Message from the Editor-in-Chief

In recent years, there has been increased enrollment of foreign students at the universities of the country. Researchers and instructors of Persian language teaching centers in the universities are seeking to integrate Farsi language acquisition and content learning to arrive at an effective instructional approach which would facilitate the acquisition of Persian as a second language and the learning of content in subject areas such as humanities, social sciences, engineering, and medicine.
Diverse and important cognitive influences of this instructional approach in relation to language acquisition and content learning processes have not been explored in our country. In this approach, language is used for learning as well as communication, and it is the content which determines language learning targets. In a typical lesson based on this approach, the following components are integrated:-content: improvement of knowledge, skills, and comprehension of the specific elements of a given curriculum
-communication: using language to learn and learning to use language
-cognition: the development of thinking skills which relate concept formation (abstract) to comprehension and language
-culture: exposure to alternative perspectives and common understanding which would deepen awareness of self and others.
It seems that cognitive processes which are implied in the acquisition of content-specific information could affect the use of Persian as a second language in instructional activities. However, the theoretical frameworks of this approach to teaching Persian language which seeks to integrate content and language learning have not been put to test in language classes. For the past fifty years, language and content have been addressed separately in Persian language teaching centers. Thus, there is little knowledge about the interplay of these elements of content based language learning. Therefore, it is recommended that fundamental research be conducted on the methods of implementation of this approach and the framework of the lessons in the Persian language teaching centers. As such, this journal welcomes manuscripts which report such studies.

Amirreza Vakilifard
Editor-in-Chief