Engelsk som tredjespråk: Har lærere kompetanse til å støtte flerspråklighet?

Abstract

Denne artikkelen handler om norske engelsklæreres kompetanse i å arbeide med barn som har et annet morsmål enn norsk, og som lærer engelsk som fremmedspråk. Problemstillingene er "Hva slags utdanning og kunnskap innen flerspråklighet har engelsklærere i Norge?," "I hvilken grad føler engelsklærere i Norge seg forberedt på å undervise i flerkulturelle og flerspråklige klasserom?" og "Hvilken type kunnskap, ferdigheter og ressurser føler de behov for?". Vi presenterer resultater fra en nasjonal spørreundersøkelse hvor i alt 176 engelsklærere deltok. I tillegg presenterer vi resultater fra fokusintervjuer med i alt fire lærere fra to skoler. Resultatene viser at selv om engelsklærerne til en viss grad føler seg forberedt på arbeid med elever som ikke har norsk som morsmål, har svært få av dem utdanning som fokuserer på flerspråklighet. Svarene fra spørreundersøkelsen og fra intervjuene viser at engelsklærerne gjerne vil ha mer kompetanse på dette området. Vi vil derfor understreke betydningen av utdanning i teori og praksis om flerspråklig utvikling og flerkulturell utdanningsteori, og ikke minst betydningen av tilgang til faglig utvikling som fokuserer på flerspråklighet i skolen og i samfunnet for engelsklærere i Norge.Nøkkelord: engelsklærere, kompetanse, språkpedagogisk kunnskap,flerspråklighet, lærerutdanningAbstractThis paper examines the extent to which English teachers in Norway are prepared to work with children whose mother tongue is not Norwegian, and who are acquiring English as a foreign language. The research questions are “What type of education and knowledge in the area of multilingualism do English teachers in Norway have?,” To what extent do English teachers in Norway feel they are prepared to teach in a multicultural and multilingual classroom?,” and “What kinds of knowledge, skills and resources do they feel a need for?” We present the results of a national survey completed by 176 teachers. In addition, we present results from focused interviews with four English teachers from two schools. The results show that although English teachers feel somewhat prepared for work with students who are not native speakers of Norwegian, very few of them have an education with focus on multilingualism. Responses from the survey and the interviews show that English teachers would like to have more expertise in this area. Therefore, we want to emphasize the importance of providing English teachers in Norway with education in theory and practice of multilingual development and multicultural education as well as access to professional development that focuses on multilingualism in schools and in society.Key words: English teachers, preparedness, knowledge of language teaching methods, multilingualism, teacher education

Negotiating Multilingual Resources in English Writing Instruction for Recent Immigrants to Norway

“…The national English curriculum implicitly acknowledges linguistic diversity among students through competence aims to compare English to one's L1, rather than assuming this to be Norwegian (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2013). Research on English teaching in Norway has generally concluded that, in practice, existing multilingualism among students is neither used nor referenced (e.g., Dahl & Krulatz, 2016;Krulatz & Torgersen, 2016), even in sheltered classes for newly arrived students (Burner & Carlsen, 2017). In one study, researchers collaborated with English and Norwegian teachers to implement an identity text project, encouraging teachers and students to draw broadly on students' diverse L1s, but only Norwegian and English featured in the final student texts (Krulatz, Steen-Olsen, & Torgersen, 2018).…”

“…In a welcome brochure for newly arrived students, the school described "multilingualism as a resource," presenting the importance of recognizing, highlighting, and building on students' existing language competence. A school administrator explained that the leadership had taken inspiration from research on multilingual students (e.g., Dahl & Krulatz, 2016) and the Ontario (Canada) Ministry of Education in adopting this stance. She added that the introductory program deliberately offered English alongside Norwegian with the rationale that language learning can be mutually reinforcing across languages.…”

“…In much of Western Europe, both of the latter classroom contexts are common (Gogolin, 2011). The prominent status of English as a school subject in these places has given rise to calls for a better understanding of how English teachers can build on students' diverse linguistic backgrounds in situations traditionally framed as teaching English as a foreign language (Dahl & Krulatz, 2016;Illman & Pietil€ a, 2018).…”

Building Inclusive Language Classroom Spaces through Multilingual Writing Practices for Newly-Arrived Students in Norway

“…A few studies have specifically investigated Norwegian pre-and in-service teachers' attitudes towards and knowledge about multilingualism (Dahl & Krulatz, 2016;Haukås, 2016;Kulbrandstad, 2007;Šurkalović, 2014;Krulatz & Torgersen, 2016). These studies found that while most teachers and students express positive views of multilingualism, they are often unsure about how to include and promote multilingualism in their classrooms.…”

Towards critical cultural and linguistic awareness in language classrooms in Norway: Fostering respect for diversity through identity texts

“…At the same time, many teachers report low levels of experience working with students of multilingual background (Dahl & Krulatz, 2016;Krulatz & Torgersen, 2016). The sole emphasis in the classroom is on learning Norwegian as a second language in order to become better equipped to function in Norwegian society (Lødding, 2015), which is a manifestation of the "nationstate ideology."…”