Jože Toporišič wrote textbooks for teaching Slovene in secondary school over a period of more than 30 years, from 1965 to 1998. Their modernity can be assessed from two perspectives: in comparison with contemporary textbooks and teaching models; and in the light of today's language teaching. The article thus first briefly presents the traditional and communicative models of language teaching which were prevalent in Slovene schools at the time of Toporišič's didactic work and the same principles of modern first language teaching. The textbook as a fundamental educational book in the implementation of the chosen model enters different relationships: with the teacher, the student, the academic sphere and the wider society. These relationships are the starting point for a comparative analysis of the textbooks in the central part of the article. The discussion concludes with a reflection on the relevance of the textbooks written by Jože Toporišič, in the light of the principles of modern first language teaching.
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