Home

Teaching Persian in a Changing World Order: Language Education, Cultural Understanding, and Strategic Role of Language

This panel explores how Persian language education adapts to the shifting global landscape through innovation, advocacy, and the use of emerging technologies. Persian has long been recognized as a language of strategic and cultural importance, yet recent geopolitical changes, funding reductions, and technological disruption have redefined what it means to teach and sustain less commonly taught languages in higher education.

The first paper situates Persian within broader discussions of language policy and cultural diplomacy, proposing immersive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) as tools for experiential learning that bridge intercultural understanding and professional preparedness. The second paper examine how technology and multi-modal pedagogy transform classroom practices, strengthen linguistic proficiency, and foster meaningful cultural engagement among diverse learners. The final paper addresses advocacy and institutional sustainability, analyzing challenges such as reduced federal support and offering strategies for maintaining Persian programs through curricular flexibility, technology integration, and community partnerships.

Together, these studies show how policy awareness, technological innovation, and pedagogical creativity intersect to ensure the resilience and continued relevance of Persian language education in a changing world order.

Presentations

Persian as a Strategic Language in the Age of Immersive Technology: Building Cultural Diplomacy and Educational Resilience
by /

In a rapidly changing global order, foreign language education plays a vital role in fostering intercultural understanding, professional preparedness, and international collaboration. Persian, designated as a critical language through the National Defense Education Act (1958) and the Boren National Security Education Act (1991), remains essential to the United States’ engagement with the Persian-speaking world. Yet, despite decades of recognition, Persian instruction has only recently begun to integrate technological innovations that can transform traditional teaching into experiential, globally oriented learning.

This paper explores how emerging tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to simulate authentic linguistic and cultural experiences for learners of Persian. Immersive VR environments, for example, can recreate diplomatic and social interactions in Tehran, museum visits in Isfahan, or academic exchanges in Dushanbe—allowing learners to navigate culturally rich, task-based scenarios that would otherwise be inaccessible. When paired with AI-driven feedback and adaptive analytics, such environments cultivate communicative competence, cultural literacy, and critical thinking while connecting language learning to professional and diplomatic contexts.
Drawing on the frameworks of task-based learning and intercultural communication, this study argues that immersive technologies can build both linguistic proficiency and educational resilience. Integrating AI and VR into Persian instruction supports cultural diplomacy, enhances learner engagement, and ensures that Persian education remains relevant, adaptive, and globally connected in a changing world order.

Sustaining Persian Language Programs: Addressing Students’ Needs, Advocacy and Institutional Challenges
by /

This first part of this paper discusses the profile of Persian language learners in the U.S. and explores the characteristics of second language learners and heritage learners by focusing on their motivation for learning Persian and the outcomes it has for student retention in Persian language classes. By examining students’ needs, we can learn how to address these needs better in order to focus on their career readiness and combat student retention. The results of this paper indicate that while students show a strong desire for the development and maintenance of their Persian language, they report a variety of reasons that hinder their efforts towards this goal.

The second part of the paper focuses on the timely issue of the state of teaching Persian and the sustainability of Persian programs as institutions face major budget cuts during the current administration. The paper draws on previous work, including the AATP roundtable organized during the 2016 AIS conference, as well as the advocacy efforts of organizations such as ACTFL, LSA, and NCOLTCL. This paper provides concrete suggestions for Persian language programs by providing a variety of strategies such as shifting the curriculum and use of technology. The paper also aims to raise awareness about the advocacy needs at many levels: at the university level, among colleagues in Iranian Studies, and also for the philanthropic community foundations that provide funds for Persian programs and can have a stronger voice when dealing with the university administration in order to help to sustain the Persian language programs.

Reimagining Persian Language Teaching: Technology, Multimodal Pedagogy, and Cultural Engagement in a Changing World
by /

Vocabulary and grammar instruction, translation, and the use of literary texts for close reading are widely used in Persian language instruction (Abasi, 2012; Alizadeh et al., 2016; Talajooy, 2025). While these approaches are culturally and linguistically rich, they often emphasize form over communicative function and may not fully meet the needs of diverse learners seeking practical, engaging, and technology-enhanced language learning experiences.
This presentation reports on a qualitative study conducted in an asynchronous, university-level introductory Persian course offered in 2025, reimagining traditional instruction through task-based, multimodal, and learner-centered approaches. Drawing on research highlighting the implementation of digital, multimodal resources and innovative pedagogy (Lin, 2012; Ting, 2014; Tan, 2023; Fedorenko et al., 2021; Tan & Matsuda, 2020; Ho & Feng, 2024), the course integrated Padlet, social media platforms, and AI tools to foster creativity, collaboration, and linguistic growth, utalizing students’ digital literacy to cultivate lifelong learners.
Students completed weekly theme-based assignments that connected their personal stories to Persian cultural topics, including online research, interviews with cultural informants, multimodal journals, and collaborative infographic-style projects. AI tools provided real-time feedback, supporting individualized learning and learner autonomy. Analysis of student work and reflections showed that learners valued authentic cultural engagement, collaboration, and the multimodal design of the course, which fostered deeper cultural awareness and a stronger sense of belonging in the asynchronous classroom.
The session will present course design, research rationale, and outcomes, highlighting examples of student work such as including multimodal journals, theme-based tasks, Padlet collaboration, and AI integration. Participants will have practical, innovative approaches for creating engaging, inclusive, and technology-enhanced Persian language learning environments.