Spanish in Serbia: state of the question

Abstract

There is no doubt that educational systems should evolve according to the most recent findings in the fields of pedagogy, learning and teaching methodologies, and other relevant disciplines, but also in response to the changes in the socio-cultural and economic context of a country in question. As far as Spanish language instruction in Serbia is concerned, it is commonly believed that there is a widespread interest for learning Spanish, even though the reality of the classroom does not adequately reflect this aspiration. This study presents some results of the project Spanish in Serbian primary schools, in order to determine the actual status of Spanish in Serbian formal education, as well as to establish if the students, their parents, and the teaching staff actually demonstrate the proclaimed interest to include Spanish into the school curricula. The results clearly indicate that the school parents have positive attitudes towards Spanish and Hispanic culture, which calls for systemic actions toward introduction of this language in school instruction on a larger scale.