Eesti ülikooliks võõrkeelte abil

Abstract

Becoming an Estonian University with the Help of Foreign Languages Terje Lobu University of Tartu Museum In the autumn of 1919, when the Estonian-language University of Tartu opened its doors, the issue of finding lecturers was one of the most urgent questions besides other problems. The main purpose of the national university was to make the transition to Estonian-language instruction and research work, which is why they had to find employees capable of working in Estonian. Firstly, negotiations were held with potential researchers of Estonian origin. However, it became clear from the start that the few Estonian researchers scattered across Russia could not fill the positions of all lecturers. The searches turned towards Finland and Sweden, since Scandinavian lecturers were considered the most suitable candidates. They came from similar cultural backgrounds and it was hoped that they would soon be able to lecture in Estonian. That was how it went indeed – L. Kettunen, A. R. Cederberg, J. G. Grano, A. M. Tallgren, A. Bierre and others proved their suitability. Likewise, many lecturers hired to the Baltic German University also learnt Estonian quickly, as they had lived in the language environment for years. Nevertheless, the University had to take on lecturers, who at first lectured in foreign languages: among them were researchers who escaped from Russia (mainly in the Faculty of Law) and people who arrived from Europe – many of whom lectured in German. It was specified in the agreements concluded with the foreigners how long they could lecture in a foreign language. Pursuant to the Act of the University of Tartu passed in 1925, professors had the right to lecture in a foreign language for five years, while associate professors had to learn Estonian within a year. Often, the right to hold lectures in a foreign language was extended with the permission of the Ministry of Education but the rules became stricter as of 1930. In early 1920s, the Estonian students did not struggle with understanding lectures in a foreign language since they had studied in mostly Russian-language schools during the czarist rule and were taught German as a foreign language – it was the poor level of Estonian that was a cause for concern. But as years went by, the more it was complained that students have difficulties with understanding lectures in foreign languages. The instruction remained in a foreign language the longest in the faculties of law and medicine. Russian dominated in the faculty of law since it employed former researchers of law of the Russian empire as professors, and their studies of Estonian progressed very slowly indeed. German dominated in the faculty of medicine since it employed both local Germans as well as foreign researchers, which is why the faculty meetings were mainly held in German. While only 49.8% of lectures were in Estonian in 1920, the proportion had increased to 93.2% by 1938. At the same time, 53.5% of the University lecturers were Estonian in 1929, while the respective proportion was 84.5% in 1938 – this shows that foreign lecturers succeeded in learning Estonian. Despite the fact that the state and University were striving towards an Estonian-language study environment at the University of Tartu, there were no signs of discord between nationalities, or discrimination. The multicultural atmosphere of the University only enriched Estonian research since the foreign lecturers brought new research methods and instruction forms as well as helped to establish relations with European research centres.