Approaches of Ph.D. candidates in Arabic language and literature to the importance of learning Arabic dialects in understanding the culture and society of Arabic speakers

Many applied linguists believe that the phenomenon of culture plays an important role in the learning process. Therefore, it can be said that understanding Arabic culture is the highest and foremost goal of learning Arabic for non-Arabic speakers. Arabic dialects are a type of Arabic language that reflects the life of Arabic speakers and what is going on in their society. Learning a formal language and dialects together or learning multiple language levels at the same time can lead to early learning problems, but Ph.D. students are expected to have the most proficiency in language skills, so the of use accent as a tool is one of the mechanisms that may provide Ph.D. candidates with the skills to understand Arabic culture and help them become more aware of the Arabic-speaking community. Despite the importance of acquiring cultural skills in the learning process, accent learning is not considered as a mechanism at the Ph.D. level. Therefore, we decided to examine the attitudes of Ph.D. students in Tehran public universities towards the place of Arabic dialects in understanding Arabic culture and to evaluate the importance of learning dialects based on their perspectives. This research has been done using descriptive, analytical and survey methods and relying on simple random sampling method and has used a questionnaire as a data collection tool. The results of the study based on a study of the approaches of Ph.D. students of public universities in Tehran showed that they realized the importance and necessity of learning dialect to better understand Arabic-speaking community and better understand Arabic culture and they feel the lack of a curriculum or course with a cultural perspective on teaching Arabic dialects in universities.