Teaching English in Norwegian Classrooms

Lisbeth M. Brevik Ulrikke Rindal

The book is relevant for teachers, teacher educators and student teachers, and for everyone involved in the ongoing development of the English school subject.

Lisbeth M. Brevik and Ulrikke Rindal are Associate Professors of English Didactics at the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. They have published a series of articles and books, individually and together. One of their recent publications is the book English Didactics in Norway – 30 Years of Doctoral Research (2019).

ISBN 978-82-15-03228-3 9

788215

032283

TEACHING ENGLISH

Based on theory and research, the authors give examples of best teaching practices in the English subject, and go on to discuss how schools can develop the English competence of all students in a society where English is becoming increasingly important.

IN NORWEGIAN CLASSROOMS

Against this backdrop this book presents recent research about what teachers do in their English lessons, how students perceive their English lessons, and about what motivates them. The authors go on to describe and discuss good English instruction related to language learning, communication and encounters with English texts. The book also takes up the issue of how students learn and use English in and outside of school, and what this implies for the new English school subject.

Lisbeth M. Brevik Ulrikke Rindal

What characterises the formal teaching of English that takes place in lower and upper secondary school, in introductory classes for recent immigrants and in vocational classes?

TEACHING ENGLISH

IN NORWEGIAN CLASSROOMS From research to practice

TEACHING ENGLISH IN NORWEGIAN CLASSROOMS

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Lisbeth M Brevik and Ulrikke Rindal

TEACHING ENGLISH IN NORWEGIAN CLASSROOMS From research to practice

Universitetsforlaget

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© Universitetsforlaget 2020 ISBN 978-82-15-03228-3 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Universitetsforlaget. Enquiries should be sent to the Rights Department, Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, at the address below. www.universitetsforlaget.no Universitetsforlaget AS Postboks 508 Sentrum 0105 Oslo Norway www.universitetsforlaget.no Forfatterne har mottatt støtte fra Det faglitterære fond.

Cover design: Universitetsforlaget / Sissel Tjernstad Cover illustration and illustrations: Lisa Aisato Prepress: ottaBOK Print: 07 Media – www.07.no Typeset: Adobe Garamond Pro 10.5/15 Paper: 90 g Amber Graphic

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Acknowledgements

As we conclude our work on this volume, we would like to recognise and express our appreciation to a number of people who have supported us. We first want to thank Evelinn Throne-Holst, our editor at the Scandinavian University Press. Thank you for your encouragement, discussion and suggestions throughout the process of creating this volume – and not least for securing permission from Lisa Aisato to use her beautiful art to illustrate our work. We are also grateful to Marte Mesna, our manuscript coordinator, for her help in preparing this volume for publication.

We have truly appreciated the constructive comments and suggestions from the anonymous reviewer and for the time invested in the review. These have provi­ ded valuable direction for improving the manuscript and overall clari­ty. We are also grateful to three outstanding professionals and colleagues, Marte Blikstad-­Balas, Glenn Ole Hellekjær and Pia Sundqvist, for offering their feedback on individual chapters of this volume. They were knowledgeable and e­ xtremely supportive in this process. Our appreciation furthermore goes to all the student teachers who have read and commented on earlier versions of the chapters in this volume. Your insight during the process of writing has been invaluable. It is, after all, mainly for teachers and student teachers that we write this research-based volume.

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Shilan Ahmadian, Ingrid Rodrick Beiler, Cindy Brantmeier, Katharina Køber Garvoll, Manuela Iannuzzi, Anja R Isaksen, Sigrid Graedler Listuen, ­Andreas Lund, Marit Elise Lyngstad, P David Pearson, Fredrik M Røkenes and Kaja G Skarpaas – thank you for co-authoring some of the chapters with us and for inspiring conversations about what matters when researching and teaching English in Norwegian classrooms.

As a final note, we would like to say how much we have enjoyed creating this volume together, step by step during the five (!) years that it took to complete it – anticipating the new curriculum and the new English subject in force from the autumn of 2020.

Oslo, November 2019 Lisbeth M Brevik & Ulrikke Rindal

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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

PART I. COMMUNICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Chapter 1.

English in Norway – A language and a school subject in transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Ulrikke Rindal

English as a global language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The status of English in Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Perspectives that influence L2 English teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Chapter 2.

Language and technology – Digital competence in English . . . . . . 43 Lisbeth M Brevik, Andreas Lund, Kaja G Skarpaas and Fredrik M Røkenes

Digital competence in the Norwegian context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 English teachers’ professional digital competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Research in primary and secondary school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

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Chapter 3.

Vocational English – Building vocational orientation and relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Lisbeth M Brevik, Kaja G Skarpaas and Anja R Isaksen

Two concepts: Vocational orientation and relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Conceptualisations of relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Vocational relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Societal relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Youth cultural relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Individual relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

PART II. LANGUAGE LEARNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Chapter 4.

Language use in English lessons – Monolingual, bilingual and multilingual approaches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Lisbeth M Brevik, Ulrikke Rindal and Ingrid Rodrick Beiler

A monolingual approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 A bilingual approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 A multilingual approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Monolingual, bilingual or multilingual classrooms?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

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Chapter 5.

Pronunciation – Accent, identity and intelligibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Ulrikke Rindal and Manuela Iannuzzi

Nativeness vs. intelligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Target accents and identity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 A Norwegian accent of English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 English as a lingua franca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Chapter 6.

Strategic readers of English – Gradual release of responsibility. . . . . 137 Lisbeth M Brevik, Cindy Brantmeier and P David Pearson

Reading comprehension models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Reading comprehension in a second language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Prior knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Reading comprehension strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Engagement, motivation, and interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

PART III. TEXTUAL ENCOUNTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Chapter 7.

The role of literature in the English classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Lisbeth M Brevik and Marit Elise Lyngstad

Approaches to literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Teachers’ views on the selection of literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Students’ perspectives on the reading of literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 The teaching of literature in English classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

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Student teachers’ experiences with fan fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Chapter 8.

English use outside of school – Gamers, Surfers and Social Media Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Lisbeth M Brevik, Katharina K Garvoll and Shilan Ahmadian

Adolescents’ media habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Theoretical lenses to English use outside of school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Empirical research studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Appendix – Language log for English use in and outside of school . . . . 215

Chapter 9.

Intercultural competence and cultural identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Ulrikke Rindal, Ingrid Rodrick Beiler and Sigrid Graedler Listuen

Cultural content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Cultural identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Research-based recommendations for teaching English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Questions for reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Co-authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

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Introduction This book is about how English is taught and can be taught in Norwegian classrooms. It offers a research-based look into the teaching of English in lower and upper secondary school, including introductory and vocational classes. This book is about communication, language learning and textual encounters. It is also about the intersection of language and technology, and intercultural competence articulated in English. These core elements are all part of one highly interactive process – the teaching of English in Norwegian classrooms.

Today, English is a prerequisite for the acquisition of knowledge and participation in society, both globally and locally. Norwegian adolescents need English to communicate with people in Norway and beyond, face to face and online, in and out of youth cultures. English grants access to information from unlimited sources, and is essential for students’ participation in real and virtual societies. Thus, we argue that students will need to be engaged, imaginative, critical and active participants to develop their English competence. In classrooms characterised by increasing diversity and with a focus on differentiation, we urge teachers to design English lessons that students will perceive as relevant, and that bridge students’ use of English in and outside the classroom. Accordingly, the chapters in this book place emphasis on the students in Norwegian classrooms and how they need to use English.

In a title like Teaching English in Norwegian classrooms: From research to practice, we have sometimes wondered whether the phrase “teaching English” might seem more important than the phrase “Norwegian classrooms”, and also whether the word “research” carries more or less importance than the word “practice”. Our emphasis on all four is deliberate. Based on research, we were often impressed by what we saw in Norway’s English classrooms. Indeed, we now recognise that some of what is said to be lacking in international English teaching can sometimes be found in Norwegian classrooms. It is therefore our aim to present good research-based examples of teaching English in Norway and discuss how these can be applied to practices in other classrooms as well. Likewise, it is our aim to offer examples of practices we did not see much of in Norwegian classrooms and discuss how they can be applied to the teaching of English.

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Introduction

Research Our point of departure is always research – on students’ use of English in and out of school, classroom learning and teaching practices and the reflections of students and their teachers. As such, this book contributes to the field of English didactics, reviewing recent and relevant research in a comprehensible manner.

Each chapter reviews English didactics research on topics relevant to the English school subject. The chapters discuss the implications of this research, including both general principles for teaching English and more specific recommendations for classroom activities. In this way, the book illustrates how teaching practices can be developed based on knowledge acquired from research, and it explains not only how to teach relevant topics in English, but also why. Today, in addition to learning English in school, adolescents in Norway use English extensively in their leisure time, and we show how its use in school can be tied to its use out of school. It is therefore a way of connecting research and learning aims to classroom practices and real-world language use.

Core elements, values and principles Chapters in the book are structured according to the core elements of the 2020 En­glish curriculum, namely communication, language learning and textual encounters. We have also included chapters that align with the core elements of the in-depth Eng­lish subject in lower secondary schools, namely language and technology and intercultural competence. Our intention was not to provide an exhaustive account of these core elements, but rather to offer discussions on various themes relevant to each core element. These core elements – and this book’s chapters – represent the general characteristics of English as a school subject, emphasising how students in Norway can use English in their daily lives. The book is thus relevant for teachers and student teachers who will work with these elements. In addition, it explicitly targets students whom teachers and student teachers meet in the classroom on a daily basis.

The chapters reflect our emphasis on the values and principles of the new core curriculum: the values of identity and diversity, the principles of relevance and learning to learn and not least the role of students as active participants in their own learning and development. We have tried to create a book that integrates the general core curriculum with the subject-specific core elements, alongside a solid emphasis on competencies and basic skills developed while learning

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English. We think of this book as balancing a shift in curricula, the qualities and dimensions of which will be more visible and easier to describe once the new curriculum is in force.

Chapters The book is a collection of topics that we as editors and authors perceive as central to English didactics, a perception based on our experiences related to researching English as a school subject, whether teaching English in Norwegian classrooms or teaching its didactics to student teachers. It is a short book. The chapters are not meant to cover the entirety of English as a school subject, but they are meant to emphasise students’ strengths and needs related to a series of relevant topics, and give insight into how teaching practices can be developed based on these strengths and needs. As such, the book illustrates how knowledge from research can be applied to the development of English teaching, so that teachers can continue doing this with other relevant topics as well. Our goal was to create a book that can coexist with other books or articles relevant to the teaching of English in Norwegian classrooms.

This book is presented as a coherent whole, but all its chapters are independent, and readers can consume them individually. Based on its main themes, each chapter is assigned to one of the three sections representing the main core ele­ments of the 2020 English curriculum. These are not separate and independent entities; they are interconnected in any learning context. For instance, language learning is crucial for communication and essential for textual encounters in Eng­lish, while the core element of textual encounters develops language learning and supports communication, with a particular focus on intercultural competence. Language and technology permeates communication in the texts that adolescents encounter, and technology is a medium of much language learning. Thus, although each chapter is assigned one core element, they are also each relevant to other core elements.

Part I: Communication Part I opens with an illustration by Lisa Aisato of young people expressing their opinion during a climate strike, to emphasise adolescents’ active use of languages in real-life communication. Chapter 1, “English in Norway – A language and a school subject in transition”, discusses contemporary perspectives on the status of the English language globally and in Norway, with an emphasis on the role English plays in the lives of adolescents and the implications this has for it as a

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Introduction

school subject. The status of English affects what learners need in order to communicate effectively, which is why this chapter is the first to be framed by the core element communication. Furthermore, the status of a language is also linked to the proficiency of students and their actual language use in and out of school, which makes this chapter relevant to the remaining core elements. Finally, Chapter 1 presents our view of what English is to learners in Norwegian classrooms and consequently functions as a backdrop for the remainder of the book.

In Chapter 2, “Language and technology – Digital competence in English”, we ask how our communication changes in and out of the classroom when students use English in various media and digital technology. This is why this chapter is placed within the core element communication. We argue that, at a minimum, there needs to be a clear goal for using digital technology to learn languages, such as enabling students to learn more, better or differently. We offer research-based cases to show how to engage students as active participants using technology to develop their digital competence in English. Thus, this chapter is also relevant for textual encounters, because of, for instance, students’ reading and creation of multimodal texts. Furthermore, language and technology is a separate core element of English as an in-depth subject.

Chapter 3, “Vocational English – Building vocational orientation and rele­ vance”, discusses the role of English in vocational study programmes and the importance of creating English lessons that students perceive as relevant. The chapter offers several research-based examples from vocational classrooms across a range of programmes, and it includes students’ own perspectives on the teaching of English. The need for English as a language of communication in future work (vocational relevance), society at large (societal relevance), youth cultures (youth relevance) and their personal lives (individual relevance) is why this chapter is placed within the core element communication. Still, vocational English is also linked to the academic use of the language in professions and vocational texts, and this chapter is thus relevant to language learning and textual encounters as well.

Part II: Language learning Part II opens with an illustration by Lisa Aisato of a young girl who demonstrates a strong belief in herself – and the value of a role model for the active student. Chapter 4, “Language use in English lessons – Monolingual, bilingual and multilingual approaches”, discusses students’ opportunities to choose when

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and how to use the target language in the English classroom, and compares this opportunity to their needs in the context of other languages. We review recent research to illustrate three approaches to teaching English in Norwegian classrooms: using English only (a monolingual approach), using English mainly and combining it with Norwegian (a bilingual approach), and allowing students to use any language resources they know (a multilingual approach). Based on recent research, we offer recommendations for language use in the English classroom, and the chapter is therefore placed within language learning. However, the use of languages in the classroom also makes this chapter highly relevant to communication, and the discussion of the multilingual approach specifically makes it relevant to aspects of intercultural competence.

Chapter 5, “Pronunciation – Accent, identity and intelligibility”, presents research related to the pronunciation of English among Norwegians and the perceptions of this pronunciation both in and out of school. We present research projects on target accents and how they might relate to learners’ identity, on perceptions of Norwegian-accented English and on pronunciation features used in Norwegian classrooms. The research projects are discussed against a backdrop of relevant theory within the field, and recommendations for teaching are presented based on the knowledge developed from each project. Implications are consequently first and foremost related to language learning. However, we argue in this chapter that the high level of English proficiency among Norwegian learners is related to speaker agency and identity, and consequently, the topic is also very relevant to communication and intercultural competence.

Chapter 6, “Strategic readers of English – Gradual release of responsibility”, discusses teachers’ reading comprehension strategy instruction and students’ use of such strategies in English classrooms in Norway. This topic relates directly to the principle of learning to learn. The chapter therefore presents a model for the gradual release of responsibility – from teachers’ explicit strategy instruction to teachers’ and students’ shared responsibility for the daily use of strategies in the English classroom and students’ independent use of strategies as they become active, strategic readers. As such, the recommendations for teaching English are primarily linked to language learning in terms of their focus on how reading comprehension strategies can help students develop their English reading skills, while also being specifically relevant to their textual encounters and communication in general.

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Introduction

Part III: Textual encounters Part III opens with an illustration by Lisa Aisato of a teenage girl caught in the interface between the virtual world and the real world. In Chapter 7, “The role of literature in the English classroom”, we discuss recent research into how litera­ture is taught and used, but seldom read extensively in the secondary English classroom.

We discuss attitudes concerning classic literature and popu­lar fiction, and we compare adaptations into graphic novels and films. We argue that literature is highly relevant to the interdisciplinary theme life skills in order to understand ourselves and others, and we suggest how to link reading literature to writing fan fiction. Based on this research, we offer recommendations for how – and why – we should encourage students to read literature. We also argue that reading literature develops language awareness, which is highly relevant to language learning and communication within and outside the classroom, as well as to the core elements of language and technology and intercultural competence of the in-depth English subject.

Chapter 8, “English use outside of school – Gamers, Surfers and Social ­Media Users”, discusses adolescents’ interests and identities related to English, and it makes suggestions on how to bridge students’ online textual encounters into the classroom from outside the school. We offer recommendations for teaching, based on research showing that students who frequently use English outside school – through online gaming, surfing the internet and engaging in social media use – demonstrate good vocabulary knowledge and oral skills, and show surprisingly good reading proficiency in English, even if they are poor readers of Norwegian. This is why this chapter is central to the core element of textual encounters. In addition, the use of English outside of school is closely linked to informal-­versusformal language learning, communication in authentic contexts and, not least, intercultural competence of the in-depth English subject.

Chapter 9, “Intercultural competence and cultural identities”, deals with the cultural component of English as a school subject, discussing culture both as a didactic topic and as a characteristic of these same students. The main aim of the chapter is to show how teachers can assist the development of students’ intercultural competence, among other things by using authentic texts in English. Intercultural competence is also integrated into the core element textual encounters, which is why this chapter is an obvious component of this element. In addition, intercultural competence is an essential part of communication, as well as a separate core element of English as an in-depth subject. Developing cultural aware-

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Introduction

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ness is also central to the English subject’s contribution to the interdisciplinary theme democracy and citizenship.

Interdisciplinary themes We encourage teachers and student teachers to link the interdisciplinary theme of life skills to the teaching of English in Norwegian classrooms, specifically valuing encounters with a broad range of oral and written text connected to students’ interests and identities, including multimodal texts, pop culture texts, school texts and student-created texts. Furthermore, we support the linking of the interdisciplinary theme democracy and citizenship to the teaching of English, creating a language-based awareness of how to communicate and express meaningful opinion in real and virtual societies. Finally, although the interdisciplinary theme sustainable development is explicitly linked only to English as an in-depth subject, we recognise the usefulness of assisting students in their critical evaluation of information from various sources to exercise digital judgement and act ethically when dealing with the contradictions that arise when communicating locally and globally.

A final note In the writing of this book, we involved several established researchers, as well as master’s students and newly educated teachers within the field of English didactics, so that readers would be presented with perspectives shared by a variety of scholars and have access to research directly articulated by its researchers. Inviting newly educated teachers as co-authors ensures the subject’s relevance to the book’s main target readers, namely student teachers and teachers of English in Norwegian secondary schools. Our goal has been to develop a book that presents contemporary students with new research-based insights while not ignoring the historical context and empirical practices of English as a school subject.

We hope this book helps teachers and student teachers become better equipped to teach English in Norwegian classrooms in the context of the 2020 curricular reform. We have aimed to show how the status of English in today’s society, its status as a subject and students’ use of English in and out of the classroom all intersect. We hope you will find that all students – both proficient Eng­lish users and those who struggle to learn and use English – will benefit from the critical, collaborative and creative recommendations for teaching English in Norwegian classrooms, from research to practice.

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Lisbeth M. Brevik Ulrikke Rindal

The book is relevant for teachers, teacher educators and student teachers, and for everyone involved in the ongoing development of the English school subject.

Lisbeth M. Brevik and Ulrikke Rindal are Associate Professors of English Didactics at the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. They have published a series of articles and books, individually and together. One of their recent publications is the book English Didactics in Norway – 30 Years of Doctoral Research (2019).

ISBN 978-82-15-03228-3 9

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032283

TEACHING ENGLISH

Based on theory and research, the authors give examples of best teaching practices in the English subject, and go on to discuss how schools can develop the English competence of all students in a society where English is becoming increasingly important.

IN NORWEGIAN CLASSROOMS

Against this backdrop this book presents recent research about what teachers do in their English lessons, how students perceive their English lessons, and about what motivates them. The authors go on to describe and discuss good English instruction related to language learning, communication and encounters with English texts. The book also takes up the issue of how students learn and use English in and outside of school, and what this implies for the new English school subject.

Lisbeth M. Brevik Ulrikke Rindal

What characterises the formal teaching of English that takes place in lower and upper secondary school, in introductory classes for recent immigrants and in vocational classes?

TEACHING ENGLISH

IN NORWEGIAN CLASSROOMS From research to practice