Abstract:

Online language module Learn Croatian! was created as a part of the European University of Post-Industrial Cities (UNIC) project and is intended for autonomous learning through an e-learning system. It is a module that represents a preparatory activity for the physical mobility of students and teaching and non-teaching staff of the UNIC Association or any other form of mobility. Each module consists of five thematic units divided into 19 lessons that follow the progression of teaching language, communication and cultural content. The module includes the following thematic units:

Unit 1: Arriving in Zagreb – Croatian alphabet, numbers, greetings and everyday expressions, verb biti (to be) and zvati se (to be named).
Unit 2: On Campus – nominative, vocabulary and everyday expressions related to the educational environment, money and life on campus.
Unit 3: Time off – accusative case, prepositions u (in), na (on), uz (with), verbs jesti (to eat), piti (to drink), ići (to go), nositi (to bring), vocabulary and everyday expressions related to diet, clothing, weather, colours and hobbies.
Unit 4: Living in Zagreb – accusative and locative, verbs imati (to have) and živjeti (to live), descriptive adjectives, vocabulary and everyday expressions related to housing, transport and spatial orientation.
Unit 5: Exploring Croatia – cultural information about Croatia and Zagreb.

It is clear that the module contains topics and vocabulary from everyday life aimed at meeting basic communication needs and navigating a new environment, which is provided for at level A1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The module includes between 20 and 30 hours of independent work, but the pace of learning also depends on the individual characteristics of the learner, above all the motivation and use of different strategies, and previous experience in mastering foreign languages. The activities encourage the development of receptive (listening, reading) and productive (writing, speaking) language skills through various tasks and exercises according to the capabilities of Moodle. Tasks include multiple choice, matching words and pictures, crosswords, filling in the blanks, memory game. Each text is accompanied by a sound recording, which makes it easier for the learner to master the pronunciation. For educational purposes, videos about the City of Zagreb, the Republic of Croatia, and the Faculty of Croatian Studies were also used, which achieve authenticity and originality, and additionally contribute to the development of intercultural competence. The aim of this paper is to present the European University of Post-Industrial Cities and the principles on which the online language module Learn Croatian! was created.

Keywords:

The European University of Post-Industrial Cities, Multilingualism, Online language modules, Croatian as L2, intercultural competence, Moodle.