Plurilingualism at Schools in Estonia

Helgi Org M.Sc. Estland

helgi.org@gmail.com

Schools embracing the plurilingual whole school curriculum concept

Estonia

Estonia

• Size: 45.100 km2

• Population: 1,3 millions

• Capital: Tallinn

• National language: Estonian

• Counties: 15

Loo School

• Secondary school• North Estonia: 15 km away from the capital• Number of pupils: 332• Address: County Harjumaa, Loo, Saha 7• Phone: +3726080403• E-Mail: lookool@lookool.ee

Background

The national policy on modern languages (1991) is including the following aspects:

• Give students the choice of four modern languages• The first modern language is starting in third class of

primary school• Introduction of the “A-, B- und C-(D)” grading system for

languages

Plurilingualism at schoolsin Estonia

• Estonian as a second or modern language at Russian primary and secondary schools

• CLIL-classes (LAK) since 1998 (immersion as a key for integration)

• This project is coordinated by the government department since 2000: www.kke.ee

• Specific projects at schools with English, German and French. Teaching in scientific classes through the medium of a modern language; e.g. CLIL

Teaching languages in Estonia (first modern language)

The national Estonian curriculum includes that:• The first modern language will start in third class

at primary school level• The choices are between English, German,

Russian or French

The national Estonian curriculum includes that:• The second modern language will start in the sixth class• At upper secondary level one can also select a third

modern language: for example Finnish, Swedish, Spanish, but also Latin, Hebrew, Japanese,...

• Altogether there are 18 modern languages being taught in Estonia

Teaching languages in Estonia(second and third modern language)

1990/91

1993/94

1994/95

1995/96

1996/97

1997/98

1998/99

1999/00

2000/01

2001/02

2002/03

2003/04

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

Französisch 0.2% 0.8% 1.1% 1.2% 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 1.4% 1.6% 1.8% 1.9% 1.8% 2.1% 2.1% 2.2% 2.3%

Deutsch 14.8% 16.7% 18.2% 18.8% 19.0% 19.2% 18.5% 17.6% 16.9% 15.7% 14.8% 13.7% 13.4% 12.4% 12.2% 11.9% 11.4% 11.0%

Russisch 53.1% 36.9% 30.8% 28.5% 26.5% 25.1% 24.1% 23.8% 24.0% 24.9% 25.8% 26.8% 27.3% 27.6% 28.1% 28.2% 27.9% 27.8%

Englsich 31.9% 45.5% 49.9% 51.5% 53.2% 54.3% 56.1% 57.3% 57.8% 58.0% 57.8% 57.7% 57.4% 58.2% 57.6% 57.8% 58.5% 58.9%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Most important modern languages in Estonia

Plurilingualism at schools in Estonia

Specific projects at schools as examples of a plurilingual curriculum

• Early language learning in pre-schools and at primary school level, including German (CLIL for young learners)

• Since 2007 German as a modern language in pre-schools

• Three modern languages at secondary level - classes 4th until 9th

• Third modern language is mandatory

Plurilingual policy at schools in Estonia

• At many primary schools one can start to learn a modern language already in first class; but certainly in second class. Most of the time it is English.

• At Russian schools kids start learning Estonian in the second semester during first class. This is national policy.

• Many Russian schools decided to offer a second modern language in first or second class. Most of the time it is English.

• There are Estonian schools that offer two modern languages (taught simultaneously) at primary school level.

Plurilingual project at Loo Keskkool Three modern languages until 9th class

• School: Loo Keskkool / Loo Secondary school• Starting date: 1995 ongoing• From first class onwards German and English are taught;

two hours per week• In sixth class (upper secondary) Russian is introduced as

a third modern language• In tenth class students can select Finnish as their fourth

modern language choice

Choices of modernlanguages at primary/secondary level from1st to 9th class at Loo Keskkool

Estonian school level I

Estonian school level II

Estonian school level II

Lower secondary Upper secondary

1. cl 2. cl 3. cl 4. cl 5. cl 6. cl 7. cl 8. cl 9. cl

Estonian as a second language 7 6 6 5 4 3 3 3 2

German 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

English 1 2 3 4 4 4 3 3 3

Russian 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 3

Selection of modern languages of Loo secondary school - classes 10 -12:Tourism and modern languages

Elective subjects  

Name 10th class 11th class 12th class TotalRiigieksamikursus 0 0 1 1

Inimene ja õigus (Õiguse alused) 0 0 1 1

Soome keel 2 2 2 6

Saksa keel 3 3 2 8

DSD 1 1 1 3

Liiklusõpetus 1 1 0 2

Mootorsõiduk A-kategooria 1 1 0 2

Mootorsõiduk C-kategooria 1 1 0 2

Maailmavaate õpetus (usundiõpetus) 0 0 2 2

Meediaõpetus 1 0 0 1

Projektijuhtimine 0 0 1 1

Turismikorraldus 0 0 1 1

Ökoturism 0 1 0 1

Õpime õppima 1 0 0 1

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

• Modern language: German• Children between 4 – 7 years old• Listening / understanding / acting• Games and songs• Participation by parents • Open Day events• Questionnaires for parents (Estonian)

Project 1: Early modern language learning at the Loo pre-school

• A day for each of the modern languages• All students from all classes participate• Songs, theatre, dance and games at primary/secondary

level• Display of posters at secondary level• International cooking in the school‘s canteen; e.g.

Finnish dishes during the “Finnish Language Day”• Multilingual film projects• Publication in the local newspaper

Project 2: A week of modern languages

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

Helilt poster

Project 3: A Day of Plurilingualism Proverb by Wittgenstein: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world” > World view and language link•Multilingual signs in the school •Posters in many different languages•Exhibition of flags and quiz•Quiz on language and culture; languages are bridges•Related languages: Estonian – Finnish; English – German•Borrowed terms: German – Estonian – German•Neighbouring languages: Estonian – Russian•Multilingual radio programmes•Multilingual short movies at secondary level

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

• Using the multilingual stage and the concept of „we are all in the same boat“, students are producing multilingual movies – i.e. supporting each other

• PR for the languages that are offered at the school

Project 4: Multilingual short films

Estonian

German

EnglishFinnish

Russian

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

• Writing stories in 3rd – 5th classes • Short stories in five languages• Translation from one language into

another

Project 5: Writing multilingual story books

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

Topic: Alternative Energies•Partner countries: Spain, Greece and Estonia•Project coordinator: Germany•About 10 students from each partner country visited the school during January 2013 •From our school: 40 students•Approach across subjects and languages: Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, Civil Sciences, Politics and modern language teachers•Participation in class / trips within Estonia

Project 6: Plurilingual international projectsComenius Project 2012 - 2014

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

• Acquiring grammatical terminology.• Putting together grammatical terms is due to the cooperation of

teachers of all language subjects.• The students recognise linguistic similarities in relation to

grammar and vocabulary.• A common grammatical terminology enhances students’ language

awareness and can support the learning of further languages.• Specific grammatical terms: Latin - Estonian - English - German -

Finnish - Russian.• Inclusion of concrete examples and work sheets.• Testing and evaluating in the classroom.• Correction and completion of a multilingual grammatical reader.

Project 7: Cross-languages terminology of grammatical terms

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

Basic grammatical terms

•rasterLingua latina eesti näide deutsch Examplse

adiectivum antiquis, omadussõna vana Adjektiv alt

adverbium mane, mox ibi määrsõnahommikuti, seal, kiiresti Adverb

morgens, dort, schnell

accusative mensibus, sol, mare

akkusatiiv - sihitiskääne kuud, päikest, merd Akkusativ

den Mond/ die Sonne/ das Meer

personalis stilo Legit diurna isikuline tegumood Ta loeb ajalehte Aktiv

Sie liest eine Zeitung

CTR Oskar, amice LICTOR,

üte

Oskar, sõbralik politseinik, AppositionOskar, der freundliche Polizist,

articulus artikkelEesti keeles puudub Artikel

der/ die/ das; ein/ eine

complent sororis meae canicula

täiendminu õe väike koer Attribut

der kleine Hund meiner Schwester

Basic grammatical terms

Lingua latina eesti näide deutsch Examples

dativus umbrae / Sol / mare

daativvarjule/päikesele/merele Dativ

dem Schatten/ der Sonne/ dem Meer

pronomen demonstrativum

eam näitav asesõnasee

Demonstrativpronomen

dieser/ diese/ dieses; jener/ jene/ jenes

futurum tulevikeesti keeles puudub Futur

Ich werde ans Meer fahren.

geenitiv - genitive

Luna, Sol, mare

geenitiv – omastav kääne kuu, päikese, mere Genitiv

des Mondes/ der Sonne/ des Meeres

verbum sexu sõna sugueesti keeles puudub Genus

der Tisch, die Uhr, das Haus

nervos orationis

Vigilate! Vident!

käskiv kõneviisVaata! Vaadake! Imperativ Sieh! Seht!

indicativum eat kindel kõneviis Tä läheb Indikativ sie geht

I-actionis nomine

sedent ma-tegevusnimiistuma Infinitiv sitzen

INCLINATIO Nominative, genitive ...

kääneNimetav, omastav....

Kasus, grammatischer Fall

Nominativ, Genitiv, Dativ, Akkusativ

• Development of the concept • The students transfer language learning strategies

from one language into another; for example memory aids, vocabulary collection, listening and reading strategies, transfer-strategies, presentation skills etc.

• Additional supporting material for students, teachers, parents and the PlurCur concept development of the school

• As a product: table of (language) learning strategies for all classes as supporting material (work sheets; exercises)

Project 8: Learning strategies across languages and subjects

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

• 20 years of student exchanges with the secondary school Ostalb Gymnasium Bopfingen

• July 2013: students and teachers from Estonia are in Germany

• September 2013: German students are in Estonia• Comparison between the German and the Estonian

education system • Similarities and differences in family life• Trips to Setokesen, orthodox convent, university city

Tartu etc.• Party with other students of the host school

Project 9: Student exchanges

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

• Diversity of languages in Europe

• European songs, games and cooking

Project 10: Day of European Languages30th of September 2013

Loo secondary school embracing plurilingual whole school curriculum

Projects in 2012 – 2013 – 2014

How can each member state realise the recommendation by the EU to implement plurilingualism?

• Start early with the learning of modern languages• Include modern language classes (also German) in the

crèche and pre-school sector• Include CLIL at an early stage into the concept of

plurilingualism

Many thanks for your attention!

helgi.org@gmail.com

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