The linguistic diversity in English classrooms

18 to understand the challenges – and the advantages – that learners with different language backgrounds may have. Therefore, when we present aspects of English vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation in this book, we explain them as parts of a larger picture. In this way, we hope to contribute to insight into the different systems of language and into the elements that, together, constitute any language. We hope this will open your eyes to the richness of language and languages, and contribute to your understanding and appreciation both of language in general and of those particular languages you are interested in. This, in turn, will help you guide other learners in their discovery of a new language.

Norwegian classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse – pupils come from an ever wider variety of language backgrounds. While most pupils will have Norwegian as their first or primary language, quite a few will have another language as their home language. Many of our learners are bilingual or even multilingual. A bilingual person is one who grows up with two languages, for example Urdu and Norwegian, while a multilingual person grows up with more than two. In the world today, most people actually master at least two languages. This means that Norwegians who are monolingual (= master only Norwegian) are a minority in the world when it comes to language proficiency.

In 2019, approximately 18 percent of the pupils in Norwegian schools were first or second generation immigrants (Statistisk Sentralbyrå, 2019). Many of these have a different language than Norwegian as their mother tongue. Naturally, the ratio of learners with a minority language varies greatly from one school to another. In some schools in Oslo, more than 90 percent of the pupils are speakers of a minority language, while the number in other schools is less than five percent. In 2020, an average of 38.3 percent of pupils in Oslo schools didn’t have Norwegian or Sami as their first language (Oslo kommune, 2020).

Of course, these pupils do not all have the same language background. We don’t know exactly how many different languages are represented in Norwegian schools, but the number is probably close to 200. In addition to the “new” languages that immigrants bring with them, Norway has a long tradition of linguistic diversity in Sami and Kven areas.

The many languages in a classroom can be a challenge because different pupils have difficulties with quite different aspects of English. While a pupil with

Norwegian as a first language may struggle with the th-sounds in things and these, a speaker with a Spanish background may be unable to pronounce the h in his and hat. At the same time, learners with a minority language background may find things that most Norwegians struggle with quite easy. The learner who knows Spanish may understand the progressive verb forms in English quite easily (I am singing, I was singing), and the learner with a Polish background will have no problems pronouncing the sound /z/, which is foreign to Norwegians.

It is important to remember that learners with a minority language or a bilingual background may have quite an advantage in the English classroom. Most of them have already learned Norwegian, and possibly other languages as well. This means that they have a language learning experience to build on. They know what it means to learn a new language, and they are used to reflecting upon similarities and differences between the languages they know. In this way, they have developed an awareness of languages that can be a great source of insight in the classroom.

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Teachers can also draw on their own experiences, as most teachers have been language learners themselves. In fact, most of us probably still find ourselves somewhere in that process. This makes us better able to help, guide and to empathize with our learners.

There are many reasons why we should remember to take the pupils’ diverse language backgrounds into consideration. One reason lies in the current national curriculum, which underlines that the pupils “shall experience that the ability to speak several languages is an asset at school and in society in general”. It also underlines the importance of comparing English with other languages the learners are familiar with. While previous curricula pointed to the need to compare English with Norwegian, the present national curriculum signals an awareness that Norwegian isn’t the first language for all learners, and that many learners in fact already know several languages.

Another reason lies in the fact that language has to do with identity. Language tells us – and others – who we are. Languages may, according to some people, have different levels of prestige, but every language is equally important to those who speak it as their primary language. We first experience the world through our home language. Our language contributes to determining how we understand and think about the world around us. We all cherish the treasures that our home language(s) represents. Therefore, it is important to bring experiences with our own language along as we learn a new one. This will lead to a sense of belonging and a sense of continuity and also facilitate deeper language learning.

When the learners’ different languages are highlighted and dealt with in the classroom situation, learners will get a chance to see the value of their own background. Even if learners do not know very much about the systems of their own language, they are the experts. If they share some of their own words and expressions, the other learners will get a glimpse into their world. This is a simple, yet very effective, way of valuing and developing sensitivity to the diversity in the classroom. A main goal for Norwegian education is to develop understanding and respect between persons with different cultural backgrounds. Validating variation in language background can be a useful and often easily available resource in work that aims to foster cultural insight and understanding.

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