Questioning English standards: Learner attitudes and L2 choices in Norway

Rindal, Ulrikke

doi:10.1515/multi-2014-0015

Cited by 9 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This preference of the respondents tows the direction of Janicki's (2005) finding that some teachers hold the view that British English variety should continue to be the ideal variety of English to teach in schools. Apart from Janicki's (ibid) outcome, Dalton-Puffer (1997), Ladegaard (1998) and Rindal (2010Rindal ( , 2014 Notwithstanding the students' recognition and acceptance that the variety is and should continue as the variety for education in the country, the results of this study indicate that students do not have firm grasp of the orthography of a number of the Standard British English (SBE) words. The implication of the students' partial knowledge of the orthography of the variety is that they blend the use of the two main varieties; a situation which ought to be penalised in examination situations in the country.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 56%

The English in Ghana: British, American or Hybrid English?

Okoh¹

2019

SELT

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<p><em>As a result of colonization of the British, the English used in many African countries and for that matter Ghana, is the British standard variety. However, the English used in Ghana, appears to have been invaded by the American English. This poses a problem as both teachers and students especially at the senior high school level confuse themselves about which word or spelling is right and vice versa. This study thus seeks to investigate students’ awareness of this invasion, the extent of the invasion and also to ascertain which of the aspects of the language has been much influenced by the American variety. The underpinning framework for this study is Kachru’s (1985) concentric model to situate the type of English used in Ghana. A sample size of 100 Students of English Education Department of University of Education, Winneba was selected for the study. The data was a secondary one: a random collection of vocabulary. Test, interview and questionnaire were also employed to gather other related data for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to analyse the data with precedence on qualitative analysis and the findings were thematically presented. The results indicate that although students use both American and British English together, they have little knowledge about the differences between them, especially, with the vocabulary aspect. Students have fair knowledge about the differences between the two varieties as regards the orthography aspect. These findings have implications on the teaching of English language and on examination issues in the country. It also informs writers of various educational materials about what variety to use.</em></p>

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 56%

The English in Ghana: British, American or Hybrid English?

Okoh¹

2019

SELT

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“…However, although the attitudes that emerged in the speaker evaluation experiment showed an almost unanimous endorsement of standard southern British English (as compared to American English, Scottish English or Leeds English), British English was not the most popular pronunciation target. Approximately one third of the participants reported British English as their desired L2 accent, while approximately 40 percent aimed towards an American English pronunciation (Rindal, 2014). Although speakers of SSBE are judged positively by Norwegian learners, this does not necessarily mean that the Norwegian learners wish to behave like speakers of SSBE.…”

Section: Meaning In Englishmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The study referred to here is the author's research into the attitudes, choices and pronunciation of English among 97 Norwegian 17-year-olds (Rindal, 2010(Rindal, , 2013(Rindal, , 2014Rindal & Piercy, 2013). The participants were in their second year of upper secondary school (Vg2), and were students in four different classes at four different schools in Oslo.…”

Section: Meaning In Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The attitude research (Rindal, 2014) showed that standard southern British English (SSBE), also known as Received Pronunciation (RP) or more colloquially "Oxford English" or "Queens English", was regarded as the most prestigious accent, associated with education and formality. This accent was regarded by many of the participants as a "correct" school standard; some of the interviewees reported that they believed their teacher would prefer that they used this accent when speaking English.…”

Section: Meaning In Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this article, beliefs about English will be discussed related to the context of English language teaching (ELT) in Norway. The Norwegian ELT context will be accessed through the national English subject curriculum (KD, 2006(KD, , 2013, as well as through results from a study into the English language practices among Norwegian learners of English (Rindal, 2010(Rindal, , 2013(Rindal, , 2014Rindal & Piercy, 2013). However, in order to discuss current beliefs about language, these must be presented against a wider backdrop of perspectives related to language in general and specifically to English.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is English?

Rindal¹

2014

ADNO

Self Cite

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This article considers the developing status of English in Norway, both as a language and as a school subject, making predictions about which ontological and epistemological perspectives will influence English language teaching (ELT) in Norway towards 2030. Status quo and predictions for English in Norway is approached from two angles; the development of presiding language beliefs in linguistic science and in ELT practices from the 16th century to the present, and the more recent and rapid development of English as the foremost global language of communication. The article shows how English language beliefs and the status of English are made visible in the national subject curriculum and in the English language practices among Norwegian adolescent learners. The discussion suggests that English is increasingly characterised by those who use it as a second or later language, including Norwegians who negotiate the meanings of English in the ELT classroom. The article predicts that a logical development for Norwegian ELT is increased influence from social constructionist perspectives, in combination with the existing focus on communicative competence. The study shows that global circumstances related to the status of English are reciprocally related to local language beliefs among educational authorities, teachers and students, and that these have major implications for English as a discipline in lower and higher education.

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Anglonormativity in Norwegian language education policy and in the educational trajectories of immigrant adolescents

Ingrid

2022

Lang Policy

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In the Nordic countries, policy debates about English often highlight the threat of domain loss for national languages, but the high status of English may also have a differential impact on people in Nordic societies. This article investigates a policy gap in Norwegian upper secondary education, whereby an advanced English subject requirement may hinder graduation for immigrant adolescents with little previous English instruction, despite English not being the medium of education in Norway. The aim of the study is to examine the impact of the upper secondary English requirement and of sheltered instruction as a local policy solution for such students. I use nexus analysis (Hult, 2015) to analyze ethnographic data from one upper secondary school that created an ad hoc sheltered English class. Data include field notes, classroom video and audio recordings, language portraits, and interviews with one school leader, one teacher, and six students. I draw on decolonial theory (e.g., García et al., 2021; Santos, 2007), notably Anglonormativity (McKinney, 2017), to trace discursive, interactional, and personal policy scales. I found that the sheltered class reflected discourses of integration and Anglonormativity, but nonetheless offered greater affordances for participation than a mainstream English class. Furthermore, comparing the emphasis on English remediation with students’ broader repertoires surfaced possibilities for reframing students as resourceful multilingual learners. I discuss policy options that might better address underlying issues of epistemic justice, compared to solutions limited to increasing students’ proficiency in languages of power like English.

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Questioning English standards: Learner attitudes and L2 choices in Norway

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

The English in Ghana: British, American or Hybrid English?

The English in Ghana: British, American or Hybrid English?

What is English?

Anglonormativity in Norwegian language education policy and in the educational trajectories of immigrant adolescents

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