Language diversity in Norway and the question of L1 and L2

Abstract

In this article, I will give a historical overview and the present-day status of language diversity in Norwegian schools and Norwegian society. I will also discuss several questions that arise with regard to the political and educational situation. For four hundred years, Norway had Danish as its official and only written language. When Norway became an independent country, Norway decided to have its own national language, Norwegian. However, due to historical events, this is one language with two slightly different written varieties: Dano-Norwegian (bokmål) and New Norwegian (nynorsk). Since almost 90 per cent of Norwegian pupils learn Dano-Norwegian as their first (written) language, and the other written language, New Norwegian, is not used much in society in general, I will argue that New Norwegian might actually be considered a foreign language by those who learn to write Dano-Norwegian as their first language and that it can even be positioned behind English when analyzed from a language-learning point of view.