Vera Schwach Norwegian, English and Bilingualism

1. Vera Schwach Norwegian, English and Bilingualism A casestudy of five subjects at four universities/university colleges in Norway

2. Introduction – Loss of domain for Norwegian? • The domain of education (at the University level) includes 210.000 students and a teaching staff of 9600. • When and to which extent is English used in Norwegian education? • Undergraduates – Bachelor, graduates – Master • Five subjects: history, nursing, physics, informatics, economy and administration • Four institutions: two universities and two universities colleges. • The backgrounds and rationale for choosing Norwegian and/or English. • Awareness of language i.e. • the importance of language for learning and for communication • The significance of the domain of eduaction for Norwegian as a national language.

3. Introduction • Highlights from a report published last week in Norwegian: ”Norwegian, English and Bilingualism”, surf to: www.nifustep.no. • The project aimed to: • gain an overview of the current situation in the sector • provide a base for the development of a policy for education and science in a national context. • The project was enabled by financial support from • Norsk språkråd (The Norwegian Language Council) • Norsk faglitterær forfatterforening (Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association).

4. Norwegian or English? Background • Norway is a small country with an open economy • with a elaborated national language • and long tradition of foreign languages to enable communication including exchange of knowledge. • An intensified process of internationalisation in Norwegian research and higher education in the 1990s. • a mean to improve the quality on a national level. • The Bologna Declaration. • Purpose: increased student mobility.

5. When and where is English used? • English is used in all subjects, at all institutions and on all levels • Less use of English at the undergraduate level, more frequent use at a graduate level • No significant difference between traditional Universities and University Colleges • History uses English less frequent in the teaching, than the fields of Economy, Nursing and Informatics.

6. Bilingual Education • Bilingualism in two senses • receptive bilingualism: read and listen to English • Reading of literature, listen to lectures in English • Monolingual standard, i.e. to master English as a native speaker as an aim • Courses given in English, substitute courses previous given in Norwegian • No alternatives to English in the study/programms/courses. • Conclusion – bilingualism at an interaction level • English supplies and sometimes substitutes Norwegian.

7. Teaching and the significance of the community of science The extent of use of English is connected to the use of English in scientific communication in the field of science close to the subject of teaching. But close affilation to a international community does not automatically means a reject of the national language i.e. Norwegian as a language of teaching • Physics • High level of international scientific community • Mediate/high awareness of Norwegian as a language for learning • Informatics • High level of international scientific community, scientific center partly in the USA • Mediate consciousness of Norwegian as a language for learning • Economy (and administration) • High level of international scientific community, scientific center partly in the USA • Mediate consciousness of Norwegian as a language for learning • Nursing • High level of international scientific community, (scientific center partly in the USA) • Mediate consciousness of Norwegian as a language for learning • History • Low/mediate level of international scientific community • High awareness of the importance of Norwegian langugage as a language for teaching.

8. Learning, knowledge and communication – pro English • Students learn the technical terminology in their field of competence • a lingua franca (lingua academia) for international professional communication. • Students will likely be studying and working abroad. • Foreign students and skilled working force search work in Norway. • The language of science is English • Lack of relevant and/or valuable teaching literature in Norwegian, especially on the graduate level.

9. Learning, knowledge and communication – pro Norwegian • Norwegian students do not master English at the required standard (mothertonge) • Students learn less when they have to struggle with a terminology in English without having the proficiency in the same lexical domain in Norwegian • Communication with non-experts – Customers, patients and their families, pupils, colleagues and the public in general.

10. Conclusion – Loss of domain for Norwegian? • The value of using Norwegian in the domain of Higher Education in a national context • Loss of lexical domains in the national language? • Internationalism – or a turn to the Anglo-saxon sphere of knowledge and culture? • Languages and a policy for education at the Universities/University colleges? • National level • Institutional level • Individual base.

11. Sources for documentation and information, methods and descriptive categories used • Public and easy available information and interviews • The categories use in the project • Oral • Written • Training • Evaluation • Receptive bilingualism • English at the standard of mothertongue