Analiza grešaka u srpskom jeziku kao stranom na primeru italofona

The paper shows different aspects and problems of studying Serbian as a foreign language based on three years’ experience in teaching adult learners in Turin, Italy. We analyzed and graphically represented data referring to students’ age, sex, previous studies, motivation for learning Serbian and their preferences for one of Serbo-Croatian standards, namely Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian. We explained most important principles of andragogy from our perspective and offered some reasons for why it is important to use affective- humanistic approach in teaching adult learners. In the second part, we have analyzed the most common mistakes learners make, namely in orthography, morphology, lexis and syntax by using the elements of contrastive analysis. We have noticed that the hyper-generalization (inappropriate generalization of grammar rules) is the most common reason for majority of the errors new learners make. We also discussed the basic criteria in correcting mistakes in relation to different standards of Serbo-Croatian. In addition, we examined affective teaching approach, which considers student and his/her character, needs, personal interests and abilities as the integral part of the learning process and progress.