“Mulle oli isegi tšau võõras”: vene õppekeelega põhikoolist eestikeelsesse gümnaasiumi

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa21.14

Käsitleme vene õppekeelega põhikoolist eestikeelsesse gümnaasiumi siirdunud õpilaste keelelist toimetulekut. Tuginedes poolstruktureeritud intervjuudele viie Tartu gümnasistiga, analüüsime nende kogemusi keele varieerumisega seotud väljakutsete osas. Tulemused näitavad, et eeskätt tekitavad raskusi spontaanse suulise keele jooned (hääldus, kõnetempo, suhtluspartiklid, viisakusväljendid, noorte keele leksika, idiolektid), milles orienteerumiseks võib omandatud keelelistest ressurssidest jääda vajaka. Koolikeskkonna suulise keelega toimetuleku eeldus pole intervjuude põhjal mitte senine edukas keele õpe koolitunnis, vaid varasem eestikeelsete noorte suhtlusringkond. Suulise keele registritega kokkupuute vähesus raskendas koolielus ja õppetöös kohanemist ennekõike alguskuudel. Tulemused osutavad, et eesti keele kui teise keele õppes peaks senisest enam toetama keele varieerumise mõistmist ja seeläbi suhtluspädevuse arengut, et hõlbustada sujuvat lõimumist eestikeelsesse õpilas- ja ühiskonda.

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"“Even ‘tšau’ (‘Hi’) felt foreign to me”: From a Russian-speaking school to an Estonian-language gymnasium"

In this article, we examine the linguistic adaptation of five students who completed their basic education in Russian-medium schools and transitioned to an Estonianlanguage gymnasium. The focus is on adapting to different registers of the Estonian language within the school environment. Based on semi-structured interviews with five gymnasium students from Tartu, we analyse their experiences with the challenges of sociolinguistic variation in Estonian. The results indicate that the main difficulties stem from features of spontaneous spoken Estonian, including pronunciation, speech tempo, discourse particles, expressions of politeness, youth slang, and idiolects. The data show that transitioning to a different language of instruction creates uncertainty in adapting to spoken language registers, especially for students with no prior personal experience communicating with Estonian-speaking peers. In some cases, the linguistic resources acquired in basic school were insufficient for navigating the diverse learning and communication situations in the new language environment. The initial months in the gymnasium were particularly challenging due to the lack of experience with informal spoken registers. A key factor in adaptation was prior exposure to Estonianspeaking peers rather than classroom-based language learning. The primary registers students had to adapt to included the teacher register and various idiolects, which differed significantly from what they were accustomed to in their Russian-medium basic school. Additionally, they had to navigate Estonian youth language, the linguistic features used by young people, and the characteristics of spontaneous everyday speech. Some elements of spoken Estonian were perceived as markers of acceptance into Estonian-speaking social networks. One example is the greeting tšau (‘Hi’), especially when Estonian-speaking youth use it to address a Russian-speaking peer. Many of the adopted linguistic elements can be seen as bridges that help cross linguistic and cultural boundaries, fostering communication between young people with different native languages. The results suggest that Estonian as a second language instruction should place greater emphasis on understanding linguistic variation to better support the development of communicative competence. This would help students integrate more smoothly into Estonian-speaking peer groups and society.