Pixel International Conferences

This paper is an attempt to comprehend and analyze the current state of the study and teaching of the Russian language at the Estonian Military Academy today. It should be recalled that in Estonia (a NATO country, bordering the Russian Federation from the East), with a population of just over 1.3 million people (data of 2022), there are more than 300,000 people whose mother tongue is Russian. It is not surprising that the issue of studying the Russian language at the Military Academy has always been relevant: the number of Russian-speaking military personnel with whom officers will have to work in the future is quite impressive. However, after February 24, 2022, the motivation for studying Russian as a foreign language among students at both levels of education (Master’s and Bachelor’s) has increased. The reason for this, of course, is the geopolitical situation, but also the desire of students to understand the Russian language in order to read the news about current events in the original. Nevertheless, an important role in motivating students to study is still played by the need to understand the Russian language during service, everyday and social reasons, and the desire to learn more about cultural characteristics both in the context of a military conflict and in the context of our peaceful everyday life. The reasons and motivation to study the Russian language by the students of the Estonian Military Academy will be considered in more detail in the framework of this paper. The latter will also include a possible plan for the development of the Russian language teaching, based on today's geopolitical realities, taking into consideration the specific linguistic needs and purposes of the students of the Estonian Military Academy.

Keywords The Estonian Military Academy, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), Motivation, Society

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[2] McGuire, S.Y. (2015) Teach students how to learn: strategies you can incorporate into any course to improve student metacognition, study skills, and motivation. Sterling: Stylus.

[3] Statistics Estonia (2022) Population figure.
https://www.stat.ee/en/avasta-statistikat/valdkonnad/rahvastik/population-figure

[4] Wagner, H. L. (2021)  The psychobiology of human motivation.
London; New York, NY: Routledge