Pluricentricity in the classroom: the Serbo-Croatian language issue for foreign language teaching at higher education institutions worldwide

The study presented in this article looks at the effects of the changes in national language policies following the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on teaching the Serbo-Croatian language or a “language which is simultaneously one and more than one” as a foreign language. The study explores how language ideologies and conflicting attitudes towards national standard languages, recorded both within nation-states and across nation-state borders, are understood by teachers in the context of teaching Serbo-Croatian as a foreign language. The article also examines the extent to which these understandings reflect current discussions of pluricentric languages and methods adopted for teaching pluricentric languages as foreign languages

Karst Research in Serbia before the Time of Jovan Cvijić

Although contributions by Jovan Cvijić are the most significant karstological work in the history of science in Serbia, the researchers of Serbian karst before the time of Cvijić are worth mentioning as well. Their karstological notes are usually parts of much more extensive works in the form of travel-records or landscape monographs. Most notes are related to caves, with only scarce mentioning of karst surface features. The descriptive character of the texts is dominant, although there are also some general remarks on hydrological functioning of karst (ponor-spring connections, role of water in formation of speleothem, etc.). Several authors can be singled out: foreign travellers and scientists Otto von Pirch, Ami Boué and Felix Kanitz, while among the Serbian authors, it is necessary to mention Milan Đ. Milićević, Jovan Žujović and Cvijić’s teacher Vladimir Karić. All of them featured as an introduction to the scientific karstological work which followed at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century

Propagation of a Floodwave in Karst during Artificially Generated Recession - Case Study of Banjica Spring (Bela Palanka, Eastern Serbia)

V sklopu hidrogeoloških raziskav severovzhodnega vznožja Suve planine v Vzhodni Srbiji, je bila v bližini toplega izvira napravljena 100 m globoka vrtina. Dotok v vrtino je bil arteški, kar je povzročilo umetno recesijo v izviru Banjici. Tekom tega hidrodinamičnega poizkusa je bilo v zaledju izvira veliko padavin, ki so povzročile poplavni val. Na terenu je mogoče jasno razločiti dva tipa krasa: ujeti in pokriti kras. Hidrogeološka reakcija na omenjeni poplavni val med umetno povzročeno recesijo dokazuje tudi obstoj globokega krasa. To je bilo mogoče odkriti s pomočjo primerjave hidrograma Banjice in krivulje pritiska v vrtini. Na ta način ni potrjen le obstoj krasa, ampak tudi njegove značilnosti (npr. velikost in tipi kraških prevodnikov, relativna starost, velikost in obseg vodonosnika, itd.).During hydrogeological research in the area of the north-eastern foothills of Mt. Suva Planina in Eastern Serbia, a borehole of 100 m of depth was drilled in the vicinity of a lukewarm spring, Banjica. The borehole had an artesian discharge, which caused artificially generated recession in the adjoining spring Banjica. During this hydrodynamical test, great quantities of precipitation occured in the hinterland of the spring, having the effect of a floodwave. The presence of two types of karst is obvious in the field – confined karst and covered karst. The hydrogeological response to the floodwave during artificially generated recession proved the presence of deep-seated karst also. This can be detected by comparative analysis of the hydrograph of the Banjica spring and the graph of pressures in the borehole. In this way, not only the presence, but also the characteristics of the karst can be proved (e.g. dimensions and types of karst conduits, relative age of karst, size and extension of the aquifer, etc.)

Pećina na reci Zamni u svetlu novih morfogenetskih istraživanja

The article deals with the morphogenesis of the through cave Pećina na Reci Zamni (meaning in Serbian: Cave on the Zamna River; in further text: the Zamna Cave). The Zamna Cave was the subject of several geomorphological studies, mostly aimed at explaining the cave genesis through the evolutionary concept from through caves to natural bridges. In order to get better insight into the morphogenesis of this cave, modern geomorphometrical methods were applied. The cave and the surface topography above it were scanned in high resolution using the instrument Leica Nova MS50, applying the method of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Data processing produced the model for the analysis of the relation between surface and underground forms of karst relief. The results point to the conclusion that the Zamna Cave is an example showing that in the process of natural bridges formation by cave roof collapse, it is not necessary that there is a dry valley above the cave, as previously thought.Pećina na reci Zamni bila je do sada predmet više istraživanja. Neka od njih imala su za cilj objašnjenje geneze pećine u svetlu evolucije tunelskih pećina ka prerastima. U cilju boljeg razumevanja geneze ove pećine primenjene su savremene morfometrijske tehnike. Pećina i površina iznad nje snimljeni su u visokoj rezoluciji uređajem Leica Nova MS50, postupkom terestričkog laserskog skeniranja (TLS). Obradom prikupljenih podataka dobijen je model na kome je moguće analizirati odnos površinskih i podzemnih kraških oblika reljefa. Rezultati analize navode na zaključak da je pećina na reci Zamni primer koji ukazuje na to da prilikom formiranja prerasti urušavanjem tavanica pećina nije pravilo da se neposredno iznad pruža suva dolina

Risk education in Serbia

Natural disaster risk reduction can be achieved through vulnerability reduction, as well as through strengthening the resilience of the population. One of the segments leading to these aims is a proper risk education. It is the public (compulsory) education system that reaches the greatest number of participants and represents a good platform for the natural disaster knowledge transfer. Geography, as a complex subject that includes both natural and social components, is the most appropriate to transfer the knowledge necessary to improve the resilience. Research done in Serbia (detailed analyses of curricula, textbooks, teachers' role and pupils' knowledge) shows that children do learn about natural disasters but not in a way which provides usable knowledge

Detection of earthflow dynamics using medium-resolution digital terrain models: Diachronic perspective of the Jovac earthflow, Southern Serbia

The paper presents and discusses the landslide research procedure related to the topography before and after its occurrence, using the comparative analysis of two medium-resolution digital terrain models. The case study is the Jovac mega-landslide—the largest landslide to occur in Serbia in the last 100 years, active for three days in February 1977. The indicators used to determine the volume and movement mechanism were the spatial distribution of elevation differences within the two digital terrain models (DTM), and the analysis of geomorphological features before the landslide. The obtained elevation differences allowed the definition of the approximate landslide volume: 11.6 × 106 m3. All the data obtained indicate that the movement mechanism falls into the category of earthflow

Cave bear (Ursus spelaeus Rosenmüller & Heinroth) males' den from Velika Pećina in Duboka Near Kučevo, Eastern Serbia

More a 100 years after the first research in the cave Velika pećina in Duboka near Kučevo cave bear remains were discovered in a small chamber cut off from the passable channels by a 7 m high slope. A whole skull, bones of a forearm in articulation, and other skeleton parts were laying on the cave floor encrusted in travertine cover and in some places overgrown by stalagmites. Bones belonged to adult males, which found there the shelter to hibernate, in a short epizode that ended by closing the channels that once linked this part of the cave to a surface

THUFUR MORPHOLOGY WITHIN THE PONOR DEPRESSION (STARA PLANINA, SERBIA)

Thufur (earth hummocks) are small periglacial landforms typical for subpolar latitudes, as well as for the high alpine areas at lower latitudes. Their presence in the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula was spotted during the mid-20th century. In this paper we analyze morphometry and morphology of thufur in the context of physio-geographical conditions for their formation. The main aims are to inventorize the thufur in the study area and to determine the physio-geographical factors which enabled their formation at non-zonal elevations. Statistical analysis was performed on the sample of 305 thufur mapped in the field, measuring their circumference, height, and delineating their areas. Classification of the results revealed morphological varieties in terms of horizontal and vertical development. The elevation of the sampling location Ponor is 1,410 m a.s.l., which is considerably lower than the zonal periglaciation in Serbia, at approx. 1,900 m. Therefore, the role of relief as a climate modifier is analyzed in the context of conditions for the azonal development of periglaciation process. Topographical conditions for thufur formation were analyzed through slope inclinations and vertical dissection, determined using the Digital Elevation Model over Europe with 25 m resolution