Learning Persian as a Second language: The Perspectives and Challenges of International Medical and Allied Health Science Students

Background: International medical and allied health science students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) speak languages different from the official language (Persian) of the Iranian people. To integrate well into the Iranian community and interact well with patients in clinical settings, they learn the Persian language, even though the medium of instruction for international students is the English language. This study explored the perspectives and challenges of international students regarding the learning of the Persian language.

Methods: This descriptive phenomenological study used purposive sampling to select 18 international students for the study. Participants were carefully selected from different schools in order to triangulate the data. The method of data collection was a face-to-face interview using four interview guide questions with probes. Each interview lasted between 15 to 20 minutes.

Results: The mean age of participants was 32.4 years. International graduate students had a positive attitude towards the learning of the Persian language. However, their proficiency in the Persian language was generally low and it minimally affected their academic work. The effects of the language barrier as expressed by the students included difficulty in communicating with some administrative staffs to schedule appointments or lessons with professors, seeking help from laboratory assistants, and knowledge transfer/sharing among International graduate students and Iranian students who did not speak English. Only 5.5% (1 of 18) of students completed the first of six levels of Persian language lessons. Reasons for dropping out from the language sessions included long duration of sessions per day, the academic workload of graduate students, conflict of Persian language classes with other compulsory classes, Persian language content and teaching methods.

Conclusion: International graduates students had an interest in learning the Persian language even though it is not compulsory for them. Separating graduate students from undergraduates, reducing the duration and number of classes per week, revising the content and teaching methods of Persian language according to the need of graduate students could motivate them to learn the Persian language.