Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Shiraz University
Abstract
Cultural issues hold a central importance in teaching Arabic to non-native speakers, as language learning is not limited to the acquisition of phonetic and syntactic systems alone, but also includes understanding the cultural dimensions embedded in texts and dialogues. This study aims to monitor the presence of Kramsch's "Third Space" theory in the book Miftah al-Arabiyya, by analyzing three main components: dialogues, reading texts, and questions/exercises. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach (qualitative-quantitative) based on classifying the cultural themes extracted from the three components, and then identifying the type of cultural space dominant in each theme according to Third Space theory, cultural learning occurs not by forcing learners to adopt the target culture or cling to their native culture, but by opening a space where they negotiate between both to produce new cultural meanings. The results of the analysis showed that the vast majority of cultural topics in the book "Miftah al-Arabiyya" oscillate between the first and second spaces. The first space dominates the reading texts, while the second space appears strongly in the questions and exercises. Topics related to the third space are limited and mainly concentrated in the dialogues, indicating that the book lies in the area of a partially emerging third space, not fully realized, and that the full achievement of the third space depends on the teacher's role in producing new cultural meaning. Based on these findings, the study recommends adding cultural matching exercises, inviting the lived experience of Persian-speaking learners, designing two-way dialogues, as well as training teachers to employ Third Space theory in their classroom activities, moving beyond the pattern of unilateral hegemony toward a truly interactive educational space
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