Abstract:

The Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade is one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in this part of Europe, as it offers, in addition to the study of Serbian language and literature, the academic study of over thirty foreign languages, general literature, general linguistics, as well as the studies of librarianship and information science. With its departments of Serbian Language and Serbian Literature and a Center for Serbian as a Foreign Language, it represents the leading institution for learning Serbian language in the country, region and the world in general. The Center for Serbian as a foreign language, nowadays belonging amongst numerous centers and institutes of the faculty, has been offering intensive courses in Serbian language for international students or course participants since 1986. Teachers employed at this center are native speakers of Serbian language and have acquired their diploma in Serbian language (and literature) at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. Willing to promote Serbian language, literature and culture, the Government of the Republic of Serbia has initiated and implemented, since 2010, the projects World in Serbia and Serbia for the Serbs from the Region. These initiatives increased substantially the number of foreign students coming from various countries around the world to Serbia with the aim of learning Serbian language and then study in Serbia. The first, preparatory year of Serbian language consists of language classes that are held at the Centre for Serbian as a Foreign Language.

The Centre for Serbian as a Foreign Language has recently introduced the online course Serbian as a Foreign Language that lasts three months. Since this course is offered in e-learning format, it does not require physical presence of course participants, except for the final exam, which is held at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. The Centre opted for Moodle as a learning platform of the course, since it provides a wealth of possibilities when it comes to presenting course materials needed to prepare participants for A1 level exam in Serbian language. Through this platform students can have access to lessons, exercises and tests, but also to e-flashcards, helping them to memorize new words, cultural widget through which they can learn about the history and modern life of Belgrade, as well as to the forum where course participants can exchange important information related to the course, communicate and discuss relevant topics. In addition to this, there are also Skype consultations through which course participants can communicate with their teachers once a week. This paper aims to emphasize the advantages of designing foreign language courses in online format, as well as the disadvantages, while simultaneously offering successful example of the course Serbian as a Foreign Language held at the Centre for Serbian as a Foreign Language of the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade in online learning format.

Keywords:

Serbian, Foreign Language, Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, online learning, Center for Serbian as a Foreign Language, online course, Moodle, A1.