Master's Degree Programme in Early Language Education for Intercultural Communication

The ELEIC programme offers a unique balance between theory and practice. It was designed with the aim to allow each and every student to be exposed to a wide range of learning environments, to get into real contact with children, parents, teachers, teacher educators and researchers from all around Joensuu and beyond. This contact can be through teaching, research, visits and observations.

The tasks you get to partake in will harness new competence, you will team teach during two periods of teaching practice, work with international peers, conduct research interviews, learn how to become a teacher-researcher, and stretch your educational muscles both as a teacher and as a learner. All while being immersed in an intercultural environment yourself with course mates from all over the world, each with their own distinct perspective.

An added value is that you will have the independence and agency to build your own personal study plan. In addition to the obligatory courses, you get to choose from all that UEF has to offer, to tailor your learning to your own unique career path as an educator.

The ELEIC programme is a steppingstone, offering you a strong and stable basis on which to stand whether your path leads to teaching, research, or administration.

For instructions on how to apply and a direct link to the application form on Studyinfo, please scroll down. The application period is open until 22 January 2025.

Key information

Level of degree: Master's degree
Programme duration: 2 years / 120 ECTS credits
Language of instruction: English
Application period: 8.1.2025 - 22.1.2025
Programme start: September 2025
Tuition fee: EU/EEA nationals no tuition fee; non-EU/EEA nationals 10,000 €/academic year
Tuition waivers available
Study campus: Joensuu

Why study with us?

This programme offers a balanced combination of theory and practice to be used in a future work as a teacher or educational administrator.

Studies

The programme consists of altogether 120 ECTS divided into:

Orientation Studies (7 ECTS)
Major Studies (94 ECTS)
Finnish Studies (4 ECTS)
Other Studies (15 ECTS)

Structure of studies

Orientation studies (7 ECTS)

Orientation studies provide students with the useful tools indispensable for successful completion of the courses included in the curriculum. They familiarize students with the University of Eastern Finland, present the core of the Finnish educational system in general, as well as introduce the main learning objectives, content and evaluation criteria of the ELEIC programme.

Major studies (94 ECTS)

Major studies aim at deepening students' academic skills related to research methodology in educational sciences. They also prepare students to plan and execute their research activities related to the topic of their Master's thesis. As one of the main aspects of the ELEIC programme is communication in various international settings, major studies include as well obligatory courses fostering students' ability to act as an English speaking professional teacher or educator. Content studies, constituting an integral part of the major studies are dedicated to the pedagogical viewpoints of language teaching and learning processes. The emphasis is laid on theoretical and practical aspects of working with/for children. The content studies are oriented towards theory and practice of teaching foreign languages to young learners, current pedagogical and educational issues, innovative pedagogical solutions, as well as teaching and professional practice.

Finnish studies (4 ECTS)

Finnish studies will introduce you to the Finnish language. You can complete 4 - 16 ECTS credits of Finnish.

Other studies (15 ECTS)

Other studies may include any university-level courses that serve to deepen students' expertise related to the topic of their master's thesis or personal interests.

Curriculum

Course catalogue for the academic year 2024-2025 is available in Peppi.

How to apply?

Admission requirements

Eligibility

A previous bachelor's degree corresponding to at least 3 years of full-time academic studies from an institution for higher education is required from all master's degree applicants.

In this degree programme, a recognized bachelor’s degree (or higher) in the area of education or foreign languages, or equivalent, is required. In addition, applicants must have studies or work experience in the field of early language education.

English proficiency

(1) Applicants who hold one of the following do not have to take an English language test

Previous education or higher education completed in English in an EU/EEA country, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, or Switzerland.
A university degree completed in Finland with English as a major subject.

Online studies or studies completed on offshore campuses outside the accepted countries cannot be used to indicate language skills, even if the degree-awarding institution is in one of the accepted countries.

(2) All other applicants have to take one of the following language tests

TOEFL iBT: overall score 92, with 22 in writing
IELTS Academic: overall score 6.5, with 6.0 in writing
PTE Academic: overall score 62, with 54 in writing
C1 Advanced: overall score C or 180, with 162 in writing
C2 Proficiency: overall score C1 or 180, with 162 in writing
National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI-test): level 5 in all different subtests (reading comprehension, writing, and speaking).

No other proofs of language proficiency are accepted and no exemptions are granted. Language test certificates are valid for two years from the day they are issued, and they have to be valid during the application period.

Application process

Application procedure

Applications are submitted through the national Studyinfo portal (studyinfo.fi). The application period is 8 January 2025 8:00 –22 January 2025 15:00 (EEST). Once the online application has been filled out, required enclosures must be uploaded to the application by 29 January 2025 15:00 (EEST).

Should you have any questions about completing your application, please contact our admissions office, admissions@uef.fi, tel. +358294458990.

Required documents

Applicants must submit the following documents:

Degree certificate(s) relevant to the programme. The degree certificate should include the name of the institution awarding the degree, the date of issue, the name of the degree, and the name of the degree holder.
Transcript of academic records. The transcript should include full titles and completion period of the units that the student has completed for the degree (or at the very least the overall study time at the institution), grades and credit points obtained together with information on the grading scale used at the institution at the time of study. The transcript must cover the full length of studies.
Certificate of English proficiency. For detailed information about submitting the language test reports, see language requirements.
Copy of the identification page of passport or other ID.
Proof of studies or work experience in the field of early language education.
Motivation letter. The letter should depict the applicant’s study plans and academic goals, future career plans and professional goals, and contain a clear description of the personal and/or academic motivation for applying for this particular programme.

All documents are compulsory. Incomplete applications will not be processed.

If educational documents are issued in a language other than English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations of them to one of these languages are required.

Student selection

Selection process

The admission process in the Master's Degree Programme in Early Language Education for Intercultural Communication aims at fair selection of high-quality applicants. Student selection is based on the application documents and evaluation of how the applicant’s skills and competences gained by the previous academic studies correspond to the master's studies applied for. Meeting the minimum application requirements does not guarantee acceptance to the programme.

Applicants will be ranked according to the selection criteria and placed in a rank order based on their earlier academic performance and experience, their motivation letter, and their suitability to the programme. To be eligible for the programme, all assessed items must meet the criteria for academic excellence. The best 20 applicants will be accepted to the programme and the rest will be rejected. Applicants are not placed on the waiting list.

Ranking of applications

The applications will be graded using the combined scoring of the following criteria (overall maximum 15 points):

Suitability and the content of earlier academic performance and experience 0-5 points (0=poor, 5=excellent)
Applicant's success in the previous studies in general and in studies related to the field of language education 0-5 points (0=poor, 5=excellent)
Motivation letter 0-5 points (0=poor, 5=excellent)

The purpose of the motivation letter is to provide a fuller picture of the applicant’s previous studies and background, which enables the programme to assess the applicant’s suitability for the Master’s Degree Programme in Early Language Education for Intercultural Education.

Why should we select you to this particular master’s degree programme?
What motivates you to apply to this master's degree programme and university?
What are your expectations of this master’s degree programme?

Admission decision

The results of the selection will be announced to the applicants on 28 May 2025. All applicants will be informed of their acceptance/rejection by email. The successful candidates are required to accept their study place by 10 July 2025 15.00 (EEST). Students will start their studies in September 2025.

Conditional acceptance

All accepted applicants need to provide officially certified copies of their degree certificate and transcript if they cannot authenticate their degree electronically when applying. Accepted applicants are conditionally accepted until they have provided certified copies of their educational documents. Country-specific requirements are in use in the situations when the applicant cannot provide the documents electronically. The due date when the documents need to be at the university is 30 May 2025. In case the applicants do not deliver the documents by the given deadline, their study right will be cancelled.

If you apply to UEF with a degree that is not finished during the application period, it is required that you deliver officially certified copies of the final degree certificate and the transcript of records to the programme coordinator by 31 July 2025.

Tuition fees and waivers

Tuition fee

The annual tuition fee for non-EU/EEA students is 10,000 EUR. The fee is paid in two instalments of 5000 euros. There are no tuition fees for students who are citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland.

The best 70 % of admitted applicants (as ranked by the reviewers of the applications) receive a scholarship covering 50 % of the tuition fee. In addition, the highest ranked applicant will be completely exempted from paying the tuition fee.

Applicants subject to tuition fees can apply for tuition waivers and scholarships during the university application process by completing the relevant section on the application form.

Other fees

All degree students of the university are members of the Student Union. The Student Union membership fee is ca. 75 € per academic year. The membership entitles the student to, for example:

reduced lunch prices at student cafeterias
discounts on local buses and long-distance transportation
discounts on many public services and free-time activities

All students also need to pay a healthcare fee, which entitles students to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service. The healthcare fee is ca. 35 € per semester.

Students should be able to cover all the other expenses related to their studying in Finland (500-800 €/month, depending on individual spending habits). The UEF does not offer selected students any additional funding or financial aid.