Teaching Foreign Language and Culture: An Analysis of Croatian Primary School Curricula

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Nastava stranog jezika i kulture: Analiza kurikuluma hrvatske osnovne škole
• Author: Marta Magerl
• Mentor: Marija Andraka (mentor)
• Committee member: Ivana Milković (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Marija Andraka (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Silvija Hanžić Deda (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Teacher Education; Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2020-09-24, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Interdisciplinary Humanistic Studies; Teaching Methods in the Humanistic Sciences

Abstract

Living in a multicultural world, it is very important for a person to understand what culture is and how to treat cultures that are not their own. Sometimes people have inadequate knowledge about culture and are prone to discrimination, which ultimately does not bring positive results in the advancement of the world. The aim of this thesis is to underline the importance of teaching culture in Croatian primary schools. The main objective is to explore the presence of teaching culture in the foreign language classroom with a particular focus on teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in Croatian primary schools. The paper is divided into two parts: first is the theoretical part where the importance of teaching culture is explained and topics prescribed in both Croatian National Curricula (one is from 2006, and the other is from 2019). The second part contains an analysis of three second grade coursebooks for teaching the English language in Croatia. The analysis shows how much these coursebooks follow the curricula and which cultural aspects they include. It is very important to emphasize the importance of interconnection between culture and language because a language does not exist without culture and vice versa. Taking into consideration the results of this analysis, it can be said that the analyzed coursebooks are mostly written in compliance with relevant Croatian National Curricula.

Abstract (croatian)

Za život u višekulturnom svijetu, vrlo je važno za osobu da razumije što je kultura i kako se odnositi prema kulturama koje nisu njezine. Ponekad ljudi imaju manjak znanja o kulturi te su skloni diskriminaciji što u konačnici ne donosi pozitivne rezultate u unapređenju svijeta. Cilj ovoga diplomskog rada jest naglasiti važnost učenja i poučavanja kulture u osnovnim školama u Hrvatskoj. Ovaj rad je podijeljen na dva dijela: prvi je teorijski dio u kojem je objašnjena važnost poučavanja kulture pomoću tema Hrvatskog nacionalnog kurikuluma (jedan je iz 2006. godine, a drugi iz 2019). Drugi dio je analiza triju udžbenika engleskog jezika u drugom razredu osnovne škole. Analiza pokazuje u kojoj mjeri se ovi udžbenici poklapaju sa predlošcima i temama iz kurikuluma te koliko kulturnih aspekata uključuju. Vrlo je važno naglasiti povezanost kulture i jezika jer je jezik uvjetovan kulturom i obrnuto. Uzevši u obzir rezultate ove analize, može se reći da su udžbenici u većoj mjeri u skladu s propisanim zahtjevima važećih kurikuluma.

• Keywords: curricula; primary school; culture
• Keywords (english): kurikulum; osnovna škola; kultura
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:147:293704
• Study programme: Title: Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Programme of Study of Primary Teacher Education and Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Programme of Study for Primary Teacher Education with English and German Language; Study programme type: university; Study level: integrated undergraduate and graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra primarnog obrazovanja (magistar/magistra primarnog obrazovanja)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2021-03-01 10:31:34