Universities are by nature international institutions, and Norwegian universities employ a high percentage of non-Norwegian staff. To ensure that Norwegian remains the language of Norwegian universities, there are rules in place mandating that anyone who does not speak Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language) upon being hired must master it within a given time period; the current guidelines from the Ministry of Education state that this time period is two years.
However, the concept of "mastering" a language is elusive, and it is not a given that individuals can use a language for all aspects of work life just because they have passed a certain examination level. Importantly, research on adult language acquisition indicates that two years may be too ambitious if the goal is in fact to be able to carry out all one's work responsibilities in a new language.
Reports from universities across the country indicate that foreign staff may not only struggle to meet the formal language requirements within the given time limit, but that they may not be comfortable carrying out their work in Norwegian even if the formal requirements are met. The result can either be that their work environment switches to English as their working language, or that individuals with non-Norwegian backgrounds are not able to fully participate in all aspects of their work life. Neither outcome is desirable.
The current project aims to investigate in detail what non-Norwegian staff themselves see as the main obstacles to reaching a level of Norwegian where they can fully participate in all activities, and what areas of their work life are most challenging in this respect. The aim is to inform policy making both locally at NTNU and, in turn, nationally, to ensure that language policies contribute to international staff reaching the necessary level of Norwegian in a manner which is conducive to learning and motivation, avoids stigmatization for those who struggle with the language, and is based on the needs of the international staff themselves.
