. The null hypothesis states that there is no statistically significant difference between the group whose members receive explicit instruction of taarof and the one who does not (HO: X1=X2). The alternative hypothesis states that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of perceiving and using taarof in daily speech (H1: X1=X2). The independent variable in this study is the explicit instruction of taarof and the dependent variable is the ability to use taarof in spoken language. If a significant difference is found between the groups, this could have important implications for relevant language instruction strategies used with higher level students in the Persian Department.

Methods Participants: The participants are male and female American students learning
Persian/Farsi at the advanced level. This study will take place in the Persian Department

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

in the School of Continuing Education Resident Program (SCERP). The experimental group G1 (advanced) will have explicit instruction on taarof, in addition to implicit learning of taarof. Conversely, the control group G2 (advanced) will not have explicit instruction on taarof, only implicit instruction. The instruction is developed for the speaking, listening, writing, and translation classes which are taught explicitly after the third month of the nine-month session. The class will consist of six students each, randomly assigned to each class (n=12).

Materials: There are six students in the experimental group. The instruction (treatment)
will be conducted over two consecutive weeks. (The curriculum has already been taught.) The materials are essays, research papers, articles, written concepts of taarof by lay people (non-linguists), documentary videos (dialogues between pairs and groups), and two movies. In the curriculum, several research papers were also included. The research papers are regarding taarof, its definition, and usage written by Iranian-American linguists who are teaching at universities in the United States. As part of the curriculum, some clearly written Internet articles in English, written by non-linguist IranianAmericans living outside of Iran, were randomly selected. In the same manner, several definitions and articles, written by Iranians residing in Iran, were selected in Farsi. Since taarof is a concept that might varyreflecting geographical and age group diversity from region to regionit is important for the students to read diverse samples of the concept of taarof. Therefore, written concepts by the four course instructors raised in different regions of Iran have been included. The instructors are from the cities of Esfahan, Shiraz, Tehran, and Rasht. Three of them are over 60, and one instructor is between the ages of 40 and 60. Several additional concepts and discussions from Iranian-

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

Americans residing in the United States who are not teachers were also selected. They were raised in Kerman, Mashhad, and Mahan, other cities in Iran.

Instructional procedure: The instruction is designed for two hours each day for two
weeks. The same instructor will teach both the experimental advanced class and the control group. All students in both sections will hear exchanges of taarof in their listening classes. They will also interact with instructors and each other in speaking classes, exchanging phrases of taarof. Larsen-Freeman (2003) discusses the process of language acquisition, referring to The Three Ps: Presentation, Practice, and Production (p.100). For evaluation purposes, students output in the target language is assessed by instructors when they participate in an immersion program. The immersion program, as part of the routine curriculum at the School of Continuing Education Resident (SCER) program, is arranged so that students can interact with native speakers invited from outside who may or may not be teachers. The immersion program at the SCER is defined as a program in which learners participate in group gatherings with native speakers to converse in the target language and function socially with them. These immersion gatherings consist of cooking classes at the department and a week-long field trip to Los Angeles, where students visit Persian clubs, radio and TV stations, Persian homes, a traditional Persian spa, traditional Persian restaurants, bookstores, and Persian grocery shops. Other social settings are the Persian markets and restaurants in San Jose.

Curriculum adaptation: Cohen (1996) explains that speech acts have been defined
and researched since the 1960s. But, in the last 15 years, research in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has helped to provide empirical descriptions of a speech act set, such as apologies, complaints, refusals, and expressions of gratitude. These sets are used so

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

that teachers can apply various strategies for teaching purposes. As a result, strategies for performing a speech act can be taught explicitly. In this study, it was decided to create similar sets for teaching purposes called the appropriate exchanges of taarof (perception of speech act sets). Consequently, 10 categorical situations of taarof with proper exchanges for instruction were developed. The categories of taarof mentioned here are examples of the exchanges taught for the following settings. There are also sets of exchanges (responses) appropriate for each setting: 1. Greetings 2. Invitations 3. Receiving guest(s) 4. Shopping 5. Traveling 6. Complimenting 7. Giving birth 8. Receiving non-invited guest(s) 9. New Years celebrations (Noruz) 10. Formal receptions, etc. Cohens (1996) method for collecting speech act data can be used to collect similar type of data for Persian taarof measurements. Fifty questions were developed and taught during the treatment session. For testing, some of the same questions, with slight alterations, are used for pre- and posttests. Among the activities for testing, there are examples used called appropriate use of taarof, discourse completion of taarof, and role play using taarof adapting Cohens method. The achievement test questions are selected from the questions used in class when the curriculum is taught during the two weeks of instruction. The tasks are designed with questions specific to speaking, listening, and reading. Within each task, the students study the 10 categories of speech act sets and appropriate exchanges with variety of activities. Students also carry out research on the Internet,

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

exploring other articles about taarof on their own. Students watch movies and complete follow-up activities about the exchanges of taarof they observed. The examples of the appropriate exchanges of taarof, discourse completion of taarof, and the role play of taarof are as follow:

The appropriate exchanges of taarof (perception of speech act sets): For this activity, scenarios are developed followed by four possible responses from the 10 categories. Each scenario is taught with appropriate sets of exchanges during the treatment session and has five points.2 The examples in this study are from the curriculum developed for this study by the author at the DLI. The method of teaching and testing is adapted from Cohens study. The example of the scenario for the appropriate exchange of taarof would be as follows: The scenario: At a social gathering at a friends house you are forced to sit behind someone else. The person in front of you, out of respect, apologizes for being in front of you and having his/her back to you. S/he would say: bebakhshid poshtam be shomas! Which response is correct? 1) 2) 3) 4) gol posht o ru nadare ghabeli nadare khaste nabashid ma doostim eibi nadare

The culturally proper exchanges would consist of a native-like response selected by the student. In the above scenario, the correct response is number one. The literal translation is A flower does not have front and back.
2

Since this study can only be used by the Persian language department at DLI or any other Persian language institution, the examples will not be translated into English since the meaning would be altered.

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

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Discourse Completion of taarof: To practice the model dialogue of discourse, the dialogues from at least 25 model dialogues performed by native speakers were chosen for the listening curriculum. These exchanges are rehearsed in the listening class. In the following situation, a conversation between two colleagues (A & B) is heard. The situation: A is a difficult man to get along with and he tells B how he has heard that some people have claimed he is crazy. The Dialogue: A: I heard X said that I am crazy. Do you think I am crazy? B: Ekhtiar darin! (Literally means, You have the choice.) Explain the meaning of this taarof: _____________________________________ The correct response: By using the statement, Ekhtiar darin, you are neither affirming nor denying the truth of the original statement. He may or may not be crazy in the speakers opinion. The phrase Ekhtiar darin is simply expressed out of respect depending on the intonation (the offer is sometimes sincere or deceitful). The Role Play of taarof: An example of the role play used both for treatment and testing using taarof is as follows: The scenario of the role play: You are in the Tehran Bazaar. Jahan 3 (male Farsi name), an Iranian merchant, and Daryoush (male Farsi name), an American buyer who is familiar with the taarof and the culture of Iran, are bargaining in Farsi. Daryoush wants to buy a Persian (Kerman) rug. He should try to bargain and buy the rug for $2,000.00, where the asking price is $3,900.00 (U.S. currency is accepted in Iran). Both the seller and the buyer should use the popular taarof negotiation.
3

American students in the DLIs Persian/Farsi program are given Farsi names in the classroom.

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

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Zaleh (female Farsi name) works for Jahan and should welcome the buyer by bringing tea and encourage the buyer to make the purchase by commenting this is the last piece, etc., using the common taarof. (In reality, it would be odd for a woman to work in a bazaar, but we are going to revolutionize and bring about some cultural change). The following phrases are the usual exchanges of taarof. Select the appropriate exchanges for the setting above. A list of mixed sets of taarof exchanges for different situations is given in Farsi. Students must choose the form that should be used when purchasing something in the above setting by placing a checkmark in the parentheses () next to it. * ... ( ) * ... ( ) * ... ( ) * ... ( ) * ... ( ) * ...( ) * ...( ) * ...( )

Test Design: Cohen (1996) recommends diagnostic assessment to determine the

students level of awareness of speech acts in general and of the particular speech act to be taught. This can be done orally, in writing, or through a combination of both. SLA researchers have arrived at the set of realization patterns typically used by native speakers of the target language, where each of these patterns would be recognized as the speech acts in question when uttered in the appropriate context. A set of strategies is referred to as the speech act set (Olshtain & Cohen, 1983). These strategies taught in the class will be tested with the following points:

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

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A 100 point scale, called The Persian Taarof Comprehension Test (TPTCT), has been developed. The test consists of: Interval scores: 100-90 = A; 90-80 = B; and 80-70 = C Discourse Role Total (Perception of speech act sets) Completion Play Scores Task 50 points 25 points 25 100 points points
The appropriate exchanges
The Persian Taarof Comprehension Test, (TPTCT)

Ordina l Score A, B, C

1. Ten multiple choice questions of perception of taarof speech act sets are selected. Each correct response carries 5 points, with 50 points total possible. The examples are selected from those studied in the treatment session. 2. Five discourse scenarios carry 5 points each, with 25 points total possible. For the model dialogue of discourse, the dialogues from at least 25 model dialogues which were studied during the sessions will be chosen for the test with slight alteration. 3. One role play is given and each proper utterance of taarof exchange is worth 5 points. There should be at least five exchanges used, with 25 points total possible. The example would be similar to those in the instructional and material section.

Procedures: This is a quasi-experimental design with a) the control group, b) a pretest,

c) a treatment of explicit instruction of taarof, and d) a posttest. The design will be: G1 (intact) O1 T O2 G2 (intact) O1 O2 The students will be given the pretest to examine their prior knowledge of taarof speech act behavior. Both groups will be given the posttest at the end of the term, considering that one group received explicit instruction of taarof and one group did not. This way, students production (use of taarof) after receiving explicit and implicit instruction or only implicit instruction is assessed.

Analysis: In order to investigate the differences between the mean taarof pretest and
posttest scores of the control group and the experimental group who receives treatment, a

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

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Case II Independent Sample t-test can be used to compare the averages of both the pretest and posttest. In using the t-test, there are several assumptions that must be considered: The independent variable must be nominal and have two levels: The class with explicit instruction and the control group (the independent samples). The dependent variable must be interval, which in this study is the TPTCT scale (an interval nature device). The dependent variable must be normally distributed for both groups. This can be determined by plotting the data after they are collected. If the standard deviation is squared for each group, these squared values (called the variances) should be approximately equal.

The alpha is set at p=.05, because this is exploratory research. If there is a significant difference between the groups, meaningfulness will be determined by calculating eta squared (eta2). This way, we learn how much the difference in achievement between the two groups can be explained by giving explicit instruction for taarof.

Discussion: One potential threat to internal validity in this study is the authenticity of
the teaching material, since there are no empirical studies done regarding the concept of taarof. Consequently, the author is currently collecting data for qualitative analysis. Ragin C. (1996) defines that the qualitative researchers typically use a small number of cases, from one to several handfuls (p. 136) based on scientific ratings of the social research method. The other potential threat is that the curriculum might only be used by Persian/Farsi instructors and Persian schools at the higher level. However, if a significant difference is found between the groups, this could have important implications in relevant strategies for language instruction in the Persian Department for higher level students in particular for speech proficiency.

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

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References
Beeman, William, O. (1986). Language, Status, and Power in Iran. Indiana University Press: Bloomington. Blum-Kulka, S. & Olshtain, E. (1984). Request and Apologies: A cross-cultural study of speech act realization patterns (CCSARP). Applied Linguistics, 5 (3) 196-213.

Brown, J. D. (2003). Understanding Research in Second Language Learning. Cambridge University Press.
Cohen, A. D. (1996). (Eds. McKay, Hornberger, Speech Acts: Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching. New York. Cambridge University Press. Finigan, E. (1999). Language: Its Instruction and Use. University of Southern Californian. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2003). Teaching Language: From grammar to grammaring. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle. Ragin, C. (1994). Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method. Thousand Oaks, California. Northwestern University. Shirazi, R. (2004). That arrogant reporter. Retrieved December 10, 2004. (http://www.iranian.com/RoozbehShirazi/2004/May/NYT/index.html).

Work consulted
Day, E. M., & Shapson, S. M. (1987). Assessment of oral communication skills in early French immersion programmes. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural development, 8 (3), 337-260. Hatch, E. & Lazaraton, A. (1991). The Research Manual: Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. University of California. Molavi, A. (2002). Persian Pilgrimages: Journeys across Iran. W. W. Norton & Company. New York.

Acknowledgement

Research Proposal: Explicit Instruction for taarof Developed by: Fatima Farideh Nejat

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I want to thank many people for their help with this project: Dr. Monika Ihlenfeld, Dean of the School of Continuing Education asked me to develop a curriculum and write class activity regarding the concept of taarof. Her request was the inception of this great project that I delved into and began conducting research, collecting data, writing the scope and sequence of the curriculum, developing class activities, and teaching the concept. Dr. Jean Turner, my Education Research professor at Monterey Institute for International Studies who taught me how to do educational research. She patiently listened to my description of the concept and gave valuable feedback to write the concept as clear as possible so that the English speaker audience of both linguist and none linguists can comprehend. Dr. Robert Kohls, my Applied Linguistic for writing professor gave valuable feedback and taught the step by step processes of research paper writing. I like to thank him for the confidence he showed in me by encouraging me and teaching clearly the tools one needs to learn to write a well rounded, sound paper. Dr. Zohreh Eslami-Rasekh, Iranian Linguist professor at the Texas A&M University sent me her paper on taarof. She presented her paper at the First International Conference on Aspects of Iranian Linguistics in Leipzig, Germany. She provided several other papers by the Iranian linguists on the concept of the Persian taarof.

I would also like to thank the reviewers of this paper. Relatives, Iranian fellow citizens around the world who gave me their concept of taarof, and other contributors: Diane Williams, Ex-professor at Monterey Institute for International Studies reviewed the paper. Kimberly Svetich-will, Editor at the Curriculum Development, Defense Language Institute, reviewed the paper. Jahanshah Javid, Editor of the Iranian.com published my project paper on line and I received valuable data from the readers.