An Analysis of Persian Language Textbooks (Reading) from the First to the Third Grade based on the Theory of Semantic Networks

Semantic network displays a large number of words in a related network. The existence of semantic networks in a text represents the coherence of a text and consequently results in a better reading and learning of a text. The purpose of this research is the analysis of semantic networks, concrete and abstract fields and sense relations in Persian textbooks of first to third grade of elementary school. The present study is a descriptive-analytic research of qualitative type. In this study, semantic networks, concrete and abstract field and conceptual relationships in the texts of Persian books in the first three years of elementary school were studied. The findings indicated that the words in the texts often included at least one semantic network to be drawn, either with or without a title. The conceptual relationships between the words were: collocation, synonymy, opposition, hyponymy, metonymy and member collection. Among these relationships, collocation was the most and member collection was the least frequent relationships. The frequency of concrete field was also halved from the first to the third book, and abstract field had almost the same frequency.