C2 — proficientMediation and written production

Academic & professional genres

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

Academic and professional genres: seminarski rad, izveštaj, prezentacija

The lesson “Science & abstract concepts” gave you the material of a scholarly text: concept nouns, verbs of reasoning, the noun-heavy style. This lesson is about the mould it is poured into: each Serbian genre, from the term paper to the slide talk, has a frame, a fixed order of parts and set formulas. It is easier to go wrong here than in grammar: each sentence is right, the genre wrong.

Six genres and what each is for

At university rad means “a piece of work, a paper”: seminarski rad a term paper, diplomski rad an undergraduate thesis, master rad a master’s thesis, naučni rad a research article.

Examples

Genre	Written for, judged on
seminarski rad	the teacher: a topic worked through from the literature; judged on sources, not discoveries
esej	teacher or committee, usually shorter than a term paper: one idea through the whole text; references optional
prikaz, recenzija	journal readers: what someone else’s book says and what it is worth, under your name
izveštaj	management or a client: facts, conclusions, recommendations; judged by the decision taken
poslovni predlog, ponuda	the client: what we will do, for how much, by when
prezentacija, izlaganje	an audience, in the time allowed: slides and a voice; a text heard only once

Theses are written with a supervisor, the mentor, and defended before a committee, odbrana “the defence”: Sutra branim master rad. “I’m defending my master’s thesis tomorrow.” Grades follow the university scale (“Education & media”).

Anatomy: from naslovna strana to literatura

The order of the parts is fixed. Eight blocks:

Title page: Univerzitet u Beogradu — Filozofski fakultet, the title, below it Predmet: Metodologija istraživanja, Mentor: prof. dr Ana Jovanović, Student: Marko Ilić, br. indeksa 12/2024, and at the bottom Beograd, 2026. Chapters and sections are numbered with full stops, 2. Teorijski okvir “Theoretical framework”, 2.1. Ranija istraživanja “Previous research”, and go into the contents word for word.

Examples

subject: Predmet ovog rada je odnos između obrazovanja i zaposlenosti mladih. The subject of this paper is the relationship between education and youth employment.
structure: Rad je podeljen na tri dela. U prvom se izlaže teorijski okvir, u drugom se analiziraju podaci, dok se u trećem izvode zaključci. The paper is divided into three parts. The first sets out the theoretical framework, the second analyses the data, and the third draws conclusions.
conclusion: Na osnovu izloženog može se zaključiti da veza postoji, ali da je slabija nego što se očekivalo. From the above it can be concluded that the link exists, but is weaker than expected.
open question: Ostaje otvoreno pitanje da li isti odnos važi i van gradskih sredina. It remains an open question whether the same relationship also holds outside urban areas.

The frames of “Science & abstract concepts” slot in between: aim and method in the introduction (Cilj rada je da se utvrdi…, U radu se analizira…), results in the main part (Rezultati pokazuju da…, Podaci ukazuju na…), the conclusion (Iz navedenog proizlazi da…). Pointers stitch the parts together (“Leaving out and pointing back”): back, Kao što je već rečeno u uvodu… and U prethodnom delu…; forward, O tome će biti više reči u trećem poglavlju. “More on this in chapter three”, U nastavku rada… “in what follows”.

An exam essay is an argument at full length, with the moves of “Argumentation & persuasion”. The introduction states the thesis: U ovom eseju pokušaću da pokažem da je učenje stranog jezika u školi nedovoljno. “I will try to show that learning a foreign language at school is not enough.” Then one argument with an example per paragraph, and the case against with your answer: Tačno je da časova ima malo, ali problem nije samo u broju časova. “True, lessons are few, but that is not the only problem.” The conclusion restates the thesis, now argued, with nothing new: Iz svega navedenog sledi da je školi potreban drugačiji pristup. “It follows that schools need a different approach.”

A review (prikaz) in a journal opens with the book’s details (author, title, place, publisher, year), says how the book is built, and only then judges it: Knjiga je podeljena na pet poglavlja. “The book has five chapters.” Najveća vrednost knjige je u tome što je pisana jasno. “Its great strength is its clarity.” Knjizi se može zameriti to što nema registar pojmova. “It lacks a subject index.” Knjigu preporučujemo svima koji se bave srpskim jezikom. “We recommend it to anyone working on Serbian.” Newspaper reviews: “Arts, media & literature”.

Other people’s ideas: citat, parafraza, atribucija

Much of an academic text is other people’s material, and every piece is credited to its author: that is atribucija.

Cheat sheet

The cheat sheet — everything essential from the lesson on one page. In the app it opens at any time.

Academic and professional genres in brief

Genre	For whom, judged on
seminarski rad	term paper: a topic from the literature
esej	one idea through the whole text
prikaz, recenzija	review: a book and what it is worth
izveštaj	report: conclusions, recommendations
poslovni predlog, ponuda	proposal: what, how much, by when
prezentacija, izlaganje	talk, in the set time

False friends: rad a paper (not “papir”); referat a talk read aloud; teza a claim; apstrakt an abstract. Theses: mentor, odbrana.

Skeleton

naslovna strana, sadržaj, apstrakt i ključne reči, uvod, razrada, zaključak, literatura, prilozi (title page, contents, abstract and keywords, introduction, body, conclusion, bibliography, appendices).

Frames: Predmet ovog rada je… — Cilj rada je da se utvrdi… — Rad je podeljen na tri dela. — Rezultati pokazuju da… — Na osnovu izloženog može se zaključiti da… — Ostaje otvoreno pitanje… Pointers: Kao što je već rečeno… — O tome će biti više reči u…

Essay: thesis (U ovom eseju pokušaću da pokažem da…), an argument per paragraph, the case against (Tačno je da…, ali…), Iz svega navedenog sledi da… Review: the book’s details, Knjiga je podeljena na…, Najveća vrednost knjige je…, Knjigu preporučujemo…

Sources

citat in „…” with the page; parafraza with a reference; none: plagijat
Prema Klajnu (2005: 42)… (dative), Kod Stanojčića… (genitive), Kako navodi Skok,… / Citirano prema:…
verbs: tvrdi, navodi, osporava, dovodi u pitanje
footnotes: Isto (ibid.), nav. delo (op. cit.), Up. (cf.), Vidi fusnotu 3.; in text (Klajn, 2005, str. 42)
list, e.g.: Prezime, I. (godina). Naslov knjige. Mesto: Izdavač.; a Cyrillic edition stays Cyrillic

Hedging and voice

čini se da, rekao bih da, moglo bi se reći da, nije isključeno da, po svemu sudeći, u izvesnoj meri. Limits: Uzorak je mali, pa se rezultati ne mogu uopštiti. Voice: smatram in an essay; in a paper impersonal se or “we”, kept to the end; not od strane but Pokazali smo da… One register throughout.

Figures

Tabela 1. above, Grafikon 2. below, then Izvor: Words: procenat (pet procenata), odsto, udeo, prosek, porast, pad, svaki treći. 12,5 odsto, said dvanaest zarez pet; 1.250; Pet odsto ispitanika odgovorilo je potvrdno.

Report and proposal

Report: sažetak za rukovodstvo, uvod i svrha, izvori i metod, nalazi, zaključci, preporuke, prilozi. Proposal: predmet ponude, predloženo rešenje, obim posla, rokovi, cena, rok važenja ponude. Conclusion first, headings as nouns (Odlaganje nabavke): Preporučujemo da…, bez PDV-a.

Talk

Tema mog izlaganja je… — Izlaganje sam podelio na tri dela… — Prelazim na drugi deo. — Da rezimiram… — Hvala na pažnji. Questions: Hvala na pitanju. — Ako sam dobro razumeo, pitate… — Nemam sada tačan podatak, proveriću i javiću vam. Slides: Analiza podataka za 2025.