Teaching Estonian – challenges and modern

opportunities

Lea KreininCEES, University of GlasgowSheffield, 2 September 2010

Estonian language

• Estonian belongs to the Finnic branch of Finno-Ugric group of languages. It is not related to the neighbouring Indo-European languages (Russian, Latvian and Swedish).

• Estonian is spoken by appr. 1 100 000 people (950 000 of them live in Estonia).

• Along with Icelandic, Estonian is one of the smallest languages that fulfils all the functions necessary for an independent state to ‘perform’ linguistically.

Uralic languages

Teaching Estonian language abroad. History

The tradition of teaching Estonian on academic level is oldest in Finland and Sweden. 1833/1834 - the Estonian language was taught during the course of comparative grammar of kindred languages at Helsinki University (Finland).1901/1902 - The first course of Estonian language at Uppsala University. 1923 - The first Estonian language lectorate was opened at Helsinki University.1935 – Estonian was taught in Paris at Institut National des langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO).1938 - teaching of Estonian at Budapest University.

Teaching Estonian language abroad

Estonian is currently being taught at more than 30 universities outside Estonia.

Interest in Estonia as a member of the EU has increased also in the academic world.

EKKAV -The Programme of Academic Study of Estonian Language and Culture Abroad, initiated by the Estonian government. The programme is financed from the state budget via the Ministry of Education and Research, and realised by the Estonian Institute (www.einst.ee/ekkav)

Compatriots Programme

Estonian language at University of Glasgow

Estonian is taught in 2 universities in GB,at University of Glasgow since September 2006 Courses:• Estonian Society, Culture and Language 1 and 2

(á 40 credits)• Estonian for Academic Research in Social Sciences

and Humanities 1 and 2 ( á 20 credits) • Defining Estonia: examining national identity through

film (20 credits)• Estonian History, Society and Culture (20 credits)• Estonian 1 and 2 (á 40 credits) • Estonian correspondence course for beginners

(Previous Honours) Honours Level 1 and 2 Non-academic

Challenges

• Estonian is not a popular language to learn → small number of students

• British students’ attitudes and lack of experience in learning a foreign language

• Difficulties in setting up the timetable• Lack of suitable teaching materials,

dictionaries etc.

Opportunities in promoting Estonian

• Cultural events• Guest lectures (EKKAV programme)• Contacts with the local Estonian diaspora,

practicing the language, doing research• Summer courses in Estonia • Scholarships, exchange programs (Erasmus etc.) • Internet, online learning

– Internet-based languge learning tasks– Online-dictionaries– Reference materials (www.estonica.org)– Skype (www.skype.com)

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video

conferencing.

More information: www.skype.com

ADVANTAGES

- Distance is not important

- Easy to use any time

- Encourages shy people

- Both audio and visual

- Possibility to add files

- Possibility to record the conversation

- Skype is free

DISADVANTAGES

- No face-to face contact

- Technical problems may occur

- Students lack of IT and computing skills

Using Skype in language teaching

“The weekly Skype call was very effective – this weekly conversation  was invaluable in reinforcing the learning of the main course. Particularly for my 12 year old daughter, this was fun and entertaining, and kept focus on the course between the monthly sessions.”

(Peter F., 43)

“I think that the course has worked better this year than it did the year before, given the Wednesday skype sessions.  The skype sessions have been a good chance for us to cover different areas than in the class (with the class often concentrating on grammar), and certainly think we need to have more than one contact per month so we don't put Estonian to a side after we have our Saturday class.” (Fergus McD., 24)

Further perspectives

• Widen the horizon of teaching Estonian

– Inside the university– Cross-university language teaching (online or blended) – Teaching outside the academic environment

The future is in online teaching

Thank you!

Lea.Kreinin@glasgow.ac.uk