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The presses have recently been spreading news about the fact that the work “History of Our Yard” by Azerbaijani Arzu Sultan is featured in the Armenian language textbook developed by Ashot Galstyan and Tamara Tovmasyan and that the cover of the textbook is coated with the colors of the Azerbaijani national flag.
Co-author of the textbook “Armenian Language 5”, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor Ashot Galstyan answered questions about this in an interview with the ASPU.
-Mr. Galstyan, you are one of the co-authors of the “Armenian Language 5” textbook for general education schools. How would you describe your textbook and what activities did you carry out?
- The “Armenian Language 5” textbook is an integrated textbook that was developed on the basis of new criteria, that is to say, it is aimed at enhancing pupils’ capabilities, and the language material will be presented on the basis of the literary material. The selected lessons have been tested by teachers and pupils. What is completely new is that there is a QR code on the textbook that contains additional materials to attract pupils. The textbook comprises 176 pages, and we inserted the remaining materials under the QR code where there are language exercises, tasks and literary materials, as well as crosswords and trivia games. The authors of the textbook often contact teachers remotely, listen to them and answer their questions. What’s more, we have already paid visits to the Aragatsotn and Gegharkunik Provinces and have had meetings with the persons in charge and the pupils, and we receive the support of Edit Print publishing house in this regard. The meetings are very fruitful. We have also visited schools in Yerevan, held meetings with the pupils and conducted lessons. Upon the recommendation of the teachers, we have created notebooks that are instructive and contain exercises for the pupils to write theme-based essays. Currently, we are compiling a dictionary of the minimum number of words that 5th graders have to know.
-The “Armenian Language 5” textbook is recently being targeted, and people are sharing various opinions on social networks.
-We the authors are aware of this. Well, in the beginning, people raised the issue of the flag, but this has nothing to do with our textbook. Later, they raised issues related to the place of birth of Hovhannes Tumanyan, but again, this is inaccurate. Over the past few days, they have blamed us for selecting a particular work, explaining that the author of this short story is Azerbaijani. Where is it proved that the story is by an Azerbaijani — in some book, a similar text is presented according to an Azerbaijani author. We have so many cases when the Azerbaijanis calmly appropriate Armenian songs and music, historical monuments, writers and Armenian literary heritage. This is another unproven manipulation that is targeted at a group of scholars and teachers who have years of experience. What is important for us is the Armenian text, the substance of the text and the analytical ability of the pupils. Adolescents often need materials that should be the realization of language materials, and in this sense, this material and the language fully match. We don’t think the Armenian names Ani, Harutyun, Grigor and Tigran would be featured in a material authored by an Azerbaijani. There are various works on electronic platforms that deserve to be examined, and this is a time and criterion requirement. This is an Armenian language book, not an Armenian literature book, and one of the main goals of this textbook is to enhance the ability to express opinions and stances, as well as enhance the linguistic culture.
-Are the pupils content with the textbook? This textbook is for them, right?
-We are testing it on 5th graders. The pupils really like the textbook. They perform the vocabulary and text tasks with pleasure and ask the authors very interesting questions about the textbook. It is interesting to work with them. The teachers believe the pupils don’t get tired of working with this textbook. The selected materials help the pupils understand the language and grammar exercises easily.
