Small Orthography Manual as a help in learning Croatian in the first four grades of elementary school

• Main Authors: Milica Mihaljević, Lana Hudeček
• Format: Article
• Language: Croatian
• Published: Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje 2016-01-01
• Series: Rasprave: Časopis Instituta za Hrvatski Jezik i Jezikoslovlje
• Subjects: pravopisni priručnik; hrvatska jezična kompetencija; kompetencija na materinskome jeziku
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/234340

This paper presents some of the solutions used the <i>Small Orthography Manual</i>. This manual, which follows the rules of the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics' <i>Croatian Orthography Manual</i>, is based on a corpus of school books and is suited to the needs of students in the first four grades of elementary school. The first part consists of orthographic rules, which follow the solutions recommended by the Croatian Orthography Manual. Only those rules included in the school curriculum are taken into consideration, and they are metalinguistically adapted to the target age group. The second part consists of an orthographic dictionary, which consists only of those words which are difficult to spell and which occur in textbooks and in students' everyday life. The dictionary also briefly explains words found in textbooks that are new and unknown to students. The third part consists of exercises adapted to the age of the students, which are designed to help them learn orthographic rules. A manual of this kind does not exist in Croatia, and it would be a very useful tool to help students get used to consulting an orthographic manual whenever they have a spelling problem from an early age, and at first with the help of their teachers and/or parents.