Narva College of the University of Tartu, being located on the border of the EU with Russia, plays an important role in the higher education area of Estonia. Historically and geographically Narva is the place for coexistence of various languages and cultures. With the majority of the population of the region being Russian native speakers and with the Estonian language being the only state language of the country, Narva College offers higher education programmes in three languages (Estonian, Russian and English) and conducts researches into various aspects of multilingual and multicultural education at all educational levels (from kindergartens to universities). Its curricula follow the requirements of growing internationalization of general and tertiary education, which is commonly seen as one of the main aims of contemporary Europe in the current social, political, and economic context.
In view of the state requirements set to all university graduates in Estonia - the Estonian language mastery has to be at levels C1/B2 depending on students’ area of specialization, and foreign languages mastery has to correspond to the same requirements of B2/C1 depending on the specialty – it is a College’s priority to offer language modules that are aimed at developing students’ language mastery. The volume of subjects varies with the focus being placed on the mastery of Estonian in the first place. Second foreign languages such as English, German and French are presented by general language studies and language courses for special purposes. However, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) plays a more important role while acquiring mastery in Estonian.
To provide qualitative higher education in three languages Narva College pays special attention to students’ support and counselling to reveal problematic issues and assist students with appropriate help. As the language policy of the College is focused on developing language competences in three languages through teaching English/Estonian/Russian for special purposes and practicing content and language integrated teaching, one of the main College’s concerns is how content studies in a foreign language are supported with appropriate teaching methods and language scaffolding; students’ satisfaction with their academic studies and with their learning outcomes is also a key concern for both the administration and the academic staff of the College.
The report covers main aspects of the research into realization of CLIL practices in Narva College by presenting outcomes of the research conducted in Narva College with the support of European structural funds in 2011. The research was aimed at the analysis of class strategies employed by the college lecturers and on how principles of content and language integrated learning are used to create a safe and supportive educational environment for students. On the basis of the research outcomes a set of recommendations for both the administration and the academic staff was devised and suggested to improve quality of teaching in second/foreign languages in Narva College of the University of Tartu.
References
Raik, K., Raud, N. 2012. Trilingual Educational Model in Narva College of the University of Tartu, Estonia: Issues and Challenges of the Implementation of CLIL in its Curricula. Available at http://www.sli-konferenz-mehrsprachigkeit.de/fileadmin/abstracts/sektion-5/Abstract_Raik_Raud.pdf Accessed on 16.06.2013
Burdakova, O., Dzalalova, A., Raud, N, 2011. CLIL Methodology in Narva Colelge of the University of Tartu ( In Russian language) Available at http://www.narva.ut.ee/sites/default/files/narva_files/NK%20LAK%20uuringu%20raport%20vene%20k%202011%20_2_.pdf Accessed on 16.05.2013.
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