“Make the Appointments Obligatory”: The Cultural and Institutional Challenges of Establishing a University Writing Center in Norway

In the US, writing centers have a long history at institutions of higher learning. Often housed in individual colleges, writing centers function to help both undergraduate and graduate students develop their writing skills and become more confident, independent writers. Assistance, which is typically offered by students who are themselves seasoned writers, takes form in both face-to-face and online tutoring sessions, and can focus on tenets of writing ranging from general skills (e.g., outlining, drafting, organization) to discipline- or genre-specific assignments (e.g., theses, reports, presentations). In recent years, efforts have been made to transfer the writing center culture across the pond; success stories have popped up in a wide range of European countries. Yet several contexts have yet to be investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges of establishing a writing center at the Department of Teacher Education (Institutt for lærerutdanning) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). In autumn 2019, 43 pre-service second-year students taking a course on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) were obligated to make one appointment with the writing center to discuss drafts of a paper for a required assignment. Afterwards, they completed a survey detailing the experience of their visit. Results revealed that while students on the whole benefited from the sessions to discuss their writing, the students hinted at several cultural deviations that have the potential to hobble efforts of establishing a writing center. Instructional implications are discussed.

Hedging in spoken conversations by Norwegian learners of English

Hedging is an important aspect of pragmatic competence, but it is also a complex phenomenon that is difficult to master. This has resulted in underuse of hedging strategies by language learners, and many learners limit their hedging repertoire to a few strategies. This study compares the use of 10 hedging expressions commonly used in informal spoken English, a bit, I mean, I think, just, kind of/kinda, like, might, probably, thing(s), and you know, in data from LINDSEI-no, a corpus of Norwegian advanced learners, and LOCNEC, a comparable corpus of native English speakers. Norwegian learners typically show a high level of grammatical competence, but research on their pragmatic competence is limited. This study adds to the empirical research on Norwegian advanced learners by comparing the use of these expressions in native and learner language. The results indicate that as a group, Norwegian learners underuse hedging strategies, but when each expression and individual variation are considered, the picture is more nuanced. In fact, several of the Norwegian learners’ hedging practices partially overlap with several of the native speakers’ practices concerning hedging frequency and types of hedging strategies used.

Development of intercultural competence among a class of 5th graders using a picture book

This paper presents a study in a Norwegian English as a Foreign Language class of 5th graders aimed at investigating the learners' ability to decentre - a skill within intercultural competence, - through the use of the picture book The Soccer Fence by Phil Bildner. Based on Byram's theory on intercultural competence and Piaget's theory on decentring, a literary context was created around a one-group pretest-posttest design. The participants' ability to decentre was measured before and after an intervention period which consisted of reading the story and the pupils' investigating the characters' different perspectives through different tasks. The results were then checked for statistical significance, which is presented in the first part of the article. The second part of the article includes results from group interviews, which were carried out to either strengthen or challenge the pretest and posttest findings. Results showed statistical significance, indicating that the ability to decentre did increase after the intervention. This was also supported by the interviews

Writing in L2: Norwegian Students’ Use of Translanguaging at the Draft Stage

This study explores Norwegian students’ use of translanguaging at the draft stage of writing in English (L2). 37 drafts containing language alternation were analyzed using the proposed integrated framework of translanguaging and pragmatic code-switching. The analysis showed that the students’ uses of translanguaging range from a strategic juxtaposition of linguistic elements fulfilling certain socio-pragmatic functions, to highly flexible language alternation with the aim of generating content or experimenting with one’s linguistic repertoire. Based on the results, the study argues for the utility of the integrated framework of translanguaging and code-switching in answering the call for more empirical research on written form(s) of translanguaging in mainstream multilingual language classrooms.

In-service teacher attitudes toward the use of the mother tongue in Norwegian EFL classrooms

Because of the lack of research on the use of the mother tongue (MT) in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in European contexts, and because the topic is rarely discussed in teacher training programs, teachers often assume that students prefer an environment that makes little to no use of their MT. What complicates matters further is that while policy makers suggest maximal use of the target language (TL), European curricula for English as a subject do not contain any direct statements prescribing English as the sole language of instruction. Thus, EFL teachers who share an MT with their students often wonder to what extent and in what contexts they should employ the TL and MT. Observing four Norwegian EFL teachers in primary and lower secondary school over several lessons, this study attempts to unravel teacher attitudes towards MT use in the EFL classroom by presenting interview findings for the first time in a Norwegian setting. Additionally, the study explores whether the lack of clear guidance in the Norwegian curriculum for the subject of English regarding the use of the MT may add to the confusion among Norwegian EFL teachers as to how, when, and if the MT should be used. The results suggest that despite acknowledging the potential of the MT in the classroom, the four participants also felt guilty about its presence in their classrooms, particularly since their reported behaviours did not reflect their actual behaviours. In light of these findings, this paper suggests future research to shed light on what ratio would qualify as judicious MT use. It also highlights the importance of discussing the use of MT in EFL teacher training programs.

Digital Student Preferences: a study of blended learning in Norwegian higher education

For fall term 2020, institutions of higher education globally were preparing to run courses as online or blended learning due to Covid-19 restrictions. The ideal situation is for a relatively seamless transition from campus-based teaching to blended and/or online. The aim of this study is to examine the experience of a single cohort of students in order to identify trends in student preferences. The research model was mixed-method quantitative and qualitative analysis. The main research question is: What are student preferences for blended learning? The survey and interview results are from trainee teachers in a municipality in Norway in 2018 to 2019. The main research group consisted of 18 respondents from a group of 28 students with a response rate of 64 %. Four students were selected for semi-structured interviews. A clear majority of the students favor the use of blended learning. They experienced little difference in terms of teacher-centred practice and cooperative learning, i.e. traditional lectures and teacher-led tasks. In contrast, student-centred practice and collaborative learning were strongly favored as campus-based. The loss of social cohesion and more productive student-student dialogue and collaboration is clear. In addition, the data implies that lecturing could be effectively delivered online.

READING NOVELS IN THE RENEWED MIDDLE GRADES ENGLISH CLASSROOM:

Young adult fiction; interpretative community; critical reading; teacher autonomy; ENG01-04