Assessing Farsi

Abstract

Farsi (Persian or Parsi) has been the only official and educational language in Iran for a long time. Although varieties of Farsi are spoken in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, it is only in Iran that a systematic approach has been developed regarding teaching and assessing it. The Ministry of Education directs both teaching and assessing Farsi through a unified central system at all levels of schooling. However, despite its geopolitical popularity, not much has been published on Iran's educational system. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to present and evaluate the status of teaching and assessing Farsi as the first language in Iran. To this end, a brief description of the linguistic features of the Farsi language is provided, followed by a summary of government policies on teaching and assessing Farsi. Then the status of assessing Farsi is described by examining the tests administered at different educational levels. Finally, challenges that stakeholders face in assessing Farsi in Iran are discussed and some solutions suggested.