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Learning English in Norway

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Kim-Daniel Vattøy
Volda University College
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Learning English in Norway

Kim-Daniel Vattøy*
Faculty of Humanities and Education, Volda University College, Volda, Norway.

Recommended citation:
Vattøy, K.-D. (2017). Learning English in Norway. Language Issues: The ESOL Journal,
28(2), 51-53.

This is a preprint of an article published in Language Issues: The ESOL Journal. Personal use
is permitted, but it cannot be uploaded in an Open Source repository. The permission from the
publisher must be obtained for any other commercial purpose. This article may not exactly
replicate the published version due to editorial changes and/or formatting and corrections
during the final stage of publication. Interested readers are advised to consult the official
published version.

*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Kim-Daniel Vattøy, Faculty
of Humanities and Teacher Education, Volda University College, 6101 Volda, Norway.
LEARNING ENGLISH IN NORWAY

With the emergence of English as a lingua franca (ELF), English language skills have
become increasingly important to enable active participation in society – both in the physical
and digital arena. The widespread use of English around the globe has national implications
for the learning of English in Norway. English has a high status in Norway, and students are
engaged in English language learning both in schools and in their spare-time.

Learning English in Schools

In Norway, students attend formal instruction in English from their first year of primary
education when children are six years old and throughout the course of 10-year compulsory
education. Norwegian compulsory education is divided into two stages: primary school (1-7)
and lower secondary school (8-10). Throughout this education, students receive 588 teaching
hours of English (teaching hours are here given in 60 minutes).

The English subject has undergone vast changes from its introduction as a voluntary subject
in the 1930s to its present-day status as an obligatory subject with many teaching hours. The
present English subject curriculum states that English is a world language, which implies that
skills in English are vital in the quest of educating active citizens who use English as a tool
for communication. The Norwegian national curriculum is inspired by European trends and
the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR), particularly with its
can-do statements.

Exposure to English in Spare-Time Activities

Norwegian students are highly exposed to English through different media, e.g. film, TV,
music, gaming, and social media. Norwegian national TV channels do not dub any of the
English media, and new media habits lead Norwegian students to increasingly access English
media via for instance YouTube, where the learners need to rely on context to understand the
language. Norway does not have any official pronunciation norm, but studies (e.g., Rindal,
2010) have shown that British English is considered more prestigious and is the preferred
model, although American English is the dominant pronunciation among Norwegian learners.
LEARNING ENGLISH IN NORWAY

English Language Teaching and New Requirements

In terms of English language skills, Norwegian students have, in general, higher degrees of
receptive skills than productive skills. This has consequences for the teaching of English.
Teachers focus on facilitating learning environments where students are active and engaged in
their own learning processes. Several national initiatives, e.g. Assessment for Learning (AfL)
and Classroom Interaction for Enhanced Student Learning (CIESL) (Both funded by the
Norwegian Research Council), target classroom interactions and help teachers develop their
feedback practices with the aim to raise the quality of instruction.

Recently, Norwegian teacher education has undergone a transformation, and teacher students
commencing teacher education in 2017 are admitted into Master’s education programmes.
The core school subjects in Norwegian education, i.e., Norwegian, English, and Mathematics,
have all been imposed new requirements on. Therefore, lower secondary teachers (teaching
13-16-year olds) need a year course of English (i.e., 60 ECTS) to remain teaching English
(Norwegian Ministry of Education, 2015). Similarly, primary school teachers need a half year
of English (i.e., 30 ECTS) to teach English to students. These new requirements are a
response to a need for raising the quality of instruction in Norwegian, English, and
Mathematics.

Changing Status of English in Norway

In such a new and changing linguistic setting as is the case of English in Norway, some
Norwegian scholars who research English education break the traditional conventions and use
the term “English as a Second Language”, whereas other retain the more standard “English as
a Foreign Language”. Different usage can be explained in terms of what constitutes a second
language or a foreign language. Although Norway is a multilingual society with bilingual and
trilingual speakers, a great proportion of Norwegian students acquire English as their second
language. Consequently, in terms of order of acquisition, English will for many Norwegian
students be a second language. However, English does not have similar status as in post-
colonial countries, such as India, Kenya, or Singapore, neither does English have an official
status in Norway. Nevertheless, English as a school subject has received increased attention,
and learning English is considered as a vital and life-long skill in Norway.
 LEARNING ENGLISH IN NORWAY

References

Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:

Helliwell, J., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (Eds.). (2017). World Happiness Report 2017. New
York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Norwegian Ministry of Education. (2013). English Subject Curriculum (ENG1-03). Retrieved

Norwegian Ministry of Education. (2015). Krav om relevant kompetanse for å undervise i fag
Udir-3-2015 [Requirement of Relevant Competence in Teaching Subjects Udir-3-2015].
Retrieved from https://www.udir.no/regelverk-og-tilsyn/finn-regelverk/etter-tema/Ovrige-
tema/krav-om-relevant-kompetanse-for-a-undervise-i-fag-udir-3-2015/?depth=0&print=1

Rindal, U. (2010). Constructing identity with L2: Pronunciation and attitudes among
Norwegian learners of English. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 14(2), 240-261.

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