Abstract EN:

The Persian Language Teaching (PLT) textbooks mainly focus on the grammatical methods, which limits their efficiency to promote communicative skills of the learners. In contrast, most current French Language Teaching (FLT) textbooks are based on modern methodologies to develop such skills. The present study investigated how these modem methods could be adapted and used in the PLT textbooks. The objective was to evaluate and find a balance between traditional and modern methods in the FLT textbooks, and to apply this example to the PLT materials. An evaluation and determination of a balance in methodological approaches required a framework, which could be used for both the PL T and FLT textbooks. Therefore, l designed and developed a tool that included four themes: content selection; grammatical approach; classification of tasks and activities; and metalanguage. Based on the results achieved from the evaluation of two FLT and three PL T textbooks, this study was able to reveal the efficient factors in keeping a desired methodological balance in the textbooks. These factors include: 1) giving priority to the objectives and needs of the learners, and 2) using communicative activities and tasks to address them. Linguistic and communicative objectives should be acknowledged in detail, and in a way to encourage observation and reflection, in order to stimulate the understanding of grammatical items by the learners. Tasks and activities should not be based only on grammatical items, but they should also provide an opportunity to develop communicative skills. An appropriate use of specific metalanguage also helps ensuring the desired balance between grammatical and communicative approaches. ln the last part of this study, I propose some examples of PL T lessons for the elementary/beginner levels, based on the findings of this research.