A Contrastive Approach to Teaching Persian Ezafe to University Beginners in Azerbaijan

Abstract

This article proposes two lessons on Persian Ezafe for first-year university students whose first language is Azerbaijani. It focuses on singular nouns ending in a consonant, followed by an attributive adjective or an overt nominal possessor. In the corresponding Azerbaijani phrases, the adjective or possessor precedes the noun, whereas in Persian it follows the noun and is linked to it by the vowel -e. The vowel is usually unmarked in ordinary writing. The lessons use these differences to guide listening, comparison of the two languages, reading aloud, and a paired task in which students identify lost items and their owners. A proposed assessment distinguishes word order from the oral realization of Ezafe and checks whether learners can apply the patterns to new combinations of familiar words. The article presents an instructional design and a protocol for its classroom evaluation.