In addition to the Language Act, language use is also governed by the Constitution, the Citizenship Act and several other acts of law pertaining to the sphere of education in the Republic of Estonia. The Language Act focuses on the conditions of using varieties of Estonian, foreign languages, minority languages and Estonian Sign Language, plus the language use of people with special needs. Language development strategies have a significant role. The Estonian Language Council set up by the Minister of Education prepared the first strategy for the development of Estonian for the period 2004-2010; the Estonian Language Development Plan has been prepared for the period 2011-2017. Both of these documents also address issues related to multilingualism and foreign languages to a certain extent. Issues related to foreign languages are dealt with in the Estonian Foreign Language Strategy 2009-2015 (www.hm.ee/index.php?03247 ’Eesti võõrkeelte strateegia 2009-2015’).

According to the Ministry of Education and Research, in the near future the ratification of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is not planned, but Estonia fulfils the criteria of the ECRML.

Languages offered in pre-primary education

In nursery schools the language of instruction is mostly Estonian, but another language may be used subject to the decision of the local government. Teaching is based on the national curriculum for pre-school childcare institutions. To non-Estonian speaking children, Estonian is taught from the age of three, with the state supporting language training through local governments. Many of the nursery schools in which Estonian is taught have participated in the language immersion programme since 2003. Nursery school teachers affiliated with the programme have been specially trained. Studying Estonian as a mother tongue involves learning pronunciation, sentence structure, reading and writing, and arousing children’s interest in literature.

At the request of parents, as well as on the initiative and with the support of foreign states’ language and cultural representations, foreign languages are increasingly being taught in pre-school childcare institutions. However, there are no statistical data on foreign language learning in nursery schools.

Languages offered in primary education

Teaching the mother tongue (Estonian language and literature or Russian language and literature) is compulsory in the first stage of primary school (as well as in all subsequent stages of schooling). Foreign languages have been taught in general education schools starting from Grade Three since the 1991/1992 academic year, with students (or parents) being able to freely choose the language to be studied (English, Russian, German or French)). In schools with a language of instruction other than Estonian, the national language is taught from Grade One. In addition to Estonian, foreign languages are taught in accordance with the schools’ curricula. The first Estonian-language study programme for schools with another language of instruction was adopted in 1997. To support learning Estonian, many such schools have joined the early language immersion programme. The curriculum for 2002 introduced to schools the opportunity to start learning foreign languages from Grade One and the obligation to start learning them from Grade Three.

Languages offered in secondary education

In 1996 the first national general education curriculum was adopted in which the contents of studies were set out by school stage. Based on the national curriculum, schools prepared their subject syllabi, including for mother tongue and literature (namely Estonian and Russian) and for foreign languages. Foreign language A, i.e. the first foreign language, was taught from Grade Three and foreign language B from Grade Six. The third foreign language, namely foreign language C, was added as an elective subject in Grade Ten. In recent years, nearly half of all secondary school students have chosen English as their first foreign language, followed by Russian as the second and German as the third. In the last academic year, German was studied by 8.9% and French by just 1.9% of all students. Of elective subjects, German is the most common choice. In addition to these languages, several schools offer the opportunity to learn other languages such as Hebrew, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Swedish or Finnish as the third foreign language.

To support the learning of Estonian as the second language from Grade Six, many schools have joined the late language immersion programme. In 2007 the transition to partially Estonian-language instruction began in schools with other languages of instruction; this academic year 60% of the minimum number of compulsory courses are taught in Estonian.

Revised national curricula for primary and secondary schools are being implemented from this academic year (2011/2012). Learning outcomes for Estonian as the second language and for foreign languages are assessed in accordance with the Council of Europe system of uniform language proficiency levels (CEFR).

Languages offered across 3 VET institutions in Estonia

Languages offered across 3 higher education institutions in Estonia

Estonian is the language of instruction in vocational schools; the use of any other language as the language of instruction is decided by the Minister of Education and Research. Vocational schools provide education in accordance with the curricula of schools and the national curricula for vocational subjects. Teaching Estonian is compulsory in vocational schools for Russian medium -classes and is formed on the basis of the level achieved at the end of basic education (that is ISCED two or ninth form). Foreign languages are taught as two different strands under curricula: foreign language and specialist foreign language. The range and number of courses of foreign languages differ across schools and specialties: the range of foreign languages and number of courses are greater for specialties taught on the basis of secondary education than those taught on the basis of basic education. While in the case of some technical disciplines there is virtually no foreign language training, for a number of service disciplines the foreign languages taught in vocational schools include English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Swedish and Finnish.

The Estonian Qualifications Authority co-ordinates the development of professional standards, which specify, inter alia, the required level of proficiency in Estonian and in foreign languages for pursuing the profession in question.

Requirements for civil servants, employees and entrepreneurs in terms of knowledge of Estonian have been established in a Government Regulation. Following an amendment introduced to the Language Act in 2008, mandatory levels of language proficiency were introduced in alignment with the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference; state Estonian language proficiency exams are conducted for the A2, B1, B2 and C1 levels.

According to the Universities Act, Estonian is the language of instruction in universities; the use of other languages is decided by the council of the university. On the one hand, the aim is to provide Estonian language higher education that ensures a high level of proficiency in Estonian; while on the other hand, in particular at higher study levels, the proportion of English-language instruction is growing in connection with internationalisation. Russian is also used as a language of instruction in institutions of higher education.

Students in Bachelor’s or diploma studies mostly take English as a general subject, followed by Russian, Estonian as a second or foreign language, German and, to a lesser extent, French. The opportunities to learn other foreign languages have expanded significantly through university language centres: it is possible to study Italian, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish, Turkish and other languages. Foreign languages are taught to foreign philologists as a specialty and to all other students as a general and specialist language. Although foreign languages can mostly be taken as optional subjects under curricula, the learning outcomes of higher education levels stipulated in the Higher Education Standard also provide for the foreign language proficiency level. This acts as an incentive to learn foreign languages. Good foreign language skills among teachers and students serve as a basis for pursuing the goals of the Higher Education Internationalisation Strategy.

Languages offered in audiovisual media and press across 3 cities in Estonia

The common practice of subtitling TV programmes and films means that from an early age people are exposed to languages other than Estonian. However, the large majority of foreign programmes offered on Estonian television are in English, so viewers are mainly exposed to the English language, and to a lesser extent to Russian, German and Spanish. Children’s programmes, cartoons in particular, are often dubbed.

The range of languages other than Estonian offered in national television programmes is limited. An effort has been made by Estonian National Broadcasting to offer news and cultural programmes in Russian. On the other hand, satellite television and the internet provide access to programmes from all over the world and they are viewed extensively. However, those types of television providers have not been included in this study.

A limited choice of foreign language newspapers, dominated by Russian, is available in the three cities surveyed. Tourism and the presence of a big Russian community explain the linguistic offer regarding newspapers.

Languages offered in public services and public spaces across 3 cities in Estonia (N ≥ 2)

The Language Act of the Estonian Republic, adopted in 1995, defines the domains in which the use of Estonian is obligatory. It also sets out the conditions and extent of the use of the languages of national minorities in state agencies and local governments. In areas where at least half of the population belongs to a national minority group, residents have the right to receive information in that minority language (in addition to Estonian) from the local government and state agencies based in that area. This is the case in two out of the three cities researched.

The services in cities surveyed are offered in several languages with Russian, English and Finnish prevailing. City web pages have language versions besides the national language also in English and Russian, in addition basic city information and tourist information is offered in Finnish, Swedish and German.

Languages other than English offered in business across 24 companies in Estonia (N ≥ 2)

Historically international relations and trade have always been and still are very important for the Estonian economy, and general language practices are much stronger than companies’ written language strategies. Linguistic competencies are generally considered as an important requirement for employees, it is a common standard that for many jobs the knowledge of Russian and one additional foreign language, English or German, is a prerequisite.

The importance of multilingualism in Estonia is not reflected in Estonia’s profile of languages in business. Not all four company types investigated (banks, hotels, supermarkets, and construction companies) are necessarily company types that focus on international business e.g. small local shops and construction businesses are targeting solely local communities.

Estonia has addressed language issues over time and has done its best to preserve and develop Estonian; to enhance the language skills of the entire population; and to promote the use of various languages. In analysing its language education policy, Estonia was assisted by the language policy division of the Council of Europe. The analysis was completed in summer 2011. Strategies for Estonian and foreign languages developed over the past decade set further goals. The process of developing strategies has played an important role, bringing together specialists from different spheres, which, in turn, has improved language-related cooperation. Joint efforts have contributed to strengthening the position of Estonian at all education levels. Although all of the strategic objectives are worthwhile, their implementation depends on the availability of resources. This is felt particularly keenly in the implementation of the Foreign Language Strategy.

In conclusion, Estonia has created good conditions for teaching Estonian as a mother tongue and the state language. Among other languages, Russian and English prevail, while other languages are studied and used much less frequently. Educational institutions are seeking to introduce more diverse opportunities for learning third foreign languages in their syllabi. The development of multilingualism is supported and encouraged with the help of various projects (for the teaching of French, German, Swedish, Finnish etc.), yet Estonia still quite a long way from true multilingualism.

The objectives of promoting the learning and spread of Estonian as a mother tongue and second language set out in the Estonian Language Development Plan should be pursued. The transition to Estonian language instruction in schools with languages of instruction other than Estonian which began in 2007 has required and will require a lot of resources. The transition has been more successful in schools that joined the language immersion programme. In addition, the methodology for integrated subject and language teaching should become more widespread in schools. 

Although foreign languages are mentioned in Estonian language development plans and development plans concerning foreign languages refer to connections with the mother tongue, the objectives concerning mother tongue and foreign languages are often separated in the development plans of the language sphere. Estonia should take guidance from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment, both as regards the principles set out in the document and the language proficiency levels defined by the Council of Europe. This document was translated into Estonian in 2006 at the request of the Ministry of Education and Research. The Estonian Foreign Language Strategy aims to promote the continuity of the policy of learning and teaching foreign languages, as well as the continuity of the principles of funding the recognition and assessment of language skills. Of the many strategic objectives, those prioritised should be distinguished. 

While the assessment of adult proficiency in Estonian as a second language is based on the Council of Europe’s language proficiency levels, the development of self-assessment tools (such as the Language Portfolio) and national tests should continue and international certificates of proficiency should be accepted according to these language proficiency levels. Implementation of the national curriculum 2011 based on the Council of Europe’s language proficiency levels is a challenge for the education system. Understanding of the language proficiency levels should be disseminated and harmonised in vocational and adult education, as well as among employers.

Estonian Language Development Plan 2011-2017 http://www.hm.ee/index.php?03238

Language Education Policy Profile: Estonia http://www.hm.ee/index.php?044904

Estonian Foreign Language Strategy 2009-2015 http://www.hm.ee/index.php?03238

National Curriculum for Upper Secondary Schools https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/120092011002

Language Act https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/118032011001

National Curriculum for Basic Schools https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/120092011009