LANGUAGE IMERSION - AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO THE PRE-SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE CURRICULUM OF ESTONIA

After becoming a member of the European Union Estonia has started to become more multicultural and this has brought along the need to teach the Estonian language to children with different native languages. Language immersion is a form of study which is applied as a national program in Estonia with the aim of facilitating acquiring Estonian as a second language. Although early language immersion is popular in Estonia, teachers, parents and educational institutions do not have a clear idea of how language immersion influences a child's coping in different educational stages and which issues should be considered as primary concerns in guiding the development of a non-Estonian child. In 2007 kindergarten graduates, who had participated in the language immersion program for at least two years, were studied. Data was collected from the teachers of language immersion groups in 9 kindergartens and the parents of the children, who gave their assessments on the readiness of children concerning nine of the most important learning areas (Framework curriculum (1999) of pre-school education). Research results show the effectiveness of the language immersion method. The subject-based (native language, mathematics) skills of the children were especially good. There are some deficiencies concerning the indicators of self-esteem and forming prerequisites for learning.