Programme Title: Specialist Study Programme in the Educational Approach to Croatian as a Second or Foreign Language in Early Childhood and Compulsory Education
Academic Domain: 7.0. Interdisciplinary Academic Domain
Academic Field: 7.01. Educational Sciences
Programme Duration: Four semesters (120 ECTS credits)
Academic Title Awarded: Specialist in Education for Croatian as a Second or Foreign Language (spec. educ. croat.)
Programme Head: Prof. Lidija Cvikić, PhD
(e-mail: lidija.cvikic@ufzg.unizg.hr)
Deputy Programme Head: Assoc. Prof. Katarina Aladrović Slovaček, PhD
(e-mail: kaladrovic@gmail.com)
Postgraduate Specialist Programme Council:
Prof. Lidija Cvikić, PhD
Prof. Tamara Turza-Bogdan, PhD
Prof. Lovorka Zergollern-Miletić, PhD
Prof. Anka Jurčević Lozančić, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Katarina Aladrović Slovaček, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Ana Šenjug Krleža, PhD
Asst. Prof. Jelena Vignjević, PhD
Programme Description:
The Postgraduate Specialist Programme “Educational Approach to Croatian as a Second or Foreign Language in Early Childhood and Compulsory Education” is designed to equip candidates with a holistic approach to educating children and pupils who are non-native speakers of Croatian. The target demographic comprises preschool teachers, primary and secondary school teachers, professional associates, and volunteers working with children and pupils for whom Croatian is not a first language (including asylum seekers and refugees, members of national minorities unable to receive schooling in their mother tongue and script, and immigrants to the Republic of Croatia). Furthermore, the programme caters to teachers engaged in Preparatory Croatian Language Classes or Croatian Instruction Abroad.
Admission Requirements:
- Completion of the Graduate University Study Programme in Early Childhood and Preschool Education (Preschool Teacher Education programme) OR the Integrated Primary Teacher Education study programme OR equivalent degree programmes. Admission is also extended to individuals who have completed graduate teacher-training programmes in other academic disciplines, subject to the successful completion of bridging examinations.
- A minimum achieved grade point average (GPA) of 3.60 in the preceding degree programme is required.
- Certified English or an alternative additional language proficiency at CEFR level B2.
Individuals holding degrees from foreign universities, as well as foreign nationals, must demonstrate Croatian language proficiency at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), OR have successfully passed the Croatian Language State Matura examination.
Tuition Fee: €3,318.07
PROGRAMME OF STUDY
List of compulsory and elective courses detailing contact hours and ECTS credits
Year 1
| Course | Course Coordinator | Status | ECTS | No. of hours |
| 1st Semester | ||||
| Curriculum Theories | Prof. Dubravka Miljković, PhD | compulsory | 6 | 20 |
| Intercultural Communication | Prof. Majda Rijavec, PhD | compulsory | 6 | 20 |
| Language Acquisition across Family, Preschool, and School | Prof. Vladimira Velički, PhD Asst. Prof. Jelena Vignjević, PhD | compulsory | 5 | 20 |
| Language Activities in the Development of Communicative Language Competence | Asst. Prof. Katarina Aladrović Slovaček, PhD Prof. Lidija Cvikić, PhD | compulsory | 5 | 20 |
| 22 | ||||
| Elective Courses (Select 2) | ||||
| Socio-Pedagogical Aspects of Education | Prof. Dejana Bouillet, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Cross-National Models for the Development of Democratic Competences | Prof. Damir Velički, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Multimedia Didactics and Distance Learning | (TBA) | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Contemporary Issues in the Croatian Linguistic Norm | Prof. Tamara Gazdić-Alerić, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Language and Literature Instruction in European Education Systems | Prof. Vladimira Velički, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| 8 | ||||
| TOTAL | 30 | 110 |
| Course | Course Coordinator | Status | ECTS | No. of hours |
| 2nd Semester | ||||
| Introduction to Early Additional Language Learning and Acquisition | Assoc. Prof. Renata Šamo, PhD | compulsory | 6 | 20 |
| Acquisition of Croatian as an L2 in Early Childhood | Prof. Lidija Cvikić, PhD Prof. Dunja Pavličević-Franić, PhD Asst. Prof. Katarina Aladrović Slovaček, PhD | compulsory | 6 | 20 |
| Research Foundations in Additional Language Learning and Acquisition | Assoc. Prof. Kristina Cergol, PhD Prof. Lidija Cvikić, PhD | compulsory | 6 | 20 |
| 18 | ||||
| Elective Courses (Select 3) | ||||
| Plurilingualism in the Early Acquisition of Croatian | Prof. Dunja Pavličević-Franić, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Asst. Prof. Katarina Aladrović Slovaček, PhD | ||||
| The Lexical Component of Pupils’ Regional Varieties | Prof. Đuro Blažeka, PhD Asst. Prof. Jelena Vignjević, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Themes and Genres in Croatian Children’s Prose Fiction up to 1961 | Prof. Berislav Majhut, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| New Media and Their Language in the Mediation of Language and Culture | Prof. Blaženka Filipan-Žignić, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Croatian Language Heritage | Asst. Prof. Jelena Vignjević, PhD Prof. Đuro Blažeka, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| The Position and Role of Affective, Individual, and Contextual Factors in Monolingual and Bilingual Speakers | Prof. Lovorka Zergollern-Miletić, PhD Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Legac, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| 12 | ||||
| TOTAL | 30 |
Year 2
| Course | Course Coordinator | Status | ECTS | No. of hours |
| 3rd Semester | ||||
| Reading in First and Second Languages | Assoc. Prof. Renata Šamo, PhD* | compulsory | 5 | 20 |
| Curriculum for Croatian as an Additional Language | Prof. Tamara Turza Bogdan, PhD | compulsory | 5 | 20 |
| Teaching Methodology for Croatian as an Additional Language | Prof. Tamara Turza Bogdan, PhD Prof. Vladimira Velički, PhD | compulsory | 6 | 20 |
| Teaching Methodology Aspects of Early Additional Language Learning | Prof. Ana Petravić, PhD Assoc. Prof. Ana Šenjug Krleža, PhD | compulsory | 6 | 20 |
| 22 | ||||
| Elective Courses (Select 2) | ||||
| Drama Education in Teaching | Asst. Prof. Iva Gruić, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Vertical Multilingualism within an Instructional Framework | Prof. Tamara Turza Bogdan, PhD Asst. Prof. Jelena Vignjević, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Literature as a Foundation for Language Learning | Prof. Dubravka Težak, PhD Prof. Andrijana Kos-Lajtman, PhD | elective | 4 | 15 |
| Language Difficulties in First and Second Languages | Asst. Prof. Jelena Kuvač Kraljević, PhD* | elective | 4 | 15 |
| 8 | ||||
| TOTAL | 30 |
*External Associate
| Course | Course Coordinator | Status | ECTS | No. of hours |
| 4th Semester | ||||
| Practicum | compulsory | 5 | 15 | |
| Supervised Independent Study | compulsory | 10 | ||
| Preparation and Defence of the Final Thesis | compulsory | 15 | ||
| TOTAL | 30 |