Abstract

In order to study the characteristics of the acculturation process of students who have graduated from a Russian-language upper secondary school, interviews were conducted among the II year students of the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy (n=8). All the surveyed students study in a group, where most of the students have graduated from a Russian-language upper secondary school. From the perspective of advancing the communication competence of Estonian culture it is important that the surveyed students do communicate with Estonians, that for instrumental as well as integrative purposes; however, the relations are brief – there are no close relationships formed. The need for self-actualisation is satisfied in the inside group. Therefore, of the acculturation strategies, the surveyed students simultaneously use separation and integration.