An increasing number of people in Norway enroll in master’s and PhD programs, and an increasing number of students write their theses and dissertations in English even though they may not have any formal qualifications in English (Gregersen 2014). In fact, English is the dominant language in most disciplines at PhD level, while a greater proportion of master’s theses are still written in Norwegian. The most recent figures available, however, suggest that Norwegian is losing ground at master’s level as well, and that the use of English is increasing (ibid). There has been a lively debate about the use of English and Norwegian as academic languages in Norway for some years and the debate looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
The aim of the project “Postgraduate academic writing in Norway (PAWN)” is to investigate the use of English and Norwegian as academic languages in postgraduate education in Norway from three complementary perspectives: the lexicogrammar of postgraduate academic writing, the beliefs and experiences of postgraduate students post-graduation and of supervisors, and the beliefs and experiences of postgraduate students during their postgraduate studies.
