English teaching in a non-aligned nation: a comparative study of two English grammar textbooks

Abstract

This paper aims to examine how English language education developed during a crucial period in Yugoslavian history, namely Yugoslavia’s detachment from the Eastern bloc after the so-called Tito-Stalin split in 1948. At that time, Yugoslavia became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, thus establishing a delicate and precarious equidistance from both the United States and the Soviet Union. This process of repositioning on the world’s geopolitical stage had a profound impact on foreign language teaching in Yugoslav schools. In the 1950s, Russian lost its status as the predominantly taught foreign language, becoming an optional language on a par with French, German and Italian - which had existing traditions in various regions – as well as with English, which lacked an established presence.

The paper concentrates specifically on English grammar books, which at the time functioned as the primary teaching tools in Yugoslavian secondary schools. In this context, there was little distinction between English language books and grammar books, as grammar, taught through the grammar-translation method, remained the core of language education throughout the period. In particular, the study analyses Milan Stanković’s Gramatika engleskog jezika (1955) – which was the primary English textbook used in secondary schools throughout Yugoslavia for decades – and Rudolf Filipović’s An Outline of English Grammar (1956). By comparing these two textbooks, which embody two markedly different conceptions of grammar instruction, the paper explores the pedagogical tensions between traditional approaches and emerging structuralist influences in a socialist and officially non-aligned educational framework. The study offers valuable insights into how educational materials reflected broader ideological, methodological, and institutional dynamics. It also contributes to the historiography of English language teaching in Yugoslavia, offering a historical perspective on how ideological positioning and pedagogical priorities influenced the development of English teaching in the region.