DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING RUSSIAN MORPHOLOGY TO A SERBIAN-SPEAKING AUDIENCE

This article examines mistakes that occur when teaching morphology of Russian as a foreign language to a Serbian-speaking audience. The material for the analysis is the examination papers in Morphology of the Russian Language 1 and Morphology of the Russian Language 2, taken by secondyear students at the Department of Russian Studies at the University of East Sarajevo. Emphasizing the importance of mistakes analysis based on language proficiency levels, this study focuses on morphology as a central aspect of language. The analysis highlights the parts of speech within which students make mistakes. In Morphology of the Russian Language 1, these are in nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and numerals, while in Morphology of the Russian Language 2, mistakes primarily occur in verbs and participles. The author analyses the mistakes and explores the reasons why these particular incorrect forms occur. As a result, the author concludes that the errors occur by analogy with other forms, as well as due to interference, given the fact that Russian and Serbian are related languages. Finally, a separate class of mistakes is those made as a result of students' lack of concentration. The research highlights the importance of regular mistakes analysis to prevent and correct mistakes based on language proficiency levels. The analyses conducted can be useful in the practice of teaching Russian morphology to Serbian learners. It is particularly relevant for teaching Russian as a foreign language in school education, with a special emphasis on secondary school, where students study Russian grammar, in order to avoid mistakes in further learning