UDŽBENIK „NAŠ JEZIK“ NJUJORŠKOG UNIVERZITETA KOLUMBIJA U NASTAVI SRPSKOG KAO STRANOG JEZIKA

This paper deals with the textbook Naš jezik: Digital Learning Resource for Elementary Bosnian – Croatian – Serbian, developed by the Department of Slavic Studies at Columbia University in New York. The aim of the paper is to analyze the content and methodological value of the textbook from the perspective of contemporary approaches to teaching Serbian as a foreign language. The descriptive method was employed, allowing for a detailed examination of the textbook’s structure and content, including its visualgraphic layout and didactic-methodological design. The findings indicate that this is a hybrid text-book, positioned between traditional (printed) and electronic interactive formats. Despite meeting high methodological and technological standards, the textbook exhibits significant material shortcomings in its presentation of content related to the Serbian language – particularly concerning its historical development and status in the region west of the Drina River. While the textbook represents a meaningful step toward the modernization of teaching materials for Serbian as a foreign language, its implementation must be approached critically due to its tendency to relativize the historical and cultural identity of the Serbian people and the Serbian language.