Miks õppida “väikest keelt”? Integratiivne vs. instrumentaalne motivatsioon välisüliõpilaste eesti keele õppimisel
Why Learn a “small” Language? integrative VS. instrumental motivation in international students’ Learning of Estonian

Summary/Abstract: The number of international students in Estonian higher education institutions has increased by nearly five times in the past ten years and now amounts to 6000. Universities must inevitably consider how to integrate international students into Estonian society and language space. But what, if anything, could motivate a foreigner to learn Estonian? Being a relatively small language, Estonian does not have the kind of consumer value that English has. Studies have shown that Russian-speaking inhabitants of Estonia mainly learn Estonian for pragmatic reasons, i.e. their motivation is instrumental. The paper focuses on the issue of international students’ motivation for learning Estonian – whether it is mainly instrumental or integrative, showing the learner’s positive attitude towards the target language community. Some of the questions discussed in the paper are whether the learning motivation is associated with socio-demographic factors such as the international student’s gender, field of study, previous level of education and intended duration of stay in Estonia, and whether the orientation of the motivation differs between those who learn Estonian and those who do not. The results were obtained by a survey and statistical data analysis. The attitudes of international students (N = 194) were measured both on a seven point Likert scale and with eight relevant statements using the method of semantic differential. The results indicate that international students in Estonia have mainly integrative motivation for learning Estonian. The instrumental value of Estonian was considered less important with the difference on the scale being relatively great (average values of 19 and 15 of the maximum of 28, p < 0.001). Students not learning Estonian gave lower points to both instrumental and integrative statements than students learning Estonian. When socio-demographic factors were taken into account it became evident that the students who stayed in Estonia longer also started to place a greater instrumental value on Estonian. Regardless of the field of study, the motivation for learning Estonian was mainly integrative. Only students of information technology (in comparison with students of natural sciences) showed noticeably more instrumental motivation. International students with higher education saw the integrative value of Estonian more than students with secondary education. No statistical difference between genders was found in the study.

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