Integration Research Institute

We Build the Foundation of Integration! We Build Your Success!

Research Projects · Cultural Adaptation · Дву-и многоязычное обучение · ImmiSoft Language Learning Materials · New Immigrants Blog

About IRI - Our Mission

Integration Research Institute (IRI) is a non-profit organization situated in Estonia. The mission of our Institute is to foster integration in Estonia through conducting research and offering adaptation courses to new immigrants as well as training courses to teachers, immigration officials, students and others interested, thus raising awareness on language rights and integration of new immigrants in our society. Our aim is to increase social cohesion as well as linguistic, cultural and socio-economic integration and assist EU and Third Country Nationals to settle into Estonian Society. We offer various courses and webinars suitable for independent study, consulting services, e-courses and video-tutorials.

Over more than a decade the Integration Research Institute (IRI) has been a major contributor to integration of EU and Third Country Nationals in Estonia. Its integration research results, publications and teacher training programs have fostered integration all over the country. IRI has conducted over 10 successful large national as well as international integration projects. Institute's researchers have leading edge expertise in domains of integration, language policy, home language maintenance, language acquisition planning as well as in cross-cultural communication.

Several teacher training programs have been implemented to foster the integration of immigrant students in Estonian educational system as well as to enhance their home language maintenance. IRI’s researchers have participated in various research and teacher-training projects in Europe (e.g. Netherlands), in the Middle-East (Jordan, Israel) and in Central Asia (Kazakhstan). IRI researchers have worked out and tested adaptation programs to meet specific needs of newly arrived immigrants in different age groups in Estonia. These programs offer immigrants supportive environment and services, and assist them to settle into Estonian Society. The objectives of these programs are to increase the linguistic, cultural and socio-economic integration of the target group.

Projects, Grants, Fellowships, Activities

2009 - 2010, MEIS Project SFTE09121 "Programme for the Adaptation and Integration of Third-Country Nationals into Estonian Society.

2008 - 2009, Training course for Estonian language teachers in Russian kindergartens of Estonia. Commissioned by Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.

2007-2008, Estonian Science Foundation grant on the "Home Language Survey Amongst Primary School Pupils in Tallinn, which was a follow-up study for the grant from Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia (2006) in the framework of Multilingual Baltic Capitals Project, led by Prof Guus Extra, University of Tilburg, Holland.

2003-2004, MATRA Project MAT02/ES/9/2 grant in Promotion of the education of the children of migrant workers (Netherland - Estonia, Sardes Educational Services, Utrecht, Netherland; (teacher training, research, curriculum development, teaching materials, video materials for educational purpose).

Cross-cultural communication for teachers / customer servants.
Cross-cultural communication for immigrants in Estonia.
Language teaching methods for adult immigrants in national language acquisition. How to increase motivation and improve learning outcomes. Using CLIL methods in adult language teaching. Using innovative language methods based on brain research (whole brain method, right-brain hemisphere teaching, etc.).
Language acquisition planning, curriculum and teaching methods in bilingual school and pre-school. Learning national and native languages.
Minority language acquisition planning and methods at school, Sunday school and language club.
Learning national language in the language club.
Language Law: international and domestic linguistic human rights and standards
Language management and marketing (prestige planning).
Designing corporate and institutional language policy.
For further information please contact us through the contact form below!

Ülle Rannut

Director:
Ülle Rannut, PhD
Integration Research Institute
Email:ullerannut@integrationresearch.net
CV and Publications

Our research interests cover several domains in sociolinguistics, language policy, integration of immigrants and their children, multilingualism and second language acquisition, minority language planning and cross-cultural communication.