🏗 Textbook Structure
Navrh jezika is a comprehensive curriculum designed for intermediate university-level language learners who may not have the opportunity to engage with native or superior and advanced level speakers of Croatian outside of their formal instructional settings. However, those learning the language in Croatia will also greatly benefit from its content. For instance, its authentic simulations of real-life situations, which learners may encounter when using the language in the target-language environment, can furnish such learners with opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of the target culture.
Technological Aspect
The Navrh jezika textbook can be easily accessed from desktop browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, as well as on mobile devices or tablets using the Safari or Chrome browser. To ensure optimal performance, it is recommended to use Chrome.
Lesson Structure
Each unit is organized around one broad topic and is divided into lessons. Each lesson targets a smaller subtheme that contributes to the unit topic, preparing learners for a unit-final role-play task. Most lessons consist of Class Material, online Grammar practice, online Vocabulary practice, Video Material focused on cultural perspectives, and Homework assignments.
In Navrh jezika, Class Material is divided into Pre-class Material and In-class Material, though the two can also be combined or adapted based on an instructor’s teaching preferences and course format. The Pre-class Material consists of a series of interactive online assignments that provide learners with immediate feedback and prepare them for in-class interaction.
📍 Pre-class material
Pre-class Material introduces the lesson topic through a dialogue based on real-life situations, providing learners with an initial, contextualized exposure to the language used in everyday situations. Before engaging with the dialogue, learners are guided through activities that introduce and practice new vocabulary through meaningful, structured input. These activities allow students to notice lexical items in context and develop initial form–meaning connections before moving on to more open practice. Learners then listen to the dialogue(s) and complete a series of highly contextualized listening tasks related to the lesson topic and target vocabulary. Visual aids accompany the listening activities in order to support comprehension and help learners better understand the speakers, the situation, and the communicative intent. The Pre-class Material prepares learners for active participation in the in-class session by building familiarity with the topic, vocabulary, and interactional patterns.
🗣️ In-class material
The In-class Material builds on the pre-class work, with a significant portion of class time dedicated to speaking activities. These tasks are designed to encourage learners to actively use the language in guided and semi-guided communicative situations. Speaking tasks in Navrh jezika aim to develop learners’ intercultural communicative competence and enable them to interact with L2 speakers on a variety of personal and social topics encountered in everyday life. Activities emphasize meaning-focused communication, negotiation of meaning, and appropriate language use in context, while allowing instructors flexibility in task implementation.
🔗 Grammar
Together with explicit grammar explanations, the interactive assignments available in the Grammar (and Vocabulary) section are created using the HTML5 Package (H5P), which can be used in or outside of the classroom. The H5P tasks are particularly beneficial for independent learning, as they provide immediate feedback to learners. Instructors have the option to integrate H5P tasks into their LMS course page and assign them as graded assignments. To do this, instructors need a basic understanding of how to incorporate the textbook into their course page.
🧩 Vocabulary
While most textbooks typically provide a vocabulary list at the end of each unit, the Navrh jezika textbook presents the most important vocabulary for each lesson within its Vocabulary section. The key vocabulary is introduced within each lesson through visuals and reinforced through interactive tasks, enabling learners to actively engage in practicing new words and phrases. The vocabulary in Navrh jezika is drawn from everyday language, which learners are likely to encounter in their conversations on the given topic. This vocabulary is recycled throughout the textbook to ensure its acquisition over time.
🎞️ Video
Lessons in Navrh jezika often include a Video Material section featuring short, authentic video recordings created specifically for this textbook. The videos present a Croatian student speaking about topics directly related to the lesson theme, such as everyday life, social practices, personal experiences, opinions, and cultural perspectives. Unlike scripted dialogues, these videos expose learners to natural, unsimplified spoken Croatian, supporting the transition from guided classroom language to real-world discourse. Each video is accompanied by structured online activities that help learners process the content and connect it to the grammatical and lexical focus of the lesson.
✏️ Homework
A notable feature of the Navrh jezika textbook is its integration of a significant number of speaking activities into the homework assignments. Unlike traditional textbooks, many of which feature primarily written homework, the Navrh jezika textbook leverages the benefits of modern technology to foster student engagement outside of the classroom. These student-led homework assignments offer extensive speaking practice, allowing students to refine their conversational skills. Moreover, they serve as a valuable opportunity for the instructor to provide additional feedback to students on their developing speaking abilities.
Unit-Final Presentation
Presentation tasks are designed to help learners organize ideas, develop sustained discourse, and practice expressing viewpoints on topics connected to the thematic and cultural focus of the unit. These tasks typically appear before unit-final interpersonal activities, allowing students to clarify content, language, and structure prior to engaging in more spontaneous conversation. Presentation preparation includes guided activities that support topic selection, content organization, vocabulary expansion, and language accuracy. Learners are encouraged to connect personal experience with cultural perspectives discussed in class, fostering deeper engagement with both meaning and form.
Unit-Final Role-Play Task
The final lesson in each unit prepares learners to demonstrate their ability to navigate real-life situations in which they might find themselves in Croatia and display their intercultural communicative competence in a unit-final role-playing task. The value of this task lies not only in its ability to assess learners’ communication skills, but also in its potential to promote personal and social development. In demonstrating intercultural communicative competence learners showcase not only their interpersonal communication skills, as well as control of linguistic and sociolinguistic components, but also their ability to improvise, emotionally engage, and collectively negotiate meaning (Byram, 2020).
Media Attributions
- Private: Navrh jezika © Navrh jezika is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
- Private: Lesson Example Navrh jezika © Navrh jezika is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
