Norwegian version of this page

Language policy in Norwegian academia (completed)

This project investigates language policy in Norwegian academia, and especially the interplay between English, Nynorsk, Bokmål and Sámi. The overarching research question is what are the global, national and local influences on language policy and practice, and what are the gains and costs of making non-majority language choices in Norwegian academia?

Smiling woman with blonde hair

Jorunn Simonsen Thingnes.

Photo: Nadia Frantsen, UiO.

About the project

Data for this project will be collected through studying two academic institutions: Sámi allaskuvla (Sámi University of Applied Sciences) and Høgskulen på Vestlandet (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences). The data will consist of observations, interviews, and policy documents. It will be analysed with the aim to gain more insight into influences on language policy and practices, gains and costs of making non-majority language choices, and more overall to understand Norwegian academia as a linguistic market where the national languages operate together with English.

The theoretical framework comprises mainly work on language policy and planning, and Bourdieu’s canonical literature on linguistic market and linguistic value.

Objectives

This project aims to shed light on Language policy in academia, and the outcome will add to our knowledge and understanding of linguistic value, language hierarchies and the linguistic situation in Norway. Through the study we will also gain more knowledge on how different views of language, internationalisation, economic conditions etc. influence language policy and practices in academia. 

Duration 

January 2017–January 2020

Tags: Multilingual ideologies and language policies
Published Mar. 2, 2017 2:52 PM - Last modified June 3, 2022 2:53 PM

Contact

Jorunn Simonsen Thingnes

Participants

  • Jorunn Simonsen Thingnes Universitetet i Oslo
Detailed list of participants