The master's thesis is based on the study of how the Slovenian emigrant community in Cleveland learns the Slovenian language with an emphasis on geographical topics. The Slovenian language is preserved in the Slovenian emigrant community in Cleveland by holding Saturday schools in two parishes, those of St Vitus and St Mary of the Assumption. The main purpose of this thesis is to create trial teaching material that will help learners of Slovenian and teachers learn about geographical features of Slovenia. The theoretical starting point is followed by an analysis of the geographical elements in the curriculum for supplementary classes of Slovenian abroad, and the teaching materials used in Saturday schools. Through the analysis, I gained insight into how much geographical content the curriculum and materials contain. Using the method of semi-structured interviews, I researched how supplementary Slovenian lessons are conducted in Saturday school, what geographical content is studied, and in what way this content is conveyed to the students. Based on the analysis of the curriculum, materials, and semi-structured interviews, I prepared experimental modern and interactive audio-visual material, which could be of help to teachers of Slovenian in teaching, and to learners of Slovenian in getting to know Slovenia.
|