The only English-language page...

An Norwegian academic blog with a
different perspective on language ...

The move from English-only to more Norwegian

Introduction

I use English language quite a bit in my daily work. Written and oral english is to a high degree the norm at my department, mostly to include our fabulous non-Norwegian speaking colleagues and to get things done.

But there are some downsides to our practices that we rarely talk about.

We have ended up having very few arenas at my workplace where we can use the Norwegian language, and few safe places to help our colleagues to develop Norwegian language skills. With inclusion being seemingly the only argument for what language to choose, Norwegian language will surely die in Norwegian academia if we continue down our current path.

The move from English-only to more Norwegian

The law

The Norwegian Law setting boundaries for NorwegianUniversities and Colleges state:Universities and university colleges areresponsible for maintaining and furtherdeveloping Norwegian academic language.Soction . Basgonsibity Formtineahing an turther devlpitg Norwogian(lovdata.no)

The move from English-only to more Norwegian

NTNU board and its language guidelines

There are also guidelines at my employer (NTNU) that requires the employees todevelop and use basic norwegian language skills:Chapter 3. Research21. All employees must master the main terminology in Norwegian in their specific field. The development of Norwegian academic language, including relevant discipline-specific terminology, is a collective responsibility in all the academic communities.

The move from English-only to more Norwegian

Norwegian Language Council and their comments about a professional language

The Language Council of Norway (norsk: Språkrådet) have also expressed that the use of english is reaching a problematic level.

"The board of the Language Council has over time followed the language political situation in Norway, and we see that it has become more acute in many areas of society. We see an ever-increasing use of English at the expense of Norwegian in all parts of society."

Aftenpostens nettutgave 12. februar 2023

The move from English-only to more Norwegian

Because of the problems it creates

We already see challenging situations when looking for people to grade written norwegian language.

Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo.

The move from English-only to more Norwegian

Some final thoughts...

And I agree with these perspectives, and choose to base my choice of language on them.

The Language Council of Norway has noted that the professional Norwegian language is used to a lesser and lesser degree in academic institutions in Norway.

Web article from 2022.

As a final note, I hope that this page could end up being...

• a place where I could use to jot down large and small experiences and reflections at work and enjoy seeing it grow. Secondly, also a place where I could practice my skills
as a web-based academic documentarian

• a place where members of a qualifying committee would go to find out more about my background

• a place where colleagues would go to find out more about me while practicing reading the Norwegian language, both Norwegian- bokmal and nynorsk

• a place that could get counted as the department, faculty or even NTNU counts the efforts used to promote Norwegian as a professional language at work