"Reaching for the Stars" in Slovene Language Lessons

Abstract

As an example of best practice, we present a 90-minute lesson on the topic of space for students of Slovene as a foreign language at the advanced level, including all four language competences: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. This complements the lexical knowledge of one of the subject areas that is not covered in the existing Centre for Slovene as a foreign and second language textbooks. The lexical selection is based on the list of words and especially phrases from the chapter Space in the Thematic Dictionary of Czech, Slovene, and Macedonian published by Masaryk University in Brno in 2021 (Tematický slovník češtiny, slovinštiny a makedonštiny). The lesson primarily focuses on fixed expressions and typical collocations, and their use is checked with dictionaries (Fran.si, the online Collocation Dictionary of Modern Slovene), texts, and a recording. Students are introduced to some phraseological units with a space component as well as a short selection of well-known Slovenian musical and literary works in which words related to the theme appear in the title. The aim of the lesson is for the student to understand the basic terms belonging to a topic of space in reading and listening as well as to apply them appropriately in writing and orally.