Åpen tilgang

Rindal and Brevik (Eds.)

This edited volume presents 30 years of English didactics research (1988–2017)
in Norway. As a collection of chapters, each representing a doctoral study, the
Ulrikke Rindal and Lisbeth M. Brevik (Eds.)
book is a complete overview of all doctoral research within the field. Each study

ENGLISH
discusses empirical, methodological and theoretical contributions, and implicati-
ons for teaching English as a second or additional language (L2) today.

ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

For the first time, research from English didactics in Norway is collected in one

DIDACTICS
volume. The book is therefore invaluable to researchers of English as a school
subject, to teacher educators looking to provide future teachers of English with
research-based insight, and to experienced English teachers looking to develop
their teaching practice in ways that are research-based and relevant.

IN NORWAY
The chapters also provide models and insight to master (MA) students and docto-
ral (PhD) students about to embark on English didactics research projects. All
chapters present suggestions for future research, and offer a detailed presentation
of the methodology and theoretical framing of each study, as well as reviews of

– 30 years of doctoral research

other research in each particular field.

Editors are Ulrikke Rindal and Lisbeth M. Brevik at the Department of Teacher
Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. Both work as teacher
educators and conduct research within English didactics.

This book is also available open access at Idunn.

ISBN printed edition (print on demand) 978-82-15-03073-9

English Didactics in Norway
 Ulrikke Rindal and Lisbeth M Brevik

English Didactics in Norway

– 30 years of doctoral research

Universitetsforlaget
© Copyright 2019
Copyright of the collection and the preface is held by Lisbeth Brevik and Ulrikke Rindal.
Copyright of the individual chapters is held by the respective authors.

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ISBN printed edition (print on demand): 978-82-15-03073-9

ISBN electronic pdf-edition: 978-82-15-03074-6
DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019

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 Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH AS A SCHOOL SUBJECT

1 Aud Marit Simensen

PhD revisited: English in compulsory school. Aims and content . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

ENGLISH WRITING

2 Aud Solbjørg Skulstad

PhD revisited: Established and emerging business genres. Genre analyses of
corporate annual reports and corporate environmental reports . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

3 Ion Drew
PhD revisited: Future teachers of English. A study of competence in
the teaching of writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

4 Tony Burner
PhD revisited: Formative assessment of writing in English. A school-based
study of perceptions, practices and transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

5 May Olaug Horverak

PhD revisited: English writing instruction in Norwegian upper secondary
school – a linguistic and genre-pedagogical perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

6 Stephanie Hazel Wold

PhD revisited: INGlish English – the progressive construction in
learner narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

DIGITAL ENGLISH COMPETENCE

7 Andreas Lund
PhD revisited: The teacher as interface. Teachers of EFL in ICT-rich
environments: Beliefs, practices, appropriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

8 Fredrik Mørk Røkenes

PhD revisited: Preparing future teachers to teach with ICT. An investigation
of digital competence development in ESL student teachers in a Norwegian
teacher education program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
6 CONTENTS | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

READING IN ENGLISH

9 Glenn Ole Hellekjær

PhD revisited: The Acid Test. Does upper secondary EFL instruction
effectively prepare Norwegian students for the reading of English
textbooks at colleges and universities? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

10 Lisbeth M Brevik
PhD revisited: How teachers teach and readers read. Developing reading
comprehension in English in Norwegian upper secondary school . . . . . . . . . . . 207

11 Rebecca Anne Charboneau Stuvland

PhD revisited: Approaches to English as a foreign language (EFL) reading
instruction in Norwegian primary schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

CULTURE AND LITERATURE

12 Ragnhild Elisabeth Lund

PhD revisited: Questions of culture and context in English language
textbooks. A study of textbooks for the teaching of English in Norway . . . . . . 252

13 Signe Mari Wiland

PhD revisited: Poetry: Prima Vista. Reader-response research on poetry in
a foreign language context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

14 Annelise Brox Larsen

PhD revisited: Content in Nordic pupil narratives in instructed EFL.
A Norwegian Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

15 Juliet Munden
PhD revisited: How students in Eritrea and Norway make
sense of literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

ORAL PROFICIENCY

16 Ulrikke Rindal
PhD revisited: Meaning in English. L2 attitudes, choices and pronunciation
in Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

17 Anne Dahl
PhD Revisited: Young language learners. The acquisition of English in
Norwegian first-grade classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
 CONTENTS 7

18 Henrik Bøhn
PhD revisited: What is to be assessed? Teachers’ understanding of
constructs in an oral English examination in Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

19 James Coburn
PhD revisited: The professional development of English language teachers.
Investigating the design and impact of a national in-service EFL teacher
education course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

STATE-OF-THE-ART

20 Ulrikke Rindal and Lisbeth M Brevik

State of the art: English didactics in Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-01

Introduction

This edited volume is a collection of doctoral research within English didactics in

a Norwegian context from 1988 to 2017. The ambition has been to cover all doc-
toral research that has been conducted within this field, and to the best of our
knowledge all but four PhD theses within the field of English didactics in the Nor-
wegian context are represented here. The four missing theses are referenced
below. Our aim is to continue this project in future editions, adding chapters as
new doctoral studies are carried out.
As a relatively young research field both in Norway and internationally, English
didactics has not had a clear distinctiveness as a separate field, and in Norway
there has been no overview of the research that has been conducted. English didac-
tics has traditionally been a practically oriented domain developed from research
conducted in more established fields, such as linguistics, literature, sociology and
psychology. It still is a practically oriented field, but in recent decades it has firmly
established itself as a research field in Norway. Students in Norwegian teacher
education write their Master’s thesis in English didactics, research fellows do their
PhD in English didactics, and scholars continue to conduct research in English
didactics as the core of their academic careers. Furthermore, teacher education is
increasingly in need of research-based literature to use as course texts. We believe
it is high time English didactics in Norway is given the attention it deserves as a
separate academic field.
Following these considerations, this volume has been compiled for scholars
nationally and internationally who are interested in English didactics, as well as
for students at Bachelor and Master’s levels in teacher education. We demarcate
the field of English didactics as follows:

English didactics is best described as research, theory and applications rele-

vant for English as a school subject. This includes research and applications in
primary and secondary school, as well as in higher education, including
teacher education for future teachers of English, and including English com-
munication outside school.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
10 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The English didactics research in this volume is thus also relevant for readers who
identify themselves as scholars of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Lan-
guages (TESOL), Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), Second Lan-
guage Acquisition (SLA) and Applied linguistics, as well as English language edu-
cation in general.

IDEA AND CONCEPT

The volume comprises 19 chapters in addition to this introduction and a state-of-
the-art chapter by the editors. Each of the 19 chapters represents one doctoral pro-
ject, and each chapter is a “mini version” of the thesis using an IMRAD format,
i.e. Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Based on this format, each
contribution thus comprises an opening abstract, followed by the introduction
(including a review of earlier research, and theoretical framework), methods, and
results (sometimes labelled findings). These first sections provide a synopsis of
the doctoral project, which consequently entails that the theory and review of pre-
vious research reflect the status quo at the time of the study.
A discussion is then added to the synopsis of the doctoral project: Each author has
added a new and updated section to the presentation of their doctoral study, making
up approximately one third of each chapter, namely the section Discussion: Contri-
butions to the English didactics field. These additional sections for all the chapters
are the primary novelties of this volume as they highlight the overall contributions
of the doctoral study to the field of English didactics. These sections specifically
comment on the contributions of the study in light of the period in which it was con-
ducted, as well as developments in the field since then, and discuss how their doc-
toral work is relevant for students, researchers and practitioners of English didactics
today. Each author has thus been asked to revisit their doctoral study and discuss it
in the format of this volume. In line with this task, each chapter has kept the title of
the original doctoral study but with the crucial prefix PhD revisited.
The additional discussion section of each chapter is divided into three parts. The
first part, entitled Empirical, theoretical and methodological contributions, raises
the central aspects that each doctoral study offers to the field of English didactics,
thus showing how this particular study has contributed to the development of Eng-
lish didactics as a research field. The second part, Implications for teaching Eng-
lish, applies to current English language teaching, learning and development,
including specific recommendations for how to deal with topics related to the doc-
toral study in the English classroom. In the final part, entitled Suggestions for
future research, each author briefly presents recent developments in this research
 INTRODUCTION 11

area and offers suggestions for further research on the topic. The update on the sta-
tus quo of the research topic is especially relevant for doctoral studies that were
conducted some time ago, but also within areas in rapid development, and some
authors have added an additional section entitled Recent developments for this
purpose. This section varies between chapters in the extent to which some authors
have updated their own research in the field, and some have included updated
research in the field of English didactics in Norway in general.

THESES NOT REVISITED

Four Norwegian doctoral theses in English didactics are unfortunately not
included in this volume due to their authors’ full or partial retirement from aca-
demia and the extensive work inherent in participating in this book. We do, how-
ever, want to honour their contribution to the field of English didactics by present-
ing them here in chronological order, with authors, titles, and years of publication,
and encourage readers interested in their work to read the original theses or the
published versions:
Bjørg B. Gundem (1986). Skolefaget i skolereformen. Utviklingen av engelskfaget
som del av skolereform og Læreplanrevisjon (Unpublished doctoral study). Uni-
versity of Oslo, Oslo. The doctoral thesis is published as two publications: Bind 1
and Bind 2.
Angela Hasselgreen (1998). Testing the spoken English of young Norwegians: A
study of test validity and the role of “smallwords” in contributing to pupils’ flu-
ency (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Bergen, Bergen. The PhD thesis
was also published by Cambridge University Press in 2004, in the series “Studies
in Language Testing 20”.
Torunn Lehmann (1999). Literacy and the Tertiary Student: Why Has the Commu-
nicative Approach Failed? (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Bergen,
Bergen.
Bjørg Olsen Eikrem (2006). Teaching English as a foreign language in the 21st
century: Perceptions, attitudes, dilemmas, types of talk and educational needs
(Unpublished doctoral thesis). This doctoral thesis was also published by VDM
Verlag in 2009.
12 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

THE STRUCTURE OF THE VOLUME

The volume is divided into six thematic sections, representing separate but inter-
related topic areas; (1) The development of English as a school subject, (2) Eng-
lish Writing, (3) Digital English competence, (4) Reading in English, (5) Culture
and literature, and (6) Oral proficiency. Within each section, the chapters are pre-
sented chronologically to emphasise the development within each topic area; the
thematic sections are also ordered chronologically based on the first doctoral the-
sis within its topic area.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH AS A SCHOOL SUBJECT

In the first section of this volume, Aud Marit Simensen revisits her pioneering
doctoral work from 1988, Engelsk i grunnskolen: Mål og innhold, written only a
decade after English didactics was introduced for the first time in Norwegian
teacher education. She discusses the contribution of her work within three signif-
icant areas – the national curriculum, differentiation, and assessment – and dis-
cusses the implications of the development of English as a school subject for Eng-
lish teaching today.

ENGLISH WRITING
With a total of five doctoral theses conducted over 20 years, the works in this the-
matic section address English writing as a topic of research in secondary school,
teacher education, and business. Aud Solbjørg Skulstad revisits her doctoral work
from 1997, Established and emerging business genres: Genre analyses of corpo-
rate annual reports and corporate environmental reports, the only doctoral work
during these 30 years to address English for specific purposes. Ion Drew revisits
his doctoral work also from 1997, Future teachers of English: A study of compe-
tence in the teaching of writing, in which he studies the duality of student teachers’
writing competence and the ability to teach writing. The remaining three doctoral
theses in this section, all related to students’ writing, were written 20 years later.
Tony Burner revisits his doctoral work from 2016, Formative assessment of writ-
ing in English: A school-based study of perceptions, practices and transforma-
tions, studying the use of portfolios as a tool for formative assessment during the
writing process in upper secondary school. May Olaug Horverak revisits her doc-
toral work, also from 2016, English writing instruction in Norwegian upper sec-
ondary school – a linguistic and genre-pedagogical perspective, concerning form-
ative assessment of students’ classroom writing in upper secondary school.
 INTRODUCTION 13

Finally, Stephanie Hazel Wold revisits her recent doctoral work from 2017,
INGlish English – the progressive construction in learner narratives, concerning
students’ narrative writing in primary and lower secondary school. These three
chapters discuss implications for teaching and assessing writing in primary and
secondary English classrooms.

DIGITAL ENGLISH COMPETENCE

Here, we present two doctoral theses that have both addressed the development of
professional digital competence among experienced and future secondary school
teachers, written 12 years apart. First, Andreas Lund revisits his doctoral work
from 2004, The teacher as interface. Teachers of EFL in ICT-rich environments:
Beliefs, practices, appropriation, in which he studied experienced teachers
designing and enacting the use of digital technology in the secondary classroom.
Next, Fredrik Mørk Røkenes revisits his doctoral work from 2016, Preparing
future teachers to teach with ICT: An investigation of digital competence develop-
ment in ESL student teachers in a Norwegian teacher education program, focus-
ing on student teachers’ development of digital competence in teacher education
and enactment in school practice. Both suggest implications for English teaching,
specifically the need for teachers to become designers of technology-rich environ-
ments to change the traditional teacher-centred ways of teaching with ICT in
today’s secondary classrooms.

READING IN ENGLISH
In this section, the three doctoral theses addressing reading comprehension in
English among primary and secondary school students during the 30 years of doc-
toral research in Norway are presented and discussed. That is, three more theses
on the reading of literature were also conducted during these 30 years – however,
we have chosen to include these in a separate section on culture and literature due
to their aim of studying literary interpretation. The three studies in this section are
conducted across a period of ten years and focus on students in primary and sec-
ondary school, as well as higher education. Glenn Ole Hellekjær revisits his doc-
toral work from 2005, The acid test: Does upper secondary EFL instruction effec-
tively prepare Norwegian students for the reading of English textbooks at colleges
and universities?, involving an international reading test in English. Lisbeth M.
Brevik revisits her doctoral work from ten years later in 2015, How teachers teach
and readers read. Developing reading comprehension in English in Norwegian
14 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

upper secondary school, integrating classroom observations of reading compre-

hension instruction with teachers’ and students’ perspectives on such instruction,
as well as with students’ reading proficiency. Finally, Rebecca Charboneau Stuv-
land revisits her doctoral work from 2016, Approaches to English as a foreign lan-
guage (EFL) reading instruction in Norwegian primary schools, in which she
observes English instruction using different approaches to teaching reading. All
three discuss contributions of their work and discuss implications for English
teaching today.

CULTURE AND LITERATURE

This section addresses topics of culture and literature related to the English school
subject through four doctoral theses written during the short span of four years,
focusing on secondary school students and student teachers. Ragnhild Lund revis-
its her doctoral work from 2007, Questions of culture and context in English lan-
guage textbooks. A study of textbooks for the teaching of English in Norway,
which is the only doctoral thesis offering research related to teaching the cultural
component of the English subject. The remaining three theses in this section study
how literature is influenced by the cultural context of the readers. Signe Mari
Wiland revisits her doctoral work from 2009, Poetry: Prima vista. Reader-
response research on poetry in a foreign language context, Annelise Brox Larsen
revisits her doctoral work from 2009, Content in Nordic pupil narratives in
instructed EFL: A Norwegian perspective, and Juliet Munden revisits her doctoral
work from 2010, How students in Eritrea and Norway make sense of literature.
All four chapters discuss the implications of making students literate and cultur-
ally aware in the context of English teaching today.

ORAL PROFICIENCY
In this section, four doctoral theses address oral proficiency in English in very dif-
ferent contexts, also during the short span of four years, related to primary and sec-
ondary school, and focusing on both students and teachers. Ulrikke Rindal revisits
her doctoral work from 2013, Meaning in English. L2 attitudes, choices and pro-
nunciation in Norway, exploring adolescent (age 17) learners’ spoken English.
Anne Dahl revisits her doctoral work from 2014, Young language learners: The
acquisition of English in Norwegian first-grade classrooms, in which she studies
the effect of spoken input for young (age 6) learners’ development of oral English
competence. The two other theses in this section are both from 2016: Henrik Bøhn
 INTRODUCTION 15

revisits his doctoral work What is to be assessed? Teachers’ understanding of con-

structs in an oral English examination in Norway, investigating what English
teachers assess in an oral English exam without a common rating scale. James
Coburn revisits his doctoral work, The professional development of English lan-
guage teachers, in which he looks at the effect of an in-service teacher education
course on English teachers’ professional competence.

STATE OF THE ART

As a final chapter to this edited volume, the editors highlight some of the issues
that have risen from collecting and revising the doctoral work on English didactics
from the past 30 years in Norway. In this state-of-the-art chapter, they present the
accumulated knowledge developed from these 19 research projects and discuss
how this research has formed English didactics as a distinct research field, provid-
ing a foundation for further empirical research.

For the editors, it has been an absolute honour to gain access to the high quality
research conducted by scholars of English didactics in Norway, from the first
included doctoral work of 1988, to the (so far) final batch of projects – a stagger-
ing seven theses in 2016 and 2017. We are impressed by the professionalism of
the authors in how they have dutifully revised – and particularly shortened – their
work according to the editors’ vision for this volume. We hope they agree with us
that the volume does justice to their excellent work. We would like to take the
opportunity to thank the anonymous reviewer who has worked through this entire
volume, offering critical, yet constructive and enthusiastic feedback to all authors
and editors, improving the work considerably. Furthermore, this publication
would not exist as open access without the financial support of the publication
funds at each and all of the nine academic institutions represented in the volume,
which truly reflects the national effort to present the field of English didactics in
Norway.

Ulrikke Rindal and Lisbeth M Brevik, March 2019

 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-02

1
PhD revisited: English in
compulsory school
Aims and content 1
AUD MARIT SIMENSEN
University of Oslo

ABSTRACT This chapter reports the doctoral study Engelsk i grunnskolen: Mål og inn-
hold (Simensen, 1988a), which includes three investigations central to the field of
English didactics. The overall aim of the study was to produce knowledge about the aims
and content of the English school subject in compulsory school. One central focus was
to investigate to what extent there was agreement over time between ideas in selected
academic disciplines, “parent disciplines”, and ideas in the school subject, as reflected in
curricula, assessment documents and adapted readers as teaching materials.

KEYWORDS curricula | ‘parent disciplines’ | aims of teaching | adaptation of text |

assessment

1. The doctoral study, Engelsk i grunnskolen: Mål og innhold, was conducted according to the
regulations in force at the time at the College of Arts and Science, the University of Trondheim
[presently the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU]. The study was defen-
ded in 1988, and consists of three studies (Simensen 1987a, 1988 b, c) All are available through
The University of Oslo Library, UiO: Universitetsbiblioteket. (http://www.ub.uio.no/).

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 17

INTRODUCTION
The doctoral study was completed in the late 1980s, at the start of the development
of English didactics as an autonomous academic discipline. It was and still is a
contribution to the history of the teaching of English as a foreign language in Nor-
way. The work was motivated by a period of great change in the compulsory
teaching of English. An important political aim was that courses in English should
be offered to more pupils in rural areas, to younger pupils, and to pupils who pre-
viously had not been regarded as having a talent for learning a foreign language
(e.g. Gundem, 1986a). Compulsory education in general was increased from
seven to nine years from 1960 onwards. The reform was implemented in stages in
different parts of the country. It culminated with English as a compulsory subject
for all pupils nationwide in Lov av 13. juni om grunnskolen of 1969.2 This repre-
sented an enormous challenge in terms of getting a new school system into oper-
ation, ensuring enough linguistically skilled teachers of English, providing suita-
ble teaching materials, and establishing appropriate assessment systems.
Among the most significant changes to the English subject of a discipline-ori-
ented nature were the definitions of new aims for teaching and the development
of new methods and techniques for practical teaching and assessment of learning.
These changes were partly due to new needs among learners and in society, and
partly to new ideas and theories about language, language learning and assessment
in relevant academic disciplines, such as linguistics, educational and applied lin-
guistics and psychology, referred to as “parent disciplines” in my doctoral study.
The main aim of my doctoral study was to produce knowledge about the aims
and content of the English school subject in compulsory school. On the one hand
this entailed investigations of the intentions behind the school subject as commu-
nicated through policy documents, and on the other it involved studies of the
applications of such intentions, specifically related to assessment (using exams
and exam routines) and adapted readers for differentiation purposes (using pub-
lisher guidelines). The doctoral study dealt with these issues in three separate stud-
ies. The regulations at the time were different from those of the article-based the-
ses of today, and so the three studies in my PhD thesis are to some extent
independent of each other. They will therefore be presented separately in most of
the sections below.
The first of the three studies, Hvor kommer ideene fra? Skolefaget engelsk fra
Normalplan (1939) til Mønsterplan (1987) [hereafter Where do the ideas come

2. All titles of policy documents are given in the Norwegian original throughout the chapter. They
are listed with translations in English following the reference list at the end of the chapter.
18 AUD MARIT SIMENSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

from?] analysed and described the development of aims and content in the English
school subject over a period of 50 years, and investigated how shifts in parent dis-
ciplines influenced changes in the school subject in compulsory education. The
second of the studies, Adapted readers and Publishers’ Policy [hereafter Adapted
readers] had as its point of departure the problem of differentiating the teaching of
English according to levels of language competence. Among the prescriptions in the
curriculum at the time was to use various types of graded readers in practical teach-
ing.3 The third of the studies, Et kvart århundre med evaluering i skolefaget engelsk
[hereafter: Assessment] was an investigation of the system of assessment started dur-
ing the period of great challenges, as noted above. The primary research question
was to compare the system of assessment as intended to the system as applied.

THEORY
Stern (1983) specified the concept “theory” in relation to the comprehensiveness
of it, distinguishing between three major types: T1, T2 and T3. T1 was described
as the most comprehensive, “containing all reflection and all talk about education”
including “all discussion about the curriculum and content of education, of good
and bad teaching, teaching methods, […] and psychological, sociological, and
philosophical questions that underlie these” (Stern, 1983, p. 26). Stern’s own book
from 1983 was a theory of the most comprehensive type, a T1, but it subsumed
less comprehensive T2s, i.e. “different theories of language teaching and learning,
based on different linguistic and psychological assumptions, often emphasising
different objectives, and relying on different procedures”. According to Stern,
“most books on language pedagogy can be regarded as theories of second lan-
guage teaching in this second sense. They normally direct the readers to certain
ways of teaching and often try to explain to them on what grounds a particular
approach has been recommended” (Stern, 1983, pp. 26, 33). In Stern’s system, T3
was described as a concept in a more rigorous sense, as a theory having been ver-
ified experimentally or by observation, for example the electromagnetic theory of
light or the behaviourist theory of language learning. A scientific theory of learn-
ing will deal with the effects on the learners of various amounts and types of expo-
sure, but it will not, for example, be expected to deal with such practical issues that
determine how timetables are made up. This is the purpose of a theory in the

3. The term “prescription” (or “prescribe”) is sometimes used below. It is not always used in a
categorical sense in my sources, i.e. as something that “must be done”. It may be used as “could
be done”, “can be done” or “should be done.”
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 19

broadest sense, a T1. Since my interests as a researcher concentrated on problems

close to practice in English teaching, Stern’s (1983) meta-view of “theory” was a
useful model to help me see at what level of comprehensiveness my doctoral study
naturally belonged and communicate this to future readers.

WHERE DO THE IDEAS COME FROM?

Kelly (1969) and Stern (1983) argued that ideas and perspectives in language
teaching are developed in academic disciplines such as linguistics and psychol-
ogy. Kelly (1969) showed how perspectives in language teaching have changed
during 25 centuries. Furthermore, according to his theory,

The total corpus of ideas accessible to language teachers has not changed basi-
cally for 2,000 years. What have been in constant change are the ways of build-
ing methods from them, and the part of the corpus that is accepted varies from
generation to generation, as does the form in which the ideas present them-
selves’ (Kelly, 1969, p. 363; my emphasis).

In addition, he argued that language teaching is principally an art that, through the
ages, has pursued three major aims: “the social, the artistic (or literary), and the
philosophical” and that “at each period in history one of these has become pre-
dominant, generating its own approach to teaching” (Kelly, 1969, pp. 396–397).
Kelly’s point of view was intriguing and aroused considerable attention, although
modified somewhat by his use of the word “basically” in the first quote. I included
Kelly’s opinion in the study to encourage a sober attitude among students of Eng-
lish didactics to changes in teaching methods.
In his T1, Stern (1983) focused on major concepts in language teaching over
time such as “Concepts of language” and “Concepts of Society”. In the former, the
concepts were related to linguistics such as trends in linguistic theory; in the latter,
the concepts were related, for example, to aspects of sociolinguistics.
Howatt (1984), revised as Howatt & Widdowson, 2004, presented the teaching
and learning of English as a foreign or second language from the early years on.
These two books primarily have a European perspective. Although to be regarded
as second-generation theory in relation to the relevant parent disciplines, the
works produced by the Council of Europe in the 1970s and 1980s – for example,
van Ek (1977) – were also of theoretical importance for the doctoral study. These
documents show how theoretical principles can be applied for pedagogic pur-
poses. This applies in particular to the pioneering work done by the Council of
Europe on curriculum design and assessment.
20 AUD MARIT SIMENSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ADAPTED READERS
Theoretical discussions about which terms to use in connection with different
types of graded readers were central to the study in general of graded texts in the
1980s. Tommola (1980) presented a theory of different parameters of simplifica-
tion. Davies (1984) was a discussion of what was to be understood by the label
“authentic”, which had become a catchword in applied linguistics and English
teacher education spheres, and which at this point in time was trickling down into
circles closer to educational practice. The distinction between “use” and “usage”
in Davies & Widdowson (1974) and Widdowson (1979) was crucial in differenti-
ating between adaptations and simplifications of texts. “Use” referred to an adap-
tation of content based on an interpretation of the communicative value of a text.
“Usage”, on the other hand, corresponded more with a traditional linguistic sim-
plification of vocabulary and structure. Three types of graded readers on the mar-
ket at the time were distinguished: Authentic readers were readers not written for
pedagogic purposes and published in their original style. Pedagogic readers were
readers with texts specially written for learners of English as a foreign (or second)
language. Adapted readers were readers with texts that were adapted for learners
of English as a foreign (or second) language on the basis of authentic texts.

ASSESSMENT
Stern’s (1983) use of T2 as a theory at a medium level of comprehensiveness was
visualised in models with boxes for decisive factors. His model comprised a sep-
arate box for “learning outcomes” and included updated perspectives from the
1970s on testing learning outcomes, as reported in Spolsky (1978). The theoretical
distinction between “discrete point testing” and “integrative testing” was crucial
for the investigation of assessment in my PhD study (e.g. Oller, 1979). In the for-
mer, “discrete point testing”, language was divided into small elements for testing.
The ideal was to test one aspect of the learners’ language competence at a time.
Discrete point testing was also referred to as “psychometric-structuralist testing”
in some of the literature, thus signalising its link to the parent discipline “structural
linguistics”. The latter type, “integrative testing”, on the other hand, combined
several language categories, such as vocabulary and grammar, and/or several
skills in the same test. One example was the type “Writing an essay”. Among other
things, this would test knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, orthography, coher-
ence and cohesion in the same test. An integrative test was sometimes referred to
as global, as a measurement of the practical command of language or of language
in use. The American linguist, Robert Lado, was central in this work (e.g. Lado,
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 21

1961). Finally, according to authoritative language test theory at the time, to be

rational a taxonomy of tests should ideally be based on technique, such as fill the
blanks in a text with words omitted, not on any assumption about what language
skill, such as reading or writing, or language component, such as vocabulary or
grammar, each test would measure (Oller, 1979).

REVIEW
The two studies investigating applications of intentions in the English school sub-
ject, Adapted readers and Assessment, dealt with issues that were relatively general
for English language teaching and could thus be related to international research lit-
erature. The first study, however, about the development of the English subject, had
a national focus, and was thus related to previous research mainly from Norway.

WHERE DO THE IDEAS COME FROM?

Up to 1962, research studies on English in the compulsory school system were
rare. Only small-scale local experiments were normally reported. This changed
with the introduction of Læreplan for forsøk med 9-årig skole of 1960 (L60). The
research project which followed, “Skolefaget i skolereformen: Utviklingen av
engelskfaget som del av skolereformen” is a most comprehensive study (Gundem
1986a; 1986b). It was reported in two wide-ranging volumes, and the conclusions
were stated in terms of 10 tentative theses about the development of the school
subject English in the relevant period. The theses were further developed and dis-
cussed in the paragraphs that followed. Among the theses were the following: The
development of the school subject is part of the development of the school system
in general; not only language and culture, but also other disciplines, are of influ-
ence; the impact of research is limited; and change comes gradually and depends
more on teachers than on the curriculum.

ADAPTED READERS
Previous investigations or surveys of adapted readers mainly included the follow-
ing works: Bamford (1984), Davies and Widdowson (1974) and Hedge (1985). On
the basis of these works, two chief principles of adaptations were distinguished,
summed up by the following key words: 1) Informational and situational features,
organisation of information, explication of background concepts and suppositions.
2) Features of language including vocabulary, structures, sentence length, and how
22 AUD MARIT SIMENSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

sentences combine. The first principle belonged to the category “use” as expressed
in the theory by Davies and Widdowson above. The second belonged to these
researchers’ category “usage”. Two studies of the simplification of texts were also
of relevance for my investigation. The first was Lautamatti (1978), which was an
examination of cohesion and coherence in texts simplified by native speakers of
English and meant for readers of English as a foreign language. The second was
Simensen (1986), which was an experiment asking a group of Norwegian scholars
in different non-language disciplines to simplify a Norwegian text that had proved
to be particularly difficult to read for students of Norwegian as a second language.
The resulting simplified texts were then analysed.
A question which seldom was referred to in studies of adapted, simplified or
graded texts, was to what extent the reader’s knowledge in general or of specific
topics was adequate for an understanding of the text at hand. Other studies, in con-
trast, dealt with the relationship between cognitive structures, text schemata or
scripts and text comprehension (e.g. Carrell, 1983).

ASSESSMENT
Previous research of particular relevance were investigations of linguistic errors
in learner language (Corder, 1981; and studies included in Svartvik, 1973). This
applied both to the description of types of errors at different stages in learning,
often referred to as features of interlanguage or approximative systems, and to
studies of attitudes among people to learner language with errors. One assumption
as a result of such studies was that learners should not worry so much about the
errors they make because they may just be a step on the way towards the correct
target language. According to the following title, some researchers even regarded
errors as positive signals of learning: “…you can’t learn without goofing” (Dulay
& Burt, 1974, p. 95). In one study, the following demanding question was asked
in the title: “Should we count errors or measure success?” (Enkvist, 1973).
In studies of attitudes to erroneous spoken language, pronunciation errors were
ranked as more disturbing or irritating than grammatical errors. In studies of writ-
ten language, lexical errors were ranked as more negative for comprehension than
grammatical errors (Albrechtsen, Henriksen & Færch, 1980; Johansson, 1978).
Furthermore, studies in applied linguistics gave examples of conversations with
long utterances that were correct according to the rules of grammar, but not accord-
ing to the rules of this type of discourse, whereas short utterances without much
repetition of previous utterances were defined as correct (Widdowson, 1978).
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 23

A descriptive survey in the 1980s of problems in language education had both

Norwegian teachers and pupils as respondents. Among the findings were that
English teachers thought oral skills were underrepresented in the examination sys-
tems and that the correspondence between the aims of the school subject and the
examination system was poor (Evensen, 1986).

METHODOLOGY
Stern’s (1983) T2 functioned as an overall research map for my doctoral study, reco-
gnising “the existence of different theories of language teaching and learning, based
on different linguistic and psychological assumptions, often emphasising different
objectives, and relying on different procedures (T2s)” (Stern, 1983, p. 26). Natu-
rally, only selected areas on the map could be investigated in a PhD study.

WHERE DO THE IDEAS COME FROM?

This investigation spanned a period of 50 years in which four of the most notewor-
thy curricula were put into operation (i.e. N39, L60, M74, M87). The study included
analyses of 1) texts about what language is and how languages are learnt, as
described in the literature from the relevant disciplines in academia and 2) prescrip-
tions in the curricula in operation about aims and content in the school subject.
For the first type of analysis, I grouped the data into partly overlapping periods.
For the second, I distinguished between different types of aims and different types
of content, such as language skills, language categories, teaching methods, proce-
dures, etc. for the same periods. The final step of the study was to find out on
which points the trends described in texts from parent disciplines accorded with
those described in the curriculum for the teaching of English.

TABLE 1.1. Research design of the study Where do the ideas come from?

Qualitative data Analysis

Data consisting of central concepts (such as Text analysis of scholarly documents

communicative competence) over time in
parent disciplines

Data consisting of aims and content in the Text analysis of curricula

four most noteworthy curriculain operation
in the period 1939–1987

Contrasting the two text analyses

24 AUD MARIT SIMENSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ADAPTED READERS
Existing books and articles about graded readers and the use of readers in teaching
were used to obtain the necessary background information for the study (Bamford,
1984; Brumfit, 1979; Hedge, 1985; Nuttall, 1982). Publishers referred to in these
works were contacted in 1981/82 or 1985 if readers of the adapted type were on
their publishing lists. The publishers were qualified to be included in my study if
they could provide written information about their policy of adaptation, referred
to as “guideline documents” in my study. This applied to six publishers with a total
number of nine series of adapted readers. These publishers were also asked how
they selected texts for adaptation.
The guideline documents were analysed and compared. The comparison aimed
at finding major differences between principles of adaptation, such as types of
control. Finally, the principles were contrasted to foci of interest in parent disci-
plines, such as a focus of interest in linguistic structure or in discourse structure.

TABLE 1.2. Research design of the study Adapted Readers

Qualitative data Analysis

Guideline documents for adapting Text analysis

texts ◗ to distinguish between different bases of selection of
texts for adaptation, types of control, levels of voca-
bulary and types of structures permitted
◗ to relate principles of adaptation to foci of interest in
parent disciplines

ASSESSMENT
This study spanned a period of 25 years. The sources for the study were the sec-
tions about assessment in the curriculum in operation, the general guide for assess-
ment at this level as well as assessment documents of a similar nature issued for
each year. These gave information about the years when written and/or oral exams
were arranged and the percentage of pupils selected for written and/or oral exams.
In addition, the yearly documents included the written tests given each year as
well as the assessment criteria for these.
Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in the study. The qual-
itative approaches described and compared the aims of teaching and the criteria for
assessment, as well as the prescriptions of test types that could be used in the test bat-
teries. The quantitative approaches compared the numbers of pupils tested in oral and/
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 25

or written exams in the period. Furthermore, all the tests used were registered in a clas-
sification scheme, and the numbers and types of tests given were compared over time.

TABLE 1.3. Research design of the study Assessment.

Qualitative data Quantitative data

Data Analysis Data Analysis

Normalplan for byfolkeskolen Comparative Evaluering i 9-årig Comparisons of

(1939; N39) text analyses skole. Metodisk Vei- ◗ numbers of oral and writ-
of aims, test ledning, (1964) ten exams arranged,
Læreplan for forsøk med 9-årig ◗ numbers of pupils tested
types, and
skole (1960; L60) Evaluering i 9-årig each year,
assessment cri-
skole. Avgangsprøva ◗ the standing of discrete
Mønsterplan for grunnskolen teria
(1964–1970) point and integrative tests
(1974; M74)
given over time.
Mønsterplan for grunnskolen. Evaluering i grunn-
(1987; M87) skolen. Avgangs-
prøva (1971–1973)
Sentrale emner i norsk, matematikk,
tysk, fransk fra Mønsterplan for Evaluering i grunn-
grunnskolen. (S-81) skolen. Avgangs-
prøva (1974–1986)
Evaluering i 9-årig skole. Metodisk
Veiledning, 1964

Evaluering i 9-årig skole. Avgangs-

prøva (1964–1970)

Evaluering i grunnskolen. Avgangs-

prøva (1971–1973)
Evaluering i grunnskolen. Avgangs-
prøva (1974–1986)

Handbok for skolen (1976), (1984)

FINDINGS
WHERE DO THE IDEAS COME FROM?
Normalplan for byfolkeskolen (N39) was a curriculum guideline for the teaching
of English for only a small part of the school population. Among the major aims
were good pronunciation and knowledge of grammar. The teaching of grammar
was described as inductive. In addition, the rules of grammar should be learnt. The
direct method was described as the approach to teaching.
26 AUD MARIT SIMENSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

L60 continued to keep good pronunciation and knowledge of rules of grammar

among the aims listed. It argued, for example, for a systematic use of a textbook
for grammar teaching (“en skolegrammatikk”). Otherwise, L60 adhered to the
aural–oral approach to teaching. Thereafter, correct pronunciation and knowledge
of rules of grammar lost their position among the aims of the school subject. The
two curricula that followed, M74 and Mønsterplan for grunnskolen of 1987
(M87), gradually introduced new or slightly new aims of teaching.
The communicative aspect of English was mentioned for the first time in M74
and was further developed in M87. M74 clearly contained elements of the audio-
lingual approach to teaching. Teachers were, for example, advised to direct con-
trolled exercises in the classroom in such a way that linguistic errors could be
avoided. The next curriculum document in line, M87, was exceptionally balanced
when it came to underlying learning theory, i.e. in explicit terms it opened for two
widely different concepts of language learning: a mechanistic one, including dif-
ferent procedures of formalised teaching, and a mentalistic one, trusting free
acquisition and meaningful learning.
As to the comparison of ideas in the school subject and the relevant parent dis-
ciplines, there was correspondence on most points of significance. When it came
to questions of language, for example, it applied to shifts of focus, in research as
well as in teaching, from smaller to larger units in the language, and from linguis-
tic competence as an aim for teaching to a more comprehensive concept of lan-
guage as an aim, i.e. a communicative competence concept, including to some
extent socio-linguistic and socio-cultural abilities.

ADAPTED READERS
The six publishers qualified to be included in the study all gave information about
their norms for selecting books for adaptation. Among these was to pick books
with the right themes for various age groups. It was, for example, suggested that
with young readers it was important to be concerned with the things that hap-
pened, but with older readers, it was important to be concerned with the causes of
action and the feelings of the protagonists. For several publishers it was important
to give the readers a real book, not a disguised lesson or schoolbook, and to avoid
talking down to them.
Three types of principles for a control of adapted readers were distinguished: a
control of information, of language, and of discourse and text structure. Most of
the publishers agreed on the principles of control of language. By far the greatest
attention was in fact given to the control of language on a lexical and a grammat-
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 27

ical level. Thus, in Widdowson’s terms, it was mostly an adaptation of “usage”.

Only two publishers differed noticeably by including principles of adaptation for
a control of information and a control of discourse and text structure, an adapta-
tion of “use”, as noted above. As to control of information, this applied for exam-
ple to avoid “loads” of information in adapted texts and instead to distribute infor-
mation “in easily digestible amounts”. As to control of discourse and text
structure, this applied for example to avoid “too much time switching” in adapted
texts and instead to organise a text in accordance with “the order of events”. Thus,
in this study, because of the general lack of principles of adaptation of “use” in
most publishers’ policy documents, I concluded that works of both a theoretical
and an empirical kind in parent disciplines on the one hand, and text adaptation as
a practical field on the other, represented two different worlds.

ASSESSMENT
According to existing information, written final exams were arranged 24 times,
oral exams only 15. The statistics thus revealed a considerable lack of correspond-
ence between intention and application in oral versus written assessment at final
exams, as had been reported in the descriptive survey of 1986 mentioned above.
The registration of written test types in my study showed that discrete point test
types were in the majority in the first half of the period studied, while the integra-
tive were in the majority in the second. The increase in integrative testing was
exemplified by the test type “Write coherent text”, with 11 instances in the period
1962–1975, but 47 in the period 1975–1986 for comparable numbers of exami-
nees and during reasonably comparable time spans. In general, the shifts in inter-
est in relevant parent disciplines – from a focus on smaller elements in the lan-
guage to a focus on larger, meaningful units such as connected texts, stories,
conversations, discourse, and texts in different genres – were thus reflected in the
frequencies of different test types given in the period studied.
The general guide for assessment, Evaluering i 9-årig skole of 1964, underlined
that positive, as well as negative aspects of the pupils’ written texts should be noticed.
Besides, assessors were advised to distinguish between essential and non-essential
linguistic errors. A new step was taken in 1967 when assessors were instructed not to
place too much emphasis on formal errors that did not distort (“fordreier”) the mean-
ing in the pupils’ written texts. Thus, instructions for the assessment of written lan-
guage were from now on in accordance with research in parent disciplines on atti-
tudes to linguistic errors, as discussed above. This question was returned to and
further developed in several directives during the years that followed.
28 AUD MARIT SIMENSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The directive from 1965 was of a somewhat different kind. It recommended

giving pupils credit if their writing gave an impression of a good oral command
of the language, giving it the label “aural assessment” (“auditiv vurdering”). The
yearly directive of 1970 recommended in addition that “short answers” to ques-
tions, typical of conversations, in certain written test types should be credited as
correct. In 1978, this was reformulated as a prescription. This development of
assessment criteria paralleled the shifts in parent disciplines towards a more com-
prehensive understanding of the functional and communicative purpose of lan-
guage, as well as the priority of the oral language in linguistic research.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The PhD study reported in this chapter was and is a contribution to the history of
the teaching of English as a foreign language in Norway. Among other things, it
intended to provide an academic basis for English didactics both as a study com-
ponent and as an autonomous field of research at universities and other higher
educational institutions. In addition, the three separate studies all provide empiri-
cal contributions related to their separate topics.
The study Where do the ideas come from? showed that ideas nurtured in rele-
vant academic disciplines were of great importance for a practical field such as
foreign language teaching. Over time, people have criticised many of the most
fundamental shifts in foreign language teaching. However, my PhD study has
shown that these shifts are not due to whims and fads of the writers of curricula
etc. but “to the best of our knowledge” at any time in scholarly disciplines.
The study Adapted readers showed that this type of teaching materials in Eng-
lish was produced according to standards which were essentially agreed on in the
publishing world. These standards largely represented a control of language and
were essentially carried out at low levels in the language such as on the levels of
vocabulary and structure, i.e. an adaptation of “usage”, as discussed above. An
important question in my PhD study was therefore if not the communicative value
of a text, as denoted by the concept of “use”, should not be taken into considera-
tion to a larger extent in text adaptations for pupils at compulsory levels of teach-
ing.
The study Assessment was inspired by the conviction expressed by practicing
teachers of English that it was the exam system, not the curriculum, which deter-
mined the priorities of skills in teaching. Significant discrepancies between inten-
tion and application were in fact demonstrated in the study, for example in the sta-
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 29

tus of oral and written skills at final exams. Attitudes to linguistic errors in the
educational community changed radically in the period of this particular study.
These changing attitudes were at the time interpreted as advance notice of assess-
ment of a more communicative nature in the years to come.

METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

The combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches was appro-
priate for my doctoral study. The qualitative approach made possible a compari-
son between key concepts in parent disciplines and in various parts of English as
a school subject. The qualitative approach was also appropriate for investigating
to what extent there was correspondence between the aims of teaching as
expressed in steering documents and the application of them in the assessment
system. The quantitative approach, on the other hand, made possible a comparison
of the frequencies of oral and written exams arranged, the numbers of pupils tested
in oral and written disciplines, and the numbers of different written test types used
across the years.
My doctoral study showed that an educational theory at a medium level of com-
prehensiveness, a modified T2-type in Stern’s (1983) model, functioned well as a
research map for the topics investigated.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH AS L2

Practicing teachers of English should know the history of their discipline. They
should not only know how English teaching has changed over time, but why it has
changed. This also applies to students in teacher education. They should, for
example, know that what they learn in terms of teaching methods, techniques of
teaching, etc. in their higher education studies might be different from what they
themselves experienced as pupils in the school system, and they should also
understand why. My PhD study was a contribution to such insights, showing how
ideas in academic disciplines influence the development of aims and content in the
English school subject and how the subject has changed from one curriculum
guideline to the next. Insight into how and why English teaching has changed over
the years is not something teachers need to pass on to their pupils, but it is a val-
uable addition to student teachers’ development of teacher professionalism.
As to the practical problem of differentiation in mixed ability teaching, the use
of texts for reading at different readability levels, sometimes combined with lis-
tening, may often be the only feasible alternative. Practicing teachers should study
30 AUD MARIT SIMENSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

a variety of up-to-date readers for this purpose, including, if convenient, in an

electronic format. These readers should be adapted according to a current under-
standing in academic disciplines of what is a comprehensible text for whom and
in what socio-cultural setting. The choice of adapted readers should be a respon-
sibility of those who know the pupils best, i.e. their teachers of English.
As to the question of assessment, the lesson is unmistakable. In order to achieve
the aims of the school subject, a must is that all possible aspects of the aims and
content are assessed and, if possible, tested. There is truth in the saying: “What is
tested, counts”. As many practicing teachers have experienced, this definitely
applies to the opinions of the pupils.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
At the time of the doctoral study, there were considerable gaps in the knowledge
of the school subject English in compulsory teaching. In addition to the three sep-
arate studies published as parts of the doctoral study, the issues dealt with here
reappeared in several publications in the following years (see Simensen, 2008;
2011 on the relationship between parent disciplines and the school subject Eng-
lish, and Simensen 1987b; 1990 on adapted readers). In addition, the history of the
English school subject in Norway, and the theories and research that have influ-
enced the application of teaching methods and approaches, have been presented
and discussed in various materials for teacher education (e.g. Simensen, 2007;
2018).
When I embarked on this doctoral study, it was at a time when the discipline
“English didactics” in the wide sense of the term was introduced as an autono-
mous academic discipline in higher educational institutions, in teacher education
programmes and related studies, first as a study component and later also as an
autonomous field of research (see discussion of “engelskmetodikk” versus “engelsk-
didaktikk” in Simensen, 2018). The chapters in this book illustrate that the
development and advancement of this academic discipline have indeed made a
difference in closing gaps.
Among recent developments, it is also appropriate to refer to more informal
observations that show that English in Norway has moved from functioning as a
foreign language towards gradually functioning as a second language. This shift
of status was, for example, pointed out in research approximately 20 years ago
(Graddol 1997, p. 11).
 1 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH IN COMPULSORY SCHOOL 31

FUTURE RESEARCH
Since my PhD study was completed thirty years ago, it is clearly necessary to
update the knowledge of all aspects studied at that time. Among other things,
practicing teachers and assessors at all levels will, for example, in the future in all
likelihood need new criteria for assessing learner language in English that deviates
in one way or other from standard norms, be it learner language influenced by
sociolects of some kind, or by new varieties of English worldwide (see, e.g. Rin-
dal, chapter 16). In order to ensure equal assessment practice nationwide, this will
be one particularly important area for future research and development work.

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Bamford, J. (1984). Extensive reading by means of graded Readers. Reading in a Foreign Lan-
guage, 2(2), 218–260.
Brumfit, C. J. (1979). Readers for Foreign Learners of English. ETIC Information Guide 7.
London: The British Council English Teaching Centre.
Carrell. P. L (1983). Some issues in studying the role of schemata, or background knowledge,
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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-03

2
PhD revisited: Established and
emerging business genres
Genre analyses of corporate annual
reports and corporate environmental
reports 1
AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD
University of Bergen

ABSTRACT This chapter reports on a doctoral study (Skulstad 1997) which examined
an established and an emerging genre within a specific professional domain, using genre
analysis as a theoretical and methodological framework. The doctoral thesis was put
within an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context, and the chapter explains how this
study relates to the use of authentic texts, materials development and the development
of vocationally oriented language learners’ genre awareness.

KEYWORDS genre analysis | rhetorical organisation | rhetorical movement | English

for Specific Purposes courses | genre awareness.

1. The chapter presents main results of a doctoral study (Skulstad, 1997) from the University of
Bergen, emphasising its practical implications for the teaching of English within a Norwegian
educational context. The doctoral thesis was published by Norwegian Academic Press (Høysko-
leforlaget) in a slightly updated version in 2002 (Skulstad, 2002).

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
36 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
The doctoral study reported on in this chapter set out to examine rhetorical and tex-
tual patterns (including multimodal patterns) of an established genre and an emerg-
ing genre within a specific professional domain. Hence, genre emerged as the most
central concept of this doctoral study. As will be apparent from the theory section
of this chapter, there were a number of definitions of this term at the time. As a
starting point, we may say that genres represent conventional ways of expressing
meaning within a specific culture or professional community, responding to spe-
cific communicative purposes (cf. Swales, 1990, see theory section below).
A basic assumption of the thesis was that there are important differences
between an established and an emerging genre in terms of actual textual practices
and approaches required by genre analysts. At the time of the study (the early
1990s), there was a growing interest in environmental issues among governments,
companies and in the public sphere. One of the emerging genres related to this
growing interest was corporate environmental reports, and this genre had not yet
been researched. Corporate annual reports were considered as a good example of
a well-established genre within the business domain that allowed contrast with a
new genre. The study also aimed to identify textual manifestations of the relation-
ship between communicative purposes of the genre and strategic needs acknowl-
edged by members of the relevant discourse community. Another important aim
was to illustrate that data provided by genre analysis can be utilised in English for
Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching approaches. ESP courses are often referred to as
vocationally oriented courses, and the most relevant type of ESP course for this
doctoral study was English for Business.
In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a growing interest in genre definitions and
genre analysis, and this interest also fed into the field of language pedagogy. In the
doctoral study reported on here, genre analysis meant an exploration of the lin-
guistic, rhetorical and multimodal (mainly visual) conventions of a particular dis-
course community as manifested by the rhetorical actions in which the members
of that community participated. Put more simply, genre analysis involved an
examination of the interdependence of communicative purposes and generic con-
ventions. Luke (1994, viii) raised the question why genre had become of such ped-
agogical importance and held that part of the reason was “the overt mixing, blur-
ring and shifting of cultural forms that characterises late-capitalist cultures and
economies”. He added, however, that genre mixing is not a new phenomenon, but
that these processes of genre mixing, blurring, and shifting “are accelerated under
fast capitalism and a globalised economy” (Luke, 1994, viii). Hence, there seemed
to be an increasingly urgent need to develop learners’ genre awareness as one way
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 37

of coping with these processes of genre mixing, blurring, shifting and also the
emergence of new genres.
A prerequisite for developing learners’ genre awareness is to bring authentic
texts from different genres into the classroom. Thus, we also need to develop ways
of analysing established and emerging genres inside and outside specific profes-
sional domains.
The primary research question of the doctoral study reported on was:
What essential differences and similarities can be identified when it comes to rhe-
torical movement and textual patterns of an established versus an emerging genre
within the same professional domain?
The two types of reports chosen were issued by British companies. The analysis of rhe-
torical movement was a central aspect of the type of genre analysis performed in this
doctoral thesis. The term rhetorical movement (also used by Swales, 1990) here refers
to textual manifestations of the communicative purpose of the genres and the role of the
genre within the discourse community in question. In the case of the established genre,
this involved an identification of rhetorical moves and steps. I defined rhetorical moves
as discriminative elements of rhetorical organisation that identify and capture the com-
municative purposes of the genre. Steps were defined as rhetorical strategies for realis-
ing the communicative purposes indicated by the names of the moves.
It was expected that the conventionality of rhetorical movement would be different
in an established versus an emerging genre. Thus, in the case of the latter, the aim was
to identify emerging textual patterns. Included in the term textual patterns were lin-
guistic as well as multimodal textual patterns. In an established genre, however, it
was expected that it would be possible to identify conventional rhetorical moves and
steps made by the authors, as well as the use of conventional multimodal strategies.

REVIEW
An inspiration for the analysis of rhetorical movement was the pioneering work
carried out by Charles Bazerman and John Swales. In his seminal article, Bazer-
man (1981) documented disciplinary variations in introductions to research arti-
cles. Similarly, Swales (1981, 1990) examined rhetorical conventions of research
article introductions within different disciplines. His research, however, docu-
mented the rhetorical moves and steps authors conventionally made across disci-
plines. These results were visualised by means of a Move-Step model called the
Create a research space (CARS) model (Swales, 1981, 1990). His type of analysis
sparked similar studies of genres within academia. Lindeberg (1994), for instance,
analysed rhetorical movement in discussion and conclusion sections of research
38 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

articles within the fields of finance, management and marketing, using six major
rhetorical moves, such as “Restate” indicating restatement of research gap, pur-
pose, aim, method or theory, and “Limitations”, stating limitations of the present
research (Lindeberg, 1994, p. 649).
Move-Step models outside the academic field existed while I was carrying out
my doctoral study, but they were relatively rare. One of the studies that did exist
was Bhatia’s (1993) analysis of sales promotion letters and job application letters.
He found that these two genres were both persuasive in nature and their commu-
nicative purposes were reflected in a similar rhetorical organisation:

Establishing credentials
Introducing the offer/introducing candidature
Offering incentives
Enclosing documents
Soliciting response
Using pressure tactics
Ending politely (Bhatia, 1993, pp. 46–68).

Another example of a study within the business domain was Bloor and Pindi’s (1990)
research on economics forecasts. They analysed the functional framework, using the
terms schema2, episode, and move. The forecasting event was identified as the only
schema, and this in turn was split into the two episodes “reporting” and “predicting”.
Each of the episodes was split into two obligatory and one optional move.
Genre analyses were also carried out using M. A. K. Halliday’s systemic func-
tional linguistics. An example of this was Ventola’s (1987) study of service
encounters, which means a dialogue in a shop, a library, a tourist information cen-
tre, etc. The communicative purpose of service encounters is to exchange a com-
modity (goods or information). She identified conventional discourse patterns
(schemata) used to realise this communicative purpose such as the fact that seek-
ing advice was followed by giving advice.
In other words, there had been little research into rhetorical organisation of gen-
res outside academia. In addition, to my knowledge there were no previous studies
that focused on conventional rhetorical patterns in established and emerging gen-
res in a comparative perspective.

2. Schema was coined by the psychologist Bartlett in his study of human memory (Bartlett, 1967/
1932). Nunan (1999, p. 133) sees schema as “mental film scripts” and by this he means that
human knowledge is organised into interrelated patterns that are constructed from previous
experience, and these patterns enable us to make predictions about future experience.
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 39

THEORY
Two broad frameworks were relevant for the doctoral study reported on: genre and
ESP teaching. In other words, genre and genre analysis were seen in light of ESP
teaching.
The concept of genre can be traced as far back as the work of Aristotle. In more
recent times, three approaches within the Anglo-American and Australian research
traditions have conventionally been identified. These are ESP studies, (North Amer-
ican) New Rhetoric and the Sydney School. Of these three traditions, genre analysis
within ESP studies is the one that emerged most clearly from an L2 context, and the
doctoral study was rooted within this context. The most prominent scholar within
the ESP tradition is John Swales, and he defines genre in the following way:

A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which

share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are recognized by
the expert member of the parent discourse community, and thereby constitute
the rationale for the genre. This rationale shapes the schematic structure of the
discourse and influences and constrains choice of content and style (Swales,
1990, p. 58).

Swales’s definition emphasises the relationship between rhetorical movement and

the communicative purposes typically experienced by members of what Swales
(1990) terms “the parent discourse community”. By this term he refers to mem-
bers of a social group or an academic discipline who may be seen to “own” the
genre in the sense that they regularly produce and/or consume texts that belong to
the genre in question. A consequence of this definition is that communicative pur-
pose is the main criterion for genre classification in the case of genre analysis.
Traditionally, the term English for Specific Purposes has meant different things
to different scholars and practitioners. One interpretation is found among people
who have emphasised the notion of special English (such as technical terms
within a specific professional domain) as being central. Sager, Dungworth and
McDonald (1980, p. 69) define special language as “semi-autonomous, complex
semiotic systems based on and derived from general language; their use presup-
poses special education and is restricted to communication among specialists in
the same or closely related fields”. The doctoral study reported on here, however,
sees special language as only a small part of the competence needed in order to
become a full member of a specific discourse community. Another interpretation
of English for Specific Purposes is to emphasise the purposes of learning English
and it implies that these purposes can be more readily identified compared to
40 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

“general” courses. The definition of an ESP course underlying the doctoral study
reported on here is that it is a type of course where decisions about syllabus design
and methodology are based upon the learners’ specific purpose in learning Eng-
lish. These purposes are seen to be closely tied to the need for being able to operate
successfully in the central genres of a specific discourse community.

METHODOLOGY
The doctoral study was conducted within the field of genre analysis. It was
strongly rooted in linguistics, but the motivation for carrying out the study
stemmed from a research interest in English didactics. Methods from linguistics
were chosen for the actual data analyses and the discussion of theoretical frame-
work and practical implications of the results was based on English didactics.

RESEARCH DESIGN
From the outset, it was decided that including an established and an emerging
genre in my corpus would add a new dimension to genre analysis. Corporate
annual reports are a particularly good example of a genre within the domain of
business. First, it is conventionalised and it is easy to get hold of for people outside
the parent discourse community. Second, corporate annual reports are recognised
by participants who use this nomenclature (genre name) when referring to these
types of texts. Third, this genre is heterogeneous in the types of discourses found
in these documents. Hence, this may serve to illustrate the fact that heterogeneity
is usually no impediment to genre classification as performed in the doctoral
study. Fourth, corporate annual reports form part of a complex system of informa-
tion between a company and present and potential investors. Similarly, corporate
environmental reports was an obvious choice of an emerging genre in 1993 when
my data collection started. The so-called green movement of the 1980s and 1990s
promoted green consumerism and a general “rising green awareness” (Yearley,
1991, p. 80), which was also reflected in corporate communication.
Requests for corporate annual reports and corporate environmental documents
were sent to 88 companies in Britain. This resulted in 72 annual reports from 70
different companies. The corpus was split into a primary and a secondary corpus,
and the criterion for being grouped in the primary corpus was that these particular
companies had also sent me environmental reports as a response to my request.
The secondary corpus consisted of annual reports issued by companies that had
not yet issued environmental documents of the type I was looking for. These doc-
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 41

uments were consulted, but not analysed in the same systematic way. As for envi-
ronmental documents, the requests resulted in a corpus of twenty documents from
19 different British companies.3 In other words, one company sent two types of
environmental reports. Thus, the primary corpus of annual reports consisted of 19
documents and the corpus of environmental reports counted twenty documents.
Inspired by Swales’s (1990) analysis of introductions to research articles, I
decided to carry out a Move-Step analysis of the introductory section of corporate
annual reports – the chairman’s statement. As a supplement to the analysis of
chairmen’s statements, one chairman’s statement and one news report were com-
pared. The criterion for the selection of texts was that the two documents dealt
with the same topic – they both reported on the performance of one specific busi-
ness company (Pilkington). The news report was printed in the Financial Times,
June 12, 1992 and the chairman’s statement appeared in a corporate annual report
issued by Pilkington at about the same time.
The research design consisted of qualitative data and different types of genre
analysis were carried out. Table 2.1 gives an overview of the data, methods, and
type of analysis used in the doctoral study. Qualitative analyses were used.

TABLE 2.1. An overview of the data, methods, and types of analysis used in the
doctoral study.

The process of analysis Qualitative analysis

Chairmen’s statements1 Genre analysis – Move-Step analysis

Step 1: 19 (primary corpus)/53 (secondary corpus)

Corporate annual reports Multimodal analysis (visuals)

Step 2: 19 (primary corpus)/53 (secondary corpus)

A comparison of one chairman’s statement and one Textual analysis

news report
Step 3: 1+1

Corporate environmental reports Genre analysis

Step 4: 20 Multimodal analysis (visuals)

1. All the chairmen in my corpus are male.

3. These companies are Allied Colloids Group plc., Blagden Industries plc., The Body Shop Inter-
national plc., British Coal Corporation plc., British Nuclear Fuels plc., The British Petroleum
Company plc., Donald Murray Paper ltd (Bunzl plc.), W. Canning plc., Esso UK plc., Imperial
Chemical Industries plc., National Power plc., Nuclear Electric plc., Pilkington plc., PowerGen
plc., The RTZ Corporation plc., The Shell International Petroleum Company ltd, SmithKline
Beecham plc., Thames Water plc., Wellcome plc.
42 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

GENRE ANALYSIS
Genres have conventional forms, functions, and meanings within specific social
and cultural contexts. Obviously, the degree of conventionality is different in the
case of emerging genres compared to established ones, and consequently the type
of genre analysis needs to be different. As pointed out above, a Move-Step analy-
sis was chosen for the analysis of chairmen’s statements about corporate annual
reports. This type of analysis identifies the rhetorical movement writers or speak-
ers make when operating in a specific genre or part of a genre. First, linguistic sig-
nals indicating the beginning and change of rhetorical steps were identified.
Examples are anticipatory lexical signals (Hoey, 1983) such as “Looking forward
to 1993…” indicating a shift to projecting the future or looking ahead and “Our
policy is …” indicating that an announcement of corporate policy will follow.
Lexical words and phrases such as “assurance”, “reassurance”, and the verb
“thank” gave important clues as to the communicative function of a clause or a
sentence. The choice of subheadings in the chairmen’s statements, although some-
times misleading, was also taken as an indication of how the different sections
were meant to be interpreted by the reader. After a preliminary classification into
rhetorical steps, comprehension of this type of text, background knowledge about
the discourse community and the role of corporate annual reports within that com-
munity facilitated grouping the different steps into a set of moves. Steps that were
interpreted as serving a similar communicative purpose were grouped into the
same rhetorical move. Next, the names of the different moves and steps were
decided on, and in doing so I again observed the use of subheadings in the reports
and the writers’ choice of vocabulary. The result of the analysis was the Relation-
ships and Confidence (RECON) model presented below. Finally, the chairmen’s
statements in the primary corpus were analysed again. This time the RECON
model was used as a starting point for analysis to check if the Move-Step patterns
were generally in agreement with the ordering and the names assigned to the var-
ious moves and steps.
In the emerging genre of corporate environmental reports, only emerging tex-
tual patterns were identified, instead of a Move-Step analysis as that of the corpo-
rate annual reports. However, also in the case of environmental reports the focus
was on identifying rhetorical strategies employed by the writers to realise the
communicative purposes of the genre. In other words, the main difference
between emerging textual patterns on the one hand and steps on the other is the
level of conventionality of these rhetorical strategies. These strategies used by the
writers of environmental reports were identified in a similar way as the steps in
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 43

the case of chairmen’s statements, and the communicative purposes were identi-
fied in a parallel way to the moves of chairmen’s statements.
In addition, the use of metadiscourse in the introduction of the corporate envi-
ronmental reports was analysed as it was expected that writers of an emerging
genre would use metadiscourse to guide and direct the readers. Here, Mauranen’s
(1993) categories action markers (the explanation is), connectors (however), pre-
views (we will discuss distribution in the next section), and reviews (as suggested
above) were used. The analysis of metadiscourse concentrated on discourse ele-
ments which signal the rhetorical action taken by the writers, textual connectors,
discourse anticipating later parts of the reports, discourse that helps readers to
interpret the purpose of issuing this type of document, and finally, discourse which
repeats or summarises an earlier part of the text.

MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS
Providing a complete multimodal analysis of annual reports and environmental
reports within corporate communication was outside the scope of the doctoral
study. The analysis was limited to the use of visuals in these reports. This type of
analysis was inspired by Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1990, 1996) book. Some inter-
esting examples of visuals were chosen for a more detailed analysis. The catego-
ries used in these illustrative examples were foregrounding and backgrounding,
camera angle (mainly in terms of power relations), visual modality (e.g. colour
saturation, colour differentiation, contextualisation versus decontextualisation)
and Given-New structure. The category of realistic versus symbolic photographs
was also used (Nielsen & Johansen, 1996). In addition, the communicative pur-
pose(s) of visuals in a Swalesian sense was central in the analysis, such as the
argumentative function of visuals in realising the communicative purpose of the
report. The use of visuals in the two types of reports was compared where relevant.
Above all, the analysis of visuals aimed to show that this type of report was mul-
tisemiotic, and at the same time it was realised that the interplay between visuals
and language is a complex issue that would deserve a study in its own right.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
A textual analysis was carried out in the case of a newspaper report and a chair-
man’s statement, both reporting on the same issue. The motivation for carrying out
this analysis was first that the genre names of annual reports and news reports indi-
cate that a central verbal behaviour by the authors of these genres is reporting (see-
44 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ing report as a speech act), or the function of “macroassertion” (van Dijk, 1988,
p. 27). Second, it was thought that this analysis would provide a useful supplement
to the Move-Step analysis carried out in the case of chairmen’s statements. Third,
the analysis illustrated how corporate annual reports were used in another genre.
A fourth motivation was that as the subject matter is the same in the two texts, it
would illustrate that factors other than content are decisive in terms of the rhetor-
ical organisation and choice of linguistic strategies.
The analysis concentrated on the rhetorical organisation and the use of linguis-
tic strategies. The basis for the analysis was the RECON model of chairman’s
statements (see below) and van Dijk’s (1988) news schema. Linguistic strategies
were analysed from the point of view of their pragmatic function. Examples
include verbal reactions (reported speech or direct quotation) and words used to
describe the context, the industries, etc. Differences and similarities were identi-
fied, and the two types of genre texts were analysed in terms of type of audience
and communicative purpose.

RESULTS
The results show differences in rhetorical movement and textual patterns in the
two types of business reports. At the same time, there are important similarities
related to the overall communicative purpose of creating a favourable corporate
image. Strong parallels were identified between the use of verbal and visual strat-
egies. The analysis of a news report and a chairman’s statement served to illustrate
how differing communicative purposes in the two texts resulted in differences in
rhetorical organisation, selection of content items and linguistic strategies. The
doctoral study also produced results in terms of the assigning of genre and sub-
genre membership. The latter is only briefly mentioned below.

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF CHAIRMEN’S STATEMENTS

The Move-Step analysis of the section known as “chairman’s statement” in British
corporate annual reports resulted in the identification of a Move-Step model that
I called the Relationships and Confidence (RECON) model. In other words, this
model shows the rhetorical movement writers of British chairmen’s statements
conventionally make. The model may be applied as a tool for analysing this par-
ticular section of corporate annual reports. But above all, the RECON model cap-
tures in a schematic form the rhetorical moves and steps conventionally made by
writers of chairmen’s statements, and the communicative purposes of this section.
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 45

The nomenclature of the three different moves of the RECON model reflects the
interpersonal nature of chairmen’s statement: Move 1 “Establishing relation-
ships”, Move 2 “Maintaining confidence” and Move 3 “Reinforcing the relation-
ships” between the company and the readers. A move may be realised by several
alternative steps and there are possibilities to recycle moves and steps.

TABLE 2.2. The relationships and Confidence (RECON) Model.

MOVE 1: ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS

Optional Step A: Salutation

Optional Step B: Providing the background for the present scene

Step 1: Summary statement

Step 2: Providing figures describing company performance

Step 3: Selecting aspects of the past financial year

MOVE 2: MAINTAINING CONFIDENCE

Step 1: Projecting the future

by

Sep 1 A: Announcing corporate strategies, policies and objectives

and/or

Step 1 B: Predicting the future/looking ahead

Optional Step C: Signalling honesty

Optional Step D: Providing reassurance

MOVE 3: REINFORCING THE RELATIONSHIPS

Step 1: Reviewing board changes (if any)

Step 2: Acknowledging credit to management and employees

Step 3: Closing statement of reassurance

Step 4: Signature

RESULTS OF THE COMPARISON OF A CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT AND A

NEWS REPORT
The writer of a chairman’s statement is free to add his or her personal comments.
A journalist writing a news report, on the other hand, is expected to give a more
46 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

objective account of events. Image creation is an overall aim of corporate annual

reports, whereas a news report may want to attract the reader’s attention in a
crowded field of media communication. Here, I will briefly comment on one tex-
tual example from each of the documents to illustrate some interesting relation-
ships between communicative aims and textual responses. The lead in a news
report usually has a summarising function:

PILKINGTON, the glass maker, slashed its dividend yesterday and warned
that it could not see any sign of recovery in trading conditions (Financial
Times, June 12, 1992).

The opening of the chairman’s statement, on the other hand, was coded as optional
step B, “Providing the background for the present scene”:

Market conditions in the flat and safety glass industry during what has become
the longest recession since the second World War have been the worst anyone
can remember. The major users of the Group’s products – the building and
automotive industries – have been particularly hard hit (Pilkington plc.,
Annual Report and Accounts, 1992, p. 2).

The quote above was printed in bold face, as is often the case with the lead of news
reports. The bad performance is typically “explained” with reference to general
market conditions and overall trading climate as a way of preparing the readers for
the bad news to come.

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS

Analysis revealed that both the corporate annual reports and the corporate envi-
ronmental reports in my corpus shared the overall communicative purpose of cor-
porate image creation. However, the corporate environmental reports typically
reflected the following specific communicative purposes:

a. signalling commitment and/or awareness of environmental issues

b. signalling good business practices (business ethics).

This set of communicative purposes can be summed up by four key words:

informing, caring, knowing, and acting. Being an emerging genre at the time of
analysis, the corporate environmental reports showed a high degree of heteroge-
neity in terms of communicative purposes, content and form. Still, six of the
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 47

twenty documents deviated from the majority of documents in some important

ways. To capture this difference, the documents were split into two subgenres. The
biggest subgenre, counting 14 documents, was referred to as environmental per-
formance reports. Generally, this subgenre reported on the performance of the
company in question regarding environmental issues, and these reports were often
issued annually. The other subgenre was referred to as environmental awareness
booklets, but these documents had a less well-defined form and regularity, and
reporting on corporate performance was less prominent.
The doctoral thesis also documented the fact that both types of reports analysed
drew on other types of discourses in addition to business discourse, such as envi-
ronmental discourse, business discourse, lifeworld discourse, promotional dis-
course, legislative discourse, discourse associated with personal communication
and so forth.
The study also concluded that the metadiscursive categories previews and
action markers were used much more frequently in introductory sections of the
emerging genre compared to the introductory letter (the chairman’s statements) of
the established one. When a preview did appear in chairmen’s statements, it typi-
cally marked a deviation from the conventional Move-Step pattern.

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF VISUALS

Photographs that appeared in most of the corporate annual reports in my corpus
were realistic pictures (as opposed to symbolic pictures) such as portraits of the
chairman, the chief executive and members of the board, photographs of employ-
ees at work, parts of the production process, company buildings under construc-
tion, newly opened plants and so forth. The majority of the portraits of the chair-
man showed him in the setting of his office, or in less frequent cases, he was
standing inside or outside one of the company buildings. Typically, he had eye
contact with the reader and this strategy may be interpreted as a way of establish-
ing a relationship between the chairman and the reader.
In one of the chairmen’s statements there is a full-page photograph of the chair-
man together with two miners down in Whitemoor mine (Figure 2.1). Their
clothes are dirty and the miners have dirty faces. All three are smiling and look
like they have been interrupted in the middle of a conversation. This picture sug-
gests that the chairman is in close contact with the workers and that he is even
going down into the mines to interact with the employees. Hence, this photograph
was chosen with the aim of promoting a favourable corporate image.
48 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FIGURE 2.1. The Chairman of British Coal in a mine.

If we turn to the corporate environmental reports in my corpus, there were photo-

graphs of equipment, production processes, members of staff, portraits of the com-
pany chairman, and so forth. These are also typical pictures of corporate annual
reports. But more importantly, there were pictures directly related to environmen-
tal issues. An important communicative purpose of these reports was to show
good business ethics in relation to environmental issues. The use of visuals was
found to support this communicative aim. Here, I have chosen to comment on two
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 49

photographs that may serve to illustrate the results found (Figures 2.2 and 2.3).
These photographs appeared in the same document (an environmental awareness
booklet issued by British Coal) and show a coal power station and a nuclear power
station from the outside. The coal power station is seen from a high camera angle,
and this perspective makes it look smaller and insignificant. The angle and size of
frame of the photograph allow large areas of green, cultivated fields surrounding
the power station to be included in the picture. The argument made by means of
visual communication is that the burning of coal does not have any negative
effects on farming in the area.

FIGURE 2.2. Coal power station.

The photograph of the nuclear power station, on the other hand, is taken from a
lower camera angle and this makes the nuclear power station look bigger com-
pared to the coal power station. In the foreground there are a number of private
houses. These houses look very small compared to the nuclear power station. The
caption states that there is strong resistance from the public on environmental
grounds to the extended use of this type of power station.
50 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FIGURE 2.3. Nuclear power station.

Visual arguments may be seen to have a stronger effect compared to verbal argu-
ments. As Myers (1994, p. 136) states: “Any statement in words provokes an
answer back, in words, but a picture does not evoke such a clear rational
response”.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

The doctoral study has shown that rhetorical organisation and rhetorical strategies
(including visual strategies) are responses to communicative needs of the dis-
course community on the one hand, and the needs experienced by the situated
writer on the other. It has also documented that writers within business domains
draw on a number of different types of discourse, and that special terminology
makes up a very small part. Thus, it makes sense to include a large part of “general
English” in ESP courses. A consequence of the fact that full members of a specific
discourse community draw on a number of different types of discourses – also out-
side their specific domain – is that developing ESP students’ genre awareness
becomes an urgent project.
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 51

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: REGISTER AND RHETORICAL MOVEMENT

Up until the 1990s, ESP courses had focused largely on the teaching of specific
registers, including special terminology. The doctoral study broke with this tradi-
tion and rejected the term business register. Instead, it drew attention to the fact
that writers often break out of the typical register of business and draw on a num-
ber of different discourses and semiotic resources (such as visuals) to achieve spe-
cific communicative aims. The study claims that the most important aim of ESP
courses should be to develop students’ genre awareness. Available results of genre
analyses will assist teachers in using authentic texts. This has been an important
rationale for identifying the rhetorical movement of chairmen’s statements in Brit-
ish corporate annual reports and emerging rhetorical patterns in corporate envi-
ronmental reports.
The motivation for developing Move-Step models was not primarily for the
purpose of genre analysis. Particularly within the Swalesian tradition, a basic idea
was that the communicative purpose was reflected in the way the members of the
discourse community structured the genre rhetorically (in terms of moves and
steps). As Bhatia (1993, p. 21) puts it, “The communicative purpose is inevitably
reflected in the interpretative cognitive structuring of the genre”. Thus, the Move-
Step model of chairmen’s statements contributes to raising the awareness of the
relationship between the communicative purposes of the genre (or subgenre) and
rhetorical strategies used to achieve those purposes. Ideally, a Move-Step model
reflects the communicative purposes of the genre and in a larger perspective it
may be seen to mirror the communicative purposes of the wider discourse com-
munity. Hence, the RECON model of chairmen’s statements may be seen to be rel-
evant to a number of genres inside and outside the business domain in that it
demonstrates some important mechanisms of communication within a particular
professional domain.
The doctoral study has also documented some of the ways in which strategies
of visual communication are used to achieve central communicative purposes of
the discourse community. Thus, it shows the importance of not ignoring multi-
modal strategies in the central didactic project of developing learners’ genre
awareness.

METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

An important methodological contribution of the doctoral study is that it demon-
strated the fact that Swales’ (1990) type of Move-Step analysis can be applied to
genres used in discourse communities outside academia.
52 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Another methodological contribution is that the doctoral study has shown that
established and emerging genres require different types of analyses. “New” genres
do not have an identifiable Move-Step pattern in the same way as established gen-
res do. However, some recurrent, emerging textual patterns can be identified.
Theoretically, this study can be seen to have contributed to new insight as to
genre emergence. Corporate environmental reports emerged as responses to
changes in legal requirements, social conditions, political consciousness and an
increased awareness of environmental issues in the public sphere. The doctoral
study has captured some of this dynamic between new needs and textual and
generic responses to such needs. The study has also been able to capture central
features of a genre at a relatively early stage of emergence. It has demonstrated
some important differences between an established and emerging genre produced
by the same companies. The doctoral study has also contributed to a discussion of
the concept of genre as well as to a discussion of the assigning of genre and sub-
genre membership, which may be useful for the field of English didactics.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

Swales’ starting point for carrying out a Move-Step analysis of research article
introductions was that he had noticed the trouble his students had in writing the
first few paragraphs of academic texts. Very few people will ever have to write a
chairman’s statement, and consequently, the motivation for carrying out a Move-
Step analysis of these introductory documents was somewhat different. The doc-
toral study argues that the RECON model can still be a useful pedagogic tool in
the sense that such models capture central characteristics and patterns of commu-
nication within a specific field. More specifically, the RECON model makes
explicit some important characteristics of corporate communication: corporate
image creation, strategies used to maintain confidence, the relationship between
informing and persuading, and so forth. In other words, L2 students may benefit
from using Move-Step models such as the RECON model for analysing genres
within a central professional domain related to their vocational studies.
In the 21st century, new genres seem to be emerging more quickly than before.
This has to do with the use of new technologies for communication and complex
social, cultural, and strategic needs. Students of English need to develop a genre
awareness, which will enable them to operate also in new genres. One way of
developing learners’ genre awareness is by means of explicit genre teaching (cf.
the Sydney school, e.g. Christie, 2013; Christie & Martin, 2000; Martin, Christie
& Rothery, 1987; Skulstad, 2018). However, Move-Step models and textual pat-
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 53

terns should not be used as prescriptive tools. Instead, they should be viewed as a
source of insight that may assist the learners in studying specific authentic texts.
Such texts need to be brought into ESP classrooms and studied from the point of
view of rhetorical movement and the relationship between rhetorical and linguis-
tic choices and communicative purposes of the parent discourse community. Stud-
ying the relationship between communicative purposes and structure, content and
style is essential for successful reception and production of genre texts within an
educational setting.
Within the communicative paradigm of L2 teaching, a focus on communicative
purpose, meaning, and context has always been important. Move-Step models
may make these aspects clearer to L2 students, because such models may be seen
to make explicit how communicative purposes act as determinants of rhetorical
movement and rhetorical strategies within a specific context.
Annual reports, news reports, and environmental reports are examples of
authentic texts that are easy to get hold of and use as part of an ESP course. Stud-
ying authentic texts and Move-Step models may assist L2 learners in understand-
ing the complex relationship between communicative purposes and the discourse
community that “owns” the genre or subgenre in question. Genre analysis also
adds to our knowledge of a discourse community’s norms and ideologies that
shape and constrain the textual practices found in a specific community.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

The doctoral study reported on here may inspire students and scholars to carry out
research projects that may result in teaching material for ESP courses or vocation-
ally oriented language courses. There is still an urgent need for teaching material
that ESP students may find inspiring, motivating and challenging. In other words,
there is a need for more genre analyses that may be used in terms of materials
development for courses within vocationally oriented language education. This
need does not only apply to genres for production, but also genres for reception.
The results of such genre analyses can be used by textbook authors as well as
teachers.
Genre does not seem to be a buzzword to the same extent that it was in previous
decades. This may be illustrated by the fact that when the English subject curric-
ulum of the Knowledge Promotion was revised in 2013, the word genre was
replaced by text type (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2006/
2013). There is a need for studies examining teachers’ and learners’ attitudes to
the role of genre in ELT education today. There is also a need for classroom
54 AUD SOLBJØRG SKULSTAD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

research looking into if and how L2 teaching aims to develop learners’ genre
awareness.
Research resulting in theory development is also needed, particularly research
resulting in a new definition of genre which keeps the central aspects of Swales’
(1990) definition and at the same time reflects more clearly a multimodal view of
communication. In the 1980s and 1990s, genre definitions reflected a focus on
written and spoken discourse only, not other semiotic resources. Here are two
examples:

Genres are how things get done, when language is used to accomplish them.
… The term genre is used here to embrace each of the linguistically realized
activity types which comprise so much of our culture (Martin, 1985, p. 250).

… discourse communities evolve their own conventions and traditions for

such diverse verbal activities as running meetings, producing reports, and
publicizing their activities. These recurrent classes of communicative events
are the genres that orchestrate verbal life (Swales, 1998, p. 20).

With a stronger focus on the fact that a number of semiotic resources are used for
communication came a need for definitions that do not only focus on language.
Here is one definition of genre that takes a broader view of communication:

By defining genres as configurations of meaning, we have tried to open the

door to multimodal realisations of genres, including various modalities of
communication (e.g. image, music and spatial design …) (Martin & Rose,
2008, p. 234).

What is lost in Martin and Rose’s (2008) definition compared to the one proposed
by Swales (1990) is the central role of communicative purpose in shaping the
genre.
Further theory development as to the notions of text type versus genre is also
needed. Earlier specifications of major differences between the two concepts seem
to have been largely forgotten. As Paltridge (1996) claims, this is an important and
useful distinction. Text type used to refer to text categories based on text internal
criteria. In other words, these are texts that share sets of linguistic patterns irrespec-
tive of genre (Biber, 1988). Genre, on the other hand, also includes text-external
criteria such as the social and cultural context, the situational context of the specific
discourse community, and mechanisms related to production and reception.
 2 PHD REVISITED: ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING BUSINESS GENRES 55

The need to develop learners’ genre awareness in language courses at all levels
of education has not diminished. This applies to both written and spoken genres,
and particularly to genres within specific professional domains that are relevant to
the learners’ present or future needs.
The fact that this doctoral study has combined research interests in two fields,
applied linguistics and English didactics, will hopefully be an inspiration for
future studies in its own right.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-04

3
PhD revisited: Future teachers
of English
A study of competence in the teaching of
writing 1
ION DREW
University of Stavanger

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a doctoral study (Drew, 1997) which explored
factors linked to student teachers’ competence to teach written English in Norwegian
compulsory schools. The teaching of writing was perceived from the duality of writing
competence, with a focus on form, and the perceived ability to teach writing. The results
showed that student teachers’ writing only marginally developed during a one-year
English teacher training course, while their perceptions of teaching written English in
schools changed considerably. Implications for L2 teaching and further research are dis-
cussed.

KEYWORDS Teacher competence | writing | ability to teach writing | teacher training

1. This chapter presents a doctoral study (Drew, 1997) from the University of Bergen. The doctoral
thesis in its entirety – with theoretical, methodological and empirical details – can be obtained
through university libraries in Norway or by contacting the author at [email protected].

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
58 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
Proficiency in written English is important for Norwegians both outside of and in
school. Written English is important outside of school because of the pervasive-
ness of the printed word in English in the world and the growing political and
commercial links that Norway has with the rest of the world. Being able to write
is a necessity in the modern world, and not being able to do so would be a severe
handicap. It is important in school because in addition to Norwegian, English is
the only compulsory language from primary to upper secondary education, and
one of three subjects in which pupils may sit a written exam when they complete
their compulsory school education. Furthermore, Norwegians are required to read
English in many subjects in higher education, e.g. Sociology and Medicine.
However, writing is probably the most difficult language skill to master and one
of the most complicated human activities (Murray, 1987). In fact, Zinsser (1985,
p. 12) argues that, “If you find writing hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the
hardest things people do.” A study by Drew (1993) revealed that most lower sec-
ondary pupils found writing in English much more difficult than speaking Eng-
lish. The same study also considered the role and competence of the teacher as
central to the development of pupils’ writing, even though writing was likely to be
influenced by other variables. The doctoral study reported here, building on Drew
(1993), thus focussed on the proficiency and skills of the student teacher in rela-
tion to the teaching of written English and factors that would influence the student
teacher’s proficiency and teaching skills.
The main purpose of the doctoral study was therefore to investigate variables
that influenced student teachers’ competence to teach written English in compul-
sory school.
Competence in the teaching of writing was perceived from the duality of writ-
ing competence, with a focus on form, and the ability to teach writing. It was thus
both a study of the student teachers’ written English and a study of their perceived
skills to teach written English. It may be considered a limitation that the study was
primarily quantitative, focusing on form, and did not address issues of content/
meaning. However, it was conducted at a time when quantitative studies of form
in writing were very common, especially outside the USA, as reflected in Wolfe-
Quintero, Inagaki and Kim’s (1998) metastudy of measures of fluency, accuracy
and complexity in L2 development in writing, which was published the year after
the completion of this doctoral study. The study was further conducted at a time
when some colleges in Norway offered 30 ECTS and 60 ECTS courses in English
with didactics and teaching practice, which was the case in the institution con-
cerned. The courses were an optional component of a Bachelor of Education
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 59

degree incorporating English and were equivalent to today’s “grunnskolelærerut-

danning” (GLU) with English.

THEORY
Writing is primarily an act of communication and is essentially functional in
nature (Halliday, 1989). Its function is to communicate written information to a
reader. The functions of writing vary according to genre, level of formality and
anticipated readership. For example, there are differences between writing an
informal note as a reminder, a business letter to confirm a transaction, and a nar-
rative to entertain readers. While narrative writing at the time of the doctoral study
was predominant in primary and lower secondary schools, and was considered to
have both educational and motivational value (Price & Takala, 1998), some schol-
ars (e.g. Kress, 1982; Pincas, 1982) argue that school children should be trained
to write multiple genres in order to prepare them for the kinds of writing they will
need after leaving school.
With the shift from grammar/translation to communicative language teaching in
the 1980s (Howatt, 1991), writing needs to be considered as a meaningful act and
not simply as a tool to work with grammar (Ernst & Richard, 1994; Raimes,
1985). Its meaningfulness is emphasised in an integrative approach in which the
four language skills (i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing) complement
each other (Cambourne & Turbill, 1987; Jarausch & Tufts, 1988). The link
between reading and writing is especially important and through reading, children
can acquire, e.g. story grammar, schemata (background knowledge about the
world), scripts (the typical order in which events take place in a given context, e.g.
a wedding), and the ability to develop characters (Atwell, 1987; Beard, 1991;
Graves, 1991).
Writing is a demanding form of communication. Good writers need to write
clearly and unambiguously (Martlew, 1983). Flower (1979) makes the distinction
between writer-based and reader-based prose. In the former, the writer shows lit-
tle awareness of the needs of the reader and whether ideas are understandable or
not. In the latter, the writer deliberately attempts to communicate to the reader and
even attempts to anticipate the reader’s response.
Skilled writers focus initially on the development of their ideas before turning
their attention to language (Krashen, 1984). However, there has traditionally been
an overemphasis on language (form) in second language (L2) writing (Zamel,
1983).
60 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

REVIEW
Since the teaching of writing is a multifaceted phenomenon, and one that needs to
be considered in relation to other language skills, research on several key areas
linked to the development of writing were reviewed. Many of these areas had their
roots in first language (L1) environments, but were nevertheless considered rele-
vant for L2 literacy development, i.e. development of L2 reading and writing. One
key area was emergent literacy, namely the beginnings of reading and writing in
children, and the importance of the pre-school years, especially the home, for lit-
eracy development (Goodman, 1986; Purves, 1992; Sulzby, 1985; Teale & Sulzby,
1986). Because of their emergent literacy during the pre-school years, many chil-
dren enter school with a good deal of knowledge about the written word (Sulzby,
1985), irrespective of their socio-economic status (Teale, 1986). The research on
emergent literacy showed that children in literate cultures can develop oral and
written language concurrently and in a natural way at home without formal
instruction.
However, pre-school children’s literacy development can also be fostered in
kindergartens, as shown in Cambourne’s (1986) and Cambourne and Turbill’s
(1987) research on children under the age of six in Australian kindergartens.
These children were immersed in environmental print, were given time to practise
writing, were expected to write, were given responsibility for what to write, and
were given response to their writing. The importance of creating a literacy-pro-
moting educational environment also with older children, namely at the junior
high school level in the United States, was emphasised in the research by Atwell
(1987). In Atwell’s “reading and writing workshops”, pupils developed their
mother tongue reading and writing considerably and there was a strong link
between the two: pupils chose what to read and their reading often inspired their
choice of writing. Pupils’ development in writing was clearly influenced by their
reading.
In L2 contexts, the research on extensive reading (e.g. Elley & Mangubhai,
1983; Williams, 1986) also demonstrated the strong link between reading and
writing. Pupils in book immersion classes outperformed those taught in a tradi-
tional audio-lingual approach in multiple language skills, including writing. Chil-
dren’s written products in “reading classrooms” were far superior to those in “non-
reading classrooms” (Turner, 1989).
A final important area connected to writing development was the paradigm shift
from product-oriented writing to process-oriented writing (Drew, 1993).
Research had shown that writing could be enhanced when undergoing different
stages in a process (Chenoweth, 1987; Hillocks, 1986). Rewriting of content was
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 61

considered a key stage. However, research by Drew (1993) revealed that Norwe-
gian lower secondary pupils writing in English focused on editing language errors
and not on revising content. The implication was that these pupils had not been
taught a range of writing strategies and had not received feedback on content
before editing. It was thus considered important to investigate how competent
future teachers of English were to teach writing in schools.

METHODOLOGY
This doctoral study was primarily quantitative. It was within the field of both lin-
guistics and English didactics since it was about both writing and the teaching of
writing. The linguistic part of the research was a corpus study of Norwegian and
native speakers’ writing analysing cohesive, lexical and syntactic sophistication,
in addition to errors and fluency. Although some of these features of writing had
previously been studied separately, e.g. lexical sophistication by Linnarud (1986),
there were no known studies of all of these features combined in one corpus. The
assumption was that this comprehensive approach would reflect the students’
writing from a broad perspective, albeit focussing on indicators of form. The
quantifiable items would enable measuring the Norwegian student teachers’ writ-
ten development, with a focus on form, throughout an academic year as part of
their teacher training in English and comparing the Norwegian student teachers’
writing with a native speaker reference group to establish how “native-like” it was
according to these criteria.
The written texts of a random sample of 20 Norwegian student teachers was
chosen from a cohort of 67 student teachers following an English teacher training
course during one year at a Norwegian higher education institution, in which they
were offered instruction in both English and English didactics. Ten of the student
teachers studied part-time and ten full-time. Every second text was selected from
the part-time and full-time corpora until a total of ten texts had been collected from
each.
Each student teacher was asked to write a narrative and a literary appreciation
essay at the beginning of the academic year, and the same at the end of the year.
The two genres were merged into one corpus for each period. The two corpora of
40 texts each were compared. The second corpus, since it represented the student
teachers’ level of writing at the end of the course, was then compared with a native
speaker corpus consisting of ten narratives and 15 literary appreciation essays
written by 15 students at a sixth form college in England (age approximately 18–
19). It was not possible to find a native speaker reference group that was identi-
62 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

cally comparable to the Norwegian student teachers either in terms of age or study
programme. This group was nevertheless considered an appropriate reference
group as they wrote similar texts and the advantage gained by being native speak-
ers was counteracted by their younger age and lesser experience as writers.
The didactics part of the study was based on two sets of questionnaires
answered by the cohort of 67 Norwegian student teachers. They answered the first
questionnaire at the beginning of the academic year. It aimed to elicit data about
how they had experienced the influence and value of different levels of the school
system on their written English, how important they had perceived their different
teachers for their written development in English, and methods of teaching that
may have had a direct or indirect influence on their written performance. The sec-
ond questionnaire aimed to elicit data concerning the influence of the teacher edu-
cation English course for these student teachers’ written proficiency in English,
which they were asked to self-assess, and their perceived ability to teach written
English. The second questionnaire also aimed to gather data about how compati-
ble they found the teacher education course to be, for example in terms of genre,
methods and writing strategies, with the requirements of practical teaching of
written English in schools.

TABLE 3.1. Overview of data and analyses used in the study.

Data Analysis

Norwegian student teachers’ writing sample 1 Cohesive, lexical, syntactic sophistication

(n = 20). Narrative and literary appreciation Errors
essays (n = 40) Fluency (qualitative)

Norwegian student teachers’ writing sample 2 Cohesive, lexical, syntactic sophistication

(n = 20). Narrative and literary appreciation Errors
essays (n = 40) Fluency (qualitative)

Native speaker reference group writing sam- Cohesive, lexical, syntactic sophistication
ple. 10 narrative and 15 literary appreciation Errors
essays (n = 25) Fluency (qualitative)

Questionnaire 1 among Norwegian student Experiences/considerations of writing in pri-

teachers (n = 67) mary, lower and upper secondary school

Questionnaire 2 among Norwegian student Perceptions of writing competence and

teachers (n = 67) competence to teach writing
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 63

THE WRITING ANALYSIS

Firstly, four features of cohesion were measured quantitatively: the frequency of
the simple coordinating conjunctions but, and, and or, and the number of different
viewpoint and intensifying subjuncts (e.g. politically, completely), conjuncts (e.g.
however, nevertheless), and style and content disjuncts (e.g. probably, fortunately)
(Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartevik, 1985). Conjuncts, subjuncts and dis-
juncts are three of the four categories of adverbials classified in Quirk et al.
(1985). The fourth category, adjuncts, was omitted because of its enormous scope.
Secondly, lexical sophistication was studied by the ratio of low frequency to
high frequency words in the narrative texts, low frequency words indicating
greater lexical sophistication. Low frequency words were defined as any words
not appearing among the first 700 most frequent words on the vocabulary list com-
piled by Engels, van Beckhoven, Leenders and Braseur (1981). Both types and
tokens of low frequency words were counted. Types constituted the percentage of
low frequency words in the Norwegian student teachers’ narratives and the first
1,000 words of the native speakers’ narratives, which were generally longer.
Tokens constituted the percentage of low frequency words repeated in the same
text. The mean scores for each group were compared.
Thirdly, syntactic sophistication was studied through measuring sentence open-
ers, noun phrase pre- and post-modification, passive forms, nominal “-ing”
clauses, and subordinate clauses. Personal pronouns, proper nouns, and adverbial
clauses in initial position were counted. Overuse of the first two was considered
to detract from the quality of writing, while adverbial clauses in sentence-initial
position were considered as an indication of variety and sophistication of lan-
guage. Different types of pre- and post-modification of noun phrases (e.g. adjec-
tives, participles, prepositional phrases), were measured as percentages of the total
number of noun phrases in the texts. Mean scores for each group were compared.
The frequency of different forms of the passive voice, considered as indicators of
syntactic sophistication, were counted as types and tokens, and the mean scores
per student essay in each corpus were compared. Nominal “-ing” clauses, meas-
ured in the same way as passives, were included in the analysis on the assumption
that they constituted a major difference between English and Norwegian. Finally,
subordinate clauses were counted in the same way as passives and nominal “-ing”
clauses. These consisted of different categories of adverbial, comparative, rela-
tive, and nominal clauses. The ability to use a variety of subordinate clauses was
considered a characteristic of syntactic proficiency in English.
64 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Fourthly, two types of errors were measured: concord and incorrect choice of
aspect. These were chosen because differences between Norwegian and English
were assumed to cause problems for Norwegian learners in these cases.
Finally, fluency in the writing of the Norwegian student teachers was compared
with that in the native speaker texts. The aim was to show instances of how the
Norwegian student teachers’ L1 may have hindered natural, native-like commu-
nication in English, e.g. We came along fine, I can not say she was not nice against
me. This was done qualitatively through examples, with special attention to word
order, idiomaticity, the degree of nominalization, use of incorrect lexis, and the
degree of clutter (using too many words to say what could more appropriately be
said in fewer) in the texts, e.g. The conditions the family are living beneath are not
very good, as opposed to The family are living in poor conditions.

QUESTIONNAIRES
The Norwegian student teachers answered a questionnaire at the beginning of the
year and a second one at the end of the year. The first questionnaire was retrospec-
tive, aiming to elicit data about their experiences of learning English at school, pri-
marily writing. It contained 67 items grouped as follows: overall content of teach-
ing in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school; motivation
(comparative enjoyment of learning English and the different language skills dur-
ing the three levels of schooling); reading; learning about writing (writing con-
ventions, content, genres, strategies); autonomy (self-choice of reading and writ-
ing topics); relative importance of the levels (for future development in English
and development of writing skills); teacher competence (as a model of English,
ability to vary content of teaching, methods of teaching, as a teacher of writing);
self-evaluation (oral and written skills in English, written skills in Norwegian);
external factors (living in an English-speaking country, the home environment).
Most items were closed. However, open questions were provided to give reasons
when the student teachers assessed their own teaching of writing and to specify
the greatest influence on their writing development.
The second questionnaire aimed to gather data about the student teachers’ per-
ceptions of their writing competence and competence to teach writing at the end
of the year, as follows: genres (those practised during the course and considered
important to teach in primary/lower secondary school), writing competence (areas
of progress, feedback received about their written competence, which stage of
education they considered the most important for writing development), strategies
(those they had practised, their effect, whether they felt competent to use writing
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 65

strategies as teachers); writing linked to other language skills (whether they con-
sidered such links necessary and had knowledge to put them into practice, espe-
cially in the case of the link between writing and reading); autonomy (whether
they would allow pupils to choose reading materials and writing topics); general
qualities as a teacher (content of lessons, familiarity of suitable writing topics,
ability to evaluate pupils’ writing, whether they would demonstrate writing gen-
res); views on writing development (the most important level and most important
factor for pupils’ writing development). Some open-ended questions were pro-
vided, e.g. to justify choices concerning pupil autonomy and the development of
pupils’ writing.

RESULTS
The main aim of the study was to investigate variables that influenced student
teachers’ competence to teach written English in compulsory school. Competence
was perceived from the duality of writing competence, with a focus on form, and
the perceived ability to teach writing. The results showed that the student teachers’
writing only marginally developed in terms of the selected indicators of form dur-
ing the one-year English teacher training course. In contrast, their perceptions of
teaching written English in schools changed considerably during the year.

WRITING ANALYSIS
The results from the longitudinal study of the Norwegian student teachers’ writing
from the beginning of the year (hereafter P1) to the end of the year (hereafter P2)
generally showed little or no progress in terms of cohesive or lexical sophistica-
tion. In terms of syntactic sophistication, there was little variance in the use of the
passive voice from P1 to P2, while there was a tendency to use more nonfinite
post-modification in noun phrases and more nominal “-ing” clauses and subordi-
nate clauses. There was also a reduction in errors of concord and choice of aspect.
Overall, however, since the period of study represented one academic year, the
progress may be characterised as minimal.
The study of cohesive sophistication showed that the simple coordinating con-
junctions were used frequently and increased from P1 to P2. The assumption was
that a greater number and variety of subjuncts, conjuncts and disjuncts would be
a sign of cohesive sophistication. Slightly more conjunct types (e.g. then, for
example) appeared in P2, while the opposite was the case for disjuncts (e.g.
maybe, obviously) and subjuncts (e.g. really, just).
66 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The study of lexical sophistication showed minor variation between P1 and P2.
The average percentage of low frequency words in P1 was 7.8% with a slight
decrease in P2 to 6.7%. Roughly every fourth low frequency word was repeated
as a token in both periods.
The study of syntactic sophistication constituted the most comprehensive part
of the writing analysis. Firstly, the ratio of noun phrases per sentence was the same
(1.3) in both P1 and P2. There was a higher rate of post-modification than pre-
modification in both P1 and P2, with a slight decrease in both from P1 to P2. By
far the most common pre-modifier of the head of noun phrases in both P1 and P2
was adjectives, followed by ’s genitives, nouns, participles, and adverbs. As for
post-modification, prepositional phrases were used in roughly every second noun
phrase in P1 and P2, with finite relative clauses used in roughly every fourth noun
phrase. Less frequent post-modifiers were non-finite “-ing”, “ed” and infinitive
clauses, which all increased marginally from P1 to P2.
Secondly, the student teachers generally seemed to underuse the passive voice
both in P1 and P2. The two most used passive forms were the simple present and
simple past forms. Thirdly, the most frequently used nominal “-ing” clause form
was after prepositions, and the tendency was to use nominal “-ing” clauses slightly
more in P2 than P1. Finally, there was also a general tendency to subordinate more
in P2 than P1. Almost all of the student teachers used nominal, relative and adver-
bial clauses of time both in P1 and P2, while adverbial clauses of result and con-
cession were those with the lowest distribution. Clauses of reason, purpose, con-
dition, comparison and place occurred in more than half of the student teachers’
writing. Finally, the study of errors showed that the frequency of concord errors
was much higher than those of incorrect aspect, but that there was a marked reduc-
tion of both from P1 to P2.

COMPARING THE WRITING OF THE NORWEGIAN STUDENT TEACHERS

WITH THAT OF THE NATIVE SPEAKER REFERENCE GROUP
Generally speaking, the writing of the L1 students was more sophisticated than
that of their L2 peers. However, the difference between the two was less than
might have been expected. The main findings concerning differences in the writ-
ing of the native-speaker students (L1) compared to the Norwegian student teach-
ers (L2) are shown in Table 3.2.
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 67

TABLE 3.2. Comparison of the writing of native speakers and the Norwegian stu-
dent teachers.

Category L1 (native-speakers) L2 (Norwegian student

teachers)

Cohesive sop- Significantly fewer simple coordinators Twice as many conjunct

histication (p<0.001) types, more disjunct
types

Lexical sop- Mean of 13.7 high frequency words per text. Mean of 6.7 high frequ-
histication Significant difference (p<0.001) ency words per text

Syntactic sop- Significantly more noun phrases (p<0.001) More adverbial clauses in
histication sentence initial position
More participle and noun premodifiers
More ’s genitive premo-
Greater prepositional phrase and –ed clause difiers
postmodification
More finite relative
Consistently higher representation of passive clause, -ing clause, infini-
forms tives, adverbs and adje-
ctive postmodification
Greater distribution of nominal “-ing” clauses
as subjects, objects, after prepositions Lower type-token ratio of
passive forms
Generally higher distribution of subordinate
clauses. Significant differences in clauses of
concession (p=<0.028) and result (p=<0.025).
Generally higher type-token ration

Errors No errors of aspect and few concord errors Significantly higher num-
ber of concord errors
(p=<0.003) and some
errors of aspect

Fluency Impeded by Norwegian

L1 influencing incorrect
word order, lack of idio-
maticity, inappropriate
lexis, clutter, tendency to
over-verbalise

Firstly, the study of cohesive sophistication showed that the L2 student teachers
depended more than the L1 group on the simple coordinators but, and, or, while
68 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

at the same time employing a wider range of conjuncts and disjuncts. Secondly,
the study of syntactic sophistication revealed little difference in the way the two
groups opened sentences, with the L2 group using more adverbial clauses in sen-
tence initial position. Noun phrases were almost twice as frequent among the L1
students as among the L2 ones. While different types of noun phrase pre-modifi-
cation generally had a higher distribution among the L1 writers, the opposite
applied to post-modifiers. In general, passive forms, nominal “-ing” clauses and
subordinate clauses had a higher ratio of distribution in the L1 than L2 writers.
Thirdly, the study of lexical sophistication revealed a significant difference
between the two groups (p<0.001), with the L1 students using roughly twice as
many low frequency words as their L2 counterparts. Fourthly, and as expected, the
error rate of concord and choice of aspect errors was much higher in the L2 group.
Finally, a lack of fluency in the L2 writers generally appeared to be a result of L1
interference caused by Norwegian features of word order, idiomaticity, lexis, and
verbalization (using verb phrases instead of noun phrases). Inappropriate word
order and lexis appear in the following example: These demands Asher does not
want to obtain (as opposed to Asher does not want to meet these demands). Over-
verbalization appears in the following example: It was late in the summer, just a
couple of weeks before the schools starts, when I one day took a call to one of the
places where I had applied for a job (as opposed to Towards the end of the summer,
just a couple of weeks before the start of school, I called one of the places where I
had sent a job application.) In general, the writing of the L1 students was more syn-
tactically and lexically sophisticated, and more fluent, than their L2 counterparts.

QUESTIONNAIRES
The first questionnaire showed that the majority of the student teachers had expe-
rienced their primary school education as the least important for their develop-
ment of English, especially writing. They generally held their primary school
teachers in lower esteem than those in the higher levels, especially in terms of abil-
ity to vary lessons, teaching methods, and as teachers of writing. Very little writing
and reading extensively had taken place at the primary level. While more writing
had been experienced at the lower secondary level, 94% of the student teachers
claimed that its aim was to practise language/grammar and only 5% described
writing as a means of communicating ideas. There was also a general lack of strat-
egies (e.g. process and group writing) to motivate creativity and enhance the qual-
ity of written products. Nevertheless, roughly 25% of the student teachers were
very satisfied with their lower secondary teachers as models of English, their abil-
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 69

ity to vary lessons, and as teachers of writing. At the same time, roughly 25% were
dissatisfied with them in the same respects.
A greater number of student teachers held their upper secondary teachers in
higher esteem than those at the other levels. However, similar to the lower second-
ary level, roughly 30% of the student teachers were critical of their teachers’ abil-
ity to vary lessons, their teaching methods, and as teachers of writing. There were
thus considerable differences among the student teachers as to how they perceived
their former teachers. At the upper secondary level, roughly 50% of the student
teachers reported that they had been given the choice to choose their reading mate-
rials and 60% to choose their writing topics. Furthermore, more of the student
teachers had been trained to write a greater range of genres at this level, the biggest
change being the focus on discursive (discussion/argumentative) essays. As with
the lower secondary level, few of the student teachers had experienced process
writing in English. What or whom the student teachers considered to have been
the most significant influence on their writing development is shown in Table 3.3.

TABLE 3.3. The most significant influence on writing development in English.

Influence on writing development in No of students %

English

Upper secondary teacher 22 33

Extensive reading 11 17

Frequent writing practice 9 13

Lower secondary school teacher 8 12

Living in an English-speaking country 5 7

The home environment 5 7

L1 skills 4 6

Other factors 3 5

Total 67 100

Upper secondary teachers (33%) had had the highest influence, while 12% con-
sidered their lower secondary teachers to have been most influential on their writ-
ing development. Thus, for almost every second student teacher, one of their for-
mer teachers had been the greatest influence on their written development in
English. Extensive reading and frequent writing practice were also among the
highest influences.
70 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The second questionnaire investigated the student teachers’ perceptions of their

skills at the end of the year in three main areas: genre training, perceptions of
teaching writing, and perceptions of writing competence. While they believed it
was important to learn a wide range of genres in teacher education, only one in
two considered that this had actually been achieved. The genres in which they felt
they had received most training were literary appreciation essays and discursive
essays, neither of which were traditionally considered typical genres for compul-
sory school. The student teachers considered themselves most competent to teach
descriptions, letters, notes and narratives, whereas instruction in these genres was
not provided during their English teacher education courses. In general, there was
little accordance between the most emphasised genres during teacher education
and those considered the most important to learn in school.
The student teachers’ perceptions of the teaching of writing revealed firstly that
they favoured a balance between oral and written communication. This contrasted
sharply with the focus on reading texts, translation and vocabulary tests that most
of them had experienced at school. As for writing strategies, the majority of the
student teachers perceived benefits of using both process and group writing strat-
egies in their teaching practice, although few had experienced these strategies dur-
ing their own schooling. In addition, the majority intended to demonstrate a range
of writing genres for their pupils and understood the importance of and considered
themselves competent to link writing to the other language skills, especially
extensive reading and oral activities. Finally, the student teachers considered
themselves least competent to assess both the content and language of a written
text. What they felt able or not able to do was probably a consequence of what they
had or had not gained from their methodology course.
Finally, as for the relative importance of the different school levels, the lower
secondary level was considered the most important by the majority of the student
teachers, followed by the primary level, and lastly upper secondary school. This
marked a major change from how they had initially perceived school level in rela-
tion to writing development. They were divided on whether the period prior to or
during teacher education had been the most influential on their writing develop-
ment. The actual areas of writing in which the majority of student teachers felt
they had progressed most during the academic year were the variety of sentence
openings, richness of vocabulary, and correct grammar, while they felt the least
progress had been made in noun phrase modification, use of appropriate and idi-
omatic language, advanced grammar, and beginning and ending pieces. Their per-
ceptions of progress in writing did not always correspond with the findings of the
writing analysis, for example their belief about lexical growth. Finally, roughly
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 71

eight out of ten student teachers believed that the most important factor influenc-
ing pupils’ development of writing was a combination of the teacher’s writing
competence and methods of teaching writing. In contrast, none of the student
teachers believed this was due to the teacher’s writing competence alone and only
one in ten believed that it was solely attributed to the teacher’s methods of teach-
ing writing.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

This doctoral study aimed to explore variables connected to competence in the
teaching of written English in Norwegian schools. By studying student teachers’
writing with a focus on form and their perceived ability to teach writing, it
addressed a complex set of interrelated variables connected to the teaching of
writing, e.g. the link between past practices and present performance and attitudes,
the link between performance and teaching methodology, and the link between
input and output. Although not the only variable connected to the development of
pupil writing, the teacher does have a key role in this respect.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The main finding related to the Norwegian student teachers’ writing was that it
progressed marginally throughout the year in some areas of syntactic sophistica-
tion and error frequency, while no progress was achieved in other areas, e.g. lexi-
cal sophistication. In comparison, the writing of the native speakers was more
sophisticated in several areas of lexis and syntax, and their writing was generally
more fluent. The relatively low rate of progress among the Norwegian student
teachers could be explained by them having reached a relative ceiling, or fossili-
sation, in their language. If this occurs, according to Bley-Vroman (1989), devel-
opment ceases in spite of conscious efforts to improve language. Reaching a rela-
tive ceiling is partly supported by the student teachers’ self-evaluation, in which
every second student teacher considered the pre-college period as the most deci-
sive for their English writing development. However, the fact that the student
teachers did make some progress in certain areas undermines a ceiling theory.
Another argument is that the student teachers were unable to realise their potential
for development because of the nature of the English courses they had been stud-
ying during the academic year. In terms of language, these courses emphasised
language theory at the expense of practical usage, for example the grammar course
based on formal grammar instruction. The emphasis was on talking about and
72 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

writing about language rather than its actual usage. The danger of an over-empha-
sis on language theory in teacher training courses has been pointed out by scholars
such as Lange (1990) and Cullen (1994). Cullen (1994) argued that teacher train-
ing courses lack the time and resources to help student teachers enhance their
communicative command of language, as opposed to their knowledge of lan-
guage. At the same time, language proficiency and positive attitudes to language
use are extremely important for non-native language teachers (Britten, 1985;
Medgyes, 1992; Murdoch, 1994). If language teachers lack language proficiency
and confidence in their own language, they may resort to uninspiring methods and
“safe” materials, e.g. relying on a textbook (Medgyes, 1992).
The main finding related to the teaching of writing was that the teacher training
course, especially the module on English-teaching methodology, led to a number
of changes in the student teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about teaching writ-
ing. The school level which most of them had considered to be the most influential
for their own writing development at the beginning of the year (upper secondary)
was considered at the end of the year as the one with the least potential to enhance
writing development. At the end of the year, the student teachers showed a desire
to replace the routine teaching many of them had been exposed to in school with
a “language-rich” environment characterised by language acquisition and natural
language use, communication of the language as opposed to learning about it,
extensive reading, strategies to improve writing performance, and less time on
monotonous textbook-based lessons.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The main contribution to methodology was devising a broad taxonomy that could
be used to measure writing development, with a focus on form, in a corpus of L2
writing. Many previous studies of corpora of L2 writing had focused on one spe-
cific area of writing. In contrast, this doctoral study incorporated several features
of writing, namely cohesion, syntax, lexis, errors, and fluency. It was able to suc-
cessfully apply the criteria to determine the student teachers’ rate of written devel-
opment during the academic year and to compare the writing of this L2 group with
that of an L1 reference group. Combining this predominantly quantitative doctoral
study of the student teachers’ writing with two sets of questionnaires at the
extremes of an academic year increased the validity of the study. In addition to
analysing development in their writing, one was also able to study their experi-
ences and perceptions of writing in their own school education, and their percep-
tions of their writing ability and ability to teach writing.
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 73

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

This doctoral study has implications both for the training of teachers of English
and for the teaching of English writing in schools. In terms of the former, the study
indicates firstly that more focus should be attached to helping student teachers
develop the sophistication of their written language, that student teachers of Eng-
lish should practise reading and writing numerous genres, and that they should
experience strategies, especially process writing, that are likely to enhance the
quality of their writing. In essence, there should be greater correspondence
between what student teachers learn and experience in their teacher training and
their expected classroom practice.
At the time this study took place, the norm for student teachers of English was
to take the same courses in English, with the exception of a methodology course,
as those who were studying English for other reasons. However, after the educa-
tional reform of 2010, the GLU courses for student teachers of English (grades 1–
10) in departments of education in Norway became more tailor made for student
teachers’ needs and enabled greater harmony between the content of their English
studies and the practical teaching of English in schools. A positive development
in GLU teacher education of English teachers has thus taken place since the com-
pletion of this doctoral study.
Another positive development has taken place with respect to English teaching
in schools. Many of the variables considered important for enhancing the devel-
opment of written English, namely early literacy, a greater emphasis on reading,
the link between reading and writing, writing as an interactive process, learning a
wide range of genres, and greater pupil autonomy, were emphasised in the former
L97 curriculum, which was introduced in the same year as this doctoral study was
completed. These variables have continued to be emphasised in the subsequent
LK06 curriculum and its revised versions. Since 1997, reading and writing have
been incorporated into the English subject from the earliest grades and, unlike for
many of the student teachers that participated in this doctoral study, writing has
become a communicative activity and not simply a tool to promote grammar. This
shift is reflected in “written communication” being a main area of the revised
LK06 English subject curriculum.
The study has a number of implications for the teaching of writing in schools,
both implicit and explicit. Since pupils are likely to develop their lexical and
grammatical sophistication implicitly through reading extensively, teachers at all
levels should provide the opportunity for them to choose to read a wide selection
of texts that they are interested in and that are at an appropriate level of difficulty
(cf. Krashen, 1984). In this way, they will also be widely exposed to correct forms
74 ION DREW | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

and structures of English, which in turn will likely reduce the number of errors
they make and will help them gain an understanding of how texts are structured
and organised. Pupils can also be taught explicitly to improve their writing. One
example of explicit teaching is demonstrating and providing practice in sentence
combining, i.e. forming a main and subordinate clause from two main clauses, in
order to help pupils to increase their use and variety of subordinate clauses.
Another example is demonstrating and providing practice in different ways of pre-
modifying noun phrases (e.g. with adjectives and nouns) and postmodifying them
(e.g. with prepositional phrases and relative clauses). Pupils can further be shown
and given practice in how linking words, e.g. conjuncts and disjuncts, can enhance
the coherence of a text. Finally, pupils should be given plenty of opportunities at
different levels to write different types of text and should be given feedback during
the process of writing in order to enhance the quality of their texts.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Some of the criteria used in the study of writing in this doctoral thesis have later
been successfully applied to other studies of writing produced by English learners
at different levels in the Norwegian school system. For example, the author stud-
ied noun phrase modification and subordinate clauses to measure the progress
made by writers as they developed from the 4th to 6th grade (Drew, 2010).
Vigrestad (2006) included an analysis of subordinate clauses in her comparison of
the English written complexity of Norwegian 7th and 9th graders with a corre-
sponding corpus of Dutch pupils’ writing. Larsen’s (2016) study included subor-
dinate clauses and noun phrase modification when comparing written complexity
of 7th graders following an extensive reading programme with those in a control
group. Vigrestad, Larsen and Drew (2010) also used T-unit length as a measure of
complexity and fluency. In his seminal work on the writing development of 4th,
8th and 12th graders in the USA, Hunt (1965, p. 49) defined a T-unit as “one main
clause plus the subordinate clauses attached to or embedded within it”. Also, T-
units featured widely in Wolfe-Quintero et al’s (1998) metastudy of measures of
fluency, accuracy and complexity in L2 writing development. Although not used
in this doctoral study, T-units have functioned as useful units of measurement of
L2 writing development in other studies and can be used in future research of writ-
ing.
However, there are limitations as to what corpus studies of texts, using quanti-
fiable measures, can reveal about writing and writers. Further studies of writing
should also take into consideration the content and organisation of texts, the way
 3 PHD REVISITED: FUTURE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 75

texts are produced, and the process that they go through, including feedback given
to the writer. In other words, qualitative studies of writing, focusing on both teach-
ers and learners, will also increase the knowledge base in the field. There have
been such studies focusing on specific aspects of the teaching of writing. For
example, Maier (2006) used teacher interviews to find out about changing prac-
tices in the teaching of writing at the lower secondary level, Vik (2013) was based
on teacher focus groups and pupil interviews about formative feedback to writing
in upper secondary school, and McIntosh (2017) used individual teacher inter-
views and pupil focus groups to find out about the teaching of expository and per-
suasive writing at the upper secondary level. However, more studies of this kind
are desirable. Finally, with the growth of mixed methods studies, there is the
opportunity to integrate, for example, quantitative studies of written texts with
interviews with teachers and/or pupils, which is what Thomson (2016) did in his
study of hedging in the writing of lower secondary pupils. More studies of this
kind would also be desirable.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-05

4
PhD revisited: Formative
assessment of writing in English
A school-based study of perceptions,
practices and transformations 1
TONY BURNER
University of South-Eastern Norway

ABSTRACT This chapter reports from a doctoral study (Burner, 2016a) that explored
teacher and student perceptions and practices of formative assessment (FA) in English
writing classes. Four English teachers and their students (N=100) took part in the study.
The assessment situation was analyzed using mixed methods before a plan for interven-
tion cycles was made continuously throughout a school year. The main results, their
implications for teaching English in Norway, and further research will be discussed in this
chapter.

KEYWORDS formative assessment | writing assessment | portfolio assessment |

classroom interventions

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Burner, 2016a), focusing specifi-
cally on its implications for the teaching of English in Norway. This is an article-based thesis,
with three published articles (Burner, 2014, 2015, 2016b). The thesis in its entirety can be found
here: https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/2379861

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 79

INTRODUCTION
Some of the questions teachers need to reflect on are: What happens prior to and
after assessment practices? What are the roles of the students in the different
phases of assessment? And how can assessment of student texts promote learning?
Politicians and the Ministry of Education and Research have shown a special
interest in the field of assessment after the introduction of the current national cur-
riculum in 2006 (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2006, 2013).
Seminars and workshops have been held for teachers and teacher educators on
formative assessment (FA), commonly known as assessment for learning.
Undoubtedly, the increased international research base on FA has influenced the
national context. The research gap addressed in the doctoral study reported from
here concerned FA in English writing classes in Norway, the views and practices
of both teachers and students, and how their views and practices might change
over time when writing portfolios as a new formative tool is introduced. Portfolio
assessment was used as a tool in this study to enhance FA perceptions and prac-
tices. A definition of portfolio assessment is offered by Johnson, Mims-Cox and
Doyle-Nichols (2010, p. 5), wherein a portfolio:

◗ is a collection of work that has been compiled over a period of time

◗ is organized to assess competencies in a given standard, goal, or objective and
focus on how well the learner has achieved in that area
◗ makes learning concrete and visible
◗ is evidence of knowledge (what the student knows), skills (what the student is
able to do), and dispositions (reveal the student’s attitudes, beliefs, or values)
◗ includes higher levels of thinking through the use of inquiry (a process of col-
lecting, sorting, selecting, describing, analyzing, and evaluating) and refle-
ction (questioning and sorting of the selected work; questioning how he or she
can improve personal practice)

Hamp-Lyons and Condon (2000) suggest three main categories that define writing
portfolios, namely collection of texts over a longer period of time, reflection on
those texts, and selection of some of them for final assessment.
Thus, the primary research question for the doctoral study was: In what ways
can portfolio as a formative tool influence teachers’ and students’ perceptions and
practices of formative assessment?
In order to study the influences of portfolio assessment, the base-line situation had
to be investigated to understand how teachers and students perceive and practice FA
in English classes. In addition, the formative potentials of the tool used to enhance
80 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FA, i.e. the writing portfolio, had to be reviewed. Finally, a plan for interventions
was made together with the teachers at the end of the school year 2012–2013 and
the very beginning of the next school year, 2013–2014. The aim of the interventions
was to make use of assessment situations to enhance student learning. The interven-
tions were guided by principles from portfolio assessment (Johnson et al., 2010).

THEORY
Black and Wiliam (1998) acknowledge in their seminal work that FA does not have
a “tightly defined and widely accepted meaning” (p. 7). They point out that it con-
sists of several classroom practices: self- and peer assessment, learning strategies,
goal orientation, effective tasks, useful feedback, and so forth. Their definition of
FA is “all those activities undertaken by teachers, and/or by their students, which
provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning
activities in which they are engaged” (Black & Wiliam, 1998, pp. 7–8). The expres-
sion assessment for learning (AfL) was coined by the Assessment Reform Group
(ARG, 1989–2010) to stress the learning dimension since not all assessments, for
example mini-summative assessments, lead to further learning (Stobart, 2008).
It was particularly the Assessment Reform Group’s work (ARG, 2002) that
effectively put FA on the educational agenda after its decline by 1995 (Black &
Wiliam, 2003). Their definition of FA is “The process of seeking and interpreting
evidence for use by learners and their teachers, to identify where the learners are in
their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there” (ARG, 2002).
Wiliam (2006) provides a short and concise definition of FA: “An assessment of a
student is formative if it shapes that student’s learning” (p. 284). What Wiliam
(2006) lacks in his definition is the type of shaping that teacher and student learning
go through. Arguably, shaping that is detrimental to a student’s learning cannot be
characterized as formative. Wiliam’s (2006) main concern is that FA has to be inte-
grated as a part of teachers’ daily teaching: “Tools for formative assessment will
only improve formative assessment practices if teachers can integrate them into
their regular classroom activities. In other words, the task of improving formative
assessment is substantially, if not mainly, about teacher professional development”
(p. 287). In a follow-up article, Black and Wiliam (2009) add to their definition that
this information, or evidence, is used “to make decisions about the next steps in
instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they
[teachers and/or students] would have taken in the absence of the evidence that was
elicited” (p. 9). Teachers were the focal point of carrying out the interventions in
this doctoral study, specifically using portfolios to enhance FA of writing.
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 81

Taking into consideration FA’s documented learning benefits (Black & Wiliam,
1998), including in foreign language learning contexts (Ross, 2005), the question
is then how it is perceived and practiced in specific learning contexts, and in what
ways teachers and students take advantage of that information or evidence to
enhance teaching and learning. According to Lee (2011), self- and peer assess-
ment, where students assess their own and each other’s works, formative feedback
through multiple drafting/text revision, conferencing and portfolios are ways of
realizing FA in the writing classroom. Such classroom activities allow reflection,
interaction, and opportunities to return to one’s text and improve it. A review of
research on second or additional language (L2) writing and response to L2 writing
shows that some scholars contend that L2 writing can and should draw on insights
from L1 writing, whereas others claim that L2 writing is inherently different from
L1 writing and should be considered separately (Ferris, 2003). Zamel (1985)
belongs to the former category and suggests a process-oriented approach to L2
writing. This type of approach to writing includes assessment procedures that cor-
respond to the process nature of writing, for example portfolio assessment (Wei-
gle, 2007). Portfolio is a useful tool for assessment in light of the development
described above due to its formative benefits in second and foreign language writ-
ing classes.

REVIEW
The research that is relevant for this study is to be found in the interface between
formative assessment, writing assessment and portfolio assessment. Internation-
ally, as pointed out by Abedi (2010), there is little research on FA of writing in
English as a foreign language (EFL) compared to the vast amount of research on
summative assessment of writing in EFL. Previous research into EFL writing has
been analytical, focusing mainly on error corrections and their possible effects on
students’ writing (cf. Hyland’s and Ferris’s classic studies). Some exceptions are
Lee and her colleague’s research, shedding some light on FA of writing in EFL
(Lee, 2011; Lee & Coniam, 2013). They maintain that the focus of assessment of
writing in EFL has been retrospective, i.e. the assessment has served mainly sum-
mative purposes, not formative. In addition, research on FA has concentrated
mainly on teacher views (Broadfoot & Black, 2004; Brookhart, 2001; Cowie,
2005). Given the dialectic nature of FA in which feedback informs both learning
and teaching activities, the present doctoral study added to the research on student
perspectives and the relations between their perspectives and teachers’ perspec-
tives.
82 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Nationally, research reports (e.g., Sandvik et al., 2012) have investigated

assessment in four subjects, amongst others English. The main findings were that
teachers are predominantly positive toward the new emphasis on FA, that teach-
ers’ subject knowledge seems to be an important factor for their assessment com-
petency, and that the lower grades (grades 1–7) have reached furthest in FA prac-
tices, such as self-assessment and student involvement. Empirical research on
formative uses of writing assessment has been mainly conducted from a pedagog-
ical perspective in contexts of higher education and in secondary schools (Baird,
Hopfenbeck, Newton, Stobart & Steen-Utheim, 2014). Furthermore, there has
been some assessment research conducted in L1 contexts, and in foreign lan-
guages such as German (e.g., Sandvik, 2011). Hasselgreen, Drew, and Sørheim
(2012) collected some of the most important research into foreign languages in
Norway, mostly for English. From the collection, it is evident that writing research
has been confined to orthography and focus on errors, whereas assessment
research has been looking at the use of the Common European Framework
(CEFR, 2001) in assessing writing and oral exams in 10th grade. Other assessment
research in English in Norway revolves around summative assessment (Reisjø,
2006; Thorenfeldt, 2005; Yildiz, 2011). The present study focused on FA of writ-
ing in English.

METHODOLOGY
Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), which is rooted in a sociocultural
approach to learning and development (Vygotsky 1978, 1986), was the methodo-
logical choice for the study. CHAT pays attention to historicity and the current sit-
uation, to the individual and the collective system. According to Wardekker
(2000), CHAT is a systematic approach to analyzing and developing formative
assessment. Pryor and Crossouard (2008) place the theory of formative assess-
ment within CHAT, and claim that it is a useful tool of analysis due to its simulta-
neous problematization of agency, in this case students and teachers enacting
formative assessment.

SAMPLE
For the purpose of the study, it was important to select a school that had FA as one
of the main developmental themes, school leaders that support teachers in their
professional development, and English teachers who were interested in working
with FA but met certain challenges during their teaching practice. The selected
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 83

school met all these criteria. Four of the teachers (T1–T4) and their students
(N=100) gave their consent to participate, two classes in 8th grade, and two in 9th
grade. Two of the teachers, T1 and T3, were very experienced, both having taught
for around 30 years each. The two others, T2 and T4, were less experienced, hav-
ing taught for 1–3 years each. They were all female and fulfilled the formal crite-
rion for being qualified English teachers, meaning that they had completed at least
60 ECTS of English as part of their teacher education (equal to one full year
study). The students were 14–15 years old, and 12 of these were also selected for
interviews, according to their self-reported and teacher-reported level of profi-
ciency in English, i.e. low proficiency (grades 1–2), medium proficiency (grades
3–4), and high proficiency (grades 5–6).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION METHODS

During the period of data collection, the teachers had the opportunity to discuss
and reflect upon existing practices and to experiment with new assessment prac-
tices, before reflecting again and evaluating the new practices. Through work with
a process-oriented assessment practice, the students were given the chance to
work with the teacher’s feedback to improve their texts and assess their own pro-
gress when doing so. Figure 4.1 illustrates the research process in its three phases:
historical and situational analyses, intervention, and evaluation.

AFTER:
PRIOR: DURING: Evaluation of the
Historical and situational Intervention to enhance intervention and how
analyses of teachers' and formative assessment of writing portfolios had
students' perceptions and writing using writing changed teachers' and
practices of formative portfolio as the mediating students' perceptions and
assessment of writing artifact practices of formative
assessment

FIGURE 4.1. The intervention and research process.

84 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Data were collected prior to (Phase 1), during (Phase 2), and after (Phase 3) the
intervention period. The aim of the data collection was to understand the assess-
ment situation in English writing classes before using portfolios to enhance FA of
writing, and to understand how portfolios could influence teachers’ and students’
perceptions and practices of assessment. As part of the intervention, the researcher
led workshops with the teachers. The formative interventions draw on Enge-
ström’s activity theory (1987). His activity system was used to find any contradic-
tions in teachers’ and students’ enactment of formative assessment.
Intervention research aims at facilitating change through formative interventions
(Engeström & Sannino, 2010). Phase 1: Prior to the intervention period, student
questionnaires were handed out to all the students, semi-structured focus group inter-
views with students from all the four classes and semi-structured one-to-one inter-
views with all the four teachers were carried out, and observations of writing assess-
ment classes were conducted. The objective was to understand the participants’
perceptions and practices of FA of writing. Phase 2: During the intervention period,
focus group interviews with the same students and continuous observations of writ-
ing assessment classes were carried out in order to understand how perceptions and
practices of FA of writing would be influenced by using writing portfolios. Phase 3:
The same procedures for data collection as in the beginning of the study were applied
after a period of intervention in three of the classes. The primary sources of data were
the interviews and questionnaires, whereas classroom observations were a secondary
source of data used to validate findings from the primary sources. One class dropped
out of the study half way through due to one teacher’s long-term sick leave. Table 4.1
shows the data collection methods used in the various phases of the study.

TABLE 4.1. An overview of the data collection methods

Phases Data collection Sample Duration

Phase 1. Prior (May – Observations 4 classes 4–5 hours

Sept 2012)

Phase 1 Questionnaire Students, 4 classes, –

N=100

Phase 1 Focus group interviews 3 students selected 131 minutes

from 4 classes, N=12

Phase 1 One-to-one interviews Teachers T1–T4, N=4 162 minutes

Phase 2. During (Oct Observations 3 classes 18–19 hours

2012 – Apr 2013):
Intervention
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 85

Phases Data collection Sample Duration

Phase 2 Focus group interviews 3 students selected 66 minutes

from 3 classes, N=9

Phase 3. After Observations 3 classes 3-4 hours

(May – June 2013)

Phase 3 Focus group interviews 3 students selected 72 minutes

from 3 classes, N=9

Phase 3 One-to-one interviews Teachers T1–T3, N=3 156 minutes

Phase 3 Questionnaire Students, 3 classes, –

N=70

STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRES
Based on readings of the research literature on FA of writing (see theoretical over-
view), indicators that were thought to shed light on aspects of FA of writing were
identified. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: background variables (gen-
der, class, grade level, language background), a set of items related to student per-
ceptions of FA of writing, a set of items related to students’ self-perceived prac-
tices of FA of writing, and a set of items related to their preferences of the same
practices. The questionnaire was handed out to 8th and 9th grade students of Eng-
lish before (N=100) and after (N=70) the intervention. For the piloting of the ques-
tionnaire, it was given to all the students in 9th and 10th grade (N=174). None of
these students would participate in the study later. The questionnaire was also
handed out to students of English at another randomly selected school (N=145).
The pilot testing led to changes of items that proved to be unclear for some stu-
dents. On the part concerning perceptions, students could respond to five items on
a 5-point Likert scale (1 = very little extent to 5 = very great extent). The binary
items, where the informants could respond with yes/no, concerned students’ self-
perceived practices and preferences. All items loaded on a single factor with item
loadings ranging from .671 to .361. The lowest loading, which was slightly <.40,
was not discarded since it could theoretically be justified (Ringdal, 2007, p. 293)
to be an important part of the construct “formative assessment of writing”. Factor
analyses with the final data supported a one-factor solution. The loadings from the
pre-intervention data ranged from .470 to .796. The loadings from the post-inter-
vention data ranged from .517 to .691. Reliability, expressed through Cronbach’s
alpha, was found to be .71 for the pre-intervention data and .74 for the post-inter-
vention data, which is a fairly good reliability measure (Ringdal, 2007). Cross-
86 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

tabulation analyses were used to reveal any interesting relationships between stu-
dents’ responses and their background. To understand the difference between pre
and post intervention, inferential statistics were used, i.e. t-tests for the Likert
scale items and chi-square tests for the binary items.

TEACHER AND STUDENT INTERVIEWS

One-to-one interviews with the teachers and focus group interviews with 12 stu-
dents were conducted (see Table 4.1). I considered focus group interviews to be a
suitable way of discussing the topics with them. Focus group interviews open up for
different views to be discussed (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). An interview guide was
used for the interviews. All the interviews were recorded. They were semi-struc-
tured (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009), meaning that I had some topics and questions
beforehand, related to FA of writing. At the same time, I was open for other relevant
issues to be mentioned by the informants. I transcribed the interviews, becoming
acquainted with the data and learning a lot about my own style of interviewing
(Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). The constant comparative method of analysis inspired
the analyses of the interview transcripts (Creswell, 2013). The first interview tran-
script was coded together with a colleague, also a PhD candidate who was conduct-
ing research on FA, to ensure higher reliability than would be achieved alone.

CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS
Classroom observations were conducted at the beginning, during and at the end of
the study. I was conscious of distinguishing between what I observed and my com-
ments on what I observed (Table 4.2).

TABLE 4.2. An extract from classroom observation notes.

Time and place Topic What I see Comments

September 10, 2012 Teacher feedback Students look at Students have pro-
11:50–12:50; on student letters teacher’s corrected blems seeing the con-
T2’s class version of text. Aro- nections between
und half of the stu- teacher’s codes and her
dents have the text in corrections.
front of them. Some
have not, and some
have not handed in.
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 87

My role as an observer was the non-participant/observer as participant (Creswell,

2013). I needed to have a participative role as well, where I could achieve a close
inside perspective without being one of the participants. In total, I observed Eng-
lish writing classes for 27 hours. The observation notes were used to validate find-
ings from the other data collection methods, i.e. observing to what extent the
informants enacted formative assessment the way they described their practices in
the interviews.

FINDINGS
In this chapter the findings from the doctoral study will be separated into two
areas: those from the base-line study prior to the interventions (Phase 1), where
student and teacher perceptions and practices of FA of writing in English were
investigated, and those from the intervention study, where writing portfolios were
used as a tool to enhance FA.

THE BASE-LINE STUDY: PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES

The data from the questionnaires (N=100) provided a broad picture of students’
responses to how they perceive FA of writing, which aspects they appreciate, and
which aspects they find challenging. They reveal that students are positive to their
learning outcome and reflective work in English writing classes. A majority of
them appreciate text revision. Furthermore, they appreciate being involved in
assessment practices, despite claiming that they are not being involved currently.
On the other hand, they have different views on teacher feedback and grades. They
would appreciate teacher modeling of quality texts. Finally, they claimed they
conduct self-assessment, but reported that they do not learn much from it. There
was consequently a gap between students’ experiences of self-assessment and
involvement in assessment practices on the one hand, and their perceptions of
them on the other (see Tables 4.3 and 4.4).
The data from the student interviews showed that students have the impression
that grades interfere with feedback, sometimes merely because their teacher had
told them so. They appreciate feedback, but underscored that they would like to
receive more positive feedback, as illustrated by the following quote: “The feed-
back is too much about the negative things. [The teacher] could write about what
was good too” (average performing boy, 9th grade). As for text revision, they said
that it is not a common activity in class. In other words, they appreciate revising
their texts, but are not offered the opportunity to do so. Moreover, they claimed
88 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

they are not involved in assessment practices, and some of them revealed a rather
simplistic understanding of what student involvement could mean. The students
admitted that they do not follow up feedback on their texts: “I don’t do anything.
I don’t think about it. If I’ve made mistakes on a test, then I don’t think about them
for the next test” (high-performing girl, 9th grade). The main reason seems to be
the negative form of the feedback, but also that they do not always understand the
content of the feedback. Classroom observations concurred with the interview
data on these points. Moreover, the students preferred a more coherent English
subject where various topics are followed up and worked on more thoroughly.
Other factors they mentioned which they found particularly challenging with writ-
ing assessment in English were grammar and that English is a foreign language to
them.
In the data from the teacher interviews, the teachers claimed that grades inter-
fere with assessment and that they use assessment rubrics to standardize their
assessment practices. They were unsure whether students follow up their feedback
or not – “I’m a little unsure about the extent to which the students read the feed-
back […] very often they make the same mistakes” (T4, 9th grade) – and fre-
quently consider whether they should provide feedback in Norwegian or in Eng-
lish. They believe writing assessment is more challenging than oral assessment.
They emphasized the importance of self-assessment, but at the same time made it
clear that 8th graders are not mature enough to reflect upon their own learning.
Students were described as possessing inherent characteristics that make them
either more capable or less capable in following up the teacher’s feedback. Fur-
thermore, the teachers acknowledged the value of feedback and expressed a
research-based understanding of what useful feedback should be like: “we remind
each other that the focus should be the way forward for the students” (T3, 9th
grade). When asked about challenges in assessment that can be related to the
nature of the subject of English, the teachers pointed out four factors: lack of time,
wide-ranging subject, subjectivity in assessing students’ work, and the gap
between students when it comes to their knowledge of the subject.

THE INTERVENTION STUDY: TRANSFORMATIONS

Table 4.3 shows that students rated feedback from the teacher (Q1), reflection on
their own writing (Q4) and teacher modeling of good texts (Q5) higher after the
intervention. T-values ranged from t = –.41 (df =167, p = .68) for Q5 to t = –1.51
(df = 167, p = .13) for Q1, thus not revealing any significant differences in stu-
dents’ view on aspects of FA of writing before and after the intervention.
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 89

TABLE 4.3. Mean and standard deviation for Q1–Q5 before and after intervention.

Before After Before After

(M) (M) (SD) (SD)
N=100 N=70 N=100 N=70

Q1. To what extent would you say feedback from 3.49 3.71 .896 .980
the teacher helps you improve your English?

Q2. To what extent would you say grades from 3.52 3.41 .925 1.110
the teacher help you improve your English?

Q3. To what extent would you say you learn to 3.65 3.47 .837 1.003
express yourself in written English?

Q4. To what extent do you think about how you 3.63 3.70 1.026 .998
work with a text?

Q5. To what extent would you say the teacher 3.57 3.63 1.032 .887
helps you with understanding what a good text is?

Table 4.4 shows that grades on texts (Q2a), text revision after receiving feedback
(Q4a) and student involvement in assessment practices (Q6a) revealed the biggest
differences between the student scores on assessment practices before and after
the intervention period.

TABLE 4.4. Students’ perceptions of FA of writing in English before and after inter-
vention.

Before After Before After

“No”% “No”% “Yes”% “Yes”%
(N) (N) (N) (N)

Q1a. The teacher gives me both grade and 66.3 (65) 80.0 (56) 33.7 (33) 20.0 (14)
feedback on my texts

Q1b. I learn best by receiving both grade 20.6 (20) 20.3 (14) 79.4 (77) 79.7 (55)
and feedback on my texts

Q2a. The teacher gives me only grades on 87.8 (86) 100 12.2 (12) 0
my texts

Q2b. I learn best by receiving only grades 84.5 (82) 80.0 (56) 15.5 (15) 20.0 (14)
on my texts
90 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Before After Before After

“No”% “No”% “Yes”% “Yes”%
(N) (N) (N) (N)

Q3a. The teacher gives me only feedback 15.3 (15) 14.3 (10) 84.7 (83) 85.7 (60)
on my texts

Q3b. I learn best by receiving only feed- 55.8 (53) 67.1 (47) 44.2 (42) 32.9 (23)
back on my texts

Q4a. I get the opportunity to work more 25.0 (24) 2.9 (2) 75.0 (72) 97.1 (68)
with a text I have received feedback on

Q4b. I learn best by working more with a 24.2 (24) 17.6 (12) 75.8 (75) 82.4 (56)
text I have received feedback on

Q5a. I assess some of my own texts 33.0 (31) 25.7 (18) 67.0 (63) 74.3 (52)

Q5b. I learn best by assessing some of my 63.9 (62) 55.1 (38) 36.1 (35) 44.9 (31)
own texts

Q6a. I take part in deciding the process of 80.0 (68) 60.9 (42) 20.0 (17) 39.1 (27)
assessment

Q6b. I learn best by taking part in deciding 43.3 (39) 38.6 (27) 56.7 (51) 61.4 (43)
the process of assessment

After the intervention, the students agreed unanimously that grades were down-
played in the teacher’s assessment of their writing (Q2a). The majority of the stu-
dents (97%) agreed that they were given the chance to revise their texts (Q4a).
And finally, the number of students who experienced that they were more
involved in assessment practices had doubled (Q6a). The statistical analyses on all
the binary items confirmed this by revealing that Q2a (χ2 = 9.23, df = 1, p <.01),
Q4a (χ2 = 15.03, df = 1, p <.001) and Q6a (χ2 = 6.83, df = 1, p <.05) were rated
more often yes after the intervention than before the intervention. However, no
significant differences between the data collected before and after the intervention
were observed for the student belief items (Q1b–Q6b), i.e. which assessment prac-
tices they believe they learn from.
The student interviews and classroom observations were more positive toward
the feedback provided to them on their texts in the final interviews (Phase 3) than
in the mid-term interviews (Phase 2). Another finding was that low-performing
students tended to prefer grades on all texts, as did also some of the average per-
forming students. However, the high-performing ones were more inclined to adapt
to FA practices where the focus was on providing useful feedback and downplay-
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 91

ing grades. The high-performing ones also preferred written feedback on written
texts, whereas the low-performing ones tended to value oral feedback on written
texts. However, all the students were positive toward revising their texts, which
was also supported by the quantitative data. They said text revision can be time-
consuming, but that it is useful because they learn from it. The high-performing
students were more positive toward writing reflective logs than the low-perform-
ing ones. Self-assessment was a positive and demanding experience for most of
the students. Peer assessment was a double-edged sword in that some perceived it
as a good experience they learnt from, whereas others thought it was confronting
having peers assess their text. High-performing students were more skeptical, say-
ing they preferred that the teacher was the sole assessor of their texts. There were
no visible changes in the feedback practices in the first term, but in the second
term students experienced clearer, more selective, and more positive feedback on
their texts.
The data from the teacher interviews indicated that portfolios made students
work more with writing and writing assessment at school compared to before the
intervention. Spending more time on writing at school opened up for more inter-
action between teachers and students about writing and writing assessment, as
illustrated by the following notes from classroom observations:

T2 has prepared the lesson carefully. She has given her students a week to
improve their texts according to the feedback they receive, before they upload
their text on the Learning Management System and write a reflective log. I ask
T2 whether she has changed anything for today with regards to the workshop
we have had with the rest of the teacher team or with regards to the last lesson
she had with her students. She says “I have tried to limit myself” [in giving stu-
dents too much feedback].

T2 limits herself to a couple of things regarding grammar, content, and structure

of the student texts. She writes “language, content, structure” on the blackboard.
Under grammar, she writes “verbs, capital letter, spelling”. Under content, she
writes “the wh-words, timeline”. Under structure, she writes “word order, para-
graph”. Then T2 goes on to explain the writing process. She tells the students that
the writing process means “revise, revise, revise”.
By adopting a portfolio approach, the teachers tried peer assessment of written
texts with their students, which was new to all the participating teachers. One of
the teachers claimed that peer assessment is as important as the teacher’s assess-
ment of student texts. They all clearly saw the benefits of peer assessment by see-
92 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ing how involved their students became in discussing writing, and how proficient
they were in giving each other feedback. Text revision was something none of the
teachers had tried before. However, all of them agreed that students benefited
from revising their texts when they were given the chance to revise. The teachers
agreed that their assessment practices became clearer by using writing portfolio as
a tool. Apart from technical issues, the teachers mentioned the comprehensive
nature of the subject as challenging. In middle school, English has been allocated
two hours of instruction a week and requires that teachers assess their students in
both written and oral communication.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

The present doctoral study reviewed the formative tool used in the interventions,
writing portfolios. Furthermore, it shed light on teacher and student perceptions
and practices of FA in English writing classes through a base-line study. Finally,
processes of change when using portfolio as a tool to enhance FA in English writ-
ing classes were investigated through an intervention study. In the following, theo-
retical, empirical and methodological contributions to the English didactics field
will be presented.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The review study of portfolios in second and foreign language writing classes is a
theoretical contribution to the research field. In addition to systematizing writing
portfolios’ potential formative benefits, the review calls for more research from
primary and secondary schools, and more research where classroom observations
are used to validate findings. The age of the students in this study also adds new
knowledge to the research literature, since most studies on the benefits of portfolio
assessment have been conducted in higher education. Portfolio assessment has
clear formative potentials in English lessons and should be used more as a tool for
writing.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
In the base-line study, significant gaps were identified in how the informants per-
ceive and act on FA of writing. The gaps need to be addressed in order to make FA
effective and meaningful. Notably, teachers’ FA practices were not necessarily
clear for the students. The conclusion is that there needs to be more interaction and
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 93

transparency in the classroom about FA and the writing process, and that teachers’
knowledge of research into FA has to be tried out and evaluated with students’
experiences of those practices in mind. Compared to first language learning, Eng-
lish in Norway has less hours of instruction. In addition, teachers tend to have low
expectations of their students, partly because they underestimate students’ abili-
ties. These two factors combined could explain why portfolios are not used more
extensively in English compared to first language classrooms, despite the forma-
tive benefits. The intervention part of the doctoral study proved to be a challenge
in significantly transforming students’ beliefs and preferences in relation to FA.
Nevertheless, the students in the interviews showed appreciation of the changes
(see Lee 2011; Lee & Coniam, 2013), and the large sample of students showed sig-
nificant changes in their self-reported FA practices.
The practices that significantly changed were related to student involvement,
text revision, and the downplaying of grades. The first two were practices that the
teachers were reluctant to, whereas the downplaying of grades was something the
teachers practiced but not all the students noticed or appreciated. The practice of
student text revision was appreciated by the teachers in this study after having
tried it, and the students believed text revision is useful but time-consuming (cf.
Lee & Coniam, 2013). There were, however, no significant changes in student
self-reported practices concerning self-assessment. This study shows that English
teachers should not underestimate students’ willingness and effort to take part in
formative cycles of writing assessment.
Finally, the study reveals that despite what educational authorities believe, in-
service courses and seminars on FA are not sufficient for making assessment
work. School-based processes of change need to take place in order to provide
teachers with the opportunity to act on formative tools that may enhance percep-
tions and practices formatively.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Black and Wiliam (1998) assert that research that merely interrogates existing
practice can probably do little more than confirming discouraging practices. Con-
sequently, they claim, “To be productive therefore, research has to be linked with
a program of intervention” (p. 12). The present study interrogated existing prac-
tice and linked the research with a program of intervention, studied through the
lens of CHAT, which is a methodological contribution within the field of FA. In
most school subjects, however, the appropriate tools to induce change are lacking.
Black and Wiliam (2003) claim that tools to work with FA have to be subject-spe-
94 TONY BURNER | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

cific. Writing portfolios will be somewhat different in the school subject History
compared to English, or even in a first language context such as Norwegian in
Norway compared to English in Norway. Thus, a significant methodological con-
tribution in my doctoral study is the use of a subject-specific tool. As indicated by
the empirical findings in this study, FA research will not manifest itself in class-
room practices without being mediated by a formative tool (Vygotsky, 1978). A
subject-specific tool has to be used in order to mediate what teachers learn at in-
service courses and seminars about FA.
One final methodological contribution concerns the methods used in this study.
In a recent review of FA research, Black (2015) concludes that there are few stud-
ies where observation is used to validate FA practices. The use of mixed methods
in the present doctoral study, including classroom observations, has been a meth-
odological contribution in that the methods have complemented and sometimes
contradicted each other. The responses regarding involvement in assessment prac-
tices from the larger quantitative sample of students complementing the responses
from the smaller qualitative sample of students is one example; the responses
about the quality of teacher feedback from the teacher interviews contradicting the
quantitative student responses about the same topic is another example.
Finally, much research on changes in FA is restricted to shorter periods of time,
and often either the student or the teacher perspective is examined. The partici-
pants in the present study needed at least a year to get into a transformation phase.
Classroom observations validated the self-reported data in that the teachers
changed their writing assessment practices, emphasizing the importance of talking
more about the recursive nature of writing and by spending more time on clearer
and more targeted feedback practices on student texts.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

This study points out that there needs to be a change of how teachers and students
work with and think about FA of writing in English. Teachers need to provide stu-
dents with the opportunity to follow up written feedback at school. They can adopt
a system where texts are not finished after receiving feedback, but incorporate stu-
dents’ response to the feedback while the teacher is present in the classroom enact-
ing her supervisor role.
Secondly, a portfolio approach in English writing classes seems suitable in
order to enhance FA, where students collect their texts in a digital learning man-
agement system, reflect on them, the feedback received and their follow-up of the
feedback, and at the end of the school year select some of them for final assess-
 4 PHD REVISITED: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WRITING IN ENGLISH 95

ment. Peer assessment should be encouraged as part of a portfolio approach to

writing, something that saved teachers in this study more time, contrary to what
they believed initially.
Thirdly, motivated by a portfolio approach, text revision should be a natural part
of English writing classes. English teachers need to consistently give their stu-
dents the opportunity and encourage them to re-write and re-submit texts by put-
ting the recursive nature of writing at the core of the assessment of written texts.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Since 2016, more research has been conducted within the area of FA in general
and FA in English in particular (e.g., Saliu-Abdulahi, Hellekjær, & Hertzberg,
2017). Future research is needed to develop a fuller understanding of the construct
of FA of writing, for example the elements that constitute student involvement in
assessment practices and the ways students could follow up teacher feedback. Stu-
dents could be interviewed about their definitions and interpretations of “involve-
ment in assessment practices” and classroom observations could focus on teach-
ers’ ways of involving them. After receiving feedback on texts from teacher and/
or peers, their texts could be analyzed to consider the amount of and quality of
revisions. The extent to which students use new knowledge and skills in other con-
texts could be investigated through interviewing and observing one or a few stu-
dents throughout a school year. Moreover, the data were mainly self-reported in
the present study through interviews and questionnaires, and supplemented by
classroom observations. A next step could be careful analysis of student texts in
order to trace development in their language performance, for example in the
reflective statements. There is also a need for more longitudinal studies focusing
on one of the most critical parts of interventions, namely the sustainability of
changes in student and teacher assessment perceptions and practices a long time
after the researcher (or other external collaborator) has left the research field.

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5
PhD revisited: English writing
instruction in Norwegian upper
secondary school
– a linguistic and genre-pedagogical
perspective 1
MAY OLAUG HORVERAK
University of Agder

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a PhD study (Horverak, 2016) that investigated
English writing instruction practices and the effects of a genre-pedagogical approach
defined as scaffolding writing instruction. The results suggest that this approach
supports the students to improve their argumentative writing. The chapter discusses
various aspects of writing instruction and feedback on writing, and concludes by advo-
cating the need for a coherent model for teaching writing in English teacher program-
mes.

KEYWORDS scaffolding writing instruction | genre-pedagogy | argumentative

writing | feedback

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a PhD study (Horverak, 2016) from the University of
Agder, focussing specifically on its practical implications for the teaching of English in Norway.
This is an article-based thesis, with four published articles (Horverak, 2015a, 2015b, 2016a,
2016b). The PhD thesis in its entirety – with theoretical, methodological and empirical details –
can be found here http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2458188

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 99

INTRODUCTION
From the early 19th century to the 1960s, second language instruction in Europe was
dominated by the grammar-translation method, and grammar instruction of written
language was in focus. This changed when new approaches emerged in the 1960s,
and later with the audio-lingual method focusing on listening and talking, the natural
approach based on Krashen’s ideas about the importance of meaningful input
(Krashen, 1988) and the communicative method focused on communicative compe-
tence (Hymes, 1972). These approaches focused on learning to speak the target lan-
guage, rather than producing written texts, and could be said to present a reaction to
the neglect of communicative situations and the strong focus on grammar in the
grammar-translation method. At the same time, it could be argued that the strong
focus on communicative situations led to a neglect of grammatical knowledge
needed to produce formal, well-written texts (Lehmann, 1999), an important aspect
of learning English. Organising argumentative texts has generally been considered a
challenge on various levels in the educational system, both internationally (Andrews,
1995; Beard, 2000) and in Norway (Berge, Evensen, Hertzberg, & Vagle, 2005).
Due to deteriorating PISA results (Kjærnsli, Lie, Olsen, Roe, & Turmo, 2004),
there has been an increased focus on basic skills in the curricula in Norwegian
schools (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training [UDIR], 2006), and
writing skills is one of these. This need to improve writing skills is what inspired
my PhD work, where I investigated writing instruction practices in English and
tried out a genre-pedagogical approach to teaching writing. This approach is
partly based on systemic functional linguistics (SFL), a theory that focuses on lan-
guage choices and language in context (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). This is
relevant according to the purposes of learning English in school; we need to learn
English to communicate in various situations (UDIR, 2013a).
The research questions of my PhD study were as follows:

1. How is English writing instruction carried out in upper secondary schools in

Norway?
2. What effects does applying systemic functional linguistics through a genre-pe-
dagogy approach to teaching writing have on students’ writing skills?

The study investigated how English teachers conducted writing instruction and
how feedback was used in the writing process. Furthermore, students’ perceptions
of these practices were investigated. Finally, a genre-pedagogical approach to
teaching writing was implemented in several groups to investigate whether this
could support students in developing their writing skills.
100 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

THEORY
In Halliday’s SFL, grammar is presented as a network of resources that may be
applied when receiving or producing text (Halliday & Mathiessen, 2014). The net-
work of possibilities outlined is stratified into 1) context, 2) semantics, and 3) lex-
icogrammar, with each of the strata providing a set of variables or options for the
language user (see Table 5.1).

TABLE 5.1. A network of linguistic possibilities as outlined in SFL.

Stratification Instantiation Explanation and examples

1) Context Register variables Type of action/topic

a. Field Social relationship between sender and receiver
b. Tenor Role of the language, written or spoken channel
c. Mode

2) Semantics Meanings Representations of experiences of the world

a. Ideational Interaction, expressing certainty, necessity and
b. Interpersonal intensity
c. Textual Organising information, and creating coherence

3) Lexico- The grammatical a. Choice of verbs (transitivity system)

grammar system and words b. Formality of language, vocabulary and modal expres-
sions
c. Thematic patterns and cohesive ties

Table 5.1 shows that we make choices from the resources in the linguistic system
according to what type of register is expected in the context. If it is a formal con-
text, we choose a formal language; in a more informal context, we may use more
informal words such as “kids” and “teens”. The context comprises the register var-
iables of a) field (type of action/topic), b) tenor (social relationship), and c) mode
(the role of the language, written or spoken).
The register variables influence what type of meanings we express on the
semantic stratum (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). We have choices concerning a)
ideational meaning: what representations of experiences in the world to include,
b) interpersonal meaning: how to use language to interact, and c) textual meaning:
how to organise the information and create coherence. On the lexicogrammatical
level, we make choices concerning, for example a) what type of verbs to use to
realise the ideational meaning, b) how to express modality to realise the interper-
sonal meaning, and c) how to use cohesive ties to realise the textual meaning.
The aspects of language described in SFL are relevant in the English subject,
which has a focus on writing coherent texts suited to purpose and situation (UDIR,
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 101

2013a). It is also relevant within genre-pedagogical approaches as they focus on

identifying what is typical of the language and structure of different types of texts.
Genres are seen as constructed by stages, a kind of set pattern (Martin, 2012). A
stage represents an element in a text, for example a topic sentence introducing a
paragraph. Knowing these stages is an important step in learning how to produce
texts of various genres. Different teaching-learning cycles have been developed
within genre-pedagogical contexts, and my PhD study applied an adjusted version
of Feez’s cycle (1999), as elaborated on in Hyland’s (2004) book on Genre and
Second Language Writing. In this cycle, there are five steps included; 1) develop-
ing the context, 2) modelling and deconstructing the text, 3) joint construction of
the text, 4) independent construction of the text, and 5) linking to related texts.
This cycle was applied when analysing the data collected to investigate writing
instruction practices and when developing a teaching intervention to investigate
the effects of a genre-pedagogical approach.

REVIEW
In a review of research about genre as a tool for developing instruction in L1 and
L2 contexts, three different traditions are outlined: a) English for specific pur-
poses, or ESP, b) North American new rhetoric studies, and c) Australian systemic
functional linguistics, on which this study is based (Hyon, 1996). Hyon (1996)
points out that the understandings of genre in the different traditions have different
advantages when applied in the classroom. The advantage of the Australian genre-
pedagogy tradition and ESP is that these types of approaches provide students
with insight into the linguistic features of texts and guidelines for presenting these.
The advantage of the North American new rhetoric approach is that it provides a
fuller perspective on context and function of genres.
In the tradition of teaching English as a second language, there has been an
increased interest in how functional language descriptions may be used as a
resource for making meaning (Schleppegrell, 2013). At Georgetown University in
the United States, Heidi Byrnes has implemented a theoretical approach based on
the concept of genre and SFL to a foreign language writing programme in Ger-
man. Many studies conducted in this programme have reported the effectiveness
of genre-pedagogical approaches in the context of advanced foreign language
learners (Byrnes, Crane, Maxim, & Sprang, 2006; Ryshina-Pankova, 2010).
Byrnes argues that there is a need for a long-term curricular trajectory for
researchers and educators in contexts with advanced language learning, and she
102 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

suggests that the construct of genre may provide a theoretical foundation for this
(Byrnes, 2012).
Much research on how genres are learnt by more advanced L2 learners in col-
lege or university contexts is undertaken in ESP contexts and is focused on pro-
fessional settings (Gimenez, 2008). These studies generally claim that support is
needed to meet writing expectations in different genres in working life. Another
researcher, Swales, is well known for his work with English in academic and
research settings (1990), and he provides a model that is applicable to teaching
more advanced compositions and the teaching of English for Academic Purposes,
drawing on linguistic and sociolinguistic theory. Many studies on genre-based
approaches have focused on how heightened genre-awareness may help learners
to contextualise the genre of their writing (Tardy, 2009). These studies argue that
when students’ genre-awareness increases, this has a positive impact on their writ-
ing ability. This is a central aspect in the type of genre-based approach applied in
the current study, which is conducted in a Norwegian context, an under-repre-
sented context in second language writing research.

METHODOLOGY
My PhD study included a mixed-method design (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009),
divided into three phases, as illustrated in Figure 5.1 below. Phase 1 included tri-
angulation of the qualitative approaches of interviews, classroom observations,
and collection of teaching material. In Phase 2, the English writing instruction
(EWI) questionnaire was developed (Horverak & Haugen, 2016) and distributed
to randomly selected upper secondary schools. Phase 3 included a quasi-experi-
ment with a teaching intervention. It is defined as a quasi-experiment as the stu-
dents were not randomly selected or assigned to conditions, and the study also
lacked a control group (Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002).
Using a mixed-methods approach to investigate how English writing instruc-
tion is carried out in Norwegian upper secondary schools enabled me to analyse
data both at a local level (Phases 1 and 3) and a national level (Phase 2). The qual-
itative data from Phase 1 of the study, which focused on teachers’ perceptions of
writing instruction practices, provided a basis for developing a questionnaire and
collecting quantitative data focused on students’ perceptions in Phase 2. The qual-
itative study also provided a basis for the quasi-experiment investigating how lin-
guistic theory applied through genre-pedagogy may contribute to support students
in developing their writing skills in Phase 3.
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 103

• A qualitative study on teachers' perceptions of writing instruction

1 • Data collection: Interviews + observations + teaching material
• A quantitative study on students' perceptions of writing instruction
2 • Data collection: Survey
• A mixed-methods study on the effect of genre-pedagogy
3 • Data collection: A quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-tests

FIGURE 5.1. Research design: mixed methods, divided into three phases.

SAMPLE
In Phase 1, the informants were contacted via acquaintances in the southern region
of Norway. Nine teachers were interviewed individually and six other teachers
participated in a focus group interview, totalling 15 participating teachers. The
teachers in this study came from 7 different upper secondary schools in total, and
they varied in terms of age, gender, educational background and teaching experi-
ence. In Phase 2, the student sample was collected through a systematic sampling
procedure (Langdridge & Hagger-Johnson, 2013). Schools were chosen at a fixed
interval from a comprehensive list of upper secondary schools in Norway. Fifteen
schools participated in the survey, and this resulted in 522 student respondents
when respondents with missing values were excluded. In Phase 3, four English
teachers with one class each of upper secondary school students participated in the
experiment. This resulted in 83 student participants, about 20 from each class.
Most of them had Norwegian as a first language (91.6%). Their final grades in
written English from lower secondary school ranged from 3 to 6, with the majority
getting the grades 4 and 5. All the participating groups were general studies stu-
dents, which may explain that the participating students generally had rather good
grades in English from lower secondary school.

DATA
In Phase 1, the interview guide used included questions concerning the structuring
of texts, adjusting writing to purpose and situation and the use of various feedback
strategies. The material from the interviews was complemented with notes from
13 observations of writing instruction lessons, three of which included different
types of feedback situations. In addition, teaching material used to teach the five-
104 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

paragraph essay and connectors, and material used for teacher, self- and peer
assessment was collected.
In Phase 2, I developed and used the English writing instruction questionnaire
(EWI), which included two main parts with different categories: 1) EWIT – Eng-
lish writing instruction questionnaire – teaching, and 2) EWIF – English writing
instruction questionnaire – feedback. This questionnaire includes items about the
teaching of narrative and argumentative writing, items about the students’ self-
confidence concerning narrative and argumentative writing, and items concerning
various feedback strategies, such as teachers’ follow up of feedback, students’ fol-
low up of feedback and self- and peer assessment. In the first main part, the five
categories included were: 1) narrative texts, 2) self-confidence and narrative texts,
3) argumentative texts, 4) self-confidence and argumentative texts, and 5) formal-
ity level. In the second part, the four categories included were: 1) teacher’s follow-
up of feedback, 2) working to improve, 3) self-assessment, and 4) peer assess-
ment. In addition, some background variables concerning gender, first language,
and grades obtained were included, as well as questions concerning what types of
texts the students had written and frequency of writing.
In Phase 3, the data consisted of pre- and post-tests. The students were asked to
write a text where they discussed American values and social issues in the Amer-
ican society, and include relevant sources attached to the task. There was an over-
all scoring from 1 (lowest) to 6 (highest) of the tests in accordance with criteria
used in examination evaluation guidelines (UDIR, 2013b). Each of the three main
categories of structure, language, and content, as well as various items in all cate-
gories, were also scored. The evaluation form was divided into three main catego-
ries: structure, language and content. Each of these main categories consisted of 6
or 7 items describing what is included in each category. The category “structure”
included the items: introduction, paragraph division, topic sentence, coherence of
arguments, conclusion and cohesive links such as connectors and pronouns. The
category “language” included the items: spelling, grammar, sentence complexity,
vocabulary, formality level and modality. The category “content” included the
items: appropriateness of the answer in relation to the task, clarity of the topic, rel-
evance, thoroughness, discussion, use of sources and literature list. This evalua-
tion form was based on criteria set in the official censor guidelines (UDIR,
2013b). Three raters evaluated each test, and a one-way random intraclass corre-
lation was computed to check for inter-rater reliability. Furthermore, background
variables were mapped; gender, first language, grades, and self-confidence level.
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 105

TEACHING INTERVENTION
The teaching intervention in the Phase 3 experiment focused on argumentative
writing, or essay writing, and was inspired by genre-pedagogy, or more specifi-
cally, on the teaching-learning cycle as presented by Hyland (2004). Compared
with Hyland’s (2004) cycle, there was more emphasis on teacher instruction than
on co-construction with students in the model applied in the intervention. The fol-
lowing steps were included:

1. Setting the context: The students reflected over what text types exist and pur-
poses of writing.
2. Modelling, revealing key features of genre: The students were presented with
a model text and were instructed in how to construct an essay with introducti-
on, main part and conclusion. The model text was deconstructed by identifying
the different stages of the text, e.g. topic sentences, supporting details, and cri-
tical reflections.
3. Writing preparation and practice: The students worked with relevant texts on
the topic of social issues and values in the USA, such as rap lyrics and political
speeches. They learnt about using sources and referring to sources, and they
practised finding relevant quotes and arguments from texts.
4. Grammar instruction: The students were taught and worked with exercises in
the following grammatical topics: a) cohesive ties: conjunctions, subjunctions,
conjuncts and pronouns, b) modality, c) formal and informal language, d) vo-
cabulary: work with synonyms to create coherence.
5. Independent writing with support from feedback: The students were given the
pre-test with feedback and worked to improve it.
6. Comparing to other genres and contexts: The students investigated differences
between formal and informal texts.

Based on these steps, teaching material was developed and distributed to the par-
ticipating teachers, who applied this in their English classes.

ANALYSIS
In all phases of the study, genre-pedagogy constitutes a framework for the analy-
sis. This means that the analysis was driven by theoretical or analytic interests,
defined as a deductive or a theoretical thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
In Phase 1, the data material was categorised according to various steps of Feez’s
(1999) teaching-learning cycle, as elaborated on in Hyland (2004). I chose this
106 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

model as a framework for the analysis as it reflects ideas presented in official

guidelines relevant for this context. There is a focus on adjusting writing to con-
text in the English subject curriculum, and using feedback in the process of learn-
ing is central in the programme Assessment for Learning that has been imple-
mented in Norwegian schools. Hence, the three steps of the teaching-learning
cycle that influenced the choice of three main themes in the analysis were 1) set-
ting the context, 2) modelling, revealing key features of genre, and 3) independent
writing with support from feedback. The data was analysed, identifying elements
relevant for these three themes. The subthemes under each main theme were
developed through a coding process carried out in Nvivo.2
In Phase 2, the analysis presented the total responses on each score in percent-
ages for all the categories in the survey, which were 1) narrative texts, 2) self-con-
fidence and narrative texts, 3) argumentative texts, 4) self-confidence and argu-
mentative texts, 5) formality level, 6) teacher’s follow-up of feedback, 7) working
to improve, 8) self-assessment, and 9) peer assessment. In addition, medians were
reported to give indications about central tendencies. Medians were reported
instead of means as the data were based on ordinal scales and therefore non-para-
metric.
In Phase 3, the teaching intervention was applied at the beginning of the first
semester for first year upper secondary school students. The students had a pre-
test prior to receiving any English teaching on this level, and after the intervention,
they had a post-test. There was no control group, so in order to measure improve-
ment, the gain from pre- to post-test was measured. Paired t-tests were used to
check whether the students had improved significantly from pre- to post-test.
Cohen’s d was calculated to measure the size of the effect of the teaching inter-
vention. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was performed to see whether
the background factors, i.e. gender, first language, grades or self-confidence-level
may explain some of the variance in the results. The quantitative analysis was
complemented by examples from students’ texts that reflected the development
from pre- to post-test.

RESEARCH RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

There were certain challenges with the reliability and the validity of the findings
in this study. The main limitation in Phases 1 and 2 was that most of the collected
data was self-reported, and in Phase 1, there was a limited sample. As the devel-

2. Nvivo is software widely used within qualitative research to organise and analyse research data.
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 107

opment of the student questionnaire was based on a genre-pedagogical framework

and an interview study carried out in a Norwegian context, there were perhaps ele-
ments relevant in the context of second language writing instruction that were left
out. However, the combination of qualitative and quantitative data strengthened
the validity of the findings. Furthermore, there was a large, random sample in
Phase 2. The main limitation in Phase 3 was the lack of a control group. Still, the
inclusion of both pre- and post-tests made it possible to investigate changes to see
if these reflected topics that were included in the teaching intervention.

RESULTS
My PhD study investigated how English writing instruction is carried out in Nor-
wegian upper secondary schools (Phases 1 and 2) and tested whether applying lin-
guistic theory through a genre-pedagogical approach to teaching writing has a
positive effect on students’ writing competence (Phase 3). In Phase 1, the data
revealed that the teachers generally focused on teaching the students how to write
argumentative texts, or 5-paragraph essays, using model texts and focusing on
adjusting language and structure to genre and context in line with a genre-peda-
gogy approach to the teaching of writing. Many of the teachers gave feedback dur-
ing the writing process, but not all had the capacity to do so, even though they saw
this as the ideal. The findings of the survey conducted in Phase 2 supported these
findings, and revealed that many students are uncertain about their writing com-
petence. The main findings in Phase 3 was that the students benefitted from a
genre-pedagogical approach to teaching writing regardless of gender, first lan-
guage and level.

TEACHERS’ WRITING INSTRUCTION PRACTICES

In Phase 1, I investigated teachers’ perceptions of how writing instruction was car-
ried out, including how they worked with feedback. Data from interviews were tri-
angulated with data from observations and teaching material. I found that the par-
ticipating teachers generally focused on teaching students how to write
argumentative texts, and the students were given the 5-paragraph essay format as
a practical template for an argumentative text to prepare them for the exam and for
higher education. Model texts were used to demonstrate how argumentative texts
are structured. The teachers also included some instruction on using connectors
and adjusting language to the formality level required in the context.
108 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

There were, however, different opinions about how detailed the instruction
should be. The teaching material collected shows that some teachers provided
very detailed instructions about the different elements that were to be included in
each paragraph by deconstructing example texts. Others were sceptical about sup-
plying too detailed instructions as they feared this would restrict the students’ cre-
ativity. As pointed out by one of the teachers: “If you just use a template imita-
tively, then it is never totally wrong, but it might not be brilliant either”. In
opposition to this, another teacher argued: “The problem is that they cannot be cre-
ative and good at this if they do not know what they are to relate to […] they have
to know the basic structure first”.
In terms of feedback, the teachers reported that the typical issues they com-
mented on were how to structure argumentative texts, how to use sources and give
thorough arguments and how to adjust the language to the right formality level.
When it came to feedback strategies, many of the informants in this study reported
that they used a type of process-orientated strategy where the students received
comments on drafts, with a focus on how to adjust the text to genre requirements,
both in terms of language and structure. The observations revealed that students
worked well with revising when this approach was applied. As one of the teachers
argued: “Students become very motivated by receiving help in a process where it
is still possible to get better results”. Another teacher reflected: “Once I have
started working like this, I don’t see that there is any other way of doing it”. Many
teachers also reported that the students were given a grade on a revised version,
and those who did not said that they would have done so if they had sufficient
capacity. The teachers also used self-assessment strategies of various types, but
they expressed that they could develop better practices for this. The teachers were
more sceptical about peer assessment as they worried about how students would
feel if they were asked to show others their written texts. The findings from the
teachers’ interviews and observations were followed up in a student survey.

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF HOW WRITING INSTRUCTION IS CARRIED

OUT
According to the results of the survey, most students had written argumentative
texts in English in upper secondary school, but only about half of the group
reported having written narrative texts. This was in line with the findings of the
teacher interviews. How often students had written exercises as 1) tests at school,
2) home assignments, or 3) homework, varied from several times a month to
never. A majority of the students reported a frequency of at least once every
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 109

semester in all three categories. The main findings based on the data from the first
part of the questionnaire, were that a majority of the students expressed uncer-
tainty about whether they had been taught narrative and argumentative writing,
and about formality levels of language (Table 5.2).

TABLE 5.2. Total scores in percentages, part 1 – Teaching and self-confidence,

Likert scale from 1= totally disagree to 7 = totally agree, N = 522.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Median

Taught NW 18 13 17 22 18 10 3 4

Self-confidence NW 3 4 11 22 31 20 9 5

Taught AW 4 4 11 20 24 21 16 5

Self-confidence AW 1 2 8 19 26 27 18 5

Taught formality level 6 5 14 19 26 18 11 5

Note. As decimal numbers are rounded off, the added sum of the rows does not necessarily equal 100%.
NW = Narrative writing, AW = Argumentative writing, “Taught NW” and “Self-confidence NW” include
four items each, “Taught AW” and “Self-confidence AW” include six items each, “Taught formality level”
includes four items.

The scores were lower on the questions concerning whether they had been taught
narrative writing than in the other two categories of whether they had been taught
argumentative writing and formality level of language. A majority of the students
also expressed little confidence about being able to write both argumentative and
narrative texts. However, they were somewhat more confident that they could
write argumentative texts. According to the students’ responses, feedback strate-
gies varied in English (Table 5.3).

TABLE 5.3. Teacher’s follow-up of feedback, Scale from 1 to 5, N = 522.

Never Seldom Some- Often Always

times

The teacher makes the students 7 21 37 28 8

work with revising

The teachers give new evaluations 40 19 22 15 5

on revised texts

Note. Results are given in percentages. As decimal numbers are rounded off, the added sum of the rows
does not necessarily equal 100%.
110 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The majority of students reported that they never or seldom received new evalua-
tions on revised texts, even though a high percentage reported that the teacher
made them work on revisions. The majority also answered that they agree that
they worked with improving their texts (Table 5.4).

TABLE 5.4. Total scores in percentages, part 2: Feedback, Likert scale from 1=
totally disagree to 7 = totally agree N = 522.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Median

Working to improve 6 7 13 23 25 16 11 5

Self-assessment 3 4 9 22 25 22 17 5

Note. As decimal numbers are rounded off, the added sum of the rows does not necessarily equal 100%.
“Working to improve” includes three items, “Self-assessment” includes four items.

The majority of the students reported that they agreed that they used self-assess-
ment strategies (Table 5.4). Half of the group reported that they had participated
in peer assessment. The findings of this study revealed that feedback strategies
were not fully exploited in English teaching in upper secondary schools in Nor-
way. This confirms the findings in Phase 1 of this study, which investigated teach-
ers’ practices. In Phase 3 of the study, a teaching intervention was developed
based on both genre-pedagogical theory and the findings of the previous phases of
this study.

THE EFFECTS OF A GENRE-PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH TO TEACHING

WRITING
The teaching intervention in the quasi-experiment included a focus on adjusting
language to context, using an appropriate text structure and applying various feed-
back strategies in the writing process. The main findings in this phase of the study
was that the students improved significantly from pre- to post-test in all the three
main categories of structure, language and content (Table 5.5). Their paragraphs
were better structured, and they used sources better to give thorough argumenta-
tion.
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 111

TABLE 5.5. Results of pre- and post-tests and gain from pre- to post-test.

Pre-test Post-test Gain

M(SD) M(SD) M (SD) 95% CI. t E.S

Structure 3.13(0.81) 3.74(0.88) 0.61(0.70)* (0.46 - 0.76) 7.97 .72

Language 3.53(0.78) 3.90(0.81) 0.37(0.58)* (0.24 - 0.50) 5.83 .46

Content 2.87(0.74) 3.66(0.86) 0.80(0.70)* (0.64 - 0.95) 10.41 .99

Total 3.10(0.80) 3.75(0.88) 0.65(0.70)* (0.49 - 0.80) 8.47 .77

Note. Paired sample t-tests, df = 82, *p< .001 (Two-tailed), effect sizes are calculated as Cohen’s d, scale:
1 – 6.

In the category of language, the students improved most in the use of modal
expressions and correct formality level, which were both topics that were focused
on in the teaching intervention. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students
improved regardless of gender, first language and level (Table 5.6).

TABLE 5.6. Prediction of background variables on gain.

β(p)

Gender 10(.44)

First language 13(.29)

Grade, lower secondary 09(.46)

Self-efficacy, pre-test –.32(.02)*

F(df) 2.52(4, 71)

R Square(p-value) .124(.049)*

Note. First language is coded 1 = Norwegian, 2 = others, including English Grade in lower secondary =
grade on written English. β = standardised regression coefficient, *p< .05 (Two-tailed).

In table 5.6, we see that the four variables included in this analysis predicted
12.4% of the variance in the scores (R squared = .124). Hence, the type of genre-
pedagogy applied in the current study supported different types of students in
improving their writing skills. Students improved regardless of gender, first lan-
guage and previous grade in English.
In the qualitative analysis in this study, examples from students’ texts illustrated
how students improved. One of the students started the conclusion in her pre-test
112 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

essay with “My opinion about this is that it is terrible!” In the post-test, the same
student started the conclusion with “To sum up we see that America has many dif-
ferent social issues they need to work on.” The student changed from an informal,
emotional style to a more formal, neutral statement starting with the connector “To
sum up”, indicating a conclusion. A good deal of students used connectors signal-
izing a conclusion, either “To sum up”, or “To conclude”, or connectors signaliz-
ing a contradiction, such as “However”. The examples from student texts comple-
mented the findings of the quantitative analysis in this study.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

Using a mixed-methods approach to investigate how English writing instruction
is carried out in Norwegian upper secondary schools enabled me to analyse data
both at a local and a national level. The qualitative data from Phase 1 of the study,
which focused on teachers’ perceptions of writing instruction practices, provided
a basis for developing a questionnaire and collecting quantitative data focused on
students’ perceptions in Phase 2. The qualitative study also provided a basis for
the quasi-experiment investigating how linguistic theory applied through genre-
pedagogy may contribute towards supporting students in developing their writing
skills in Phase 3.
In the following, I will discuss the empirical, theoretical and methodological
contributions of the PhD study. The main contributions were perhaps in the empir-
ical and methodological domains, as the study presented new insights about Eng-
lish writing instruction practices in a Norwegian context and methodology that
was developed to investigate these. The section on theoretical contributions
describes how the theories of genre-pedagogy and systemic functional linguistics
were applied and adjusted in the context of teaching argumentative writing in Eng-
lish in upper secondary school.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: NEW KNOWLEDGE OF WRITING

INSTRUCTION PRACTICES
First and foremost, my PhD study illustrated how SFL applied through genre-ped-
agogy may provide a useful framework for English writing instruction in L2 con-
texts. The use of SFL to describe and support language development has been
important in language learning research in recent decades (Byrnes et al., 2006;
Christie, 2012; M. Schleppegrell, 2004; M. J. Schleppegrell, 2013). The teaching
intervention in my study did not apply the full framework for language studies
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 113

offered in the SFL tradition, but the focus on modal verbs, formality of language
and cohesive links was influenced by SFL. This was included after the deconstruc-
tion of text in step two of the teaching learning cycle. In this study, I argued that
there is a potential in using meta-language in writing instruction, and applying
strategies from the teaching-learning cycle developed in the genre-pedagogy tra-
dition.
The second contribution of my PhD study was knowledge of students’ percep-
tion of writing instruction practices and their own writing skills. The students per-
ceived argumentative writing to be more in focus than other types of writing in
English. Like the teachers, the students reported differently concerning what prac-
tices were applied. Some students agreed that feedback strategies such as teacher,
peer and self-assessment were applied during the writing process, which is in line
with a genre-pedagogy approach to the teaching of writing (Martin, 2012; Hyland,
2004), whereas some said that they were not. Most of the students expressed an
uncertain attitude as to whether they could write argumentative and narrative
texts.
Third, my PhD study found evidence that teachers used model texts and writing
frames when teaching writing, and that there was a focus on how to structure argu-
mentative texts or five-paragraph essays. Further, the findings revealed that there
was a focus on what elements to include in a text in each paragraph, as in the stag-
ing approach developed within genre-pedagogy (Martin, 2012). Some teachers
also included a focus on how to use connectors to create coherence, how to adjust
language to the correct formality level, and how to express modality. These are
linguistic elements that are relevant in Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014). The study also revealed that feedback practices
varied, e.g. that some teachers used feedback strategies in the writing process
before a final evaluation was given, and some did not. Implementing feedback as
part of a writing instruction process is an important element of the teaching-learn-
ing cycles developed in the genre-pedagogy tradition (Martin, 2012; Hyland,
2004).

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: A SCAFFOLDING WRITING INSTRUCTION

APPROACH
A theoretical contribution of my PhD study concerned the application of a linguis-
tic and genre-pedagogical framework to English writing instruction in a Norwe-
gian educational context. I illustrated how the teaching-learning cycle developed
within the genre-pedagogy tradition includes elements that are applicable to the
114 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Norwegian school system. In line with Byrnes et al. (2006), I argued that the
emphasis on the meaning-making properties of language in SFL, e.g. the focus on
cohesive links and adjusting language to purpose, makes this theory particularly
useful in contexts of language teaching.
Another theoretical contribution of my PhD study was the adjusted model for
teaching argumentative writing outlined in the quasi-experimental study, which I
defined as scaffolding writing instruction. Compared with Feez’s (1999) teaching-
learning cycle as elaborated on by Hyland (2004), the third step, “joint construc-
tion”, was replaced by the two steps “writing preparation and practice” and “gram-
mar instruction”. This step included pre-writing exercises such as studying rele-
vant source texts to include in the writing, instruction in how to use and refer to
sources, and grammar instruction. I would argue that the teaching-learning cycle
model as developed in this study presented a theoretical contribution to linguistics
as it applied linguistic theory in practice, as the grammar instruction was based on
SFL. It also presented a theoretical contribution to didactics as it applied an
adjusted teaching-learning cycle model for teaching argumentative writing.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND A RETURN TO RELIABILITY

AND VALIDITY ISSUES
One of the methodological contributions of this study was to present a mixed-
methods model for investigating teachers’ and students’ perceptions of writing
instruction practices. The first two phases of this study comprised a multilevel
mixed design (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009), with qualitative data among the
teachers and quantitative data among the students. When complementing the
interview study with the survey investigating writing instruction practices from
another perspective, there was some consensus between the findings of the quali-
tative study and the quantitative study. Both studies showed that there is an
emphasis on argumentative writing in upper secondary school, and both showed
that some teachers give feedback to students during the writing process while oth-
ers do not.
A second methodological contribution of this study was the development of the
English writing instruction (EWI) questionnaire. This questionnaire was devel-
oped through a validation process where the survey was tested in several English
groups. A factor analysis was conducted on the results to confirm the categories
in the survey, and Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to check for internal validity
(Horverak & Haugen, 2016). This questionnaire can be adapted and applied in
 5 PHD REVISITED: ENGLISH WRITING INSTRUCTION IN NORWEGIAN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 115

other contexts for writing instruction, and is therefore a methodological contribu-

tion.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

In my PhD study, I urged central educational authorities to consider the need to
prioritise writing in English in schools. With the establishment of the National
Writing Centre in Norway there has been increased focus on writing in Norwegian
schools, but there has not been much focus on writing in English. There is a need
for resources to further educate current English teachers in strategies for writing
instruction and to give room for teachers to apply teaching strategies that have
been proven to be useful, such as formative assessment strategies. There is also a
need to include a more coherent model for writing instruction in the English
teacher education, and this study suggests implementing the genre-pedagogical
approach scaffolding writing instruction presented here in English teacher train-
ing programmes and in further education of English teachers.
Still, I think it is important that teachers keep an open attitude to creativity and
to writing texts in different ways. We do not want students and teachers that follow
templates rigidly without engaging in what they write. I believe that if teachers
have a high competence in how to teach writing, it is possible to combine a scaf-
folding writing instruction approach with an open attitude to students’ individual
voices and creativity. If teachers provide students with a variety of model texts, so
they can see that there are different ways of solving a writing exercise, this may
facilitate creativity and prevent rigidity in English writing instruction.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

There is a need to follow up the findings of this study in future research, for exam-
ple to investigate writing instruction practices from a teacher’s perspective on a
larger scale, and to investigate more in-depth how students perceive these prac-
tices. Furthermore, there is a need for research on how English writing instruction
is carried out at lower levels, as this is scarce in a Norwegian context – for exam-
ple what type of texts are written in lower secondary school to prepare for further
education, and what type of strategies for teaching writing are applied. There is
also a need to investigate what feedback practices are applied in lower secondary
school, and what prevents teachers from applying more varied feedback strategies
in the teaching practices.
116 MAY OLAUG HORVERAK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Future studies should also investigate whether SFL applied through genre-ped-
agogy may result in significant improvement when compared with other
approaches. In this study there was no control group and the only type of students
that participated were first year general studies students. The effects of this type
of approach in other contexts also need to be studied. Finally, to establish the effi-
ciency of a genre-pedagogy approach in the teaching of writing based on SFL,
there is a need to investigate how students exposed to this type of treatment
improve compared to students exposed to other types of treatments.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-07

6
PhD revisited: INGlish English
The progressive construction in learner
narratives 1
STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

ABSTRACT This chapter presents a doctoral study (Wold, 2017) that investigated L1
Norwegian learners’ use of the English progressive aspect (BE + V-ing). While the con-
struction is consistently overused, results indicate that Norwegian learners to some
extent are sensitive to which verb meanings are most compatible with the progressive.
The chapter discusses how such learner usage could be addressed by Norwegian
teachers.

KEYWORDS progressive construction | Aspect Hypothesis | tense and aspect |

learner development

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Wold, 2017) from the University of
Bergen, focusing specifically on its practical implications for the teaching of English in Norway.
The doctoral thesis in its entirety – with theoretical, methodological, and empirical details – can
be found here: http://bora.uib.no/handle/1956/16798

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 119

INTRODUCTION
The study presented in this chapter looked at how L1 Norwegian learners of L2
English use the progressive construction: a form of the auxiliary verb BE + V-ing,
as in The boy is sleeping. This usage is both investigated across age groups (ages
11 and 15), in order to gain a developmental perspective, and in comparison with
same-age native speakers of English, to see how the learners’ usage differs from
target language usage.
There are several reasons for choosing this particular construction. First, several
studies have shown that the -ing ending is among the first grammatical features to
be acquired by both L1 and L2 learners of English (e.g. Brown, 1973; Dulay &
Burt, 1974), which suggests that it is easy to learn and use. However, to be used
as the progressive aspect, the -ing form must be paired with auxiliary BE, which
many learners fail to do. For example, a learner might use only -ing and say The
boy sleeping, rather than The boy is sleeping, with the obligatory auxiliary. One
important part of the study was therefore to find to what extent the use of -ing and
the use of BE are connected in learner language. In other words, at what stage of
development do the learners use the progressive as a construction with both ele-
ments in place? Second, it is a construction that does not exist as an obligatory
grammatical feature in Norwegian. The L2 learners must therefore learn to both
understand and use a grammatical distinction they do not have to pay attention to
in their L1. This study sought to gain insight into how such an understanding
develops. Third, many English teachers have informally observed that L1 Norwe-
gian learners of L2 English overuse the progressive, or at least the -ing form (cf.
Johansson & Lysvåg, 1987, p. 158), who speculate that this may be attributed to
too much emphasis on this form in teaching materials. This overuse had not been
properly investigated before, and similar reports of overuse only seemed to come
from studies involving L1 speakers of Germanic languages (e.g. Axelsson &
Hahn, 2001; Housen, 2002b; Kellerman, 1997). The question was therefore
whether the reported overuse could be found in a systematic study and whether
Norwegian learners’ use of the progressive displayed patterns that could shed light
on their understanding of the construction.
In addition, the study aimed to look at whether Norwegian learners followed the
same path of development as learners with other language backgrounds, or
whether their usage was influenced by their first language. All of this is knowl-
edge that is useful to Norwegian teachers when they guide their pupils in the learn-
ing process: The primary focus of English instruction in Norway is on communi-
cation, and in order to achieve communicative competence, there is a need to
ensure some level of grammatical accuracy.
120 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

In order to gain the desired information, the study asked the following primary
research questions:
How do L1 Norwegian learners of L2 English go from learning the -ing form to learn-
ing the progressive construction? Specifically, how do the usage patterns of L1 Nor-
wegian learners of L2 English develop as compared to those of L1 speakers of English?
To answer these questions, the usage patterns were investigated in terms of form,
frequency, and semantic contexts.

THEORY
According to the theoretical framework called Cognitive Linguistics (see e.g. Croft
& Cruse, 2004; Goldberg, 1995; Langacker, 1987, 1991, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2009;
Radden & Dirven, 2007), all elements of language – including grammar – are mean-
ingful and thus contribute to fulfilling our communicative needs. Grammar is seen
as a set of conceptual tools that we use to convey meaning precisely. However, dif-
ferent languages make use of different grammatical features. As first-language
users, we automatically choose to express meaning in a way that matches the gram-
mar we have at our disposal in our first language. This is what Slobin (1996) calls
thinking for speaking; a form of habitual thought patterns. Such habitual patterns
are difficult to change. Thus, when L2 learners encounter a grammatical construc-
tion they are not familiar with in their L1, they will often first try to adapt its meaning
and use to match an L1 structure, rather than pay attention to different meaning
nuances in L2 usage. This is called the One-to-One Principle (Andersen, 1984).
Another theory that aims to explain the acquisition of verbal coding, and which
this study largely draws on, is the Aspect Hypothesis (see e.g. Bardovi-Harlig,
1999, 2000; Collins, 2002, 2004; Housen, 1995, 2002a, 2002b; Robison, 1990,
1995; Rocca, 2002, 2007; Rohde, 1996; Shirai, 2007; Shirai & Andersen, 1995;
Shirai & Salaberry, 2002). Studies have found that the semantic content, i.e. the
meaning, of the lexical verb (phrase) is associated with certain verb endings. In
most of these studies, researchers distinguish between four semantic categories:

1. Activities: dynamic verb phrases with duration and no clear end point, e.g. run,
talk, breathe
2. Accomplishments: dynamic verb phrases with duration and a natural end point,
e.g. eat an apple, fall down, paint a picture
3. Achievements: dynamic verb phrases with little or no duration, e.g. notice, die,
stop
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 121

4. States: stative verb phrases with duration and no natural end point, e.g. love,
exist, know

The Aspect Hypothesis (AH) is based on the trend shown in several studies that both
L1 and L2 learners distinguish clearly between these categories – collectively termed
lexical aspect – in their initial distribution of verbal coding2. The hypothesis is artic-
ulated as follows by Shirai & Andersen (1995) and applies to L2 learners as well:

1. Children first use past (or perfective) marking predominantly with achieve-
ment and accomplishment verbs, eventually extending their use to activity
and finally to stative verbs.
2. In languages that have progressive aspect, children first use progressive
marking mostly with activity verbs, then extending it to accomplishment
and achievement verbs.
3. Children do not incorrectly overextend progressive markings to stative verbs.
(1995, p. 745)

In light of this hypothesis, the present study aimed to investigate the distribution of
progressives by lexical aspect, to see if any overuse was random and systematic.
The early stages of the learners’ use of an unfamiliar structure are part of their
developing interlanguage (Selinker, 1972), which is a functioning language sys-
tem distinct from both the L1 and the L2. Learners go through various stages of
interlanguage on their path towards an L1-like use of the target language – which
they may or may not ever reach. In most cases they do not, however, and it is
important to recognize that each learner has an idiosyncratic language system that
is not just a flawed version of the target language; it is therefore worthy of study
in its own right, in order to find out which patterns emerge and at what stage. Not
least, it is useful to know whether the patterns are particular to individual learners
or representative of entire learner groups. In the latter case, teachers may make use
of such insights to tailor their instruction to the learners’ needs.

REVIEW
While one must not lose sight of the fact that learner language is a large system, it
is beyond the scope of any study to outline the full system of any learner group.

2. I use the term “verbal coding” to encompass both morphological endings and periphrastic con-
structions. The progressive is in fact an example of both, with its auxiliary BE and -ing ending.
122 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The present study is limited to the systematic use of English verbal coding in
learner texts, centered on the progressive construction. Many have already looked
at how such verbal coding is acquired and tried to find reasons for the patterns that
emerge. As mentioned in the introduction, the -ing form is among the first that
learners use productively. Goldschneider and DeKeyser (2005) suggest that stable
and phonologically salient, or noticeable, forms such as -ing are learned earlier
than forms that are variable and often phonologically reduced. This would also
account for the fact that auxiliary BE – which has forms such as am, is, are, was,
were, etc. – is more difficult to handle, and learned later.
The most relevant findings for the purposes of this study were those investigat-
ing the Aspect Hypothesis. To my knowledge, all AH studies have revealed the
same trends: that learners overwhelmingly prefer to use the progressive with activ-
ity verbs, such as run, eat, work. They also find that prototypical3 state verbs such
as be, love, need are not used with the progressive in learner language. However,
some studies have also shown differences on a more detailed level. Rohde (1996)
for example, registered unexpected use of achievement progressives, with verbs
such as find and win, and Rocca (2002, 2007) found that L1 Italian learners of Eng-
lish used the progressive in ways that could be linked to the Italian imperfective
aspect. Therefore another aim was to see whether Norwegian learners differed from
English L2 learners with other L1s. Any such information on Norwegian learner
usage would inform teachers on what type of learner behavior and development to
expect, and consequently help them adapt their teaching to learners’ needs.
Housen (2002b) also found that the initial use of the progressive was often as a
default verb form, rather than as a clear expression of tense/aspect meaning.
Housen calls this stage pre-functional (2002b, p. 156). As Norwegian does not
have a grammatical form corresponding to the English progressive, it is not
unlikely that learners initially perceive -ing as a tense form instead.
Related to the Aspect Hypothesis is the discourse hypothesis (Bardovi-Harlig,
1998), which assigns the progressive a backgrounding, descriptive role in narra-
tives, whereas the simple tense is used to present sequential events and drive the
narrative forward. We also find that the progressive is used with different frequen-
cies in different genres, and more often in spoken than in written text (see e.g.
Smith, 2002). With a focus on oral communication in the first years of learning
English in Norwegian schools, oral-language conventions may be carried over to
written texts before appropriate genre awareness is developed.

3. Prototypical examples of a category are the ones that best fit its definition; others may partly fit
the criteria of several categories and therefore be harder to place, e.g. agree or remember in the
case of states.
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 123

METHODOLOGY
In order to gain information about learner usage and development of the English
progressive aspect, formally expressed as the construction BE + V-ing, over time,
the project was designed as a quasilongitudinal, or apparent time, study. Although
the primary focus was on Norwegian learners, it was the aim of this investigation
to add to the knowledge of both L1 and L2 development as regards this construc-
tion, so L1 usage was also investigated.

SAMPLE
Learner data was selected from two different age groups, which were sufficiently
similar to extrapolate to a learner group’s linguistic development from one point in
time to another. Their usage was compared to that of same-age L1 speakers. Data was
collected from 165 informants. Of these, 89 were L1 Norwegian learners of L2 Eng-
lish; 45 from the 6th grade (age 10 or 11) and 44 from late 10th grade or early 11th
grade (age 15 or 16). The remaining 76 were L1 speakers of English from the United
States; 38 aged 10 or 11, and 38 aged 14–16. All informant groups were gender bal-
anced. In the Norwegian groups, there were only informants who reported that Nor-
wegian (and to a limited degree English) was their only language used outside school,
as well as parents’/guardians’ first language. Similarly, in the L1 English groups,
there were only informants who stated that they, as well as their closest relations,
were monolingual speakers of English. This was to ensure that the use of other lan-
guages would not influence the results of the study, as all language knowledge may
lead to cross-linguistic influence (cf. Jarvis & Pavlenko, 2008). The informants that
listed influence from other languages than L1/L2 English or L1 Norwegian, or exten-
sive use of L2 English outside school, were not included in the study.

RESEARCH DESIGN
In this study, written material was chosen as the object of study and the texts were
limited to the narrative genre. For the purpose of comparison, the study relied on a
method used in several previous studies of learner language (e.g. Berman & Slobin,
1987; Cadierno, 2004): the elicitation of “frog stories”, based on the picture book
Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969). All the informants were asked to write their
narratives based on the pictures in the same picture book. In addition to easy com-
parison with other studies, this would ensure similar stories and vocabulary, so dif-
ferences in use of the progressive could not be attributed to great variations in genre
or lexicon. Figure 6.1 below shows an excerpt from the book; pictures 18 and 19.
124 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FIGURE 6.1. Pictures 17 and 18 of Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969).

The data was collected by means of a website specifically designed for this pur-
pose by AKSIS4. It consisted of three parts: First, an introduction with instructions
on to how to proceed. Among other things, the informants were asked to look at
all the pictures of the story before starting to write, not to worry about spelling,
and to ask their teacher for vocabulary items (dictionaries were not allowed). To
ensure understanding, the instructions were given in Norwegian for the Norwe-
gian L2 learners. A parallel site in English was designed for the L1 informants,
with slightly different instructions, reflecting their monolingual backgrounds. The
second part was a page where they filled in background information, including
language background. The third part was a page with a text window, miniatures of
all the pictures in the story, and a larger, single picture which would come up as
any of the miniatures were clicked on; this would be the one they were writing
about at any given time. When the story was written, each informant would click
on “send” and the story and background data would reach AKSIS immediately.
The stories were subsequently sorted according to the background variables: age,
gender, and language background. Some of the written texts were also removed due
to, among other things, lack of background information, technical problems, or
problems with the test conditions. Of the total, 165 met the criteria for the study.
These texts gave a total word count of 55 706. On average, texts written by Norwe-
gian 11-year-olds counted 210 words, whereas texts written by same-age Ameri-
cans averaged 370 words. As for the 15-year-olds, the word count gap was much
smaller: the Norwegian average was 380 and the American one 408.

4. A University-owned research company, which specializes in language technology. See http://

www.aksis.uib.no/ I am infinitely grateful to Knut Hofland for all his input and technical
support.
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 125

ANALYSIS
The study distinguished between extralinguistic variables, which were used to
group learners and interpret variation in light of learner backgrounds, and linguis-
tic variables, which were used to account for systematic differences based on the
interplay between language structures. In addition to the factors age, gender and
L1, the texts written by the Norwegian informants were grouped according to pro-
ficiency level by experienced assessors who work on producing the national tests
in English. The levels used were the ones defined by the Council of Europe
(2001). The written learner texts ranged from the lowest level (A1) to upper inter-
mediate (B2); the latter only one text. The majority were at levels A2 or B1.
As for the linguistic variables, all verb phrases were extracted and marked for
both verbal coding and lexical aspect in an Excel spread sheet. The main variable,
the dependent one, was called PROGRESSIVE and referred to whether or not the
verb phrase was a progressive construction: the variants were labeled 1) PROG,
which included all instances of the -ing form in contexts where one would expect
a finite verb, whether or not auxiliary BE was used, and 2) NON, which included
all other verb phrases in the same type of context. In this way, all finite verb
phrases were included, whether or not verbal coding was attempted.
The other linguistic variables, the independent ones, which were thought to
influence the distribution of the variants of PROGRESSIVE, were, first, TENSE,
which included the variants PAST, PRESENT, and BASE – the latter was used for
instances with no overt tense marking where this was required (3rd person singu-
lar), as the least proficient learners often have not learned to use tense forms
appropriately. The second independent variable was LEXICAL ASPECT (cf. the
review section), with the variants ACT (activity), ACC (accomplishment), ACH
(achievement), and STA (state). A third variable, ING, was also included, as the
initial search for progressives in the data set revealed that a large number of -ing
forms were used in other constructions than the progressive. These instances were
counted and labeled ING, and the question was whether there was any correlation
between the number of ING and the number of progressives in a text.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
The bulk of the analysis was carried out by means of descriptive statistics, pre-
sented by means of tables, charts and diagrams. The descriptive analysis was sup-
ported by a test of statistical significance, by means of a multivariate regression
analysis. This is a statistical analysis with the great advantage that the effect of
126 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

several different variables can be compared and measured. It is then possible to

single out the factors that have the most impact on the dependent variable.

RESULTS
The total number of finite verb phrase tokens in the data set, all groups included,
was 6891. Of these, around 80% were in the nonprogressive and around 20% in
the progressive. However, the progressives were far from evenly distributed
among the groups, as seen in table 6.1 below.

TABLE 6.1. Distribution of finite verb forms: All informant groups; group scores.

NON PROG Total N NON PROG Total N

N (%) N (%) N (100%) N (%) N (%) N (100%)

N 2384 (72.8) 891 (27.2) 3275 NS 3071 (84.9) 545 (15.1) 3616

11 804 (61.7) 499 (38.3) 1303 11 1475 (84.2) 277 (15.8) 1752

Boys 327 (57.5) 242 (42.5) 569 Boys 544 (79.5) 140 (20.5) 684

Girls 477 (65.0) 257 (35.0) 734 Girls 931 (87.2) 137 (12.8) 1068

15 1580 (80.1) 392 (19.9) 1972 15 1596 (85.6) 268 (14.4) 1864

Boys 769 (84.2) 144 (15.8) 913 Boys 763 (83.5) 151 (16.5) 914

Girls 811 (76.6) 248 (23.4) 1059 Girls 833 (87.7) 117 (12.3) 950

The rows in the table show results for both Norwegian (N: left) and native-speaker (NS: right) informants
in both raw numbers and percentages; each divided first into age groups and then gender. The columns
show numbers and percentages for the nonprogressive (NON) and the progressive (PROG).

With a 27% group score, the Norwegian informants’ use of progressives was 12
percentage points higher than that of the native speakers (15%). The initial obser-
vation was therefore that these Norwegian learners clearly overuse the progressive
compared to their L1 peers. In addition, there were clear age differences within the
Norwegian group of informants: The progressive was used twice as frequently in
the youngest group as in the oldest one (38% vs. 20%). And while the 15-year-
olds displayed usage that was closer in frequency to the American groups (both
around 15%), it was still around five percentage points higher than these, where
the age difference was minimal. At this stage, the L2 Norwegian overuse seemed
confirmed. There were also gender differences that were hard to explain, as boys
used the progressive more than girls, except in the group of Norwegian 15-year-
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 127

olds. However, these differences were later found not to be statistically signifi-
cant, which means that they are most likely due to random selection.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
While group scores can reveal important tendencies, it is also useful to know
whether individual learners typically display the same type of behavior or have
different approaches to learning a grammatical structure; as noted in the theory
section, grammatical structures are seen as conceptual tools, and as language
learners we try to match structures and concepts. In an L2 context, the concepts
may be either existing ones from L1 or new ones we try to understand in the L2.
Similar behavior might therefore be an indication that the L1 background influ-
ences the understanding and use of an L2 item (see e.g. Jarvis, 2000).
Individual differences were considered in light of L1, age and proficiency level;
gender is not included here, due to lack of statistical significance. The box plots
in figure 6.2 below show differences between proficiency levels, as well as
between L1 and L2, in both age groups. The L1 groups are labeled “Ø” for “zero
level”. We see that there was a great spread in the frequencies of the progressive
in the L2 texts.

FIGURE 6.2. Distribution of grammatical aspect in percentages: all ages and proficiency
levels. The horizontal line in each box shows the median.
The native-speaker groups are labeled “Ø” for “zero level” and the B1/B2 group is labeled “B”.

The informants at the lowest proficiency level, A1, had roughly the same median
(the black lines in the middle of the plots) as the same-age learners at level A2
(around 45%), but the box shows a greater concentration around the median in the
128 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

latter group. These groups had an even spread from zero use of the progressive to
close to 90%; such results indicated that the learners did not have a common
understanding of the use of the progressive. By comparison, the older learners at
level A2 had both a lower median (34%) and a more even spread in the lower fre-
quencies. The greatest contrast, however, was between levels A2 and B5 – the lat-
ter with only a 10% median; in terms of frequency alone, this learner group was
virtually indistinguishable from the native speakers. The B-level learners and the
native speakers had frequencies mostly concentrated around the median, as seen
by the smaller boxes – this behavior indicated a shared understanding of the pro-
gressive within the groups that was not seen in the low-proficiency L2 groups.
This is the first indication that overall proficiency is necessary to understand the
use of the progressive (at least in terms of frequency); learning about the form in
isolation does not enable the learners to use the construction appropriately in a
text. This seems to require both practice and comprehension.

TENSE
One of the hypotheses of the study was that the use of the progressive would cor-
relate with tense forms; the progressive would mainly be used with a present tense
inflection of auxiliary BE, e.g. He is running, or with no auxiliary at all, e.g. He
running, and only rarely in the past tense, e.g. He was running. As seen in figure
6.3 below, this turned out to be the case in all groups – the L2 proficiency groups
and the American age groups (NS11 and NS15) – and particularly in the least pro-
ficient ones.
The bar chart shows the percentage of progressives, out of the total number of
tokens in each of the tense categories, in each group. We see that the ratio of past
progressives was consistently low6, and while the use of progressives was gener-
ally lower in the more proficient groups, it was clearly more used with the present
tense or without the auxiliary. A striking result is that at age 15, the L2 learners at
the B level had results that resembled those of same-age native speakers (NS15)
in this respect as well.

5. As there was only one text assessed to be at level B2, it was grouped with the B1 texts and all
just called B.
6. The results for the A1 group are skewed by one text consistently in the past tense; the others
hardly used past tense forms.
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 129

Per cent progressive of tense forms

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
A1 A2 11 A2 15 B NS11 NS15

present past base

FIGURE 6.3. Percent progressives of each tense form: present, past, and base (= no tense
marking).

In addition to percentages of each tense category, the study showed that -ing was
by far the most used form of verbal coding at the lowest proficiency levels. At
level A1, in particular, the past tense was hardly used and base forms were almost
twice as frequent as the present tense. In other words, the study revealed that the
youngest and least proficient L2 learners very often used aspect, i.e. the -ing form,
instead of, rather than in addition to, tense forms7. An example is given in (1)
below (verb phrases in bold):

1 The ole coms after the boy and he running opp to the wook and hold he in
the stic and say “help help!”, And he looft my upp in the air and running to
the stuups (Norwegian 11-year-old)

In this short passage, only one verb (coms) is marked for tense. The others are
either not coded at all or marked with the -ing ending, which here clearly functions
as a finite verb. With both age and proficiency, correct tense coding – both past
and present – is used more and more consistently, both in the progressive and in
the nonprogressive. At the same time, the frequency of the progressive goes down,
and is similar to native-speaker frequencies at the B level. It should be noted here

7. Note, however, that this is a formal interpretation, which does not necessarily tell us anything
about how the learners understand the meaning of these forms.
130 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

that level B1 is not particularly high; there are still many errors in the texts. How-
ever, they seem to be characterized by an overall mastery of the English verbal
system.

LEXICAL ASPECT
The next variable that was predicted to influence the choice of verb form was lex-
ical aspect; the idea that learners perceive verbal coding as connected to the lexical
meaning of the verb phrase. Numerous studies have shown that this is the case,
and the learners in this study largely followed the same pattern, particularly with
the preference for activity verb phrases with the progressive (or bare -ing form).
For this variable, it was hypothesized that both the L1 and L2 informants would
show results in line with the Aspect Hypothesis, as outlined in the theory section
above. In particular, it was predicted that progressives would mainly be used with
activity verb phrases (ACT) such as run, eat, look.

Per cent progressives of lexical aspect

80%
70%
60%
50% ACT

40% ACC

30% ACH

20% STA

10%
0%
A1 A2 11 A2 15 B NS11 NS15

FIGURE 6.4. Percent progressives of each lexical aspect category (activities, accomplish-
ments, achievements and states) in each of the groups: CEFR levels A1, A2 (split into ages
11 and 15) and B (B1 and B2 grouped together), as well as native speakers (NS) in both age
groups.

Figure 6.4 above shows that the Aspect Hypothesis was supported by the results
from this study; all groups used progressives to a much larger extent with ACT
than with any of the other categories. An example is seen in (2) below:
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 131

2 the owl flying over the boy (Norwegian 11-year-old).

However, the Aspect Hypothesis predicted an increase of use in the other catego-
ries with greater proficiency, and also that low-proficiency learners would not use
state progressives at all. To the contrary, the ratio of progressives went down with
proficiency in all the categories, and the preference for progressives with activities
was clearer in the most proficient groups. However, the learners in the study also
used the progressive in contexts where it was not predicted to occur; while
achievement progressives are certainly possible in English, they are less likely,
and were often used unidiomatically in this study, as in (3) below:

3 a boy finding a dog in the water. (Norwegian 11-year-old)

Moreover, the Aspect Hypothesis claims that learners do not overextend the pro-
gressive to state verb phrases (Shirai & Andersen, 1995, p. 745), but several coun-
terexamples were found in this study, as in (4) and (5) below:

4 The boy is having a frog in a box on the floor. (Norwegian 15-year-old)

5 The [frog] is liking the other frog. (Norwegian 11-year-old)

Even if the hypothesis is restricted to only prototypical states, as Housen (2002b,

p. 165) thinks it should, these examples were in violation of the hypothesis. In
addition, the clearest distinctions between the lexical aspect categories were found
in the native-speaker and B-level groups, who were the most proficient ones over-
all. These findings further support the suggestion that the progressive and -ing
may first be seen as a tense form, or at least as a very generalized verbal marker.
On the other hand, all groups showed results that were broadly in line with the
Aspect Hypothesis, indicating that there are several factors at play. Not least, the
statistical tests revealed that learners who had the highest frequencies of the pro-
gressive also had the highest frequencies of activity verb phrases in their texts.
These verb phrases are often intransitive (e.g. the boy running) and lack the com-
plexity often found in accomplishments or achievements, which often describe an
end point in some detail, e.g. But dei was runing awey from the bis. (level A1);
The boy climb upp of the wather with has dog. (level A2). Among several reasons
why the progressive is overused, we may therefore add that the progressive is
more compatible with less complex language. Overall, these results indicated a
more indiscriminate overuse of the progressive in the earlier stages of learning.
132 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Once again, however, we may note that the B-level learners group with the native
speakers rather than with the other L2 learners.

THE -ING FORM (ING)

Finally, the study looked at the extent to which the -ing form was used in other
functions than as a finite verb (with or without auxiliary BE). An example of such
a function is found in (6) below, in an adverbial clause:

6 But on the way up, a big owl hit’s him while flying. (Norwegian 15-year-old)

TABLE 6.2. Use of non-finite ING by nationality, age, and proficiency level.

Level Total N Mean Range

N11 A1 0/12 – –

A2 10 8/33 1,25 1–3

B1 3 1/1 – 3

N15 A1 0/1 – –

A2 27 12/18 2,25 1–5

B1 170 24/24 7,1 1–26

B2 10 1/1 – 10

NS11 – 233 34/38 6,9 1–28

NS15 – 207 37/38 5,6 1–19

While there was no correlation – positive or negative – between the frequency of

the progressive and the frequency of -ing in non-finite contexts, it was clear that
the use of ING increased with both age and proficiency, as seen in table 6.2 above.
The development of ING was also parallel to the increased use of tense forms. It
seems that when the progressive is more firmly established as a construction, BE
+ V-ing, (e.g. The boy is looking at a frog) rather than -ing seen as a finite form in
its own right (e.g. The boy looking at a frog), the learners realize more and more
that the form can have other uses as well. Or it may be the other way round; that
the more they come across -ing in other contexts, the more they realize that aux-
iliary BE is necessary to form the progressive. This point merits more research,
but the findings from this study indicate that the development of tense forms and
ING is connected. Either way, it was evident that L2 learners at level B mastered
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 133

the use of tense, aspect and ING, to a far greater extent than the less proficient
learners. At levels A1 there was little use of tense and no use of ING, while we saw
a larger proportion of both of these features at level A2, and more so in 15-year-
olds than in 11-year-olds.

STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
While descriptive statistics gave revealing results, statistical tests were necessary
to find whether the correlations were random or likely to be due to influence from
the independent variables. The multivariate regression analyses showed that gen-
der was not a statistically significant factor (p = .734), but age and L1 background
clearly distinguished the informants’ frequency of the progressive (p = .000).
However, this was only before the linguistic variables were considered: when all
the variables were added, the only factor that reliably predicted use of the progres-
sive was presence of activity verb phrases in a text (p = .000). With an effect size
of .461, this variable accounts for 46% of the variation in the use of the progres-
sive, and thus has great explanatory power. The only other factor that contributed
greatly was proficiency level: A separate multivariate regression analysis showed
that proficiency level accounted for around 27% of the variation in the use of the
progressive. Moreover, the greatest distinction was between levels A1 and A2 on
the one hand, and level B and native speakers on the other; these results were all
highly significant (p = .000). In other words, when Norwegian learners reach a
certain general level of English, overuse of the progressive no longer seems to be
any reason for concern.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

In the doctoral project presented in this chapter, learner data was analyzed in order
to gain an understanding of how Norwegian L2 learners develop a verbal system
in the target language, English, with the progressive construction as a focal point.
In addition to the background variables L1, age, gender and proficiency level, the
use of the progressive aspect was seen in light of the learners’ use of tense, lexical
aspect and the use of -ing in other constructions. This section discusses the empir-
ical, methodological and theoretical contributions of the study, and how findings
from the project may inform pedagogical practice in Norwegian schools.
134 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The results presented above showed that the L2 learners in the study overused the
progressive considerably compared to the same-age L1 users; the study thus con-
firmed the claim made in Johansson and Lysvåg (1987, p. 158). However, the
overuse is far from static. The proportion of progressives (or bare -ing forms, as
is often the case) goes down somewhat with age, but the greatest difference is
between proficiency levels A2 and B1: In terms of frequency alone, the latter
group performed on roughly the same level as the native speakers. In addition, the
study saw a correlation between the learners’ use of the progressive and their use
of tense and lexical aspect. A parallel development was also shown between the
mastery of the progressive construction and the use of -ing in other contexts. In all
these respects, the Norwegian learners’ usage was similar to that of native speak-
ers, once they reached CEFR proficiency level B1 or higher.
While the L1 speakers’ (and the B-level learners’) frequency of the progressive
was lower than that of the low-proficiency L2 learners, it was still higher than in
most large adult corpora known to the present author (see e.g. Biber, Johansson,
Leech, Conrad, & Finegan, 1999, p. 460ff; Smith, 2002). However, this may be due
to the nature of the task, as the frequencies resembled those found in adult native-
speaker Frog stories (Berman & Slobin, 1994, p. 138). In fact, it is also worth men-
tioning that the youngest L2 learners in this study had frequencies of the progres-
sive that matched those of native-speaker three-year-olds (ibid.). This finding at
least superficially indicated a similar development of this construction in Norwe-
gian learners as in American native speakers. Indeed, when Norwegian learners
reach a certain level (B1 or higher) their use of the progressive is similar to that of
native speakers and seems to be connected with overall good writing skills.
The development found in the study presented here is similar to that found in
other studies of both native-speaker and L2-learner language, where the -ing form
is among the first forms acquired, before past or present tense inflections, or aux-
iliary BE. This indicates a natural process that learners go through, with initial use
of -ing before other forms of verbal coding are added and balance out the frequen-
cies. Moreover, since Norwegian is a tensed language, it is possible that -ing is
first seen as a tense form rather than as part of a grammatical construction that
expresses aspectual meaning.
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 135

METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

While the use of the progressive has already been studied in many different learner
groups, as well as in light of the Aspect Hypothesis, the most important method-
ological contribution of this study is its thorough use of complex statistical anal-
ysis. A range of linguistic and extralinguistic factors that could potentially influ-
ence the use of the progressive were selected, and through a multiple regression
analysis, it was found which ones had the greatest explanatory power: The fre-
quency of the progressive was most strongly correlated with the frequency of
activity verb phrases – more so than with the informants’ status as first or second
language speaker. This method is an improvement over previous studies that have
looked at such factors separately or not applied statistical significance tests at all.
As for theoretical contributions, the study found that while a positive correla-
tion between activities and the progressive was confirmed, there is no indication
that learners avoid state progressives (e.g. He is liking it.) entirely: such a negative
correlation was not statistically significant. In addition, this is, to my knowledge,
the first study to thoroughly distinguish between the progressive and other uses of
the -ing form and to trace the connection between such uses and their developmen-
tal stages. Teachers should be aware of the difference between the various con-
structions and expect other uses of the -ing form only after learners master the full
progressive construction, BE + -ing.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH AS L2

When teaching English verb forms, it is useful for Norwegian teachers to know
how learner language develops compared to native-speaker usage. The doctoral
study presented here provides useful information in that respect and may also
guide teachers in choosing which elements to emphasize. One thing that is evident
is that the learners were far from reluctant to use the progressive/-ing – quite the
contrary. The challenge for teachers is rather to help their learners automatize the
appropriate use of other verb forms, especially when they produce written texts.
This transition can be difficult for learners, as the emphasis is on oral language in
the first years of training and writing receives more focus later on. In particular, it
should be emphasized that the simple tense is more used in both narratives and
factual texts, whereas the progressive rather belongs to oral language.
The implication of all this is that -ing alone is not a form that needs extensive
focus and practice; instead, learners could practice tense forms more and be made
aware that -ing needs auxiliary BE to express tense in the progressive construc-
tion.
136 STEPHANIE HAZEL WOLD | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

While teachers may choose to practice verb forms based on what learners typi-
cally struggle with, it must also be emphasized that the learners in the present
study seemingly followed a path of development common to both L1 and L2
learners. The consequence of this finding is that teachers should not expect learn-
ers to master one stage before the previous one. If they initially use the -ing form
without the auxiliary, this should be seen as a step of development, rather than a
great mistake. At this stage the teacher may intervene to speed up the process and
focus on the use of auxiliary BE. One way to do this might be to have the learners
ask and answer yes-no questions based on situations they see in pictures or film
clips and stress that they should use BE, for example Is the boy eating? – No, he
is not eating, he is running. As for the all-too-frequent use of the progressive, this
ought not to be a focus in itself, as frequencies seem to go down when learners
increase their overall proficiency, including the mastery of other verbal coding.
Another important factor is lexical aspect – the meaning of the verb phrases
used with the progressive: Until learners have learned to use more accomplish-
ment and achievement verb phrases, it is likely that they will continue to overuse
the progressive. These verb phrase types are often combined with the sort of com-
plex contexts – including past time expression – that low-proficiency learners are
unlikely to master, whereas typical activity phrases express more simple and
immediate actions. Teachers may therefore want to help their learners produce
more complex sentences, with clause elements that describe goals, directions, cir-
cumstances, etc., as well as more vocabulary. In short, until other elements con-
nected to the complex English verbal system are mastered, the progressive (or just
-ing) is likely to be the default form, as it is salient, stable, and easy to use. This
means that part of the role of the teacher could be to promote genre awareness,
rather than just focus on grammatical forms in isolation.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Although the study presented in this chapter has provided some answers to the
issues it sought to explore, other questions have been raised during the process and
given cause for further investigation. We have seen that these Norwegian L2
learners at the beginning of their 6th year of schooling were well aware of the -ing
form and used it freely in what may or may not be understood as a progressive
construction (with or without auxiliary BE). First, what we have not learned is
exactly when this form first emerged and in which contexts, and the development
was not traced in individual learners. Second, information about the type and
amount of L2 input, inside the classroom and out, was not available. The role of
 6 PHD REVISITED: INGLISH ENGLISH 137

the learning context was thus one of the missing parts of the puzzle. An answer to
such questions calls for a true longitudinal study where learner production, both
written and oral, is collected regularly, along with information about teaching
materials and the learners’ access to English outside the classroom. Such informa-
tion could fruitfully include the types of lexical verbs used with the various verb
constructions in the material, both written and spoken, to which learners are
exposed. This could provide explanations as to how and why learners at the same
age and with the same amount of schooling arrive at different levels of profi-
ciency, particularly in a group such as N15, where the difference between the pro-
ficiency groups was so great in the construction investigated in this study.
There was also quite a large gap between the two age groups in this study, in
which time the use of -ing in other constructions than the progressive went from
minimal to widespread. A longitudinal study would be able to pinpoint the stage
where non-finite uses of -ing emerge in individual learners.
The suggestion that -ing is initially seen as a tense form should also be explored
further. This study did not compare the learners’ L1 and L2 production, but in sub-
sequent studies, Norwegian learners’ use of tense should also be investigated in
texts written in their L1. This would reveal whether their narratives rely on the
present tense in Norwegian as well, or if their L2 performance is merely a conse-
quence of a lack of formal mastery of all parts of the English verbal system.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-08

7
PhD revisited: The teacher as
interface
Teachers of EFL in ICT-rich environments:
Beliefs, practices, appropriation 1
ANDREAS LUND
University of Oslo

ABSTRACT This chapter summarizes a doctoral study (Lund, 2003) that investigated
teachers of English in Norwegian Senior High schools and their use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT). The aim was to examine how teachers perceive the
impact of ICT on their school subject, how they practiced in technology-rich environ-
ments, and how they appropriated ICTs to transform and expand their practices. The
conceptual framework and theoretical perspective guiding the analysis were drawn from
sociocultural perspectives and especially Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. The chapter
discusses current and future issues related to teaching English in technology-rich and
networked environments.

KEYWORDS English teaching | information and communication technologies |

Cultural-Historical Activity Theory | transformation

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Lund, 2003) from the University of
Oslo, focusing specifically on practical implications for teaching English in digital and networ-
ked contexts. The doctoral thesis in its entirety – with theoretical, methodological and empirical
details – can be found here: https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/32284

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 141

INTRODUCTION
Teachers’ encounters with ICT and how they integrate ICTs in their work consti-
tute a complex phenomenon. In the present study, two main research approaches
were chosen. The study aimed in part to capture teachers’ socially and culturally
constructed beliefs about and attitudes to ICT. How they experienced an ambitious
course linking the teaching of English and ICT was researched through a survey.
In addition, the study aimed to capture aspects of teachers’ educational practices
in ICT-rich environments, and how they practiced was researched using an ethno-
graphic approach.
The rationale for the study was that education should prepare learners for life
and work in the immediate and more distant future, not just serve a curriculum.
Digital technologies as introduced and used productively by teachers will play a
crucial role in such an endeavor; consequently, there is a need to develop insights
as to how the interplay between teachers, learners, and technologies affects life in
the classroom. The doctoral study presented here argued that teachers’ encounters
with and integration of technologies, their appropriation of them, had been an
under-researched phenomenon. Appropriation involves making something that
originally existed in other people’s contexts your own and on your own terms,
instilling it with your own intentions – in this case as a teacher (Bakhtin, 1979/
2000; Wertsch, 1998). Thus, appropriation also involves change – transformation
– in humans as well as in contextual factors, and these transformations are found
at individual, collective and institutional levels.
In the doctoral study, teachers’ appropriation processes were observed where
three strands intersected: the school subject (EFL2), digital technologies (ICT),
and didactics. These composite and mutually constitutive fields had not yet
become an established academic domain. However, as ICT continued to make an
impact on diverse school subjects it was assumed that the intersection of school
subject, technologies and didactics would become an interesting area for research.
It was where the three fields converged – not primarily to the separate fields – that
this study intended to make a contribution.
The issues outlined above raised some challenging research questions about the
instrumental use and the far more demanding appropriation of digital artifacts.
Consequently, the overarching research question was formulated as follows:

In what ways are ICTs appropriated in the EFL classroom?

2. Since the publication of this thesis, EFL has become an obsolete term, but is kept throughout the
chapter in order to stay true to the original text and with the original connotations of the term.
142 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The aim was to see teachers’ encounters in an interactive perspective where teach-
ers, learners, technological artifacts, and environments constituted an information
ecology, “a system of people, practices, values, and technologies in a particular
environment. In information ecologies, the spotlight is not on technology, but on
human activities that are served by technologies” (Nardi & O’Day, 1999:49). Con-
sequently, three supporting questions were posed:

1. What are some of the beliefs and attitudes of teachers of English who encoun-
ter ICTs in their profession?
2. What kind of educational practices emerge when teachers of English integrate
ICTs in their classes?
3. Under what conditions do we see innovative practices emerge?

The immediate purpose of this study was to increase our insight in and under-
standing of what it means to teach English as a Foreign Language in technology-
rich environments; i.e. there was a marked didactic dimension to the purpose.

REVIEW: A MULTIFARIOUS FIELD

What is a field? Traditionally, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and didactics had constituted three sep-
arate research fields. However, at the risk of simplification and superficiality, the
doctoral study adopted an approach that looked at the synergy and complexity that
emerged when these strands converged. There had been studies that defined the
field of technologies and teacher education through a subject matter focus (Willis,
1993), but the present study aimed to analyze the interplay between technologies,
subject matter and issues of teaching and learning in an organic, ecological sense.
A research field is often approached from its “state of the art”, the highest level of
development at a particular time. However, the research field of the present study
was a composite that drew on (at least) three separate domains (EFL, ICTs, didac-
tics). Where these converged was an under-researched phenomenon and, conse-
quently, not well documented in research literature.

CALL
At the time of the study, when questions of teachers, learners and technologies had
been raised, the school subject had often been left unspecified (Lankshear, Snyder,
& Green, 2000). Also, technologies had rarely been conceptualized beyond instru-
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 143

mental features (Orlikowski & Iacono, 2001). When a defined school subject or a
knowledge domain constituted the point of departure, literature had often taken on
prescriptive approaches ranging from collections of ideas and recipes (Hardisty &
Windeatt, 1989) to more methodologically reflective examples of good practice
(Warschauer, 1995). Regardless of type, such practices had been subsumed under
the umbrella term Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), which went
back to the 1980s. But over the years, any notion of a particular “CALL method”
had been refuted and the need to link CALL to Second Language Acquisition
(SLA) research had been acknowledged (Chapelle, 2000). Several scholars had
tracked the history of CALL and noted the same patterns (Kern & Warschauer,
2000; Levy, 1997; Murphy, 2000).
Studies on the use of ICT in teaching and learning English had often focused on
technological features (e.g. style checkers, speech technology), addressed generic
learning processes (e.g. concept formation, types of interaction) and less often
what happened when a particular school subject was introduced. However, this
seemed to change with the growth of scientific literature.
Thus, the reviewed literature showed that there was a need to focus on how
technologies impact on language learning and how they were embedded in larger
social and cultural practices. With the impact from sociocultural studies of lan-
guage learning on the one hand, and the trend towards collaborative uses of ICT
on the other, adding the rapidly developing technologies on top, questions of how
teachers and learners could cope had become acute, especially with a focus on
teachers’ pedagogical and technological expertise (Lankshear et al., 2000).

TEACHERS’ DIGITAL EXPERTISE

One of the assertions that emerged from the review of the field was that teachers’
expertise is a crucial – perhaps the most important factor in a sustainable and
future-oriented education ecology. For example, a study by the British Educa-
tional Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) found that “When
teachers disengage from the use of technology and leave pupils to use it and teach
each other how to use it, the potential for enhancing learning drops away steeply”
(Dawes, 2001:64–65). Teachers’ ability to work as the more knowledgeable peer
in technology-rich settings had become an integral part of their professionalism.
However, what counted as expertise may not have been obvious.
Further, the review of teachers’ expertise showed that teacher knowledge is
constantly evolving in practices and is not a compilation of subject knowledge and
managerial skills to be applied to a classroom situation. Rather, teacher knowl-
144 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

edge is a multifaceted, evolving understanding of how three dimensions interact;

subject knowledge, school knowledge (i.e. institutional dimensions), and peda-
gogic knowledge (including learner knowledge and curriculum knowledge)
(Lankshear et al., 2000; Dawes, 2001). Together, these dimensions add up to
teachers’ professional knowledge. A model of how these dimensions interrelate
was devised by Banks et al. (1999) and was also used by McCormick and Scrim-
shaw (2001) where they applied it to analyze change in practices as a result of ICT
implementation. Similarly, Becker (1994) found significant correlations between
teachers’ constructivist pedagogies and realizing the potential of ICT in education.

VARIATION IN ENGLISH
Moving from teacher expertise to the subject in question, EFL, the review also
revealed intriguing trends when the language goes online. Like Global English
(Graddol, 2001), Online English exhibits variants determined by situational factors
– the plural form Englishes was frequently used (Crystal, 2001a; Kachru & Nelson,
2001). In his book on language and the Internet, David Crystal (2001b:17) used the
generic term Netspeak for online language use and reserved Netlish for the English
language. This extended mode of expression opens up for experiments with online
identities, a well known phenomenon from several studies (Kirkup, 2002; Turkle,
1995). In a study of Norwegian learners’ first encounter with a virtual classroom,
a particular form of hybrid Netlish was found to mediate the process of learners
establishing a presence through written language only (Lund, 2001).
Out-of-school contexts are rich in non-standardized variants that may be
regarded as innovative and functional outside the classroom, but may be seen as
challenging or even harmful in a curricular perspective. This means that there
exists a strong element of out-of-school language socialization (Roberts, 2001)
that is not easily compatible with the traditional perspective on language learning
within the educational system.
In many ways, David Crystal summarized what this multi-thematic (CALL,
teacher expertise and English variants) review revealed:

The language classroom will lose all credibility if it is defined as only a coun-
ter-culture to new trends developing. An inevitable consequence of this devel-
opment is that the language will become open to the winds of linguistic change
in totally unpredictable ways (Crystal, 1998:130–31).

When English goes online we have seen both gusts and breezes.
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 145

THEORY
This section sought to explain, justify, and elaborate key concepts in a sociocul-
tural perspective on the study of teachers’ encounters with and appropriation of
ICTs. The rationale for choosing a sociocultural perspective was found in its
explanatory power; it builds on a fundamental assumption that learning is a social
and cultural phenomenon, i.e. it involves collaboration and the use of available
resources and is not confined to the mind of the individual. This will be elaborated
in the following.

VYGOTSKY’S LEGACY
Essential to a sociocultural perspective is the Vygotskian tradition in psychology
and education. Lev S. Vygotsky (1896–1934) refined the theories of the human
being as a tool-using social agent and how language affords and constrains think-
ing (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986). This is referred to as the principle of mediation and
mediated thinking and represents a cornerstone in sociocultural perspectives. In
addition, Vygotsky was interested in studying development and future-oriented
activities, and found this to be intimately linked to social and cultural rather than
individual and cognitive dimensions. Thus, his seminal concept of the zone of
proximal development (ZPD) rests on socially situated activity in which:

[i]t is the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by

independent problem solving and the level of potential development as deter-
mined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with
more intelligent peers (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86).

In sum, mediated thinking and action by cultural tools and mental development as
a social and cultural phenomenon, not merely a cognitive and individual one, form
the essence of Vygotsky’s approach. This doctoral study argued for the explana-
tory power found in such approaches to the use of digital artifacts and teacher-led
guidance and instruction. However, Vygotsky conceptualized but never operation-
alized the ZPD. It remained for his colleagues and students to pursue such endeav-
ors.

CULTURAL-HISTORICAL ACTIVITY THEORY (CHAT)

Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) takes Vygotsky’s focus on the inter-
play between humans and tools (especially language) and takes a larger and more
146 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

systemic approach where a collective motive, the object of activity (for example,
collaborative authoring in a wiki), is the driver for learning as expansion and
going beyond current knowledge practices (see e.g. Engeström, 1987; Engeström,
Miettinen, & Punamäki, 1999; Leont’ev, 1978). In Figure 7.1 (below) an activity
system is illustrated.

Tools

Subject Object Outcome

Rules Community Division of Labor

FIGURE 7.1. A model of an activity system (Engeström, 1999).

The top triangle is an approximation of Vygotsky’s mediated action. In the

expanded model of activity theory, this action rests on a foundation of rules, a
community of practice (for example teachers), and a division of labor (for exam-
ple between teachers and students). One component may be in tension with or
mediate the transformation of another component. For instance, networked ICTs
(cultural tools) may be in tension with a traditional teacher/learner division of
labor (delivery/consumption) but also mediate the transformation of such division
into a more interactive, collaborative, and empowered situation for learners. Fur-
thermore, actors shape – as well as are shaped by – contexts and relations. An
example is found in the way languages and language use are transformed when
mediated by ICTs; we see an emerging vocabulary (blog, wiki, webinar), experi-
mental syntax and register (emails), use of emoticons, multimodality etc. (Crystal,
2001a, 2001b; Wark, 1997; Warschauer, 2002). Engaging in such literacy prac-
tices also changes the person as a communicator and language user, for example
when at the speed of a few key strokes s/he engages with diverse interlocutors in
very different communicative cultural contexts, genres, and registers.
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 147

Taken together, the theoretical approaches and assumptions referred to above

take us from language acquisition to language participation and increased student
agency, although under expert guidance. But such expertise among teachers
requires that they have appropriated the mediational means involved, made them
their own, and instilled them with their own intentions as well as those of society.
This is much more demanding than mere “mastery” of a tool (Bakhtin, 1979/2000;
Wertsch, 1998) as it involves fusing subject-specific and didactic expertise with
pedagogy; that, together with the affordances of technology, makes it possible to
transform and improve teaching practices.

METHODOLOGY
The present study applied a mixed methodology and multilevel analysis. Methods
included descriptive statistics, ethnographic research on classrooms, as well as
virtual communities, elements of discourse analysis, and some informal talks and
semi-structured interviews.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The Mixed Methodology Design (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998) was intended to
bridge research questions, the composite field to be studied, and theory on the one
hand, and unit of analysis, types of data, types of description, and conclusions on
the other. The multilevel approach also involved a perspective that embraced indi-
vidual, collective and institutional planes.
Below is a visualization of the research design.
If we break down Figure 7.2 into stages, we can analytically get an overview of
how the research design progressed over a two-year period (September 2000–Sep-
tember 2002). Note that it appears as more linear than in the actual research, which
involved overlaps and cycles. The first stage involved developing the design to
examine teachers’ attitudes to and beliefs about ICT through a questionnaire, and
also by observing online interactions among EFL teachers who took part in an
extensive and ambitious in-service course on the use of ICT in EFL (The Tower).
The second stage consisted of data collection in accordance with stage one. The
third stage involved analysis of this data, predominantly in the form of descriptive
statistics; however, qualitative approaches were also needed when encountering
open-ended questions and the online interaction data. Stage four represented a
shift into designing for examining what practices emerged in two classrooms.
Stage five involved data collection through ethnographic classroom studies of
148 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

teacher and learner interactions, in addition to interviews. Finally, stage six repre-
sented a phase in which the previous stages converged in a more holistic analysis
involving mostly qualitative analysis, but also some frequency counts.

FIGURE 7.2. Research design. The model reflects a dynamic and evolving process in
accordance with an abductive approach (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 1994), i.e. identifying
patterns and relating them to the conceptual framework in order to analyze examples in
depth. The link from the survey and online forum (Phase One) to the classroom ethno-
graphy and interviews (Phase Two) is not causal, only suggesting a connection.

SAMPLE
The above research design yielded several types of data; survey data in the form of
responses to closed as well as open questions, data from a vast number of postings
from teachers participating in the many discussion groups offered by The Tower,
audiotaped interactions and field notes from classroom practices, data from senior
high school students’ work online and in virtual classrooms, and data from semi-
structured interviews and informal talks with both students and teachers.
The data for this study was collected and processed over a period from Septem-
ber 2000 until September 2002. During this period, two primary sources were
tapped; participants in the in-service course The Tower (“Språktårnet”), and teach-
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 149

ers and learners in two classrooms. A survey with pre-designed (N=208) as well
as open-ended (N=92) questions was conducted with teachers of English who took
part in the extensive in-service course. This quantitative approach sought to elicit
the participating teachers’ beliefs about, attitudes to, and experiences with ICT;
i.e. their appropriation of ICT. The survey served as a backdrop for the qualitative,
longitudinal study of three teachers (Tower participants) and their students. Thus,
the second part of the study aimed to capture aspects of teachers’ practices in ICT-
rich environments. Both The Tower data and data from the two classrooms amount
to purpose sampling in the sense that they were regarded as decisive in explaining
the phenomenon under examination.
In order to rise above inductive accumulation while at the same time trying to
grasp patterns in digitalized communication as they emerged in the data corpus,
an abductive approach was chosen (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 1994). An abductive
approach combines deductive and inductive approaches as it seeks to identify pat-
terns in the data corpus, juxtapose patterns with theoretical concepts, and use the
explanatory power of such juxtaposition to analyze examples in depth. Thus,
empirical examples go beyond a status of being mere illustrations to become
empirical carriers of principles and determinants pertaining to the phenomenon
under study.

FINDINGS
This section is divided into two parts. First, three main findings emerging from the
collected data corpus are listed. Next, these findings are extrapolated onto a meta
level where the emerging educational activity system, as identified through the
analyses, is juxtaposed with a schematized version of the activity system that
functioned as its point of departure.

PATTERNS IN THE DATA

Pattern 1: The social spaces (both in terms of time and place) for EFL practices
became extended. As EFL practices and content increasingly became “external-
ized” in distributed networks and other digital artifacts, new communicative
spaces emerged. Teachers could exploit such new spaces by making designs for
learning at the interface of offline and online environments. By populating and
colonizing new social spaces, teachers and learners brought their lifeworlds, their
cultures-of-use into them and, consequently, a potential for a shared or “third
space” emerged, not least because of a series of innovative tasks designed by the
150 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

teachers. For example, in one such design, the class was divided into motorists on
their way to an important event and demonstrating environmentalists blocking the
highway. The setting was L.A. The participants were to articulate and enact their
arguments and perceptions of the situation, using the school’s intranet. This also
resulted in subsequently videotaped role-play.
Pattern 2: The school subject of EFL learning was partially transformed. With
networked ICTs, new participatory genres emerged as socially constructed con-
ventions. These were developing and did not become well-established commu-
nicative forms on par with e.g. the business letter or the scientific essay. Neverthe-
less, the ICT-rich environment afforded opportunities for innovative and diverse
practices. Thus, the distance between school and out-of-school practices was
reduced. Moreover, such practices pointed to EFL as situated and contextual, both
in human and technological terms. However, teachers sometimes found it difficult
to assess such practices by conventional or standard criteria.
Pattern 3: Teachers needed to teach in ways they were not taught to do. In ICT-
rich environments we saw the outline of communicative practices that ideally
should prepare learners for the future. For teachers, this meant being committed
to continuous professional development, e.g. by engaging in collaborative team-
work with colleagues, by fostering collaborative cognition in the classroom, and
by developing a capacity for risk-taking and transformation. These processes
involved learning and teaching as two aspects of an activity; the two could not
always be separated, but emerged as two dimensions of partaking in the develop-
ment of educational activities and discourse.

FINDINGS ON AN AGGREGATED LEVEL

On an aggregated level, the above findings point to tensions between an activity
system of emerging practices and an activity system that carries a long institu-
tional-organizational heritage. However, for the emerging activity system to be
sustainable and not merely a stunt, constraints in the traditional system will have
to be overcome. As schools are socially and culturally constructed institutions, the
way they arrange conditions for teaching and learning are manifestations of how
they think about (or ignore) urgent educational issues. Based on the findings
gleaned from the data corpus, the present study revealed that the teachers found
themselves at the interface of a historical and an emerging activity system (Table
7.1).
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 151

TABLE 7.1. Teachers at the Interface. Aspects of cultural reproduction and renewal.

Issues Interfaces

Traditional Emerging

Ontology Dualist (mind ≠ world), static Non-dualist, relational interdepen-

dence of mind and world

Epistemology Knowledge can be possessed Knowledge is situated, procedural,

through transfer and (individual) relational, collective, distributed
mental processes over humans and artifacts

Literacy A series of discrete functional Increasingly informed engage-

skills to be taught (encoding and ment in complex, diverse multi-
decoding) modal social practices;

Technology Enhancement of learning and Transformation, potential new

teaching spaces for learning and teaching

EFL school Defined by curriculum, Beyond the curriculum, diverse

subject standardized and not (yet) approved variants

Didactics Priority to knowledge acquisition, Priority to knowledge production,

loose connection with a theory of closer connections with theories of
learning learning

Curriculum Standardized, administered and Negotiated with a view to “real

controlled in the form of individual world” practices and controlled as
tests and exams capacity for mature, collaborative
participation

ICT Policies Promote skills (technical and peda- [At the time of writing, this was
gogic) that produce efficacy in not clear. Recent years have shown
learning and teaching ICT policies also embracing inno-
vation, creativity, transformation
and epistemologies]

In sum, findings from data analysis and findings on an aggregated level amounted
to what was argued as the most important discovery in the doctoral thesis; that the
underlying activity system for EFL teaching was changing, and that teachers who
engaged in ICT-rich practices found themselves caught up in, challenged, and also
invigorated by this process.
152 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

In the following, empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions are
listed before turning to implications for teaching English in technology-rich envi-
ronments and suggestions for further research into this field.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Firstly, by juxtaposing data from The Tower survey with ethnographic and dis-
course data, this study could report from what teachers perceived and what teach-
ers did. Thus, the empirical foundations for understanding what English didactics
in technology-rich learning environments entails became more analytic and robust
than in the rather descriptive accounts that often have been published.
Secondly, the field of ICT in EFL had at the time of the study not produced
much data in the form of recorded interactions elicited from teachers’ practices in
ICT-rich environments. The micro-level properties of these data made it possible
to track and analyze certain crucial decisions, “teachable moments”, and serendip-
itous incidents up close. Important spaces for participation and realignment of
teacher and learner positions could be seen in such data, including practices where
learners exercised more agency and drew on language practices acquired and cul-
tivated out of school, not least in online activities. Also non-standard utterances
and linguistic features (spelling, emoticons, register) emerged in the course of the
activities.
Cultures and technologies influence what counts as functional and valid English
in the 21st century. Instead of locating the discipline within a linguistic system to
be acquired, it is located in practices that are constantly being shaped and reshaped
through an increasing number of people who engage in global and online Eng-
lishes. This situation has consequences for what we consider “acceptable” or
“functional” practices and how we assess such practices. Novel communicative
conventions are currently emerging in online communicative spaces, and while
some might interpret such novel conventions as innovative experimentation, oth-
ers might see regular errors and miscalculated context or interlocutor response.
Such ambiguity could complicate assessment practices that take standardized lan-
guage as their point of departure. Still, teachers need to take part in and point to
productive and relevant use of such conventions in order to serve as informed and
convincing users. If not, they risk becoming marginalized and abdicating their
position.
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 153

This amounts to a novel image of the teacher: the new generation of teachers
will find themselves at the interface of cultural reproduction and renewal. They
will not only be entrepreneurs and executors of approved policies but also activists
and agents of change, i.e. people who persistently inquire into and research edu-
cational practices. In this capacity, teachers will themselves constitute an interface
between tradition and innovation, cf. the title of the present study.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Firstly, The Teacher as Interface was a study that was broad in its scope; it sought
to capture appropriation processes as they emerged in collective as well as indi-
vidual contexts. The mixed methodology approach used in the present study was
in itself not new, although not common within a sociocultural perspective. How-
ever, the way quantitative and qualitative methods were sought to complement
one another may represent a suitable methodological approach when the
researched phenomenon is complex.
Secondly, the study aimed at capturing a multi-dimensional view of appropria-
tion processes. The survey presented a “snapshot”, an accumulation of beliefs and
attitudes aggregated in teachers over the time they participated in The Tower
course but captured at the end of the course. Although descriptive statistical tech-
niques have been used, the responses have also been analyzed qualitatively as a
polyphony of voices, captured in a particular scientific genre. Thus, the survey
made it possible to examine teachers’ appropriation of ICTs on a collective level
after having participated in a particular discourse community.
Thirdly, the classroom observations captured the more longitudinal aspects of
appropriation emerging in and through teachers’ practices. In addition, the longi-
tudinal design captured levels of activity: horizontally in the form of consecutive
sessions that added up a course or a term, vertically in the form of episodes and
sequences, how these were enacted, and where we see different configurations of
learners, teachers, and artifacts.
Finally, there was a contribution regarding recurrent phenomena and patterns
and how they related to the theoretical perspective. Avoiding a strictly inductive
or deductive approach, the present study made use of abduction. This approach
examined instantiations of phenomena in light of theoretical assumptions and con-
cepts; i.e. there is interplay between empirical data and conceptual framework.
Abduction afforded an intimate relationship between the two and served as a val-
uable research strategy and methodology when analyzing phenomena through a
particular theoretical perspective.
154 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
This researcher will argue that the current PhD study has made an important theo-
retical contribution to understanding how change and innovation affect education
at the interface of offline and online settings and, consequently, the work of teach-
ers.
Firstly, a sociocultural perspective was used to link the separate fields of EFL,
ICTs, and didactics and to view their convergence in terms of the interface meta-
phor. Sociocultural approaches come with a set of constructs that make it possible
to examine the transformation of the classroom under the impact of ICT. By tran-
scending dichotomies of the individual and the social, mind and activity, actors
and contexts, a sociocultural perspective provides analytical tools for studying
how learners, teachers and artifacts realign themselves when encountering digital
and networked technologies. Thus it was possible to make visible the relational
expertise teachers in the 21st century will need (Edwards, Gilroy, & Hartley,
2002). The study has brought about a reconsideration of literacy and what it means
to be literate today and in the near future. This is particularly important when the
subject in question, English, is a global language on the rise in online settings.
Secondly, the present study instilled the field of didactics with certain assump-
tions of knowledge and learning to show that questions of ontology and epistemol-
ogy become didactic concerns as information increasingly becomes digitized and
distributed. Another aspect is that the distance between a subject matter as it
appears in a formal schooling context and in the “real world” is reduced. Practices
in the schools resembled authentic practices and in which the students’ lifeworld
experience became a real asset. The epistemological implication is that learners
relate to a school subject in new ways as they participate in giving it shape and
may, over time, contribute to forming an activity system that challenges the tradi-
tional system. Such future-oriented, exploratory, and creative efforts must, how-
ever, be balanced by the cultural heritage found in the discourse of a school sub-
ject. Teachers play a crucial role in making visible and sustaining this balance
between tradition and innovation. Thus, it can be argued that the theoretical lenses
employed in the study brought about valuable contributions to didactics.
Finally, the construct of appropriation has been developed in some detail. The
construct appealed to the present researcher because of its explanatory potential
when examining how and why some teachers integrate ICTs and some do not. In
sociocultural literature, the construct is often brought up but seldom in great detail
or applied to a specific research objective. Rather, the appropriation construct has
been used in general terms to characterize the relationship between agents and
mediational means (Wertsch, 1998). The present study used appropriation as a key
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 155

to understanding how teachers integrate technologies in the EFL classroom and

has, thus, aimed to operationalize the construct within a particular domain. This
involves not only demonstrating how teachers (and learners) merely enact digital-
ized communication, but also how they cope and at times struggle with making
emerging genres and registers their own. With on-going change and development
in language and learning/teaching approaches as well as digital technologies, the
appropriation processes of teachers might be one of the major roads to explore in
order to advance and improve our understanding of what goes on in the 21st cen-
tury classroom and how to prepare teachers for practices in transformation.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH AND TEACHER EDUCATION

At the two schools, the three teachers that were observed made changes in the way
they organized their teaching. This came about either by grouping sessions into
larger units or by going beyond “normal” working hours, e.g. when conducting
online sessions with students in the United States, ICT suspended many con-
straints regarding time and space. Therefore, there seems to be a need for greater
flexibility with regard to the school subject and its allotted time that the current
organization of schooling does not easily accommodate.
Another similar issue is how the three teachers managed to cope with the added
complexity. Teachers at one school tried to take on challenges by building a col-
laborative approach that included teachers of English as well as technicians and
ICT-savvy students at the school. This amounts to enhanced relational compe-
tence as part of teachers’ professionalism. In the case of the other school, there
was a quite different situation as the ICT-competent teacher ran a mostly solitary
practice. This can be seen as a survival strategy: teachers with the kind of compe-
tence that this teacher displayed might be exploited and experience burnout if they
are not allocated time to let their expertise benefit staff and administration. In both
cases, the issue is one of sustained support and division of labor. The implications
are that innovative practices cannot be separated from how contexts encourage,
adapt to, or resist transformation at classroom level as well as on an institutional
level.
A basic but relevant question that might follow any study would be So what? In
slightly more sophisticated form, the above question might be rephrased, What
might be the practical relevance of the present study for educators?
Responses from The Tower survey as well as the classroom practices observed
showed how the EFL curriculum was innovatively enacted at classroom level.
One could say that the teachers observed at the two schools in many ways taught
156 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

beyond the curriculum. When ICTs permeate practices and are not just add-ons to
existing ones, we see fundamental transformation. The PhD project demonstrated
that such transformation included a re-conception of literacy, realignment of posi-
tions, relations and agency, new spaces for participation, and proximity to diverse
and authentic practices, in addition to students’ practices involving e.g. experi-
mental spelling and objectionable choice of (four-letter) words far from “accepted
standards”. Well thought-out designs of learning environments and activities and
careful orchestration of them are needed.
In turn, the analyses and findings of the doctoral study have implications for
teacher education and in-service training courses. ICT-intensive designs and
enactment of them need to be integrated, and designs must pay attention to two
dimensions of education; enculturation into an existing discourse that centers on
a school discipline (e.g. EFL) as well as transformational potential that prepares
for emerging discourses. ICTs offer opportunities for creating such designs but
teachers will need support from institutional and academic quarters in order to
make such opportunities materialize. For instance, ICT integration needs to be
linked to theoretical frameworks in order to avoid being merely ad hoc and
unprincipled efforts. It is the relations between humans, artifacts, and contextual
factors that emerge as mutually constitutive of learning and teaching. Moreover,
in order to sustain innovative practices and make them more robust, teachers need
to become designers of technology-rich environments and trajectories as well as
researchers of their own practices.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

The present study was conducted at a time when there was very little similar liter-
ature, especially where a sociocultural approach was used. The study was also
broad in scope, which left room for more in-depth research to be done in a number
of areas. Some might appear as an extension of the implications presented above.
In the following, two major themes with strong links to the present study are
briefly pursued: a) Teachers’ Professional Digital Competence (PDC), and b) Lan-
guage Learning and Identity.

Professional Digital Competence (PDC)

In recent years, increased interest in teachers’ professional digital competence has
emerged. This corresponds with a teacher role where s/he is not merely an execu-
tor of the curriculum but a knowledge worker and designer of learning environ-
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 157

ments and learning trajectories (see e.g. Cviko, McKenney & Voogt, 2014; Lund,
Furberg, Bakken & Engelien, 2014; Brevik, Gudmundsdottir, Lund & Strømme,
in press). The Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy has frequently published articles
on such issues.3 From a sociocultural perspective, the focus has often been on the
juxtaposition of technology and literacy as practices that have operational, cultural
and critical dimensions to be appropriated by teachers. Furthermore, connecting
school and out-of-school practices has emerged as a research topic that has raised
a lot of scholarly interest in recent years (Lund, 2016). As for the transformative
dimension touched upon in the empirical contributions (above), this is firmly
linked to the role of the teacher as a designer of technology-mediated learning
activities where humans and “non-humans” collaborate, but also to epistemolog-
ical implications: how we come to knowledge and engage in knowledge practices
and communicative endeavors when information is digitized, multimodal and
infinitely accessible.
PDC is not an established concept or practice, and much research remains until
we have a robust conceptualization of this competence. However, a vital element
is how PDC connects deeply with the learning sciences and fundamental assump-
tions of learning; in our case sociocultural perspectives. Further, as an epistemic
framework PDC links theory and practice in the sense that the two are not dichot-
omized, but rather represent two knowledge types and logics mutually constitutive
of learning and development, in many ways the ultimate girder of the teaching
profession. To further develop the understanding of PDC among teachers and stu-
dent teachers, it is important to discuss the specific conditions that apply when
teachers use ICT in their profession, and to discuss teacher education as one of the
important realms where the operationalization of the concept takes place. Further
research along these lines represents a multitude of exciting possibilities for
enriching the educational professions.

Language Learning and Identity

A more subject-specific research direction that follows from the empirical contri-
butions is how digitalization affords a whole new communicative ecology (social
networks, hybrid spaces, virtual worlds, tele-collaboration, mass collaboration
and communication, communication via avatars, etc.). With English as one of the
primary languages used on the Internet, it commands special interest for anyone
wanting to study language use and development in digital environments.

3. See e.g. https://www.idunn.no/dk/2014/04

158 ANDREAS LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

As digitalization has become more sophisticated and pervasive, we see how

digital environments not only offer opportunities for learning activities but also
for developing, experimenting with and enacting identities by engaging in digi-
tally mediated communicative practices (Thorne & May, 2017). Through virtual
reality, augmented reality, imagined communities, online gaming, social network-
ing sites, and blogs, language learners can experience an extension of their per-
sonal physical lives or adopt alternative identities, experimenting with and enact-
ing personae.
The connection between identity formation and language learning has for dec-
ades been accepted as a powerful incentive for development of the first language
(L1); how we construct our social identities through language, projecting for
example class, gender, culture, nationality and/or community. Thus, language as
a social practice has become one of the seminal constructs. Furthermore, research
on identity formation has shown that identity is not an innate and static attribute
of the individual, but that we may have multiple identities that are authored and
enacted as we improvise and observe conventions depending on contexts and cul-
tural worlds and spaces (Holland, Lachiotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998). It would
seem that at the juxtaposition of identity formation and new digital spaces, we
encounter exciting opportunities for developing L2 proficiency and an expanded
linguistic register, brought about by the possibilities of participating in diverse
online language communities. For example, Brevik (2016) examined a phenome-
non where male students in upper secondary school emerged as more proficient
readers in English L2 than in Norwegian L1, and that online gaming seemed to
play an important role. This is due to game instructions in English as well as com-
municating with other gamers in English.
Increasingly researchers and practitioners alike have started to investigate how
virtual worlds (often with avatars) and online communicative spaces mediate
diverse language use and, consequently, language learning (e.g., Norton & McK-
inney, 2011). The possibilities for cultural interaction, expanded literacy, and
commuting between contexts, discourses, and registers open up for a plethora of
context-specific and context-sensitive task types and activities. This opens up a
whole new field of language research on poly-contextual use of English.
Many of the above suggestions require interventions and intervention research.
In such studies, teachers could be involved since they can be identified as agents
of change and since they increasingly have access to powerful digital artifacts.
The primary reasons for interventions are found in the vagueness of the curricu-
lum and syllabi when it comes to ICT, the mismatch between instrumental views
of ICT (ICT as “mere tools”) and the way digital technologies influence and trans-
 7 PHD REVISITED: THE TEACHER AS INTERFACE 159

form practices, and also how curricula as well as policy papers, programs for ICT
integration and EFL teachers’ professional development need to be informed by
current research.
This doctoral study showed that EFL educators needed to appropriate technol-
ogies from a social and relational perspective. However, more research is needed
on perspectives and practices that link human cognition and social practices in
order to make sense of the transformational potential of digital technologies (Bre-
vik et al., in press). The present doctoral study was written with an intention to
contribute to this endeavor.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-09

8
PhD revisited: Preparing future
teachers to teach with ICT
An investigation of digital competence
development in ESL student teachers in a
Norwegian teacher education program 1
FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES
NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a doctoral study (Røkenes, 2016b) which investiga-
ted English as a Second Language (ESL) student teachers’ development of digital compe-
tence in a Norwegian secondary teacher education context. Results show that ESL
student teachers might be digitally confident, but lack knowledge and awareness of how
to use information and communications technology (ICT) didactically to support pupils’
learning in English. Implications and further research for professional digital competence
(PDC) development in ESL for Norwegian teacher education are discussed.

KEYWORDS Professional digital competence | student teachers | teacher

education | ESL | ICT

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Røkenes, 2016b) from the Norwe-
gian University of Science and Technology, focusing specifically on its practical implications
for Norwegian teacher education and the teaching of English in Norway. This is an article-based
thesis, with three published articles (Røkenes, 2016a; Røkenes & Krumsvik, 2014; Røkenes &
Krumsvik, 2016). The doctoral thesis in its entirety is available here: http://hdl.handle.net/
11250/2395012.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 163

INTRODUCTION
English can be considered a global language or the lingua franca of the Internet,
software and digital technologies (Crystal, 2006), which underlines the impor-
tance of mastering the language for participating in the increasingly digitalized
and networked world. Hence, English language teachers play an important role in
enabling pupils to participate fully in our increasingly digitized and networked
society, knowledge- and competency-based economy, and world of work (Voogt,
Erstad, Dede, & Mishra, 2013). In order to meet the requirements of language
teaching in today’s digitalized schools and networked world, language teachers
need professional digital competence (PDC) in subject disciplines such as ESL
(Lund, Furberg, Bakken, & Engelien, 2014; Tømte, 2013). Teaching English with
information and communication technology (ICT) in Norwegian secondary
schools (grades 8–13) and in higher education is now considered a given; pupils
in upper-secondary schools are commonly provided with laptops while several
schools use tablets and mobile devices, and most classrooms and lecture halls are
equipped with projectors, interactive whiteboards and broadband Internet (Ege-
berg, Hultin, & Berge, 2016; Gjerdrum & Ørnes, 2015). The situation puts pres-
sure on teacher education institutions to prepare future language teachers to be
able to master and appropriate teaching with ICT in their disciplinary field in a
didactic manner (Instefjord, 2014). However, Norwegian teacher education insti-
tutions have been criticized for over a decade for their slow uptake, tool-focused
and teacher-centered teaching practices, and lack of innovative ways to integrate
and teach with ICT (Hetland & Solum, 2008; Tømte, Kårstein, & Olsen, 2013).
At the time of this doctoral study, little empirical research in the field of secondary
teacher education, both internationally and in Norway, has focused on didactical,
subject-related use of ICT and digital competence development in secondary
school student teachers (Haugan, 2011; Kay, 2006; Tondeur et al., 2012). The
research context for this study is a Norwegian teacher education program with
secondary school ESL student teachers enrolled in an ESL didactics course lead-
ing to a qualification to teach ESL in the Norwegian secondary school.
The overarching purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding about
how secondary school ESL student teachers develop digital competence and
become proficient in integrating ICT in ESL teaching through teacher education.
The main research question examined throughout the study was:

How is digital competence developed in secondary school ESL student teach-

ers at a Norwegian teacher education program?
164 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

In order to examine the main research question further, the study investigated dif-
ferent aspects related to ICT training in secondary teacher education, ESL student
teachers’ self-reported digital competence, and their digital competence develop-
ment after completing a workshop in digital storytelling.

THEORY
The study draws on a sociocultural perspective of learning and the notion that
learning has to do with mastery and the appropriation of cultural tools (Wertsch,
1998). ICT exemplifies such a cultural tool that could potentially change how stu-
dent teachers teach and pupils learn English in school. Over the last two decades,
the notion of digital competence has been used to capture how we use, interact,
and learn with ICT and digital tools. Digital competence is often referred to as
“skills, knowledge, creativity, and attitudes required to use digital media for learn-
ing and comprehension in a knowledge society” (Erstad, Kløvstad, Kristiansen, &
Søby, 2005, p. 8, my translation). Erstad (2010) has further suggested several cat-
egories to specify and operationalize core components of digital competence in
school, which in turn can be used to assess pupils’ digital skills. These include: 1)
having basic skills, and being able to 2) download/upload, 3) search, 4) navigate,
5) classify, 6) integrate, 7) evaluate, 8) communicate, 9) cooperate, and 10) create
(Erstad, 2010, pp. 101–102, my translation). These components move from mas-
tering technical skills towards appropriating critical reflection regarding the role
and function of media in society, and can be related to learning both inside and
outside of a school setting.
In Norway, digital competence has been considered a part of teachers’ and
teacher educators’ professional competence since the last curriculum reform,
where the use of ICT for teaching and learning has increasingly become an impor-
tant aspect of teachers’ work (Krumsvik, 2011; Lund et al., 2014). Research shows
that teachers’ use of ICT differs from other professions, resulting in a need to
develop PDC among teachers, teacher educators, and student teachers. Accord-
ingly, PDC can be understood as “the teachers/TEs’ [teacher educators’] profi-
ciency in using ICT in a professional context with good pedagogic-didactic judg-
ment and his or her awareness of its implications for [digital] learning strategies
and the digital Bildung of pupils and students” (Krumsvik, 2011, pp. 44–45).
From his definition, Krumsvik (2011, 2014) has created a theoretical model for
making visible “tacit knowledge”, and for prompting teachers and teacher educa-
tors’ “reflection-on-action” on their digital competence (Figure 8.1). The model,
originally developed for digital competence in teachers and TEs, also takes into
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 165

account the various key aspects contained in the concept PDC by attempting to
show “the many ways in which teachers have to deal with this complex compe-
tence journey” (Krumsvik, 2011, p. 46).

FIGURE 8.1. Model of digital competence for teachers and teacher educators
(Krumsvik, 2011, p. 45).

Both the horizontal and vertical axes in the model depict different stages in the
teachers’ practical proficiency and self-awareness with ICT through the four
dimensions of adoption, adaptation, appropriation, and innovation. These dimen-
sions are related to Wertsch’s (1998) concepts of mastery and appropriation of cul-
tural tools in which adoption and adaptation (i.e., mastery) refer to knowing how
to use a cultural tool, while appropriation and innovation point to “the process of
taking something that belongs to others and making it one’s own” (Wertsch, 1998,
p. 53). In the adoption and adaptation stages, the teachers are relatively incompe-
tent, unsure, and unaware of the possibilities and limitations of ICT in teaching.
However, as they progress towards the appropriation and innovation stages, they
become more competent, confident, and aware of the potential that ICT can offer
teaching. Eventually, during the innovation stage, they might develop their own
digital resources and working methods while commenting on existing technolo-
gies and practice.
166 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

While the two axes in the model focus on the practical and mental aspects of
digital competence development, the center region of the model is concerned with
pedagogical use of ICT in education. Digital competence is described as consist-
ing of four core components (Krumsvik, 2014, pp. 276–277):

1) Basic digital skills – elementary use of ICT for leisure and social communi-
cation (e.g., fundamental technical skills, social media, news, music, games)
outside of school and work, and basic use of administrative and office soft-
ware, and technical tools for teaching in schools (e.g., office tools, email,
LMS, interactive whiteboards, laptops, tablets).

2) Didactic ICT competence – reflective pedagogical use and seamless inte-

gration of ICT in subject disciplines (particularly relevant for ESL are e.g.,
online dictionaries, multimodal learning resources, digital quizzes, chat, dis-
cussion boards), and the awareness of its added value and limitations for
teaching subject content knowledge and for pupils’ learning potential (e.g.,
writing with pen and paper versus on a laptop, using paper-based textbook
versus digital textbook, showing still images versus animations).

3) [Digital] Learning strategies – awareness of how to scaffold pupils’ develop-

ment of learning strategies, knowledge construction, and metacognition with
ICT (e.g., when working with reading screen-based texts, creating digital mind
maps, conducting Internet searches, comparing and interpreting multiple online
sources), as well as how ICT impacts forms of assessment, adapted education,
and learning environment (e.g., digital exams, e-portfolios, task differentiation,
classroom management, individual versus group and whole-class activities).

4) Digital Bildung – awareness of ethical considerations, social implications,

and effects that ICT has on human development, how to deal with these
issues, and how to foster positive moral behavior and use of ICT by discus-
sing ethical pitfalls and dilemmas involved with pupils’ increasingly digital
lifestyle inside and outside of school (e.g., cyberbullying, plagiarism, source
criticism, illegal downloading, privacy, online anonymity, escapism).

In sum, the model attempts to illustrate the core components of teachers’ PDC
through abstract and to some extent overlapping categories. The model was used
as an analytical research lens in the study to support the interpretation of the col-
lected data on ESL student teachers’ PDC development in teacher education.
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 167

REVIEW
In several international studies on language teaching, ICT is highlighted as effec-
tive for learning and teaching by affording access and exposure to authentic lan-
guage material, communication opportunities, instant and individualized feed-
back, and classroom integration (Golonka, Bowles, Frank, Richardson, &
Freynik, 2014; Stockwell, 2007). For example, in their review of over 350 studies
on language teaching and learning with technology, Golonka et al. (2014) found
that technology made a significant impact on foreign language learning in studies
on “computer-assisted pronunciation training, in particular, automated speech rec-
ognition (ASR)” (Golonka et al., 2014, p. 70). The improvement of pronunciation
in language learning could be facilitated using ASR and provide efficient feed-
back to the learner “to a larger extent than human teachers can” (Golonka et al.,
2014, p. 88). The authors also found strong evidence for the use of online chat in
foreign language learning, where these studies showed a significant increase in
both complexity and amount in the learner’s language production.
Another review by Stockwell (2007) examined the use of technology in teach-
ing language skills by looking at 206 studies published in four major English-lan-
guage journals in the field of computer-assisted language learning from 2001 to
2005. Stockwell (2007) found that most studies focused on developing the
learner’s grammar and vocabulary skills through incorporating online learning
resources, online chat, or presenting the language skill with “different annotation
styles (e.g., links for textual meaning, audio, graphics etc.)” (Stockwell, 2007, p.
110). Both reviews showed that the range of technologies used in language teach-
ing is broad and constantly evolving, and that technologies such as ASR, chat and
online learning resources can have an impact on language skills.
In Norwegian educational research on technology, in particular with Norwegian
secondary school ESL teachers, there seems to be an increased use of digital tech-
nologies to promote pupils’ language production, proficiency, and knowledge
such as through Wikis (Lund, 2008), social networking sites (Vasbø, Silseth, &
Erstad, 2013) and digital storytelling (Normann, 2012). In particular, research on
the use of digital storytelling (DST) for educational purposes has focused on
teachers’ use of the method for developing pupils’ language skills. However, at
the time of this doctoral study, little was known how DST is used in teacher edu-
cation for teaching ESL with ICT, and for developing PDC in student teachers.
The increased use of technology in language teaching and learning has conse-
quences for teacher education, being responsible in preparing future language teach-
ers, both in Norway and internationally. Researchers and policymakers note that as
the demands of teaching ESL with ICT in Norwegian classrooms increase, future
168 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

teachers need to develop PDC through teacher education to fulfill curricular require-
ments and be able to teach in today’s digitalized schools (Krumsvik, 2014; Lund et
al., 2014; Tømte, 2013). Moreover, as pointed out by Stockwell (2007), it could be
argued that student teachers should be introduced to relevant teaching activities and
approaches that prepare them to integrate ICT in their language teaching.
However, in Norway there was currently very little research on the preparation
of future teachers to teach with technology. In particular, at the time of my doc-
toral study, no studies had been conducted in the field of PDC development in
Norwegian teacher education for grades 8–13 (for studies on grades 1–7 & 5–10,
see Instefjord, 2014; Tømte, 2013), and no studies had examined how this compe-
tence is developed in subject disciplines such as ESL. This doctoral study
attempted to fill the knowledge gap by investigating the development of PDC
among ESL student teachers in Norwegian teacher education (grades 8–13).

METHODOLOGY
The overarching research methodology for the study drew on approaches and
strategies from literature review (Hart, 1998) and design-based research (DBRC,
2003). In the latter approach, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used
for collecting data to understand the investigated phenomena both in breadth and
in depth. In addition, the main research method for the study can be classified as
following mixed-methods (MM) research since both quantitative (surveys) and
qualitative data (document analysis, participant observations, semi-structured
interviews, document analysis) were collected and integrated in the three sub-
studies making up this doctoral study (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, & Turner, 2007).

RESEARCH DESIGN
The overall research design is presented in Table 8.1. A qualitative document anal-
ysis2 was first conducted (sub-study 1) to examine what approaches were used for
ICT training teacher education programs to develop digital competence in second-
ary school student teachers. The document analysis was followed up with an MM
case study where a quantitative survey was first used to investigate ESL student
teachers’ self-reported digital competence. This was followed up with qualitative
participant observations of their ESL didactics university teaching, school practice,

2. For the purpose of this chapter, the term “document analysis” is used instead of “literature
review”.
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 169

and semi-structured interviews of a sample of purposefully selected ESL student

teachers including their teacher educator in ESL didactics. Finally, results from the
sub-studies were used to inform the execution of a design-based research study on
the use of digital storytelling (DST) for developing PDC in teacher education.

TABLE 8.1. An overview of the three sub-studies, MM data and analyses used in the
doctoral study.

Sub-study I Sub-study II Sub-study III

Title Development of Student Prepared to teach ESL with Digital storytelling in

Teachers’ Digital Compe- ICT? A study of digital compe- teacher education: A mean-
tence in Teacher Education – tence development in Norwe- ingful way of integrating
A Literature Review gian teacher education ICT in ESL teaching

Research What approaches for ICT-trai- How is secondary student How can a digital story-
question ning do teacher education pro- teachers’ digital competence telling workshop promote
grams use to develop digital developed through an ESL secondary ESL student
competence in student teachers didactics course at a Norwe- teachers’ digital competence
educated to teach in the secon- gian teacher education pro- in teacher education?
dary school grade level? gram?

Design Document analysis Case study research Case study research

Design-based research

Sample Online peer-reviewed empiri- Student teachers Student teachers

cal articles Teacher educator Teacher educator
Previous review articles

Data Database searches (N=3104) Surveys Survey

Keywords ◗ S1: N=41 ◗ S1: N=41
◗ Digital competence ◗ S2: N=112
Participant observations
◗ Digital literacy
Participant observations ◗ ESL didactics lessons:
◗ Computer literacy
◗ ESL didactics lessons: N=20 N=20
◗ Media literacy
◗ Classroom visits N=18 ◗ Classroom visits N=18
◗ Teacher
Semi-structured interviews Semi-structured interviews
Inclusion/exclusion criteria
◗ ESL student teachers: N=15 ◗ ESL student teachers:
◗ Included studies: 42
◗ ESL teacher educator: N=1 N=15
◗ ESL teacher educator: N=1
Reflection logs

Analysis Thematic analysis Digital competence model Digital competence model

Coding/categorization Coding/categorization Coding/categorization
170 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

SAMPLE
The study included different types of sample including documents (study I), ESL
student teachers, and their ESL teacher educator (studies II & III). The main sam-
ple population in the study was made up of ESL student teachers following a five-
year postgraduate degree program at a Norwegian teacher education institution,
which qualifies them to teach ESL in Norwegian secondary school, grades 8–13.
The student teachers were between 20 to 30 years old, and would finish their
teaching degree by writing a Master’s thesis in their main subject discipline. The
student teachers were sampled from four cohorts of ESL student teachers attend-
ing ESL didactics lessons (2012–2014). From these four cohorts, 15 ESL student
teachers (11 females, 4 males) were purposefully sampled for follow-up investi-
gations along with their ESL teacher educator. Student teachers were also sampled
for two surveys. The first survey, S1, comprised 41 ESL student teachers in their
first teaching semester while the second survey, S2, comprised 112 student teach-
ers in their second and final teaching semester.

DOCUMENTS
A thorough document analysis was conducted exploring approaches to ICT train-
ing in secondary teacher education. The sample in the literature review consisted
of 42 online peer-reviewed empirical studies in which eight approaches to ICT
training in teacher education were uncovered. These approaches were later used
to inform the research design and analysis in the following sub-studies. Further-
more, a wide range of documents (grey literature, i.e. unpublished documents that
are sometimes difficult to access) was explored to inform the design of and com-
plement the study. The documents used can be classified into two types; the first
being policy documents, reports and the national curriculum; the second being
documents generated in the overall project throughout the research process,
including the ESL student teachers’ assignments, digital stories and reflection
logs. The purpose of analyzing these was to shed light on the use of ICT in ESL
teaching and Norwegian teacher education.

QUANTITATIVE SURVEYS
Following the document analysis, two quantitative self-reporting surveys were
distributed. The surveys were made up of two sections of self-reporting items:
demographic information (10 items) and concept mapping questions and state-
ments regarding digital competence (i.e. exploring the respondents’ attitudes, per-
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 171

ceptions, and needs for PDC), ICT use in the teacher education program and
among their teacher educators (19 items). With every conceptual question and
statement, the student teachers were asked to choose the answer that fitted their
own self-perceived beliefs on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very low level
of skills/competence/completely disagree) to 7 (high level of skills/competence/
completely agree).
The quantitative data from the two student teacher surveys were analyzed for
descriptive statistics (Maxwell, 2013); S1 (N=41, collected using “clickers” dur-
ing plenary lecture) and S2 (N=112, collected by electronic survey). The descrip-
tive statistical analyses included calculating frequencies, means, and standard
deviations. The purpose of these analyses was to examine the ESL student teach-
ers’ self-perceived PDC and their views on the use of ICT in the teacher education
program. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to check the validity of
the variables in the digital competence model (Figure 1). Table 8.1 shows the var-
iables included in the factor PDC as well as mean differences, and standard devi-
ations.

PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONS
The participant observations were conducted in ESL didactics lessons and two
DST workshops (January 2013 & January 2014) at the university, and in the sam-
pled ESL student teachers’ classrooms during school practice over four academic
semesters (2012–2014). The collection of observation data was recorded through
ethnographic field notes during and after the observations, where the researcher
included both descriptions and personal reflections (Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw,
2011). The focus of the participant observations in the ESL didactics lessons was
on the student teachers, teacher educator, and in-class teaching and learning activ-
ities involving the use of ICT in English language teaching. During the observa-
tions in the student teachers’ school practice English lessons, the focus was on the
student teachers’ activities, use, and integration of ICT during their lessons.

SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
Semi-structured interviews (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) were conducted with a
total of 15 purposefully sampled student teachers and their ESL didactics teacher
educator. The purpose of using interviews in these studies was to get a deeper
understanding of how the student teachers developed their digital competence in
ESL teaching, and what, how, and why they used ICT in their school practice.
172 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Interviewing the teacher educator also helped shed light on what, how, and why
ICT was used in the ESL didactics course and in general in the teacher education
program. The interview guide was divided into five main themes and piloted with
two graduate ESL student teachers: 1) the student teacher’s reflections on prior
ICT experiences in and out of school, 2) the student teacher’s teaching experi-
ences with ICT during the school practice, 3) ICT training and the use of digital
technologies in the English didactics course, 4) ICT training and the use of digital
technologies during the teacher education program, and 5) the student teacher’s
reflections on self-perceived digital competence development during the teacher
education program. All interviews were conducted in Norwegian and translated
into English by the researcher.

RESULTS
The results from the surveys, participant observations, and interviews show that
the ESL student teachers’ development of PDC varied throughout their teacher
education. Although they seemed to be confident in elementary and basic digital
skills, the ESL student teachers seemed to lack knowledge and awareness of how
to use ICT didactically to support pupils’ learning in English, and how to develop
pupils’ digital learning strategies and digital Bildung (Table 8.2). The outcome of
the two DST workshops, which were organized and run by teacher educators on
campus in 2013 and 2014, showed that the ESL student teachers were able to
move beyond basic digital skills and that they started thinking didactically about
the learning potential that ICT could have for English language teaching.

TABLE 8.2. Student teachers’ self-perceived PDC.

Question S1 S2

Mean SD Mean SD

Elementary ICT skills – how well student teachers master the use of 6.00 0.949 6.32 0.750
laptops and digital tools (e.g. online banking and social media) in their
spare time (outside of work and school)

Basic ICT skills – how well student teachers master the use of digital 5.39 0.919 5.89 0.809
tools (e.g. learning management systems, Word, Excel, and Power-
Point) in their studies in a coherent way

Didactical ICT skills – how well student teachers master the use of 4.44 0.950 4.94 0.942
digital tools (for instance digital learning resources in ESL) for
teaching and potentially enhancing pupils’ subject learning
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 173

Question S1 S2

Mean SD Mean SD

Digital learning strategies – how student teachers master guiding 3.49 1.247 4.34 1.119
pupils in reading screen-based texts with concentration, persistence,
flow, and coherence

Digital Bildung – how well student teachers master guiding pupils in 4.46 1.645 5.36 1.012
developing digital Bildung associated with ethical challenges (e.g. cut
and paste, illegal downloading and similar) that their digital lifestyle
offers

Overall digital competence – based on the previous questions, how 4.68 1.011 5.16 0.812
well student teachers assess their digital competence for teaching

Questions used a 7-Point Likert scale (1 = no skills, 7 = very good skills).

MODELING DIDACTICAL USE OF ICT

From the document analysis, eight approaches to ICT training in teacher educa-
tion emerged, including collaboration, metacognition, blending, authentic learn-
ing, modeling, student-active learning, assessment, and bridging theory and prac-
tice gap. The most prominent of these approaches was modeling, i.e. having the
ESL teacher educator serve as a role model was pointed out by the student teachers
as an effective approach to generate more ideas on how they could integrate ICT
into ESL teaching. In particular, observational and interview data showed that
making pedagogical reasoning for practice clear, explicit and understandable pro-
moted the student teachers’ didactical ICT competence:

I was lucky with my mentor teacher. She worked with eTwinning [online col-
laborative platform], which our ESL teacher educator has also talked about at
the teacher education program. I got the opportunity to see how it worked
(Erich, spring interview, 2013).

The ESL teacher educator has shown us several good web pages such as BBC
World News where you can go in and find short video clips. It becomes more
authentic than the textbook in a way (Katie, fall interview, 2013).

Observation data from the ESL didactics lessons involved the teacher educator
integrating ICT into ESL teaching through, for instance exemplifying writing dig-
ital texts in front of the student teachers while thinking out loud, demonstrating
174 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

quiz apps and online dictionaries, and showing pupils’ digital stories, podcasts,
and multimodal compositions. Some student teachers were observed modeling the
use of ICT in front of their pupils including critical use of social media, how to
compose DSTs, and how to locate information by using search engines:

Sometimes I have to Google things, and then I take it up [on the projector] so
that everybody [pupils] can see it. So when I am Googling then we can dis-
cover together what they are wondering about (Ellie, spring interview, 2014).

However, most of the time during the ESL didactics lessons the student teachers
were observed passively listening to the ESL teacher educator’s instructions of
how they could use ICT in ESL teaching. In the interviews, the student teachers
expressed that they also wanted to actively try out the different digital tools rather
than being passive listeners, and further explore the potential that the tools could
afford for teaching and learning:

The ESL teacher educators could have invested more time on going in-depth
with certain tools like “This is how you can do these things. You can use these
in this and this context”. This might be the reason too why so few of us use it
because we do not really know how to use the digital tools in our school prac-
tice (Andrew, fall interview, 2013).

TABLE 8.3. Teacher educators’ PDC.

Question S1 S2

Mean SD Mean SD

Overall digital competence of teacher educators* – based on the 4.56 1.119 4.26 1.257
previous questions, how well student teachers assess the digital
competence of their teacher educators

Competence development of teacher educators** – to what extent 5.41 1.322 5.44 1.354
student teachers see a need for competence development in the use of
ICT for teacher educators

Teacher educators as a role-model*** – to what extent student 3.66 1.296 3.60 1.372
teachers perceive their teacher educators as a role-model for their
own use of ICT in their teaching

Note. Questions used a 7-point Likert Scale (1 = no skills*/no extent**/completely disagree***, 7 = very
good skills*/high extent**/completely agree***). The asterisks refer to the different question
formulations.
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 175

Time with the ESL teacher educators to explore different digital tools in-depth
seems to be a crucial factor for the student teachers to familiarize themselves with
how to use these technologies in their school practice. In the surveys, the student
teachers were asked to report on their teacher educators’ PDC in their teacher edu-
cation program and to what extent they perceived them as digitally competent role
models for their own ICT use (Table 8.3).
In contrast to the interview data, both surveys (S1 & S2) showed that not all stu-
dent teachers perceived their teacher educators as role models for their own use of
ICT in teaching (Table 8.3). Likewise, a majority of the student teachers seemed
to agree that there was a need to develop digital competence in teacher educators
(Table 8.3). Furthermore, observational data showed that during their school prac-
tice, a majority of the student teachers tended to adopt teacher-centered styles of
teaching ESL with ICT similar to those used by the teacher educator and mentor
teachers, including using ICT for direct instruction and content delivery. Often,
this entailed reliance on basic digital skills including using word processors, Pow-
erPoint, and YouTube, which were also commonly featured in ESL didactics les-
sons. During the interviews, one student teacher argued that:

A lot of the digital learning in teacher education happens implicitly by “copy-

ing the teacher educator”, but that does not provide you with the competence
to do it yourself. It ends up being a “trial and error” approach instead of giving
us research or lessons about it (Tim, fall interview, 2013).

SCAFFOLDING LEARNING EXPERIENCES WITH ICT

Although the student teachers perceived modeling as helpful in developing their
digital competence, they also noted a preference for practical activities where they
were supported in authentic hands-on learning experiences with ICT. For instance,
exploring online learning resources and creating digital artifacts in the ESL didac-
tics lessons and in short workshops were pointed out as helpful activities for learn-
ing about how ICT could be used in a real classroom:

NDLA [Norwegian Digital Learning Arena] was new to me. It is a very good tool
because you know you can find verified information there. In a way, it is a “teacher
approved Wikipedia,” which I think is great (Mariam, fall interview, 2012).

Digital storytelling [workshop], that’s an example where we got to try out

being a pupil and not just a teacher (Erich, spring interview, 2013).
176 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Survey and observational data showed that the student teachers seemed fairly con-
fident in their self-perceived digital competence, notably elementary and basic
digital skills. For example, Table 8.2 describes how the student teachers rated their
elementary and basic digital skills as very high, indicating mastery of basic use of
ICT including for entertainment, social media, and office and administrative soft-
ware. In addition, observational data also support these results where the student
teachers’ use of ICT in the ESL didactics lessons and during their school practice
was observed to be centered on direct instruction and content delivery. Neverthe-
less, confidence does not necessarily transfer into practice and might just come off
as “talk”. Despite their mastery of basic digital skills, some student teachers
expressed in the interviews that they did not have significant learning experiences
with ICT from prior schooling, higher education, or teacher education. Therefore,
they saw little educational value in using ICT in their own teaching. In other
words, they were not able to see the real affordances that ICT could offer for
teaching and learning, and therefore resisted appropriating ICT into their lessons.
Although the ESL teacher educator was observed exemplifying how to use rele-
vant digital learning resources to develop pupils’ language skills such as the BBC
Languages website and with DST, the student teachers did not seem to appropriate
these resources into their own teaching:

We’re used to using video, PowerPoint, and Word for writing assignments. I
wish we could have developed a bit more and use apps and learning tools, other
tools than those we already are familiar with (Mariam, fall interview, 2012).

Social media should have been discussed more just because a critical focus on
social media is important (Tara, spring interview, 2014).

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

The doctoral study presented here focused on how ESL student teachers devel-
oped professional digital competence (PDC) in Norwegian teacher education. The
main argumentation was that teacher education plays an important role in prepar-
ing student teachers to teach with ICT in today’s digitalized schools and should
therefore enable them to meet curriculum demands, where teaching with ICT is
significant in teaching various subject disciplines. Hence, teacher education pro-
grams should develop student teachers’ PDC for integrating ICT in their subject
discipline such as ESL. Ultimately, such a competence could better equip ESL stu-
dent teachers to face the increasingly complex demands of the curriculum, con-
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 177

temporary schools, and learning expectations of current and future generations of

pupils. In the following, empirical, methodological and theoretical contributions
including implications for teaching English in teacher education and in school,
and suggestions for further research, are discussed.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Through designing, trialing, and investigating the use of DST in teacher educa-
tion, the thesis provides insight into an innovative, pedagogical, and didactical
way of integrating ICT in ESL teaching. The study’s document analysis seems to
paint an optimistic picture of how technically competent student teachers are and
how they can be prepared to teach with ICT in their future careers as professional
teachers. However, the results from the doctoral study showed that few of these
approaches, such as collaborative learning with ICT or setting aside time for
hands-on experimentation with ICT, were actually implemented by the ESL
teacher educator. Moreover, from the data, it appears that most ICT usage by both
the ESL student teachers and their teacher educator in this study was based on tra-
ditional teacher-centered ways of teaching, i.e. content delivery and direct instruc-
tion. The data reflects the fact that innovative use of ICT is not prioritized in
teacher education, and that the most frequent use of ICT revolves around using
technology to support traditional teaching practices. This superficial and teacher-
centered use of ICT in teacher education raises the critical issue of whether a gap
is really being created between what student teachers are taught in teacher educa-
tion and the demands they face in the digitalized school (Krumsvik, 2014).
The main empirical contribution of this thesis is increased knowledge about
how PDC can be developed in student teachers qualifying to teach in secondary
school. The study showcased different approaches for ICT training in teacher edu-
cation. For example, the document analysis highlighted approaches such as mod-
eling, metacognition, and collaborative learning as important steps in teacher edu-
cation towards PDC development. The study showed the teacher educator as an
important factor concerning PDC development in student teachers, notably
through modeling and scaffolding ICT integration in teaching, as pointed out in
the case study. Despite the reported lack of opportunities to try out digital technol-
ogies in teacher education, this study offers evidence that most ESL student teach-
ers pick up and employ these technologies during their school practice when
teaching English in secondary school. Thus, the data indicate a link between the
teacher educator’s use of digital tools and student teachers’ subsequent integration
of ICT in teaching.
178 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Second, regarding how to integrate ICT in ESL teaching, the teacher educator
played a critical role for student teachers to appropriate PDC. However, because
a majority of the ICT usage by the teacher educator was teacher-centered, focus-
ing on direct instruction and content delivery, the student teachers’ ICT integra-
tion seemed affected by these experiences during school practice. The student
teachers’ use of ICT was fairly superficial, and dominated by administrative and
office software, presentation technologies, social media, and using the Internet to
locate information. Thus, the student teachers drew on their basic digital skills.
Although these technologies were already mastered by the student teachers, the
issue was how to develop their PDC to move from mastering basic digital skills to
appropriating didactical ICT competence (Figure 1). A possible solution here is to
provide student teachers with opportunities to appropriate PDC, by getting hands-
on experience with how to integrate ICT in their teaching such as through DST.
Watching the teacher educator model didactical use of ICT in subject discipline
teaching might not be enough to ensure that student teachers will master and
appropriate PDC.
Third, the study showed how working with DST in teacher education could be
used to integrate ICT in ESL teaching in innovative ways, and to develop student
teachers’ PDC. The study shows how approaches from research literature about
ICT training in teacher education can be applied to a design-based research study
context to promote PDC in ESL student teachers. Notably, this includes the
teacher educator modeling DST and offering the student teachers opportunities to
try out DST for themselves in a scaffolded and collaborative learning environ-
ment. Using familiar, basic desktop tools for creating digital stories such as Movie
Maker, the threshold for integrating ICT in teaching is lowered, thus increasing
the chances that student teachers use DST in their future teaching. These
approaches might stimulate student teachers’ PDC development to go beyond
mastering basic digital skills towards appropriating didactical ICT competence.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The results of the iterations and refinements of the workshop design could poten-
tially provide a blueprint for other researchers and teacher educators who wish to
implement the method in similar contexts. In addition, the use of “clickers” for
collecting survey data during a plenary lecture (S1) can be considered an innova-
tive method, and holds methodological implications for collecting quantitative
data. Other Norwegian studies have successfully employed this method in differ-
ent contexts, including pupils’ and teachers’ digital competence in secondary
 8 PHD REVISITED: PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO TEACH WITH ICT 179

school (Krumsvik, Egelandsdal, Sarastuen, Jones, & Eikeland, 2013). This doc-
toral study, however, might be the first to collect quantitative data on ESL student
teachers’ PDC using “clickers”, which could be considered a methodological con-
tribution.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
As a theoretical contribution, this study used Krumsvik’s (2011; 2014) theoretical
model to examine PDC development in student teachers (Figure 1). Originally the
model was intended to investigate digital competence in teachers and teacher edu-
cators (Krumsvik, 2014). In the doctoral study, it was applied as a research lens
for examining ESL student teachers’ PDC development in teacher education. The
study demonstrates how Krumsvik’s (2014) model can be applied to study this
phenomenon in a Norwegian teacher education setting. Specifically, this study
calls for more critical awareness and focus on how teachers, teacher educators,
and student teachers can utilize ICT to teach in a sound pedagogical and didactical
way. Here, the study provides theoretical arguments for further promoting the
development of PDC in teacher education.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH IN TEACHER EDUCATION

Overall, the findings imply that ESL teacher educators need to critically and
didactically reflect on what kinds of digital tools they use during teacher training
as well as how and why, because they will model and influence how ESL student
teachers will be using ICT in their future teaching. This argument can be extended
to include the mentor teachers during school practice who are also digital role
models. Furthermore, the study findings imply that teacher educators and mentor
teachers need to set aside time to provide scaffolding for the student teachers to
practice authentic, pedagogical, and didactical ways of teaching with ICT.
Modeling innovative ways of integrating ICT in ESL teaching during teacher
education might lower the threshold for student teachers to use technology in their
own English teaching, and ESL teacher educators should encourage student teach-
ers to share new ICT practices from their school practice with their peer students
in teacher education. Moreover, video technologies could help student teachers
see alternative pedagogies and purposeful didactical integration of ICT. In turn,
these technologies could potentially change their traditional teacher-centered
ways of teaching with ICT.
180 FREDRIK MØRK RØKENES | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

More research on ICT in teacher education should focus on developing innovative
teaching practices with technology through the use of interventionist research
designs such as design-based research. For example, a recent study analyzed the
development of PDC among student teachers at the University of Oslo through the
use of a small private online course (SPOC), identifying how such use developed
their PDC (Brevik, Gudmundsdottir, Lund & Strømme, in press). As there is a
dearth of such studies, more research is needed. Moreover, there seems to be an
abundance of reports in the media on the rise of non-academic use of mobile
devices and cyberbullying in schools. Further research in teacher education could
explore the use of mobile devices for teaching and learning, including how to
address emerging ethical issues (c.f. digital Bildung, Figure 1) related to new tech-
nologies. In addition, there is a need for more mixed methods research showing
subject specific use of ICT in teacher education such as in ESL, as the field seems
to be dominated by quantitative studies reporting on general ICT use, attitudes or
beliefs among staff and students (Gjerdrum & Ørnes, 2015). An emerging topic
for further research is how teacher educators and teachers’ PDC could be devel-
oped and assessed in further education courses (c.f. the DigGiLU project. 2018–
2020).3

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-10

9
PhD revisited: The Acid Test
Does upper secondary EFL instruction
effectively prepare Norwegian students
for the reading of English textbooks at
colleges and universities? 1
GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR
University of Oslo

ABSTRACT This quantitative study used an International English Language Testing

System (IELTS) Reading Module to examine the academic English reading proficiency of
Norwegian upper secondary and university students. About 66% of the senior upper
secondary school students scored below IELTS Band 6 compared to 32% of the univer-
sity students. Their problems were due to slow reading for detail and poor vocabulary.
Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.

KEYWORDS Reading English for Academic Purposes | language testing | Content

and Language Integrated Learning | International English Language Testing System

1. This chapter presents the overall results from my doctoral study (Hellekjær, 2005). The entire
thesis can be downloaded from: http://www.uv.uio.no/ils/forskning/publikasjoner/rapporter-og-
avhandlingen/HellekjaerAvhandling%5B1%5D.pdf

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
184 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
The role of English in Norwegian higher education in the 1990s and early 2000s
was characterized by three overall factors. First, since Norway is a small language
community with a limited book market it has long been necessary to put English
texts and textbooks on university reading lists (Dahl, 1998; Hatlevik & Norgård,
2001). Second, an increased focus on internationalization and student mobility
(Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2002) led to a growing number
of English-Medium Instruction (EMI) courses and programs for Norwegian and
international university students. Third, Norwegian higher education institutions
relied on upper secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction
to provide the skills needed for higher education. The importance of English for
Academic Purposes (EAP) reading proficiency and the lack of research in this
area led to the doctoral study presented here. This doctoral study aimed to exam-
ine: Whether, and to what extent, Norwegian students in higher education have
problems reading the English texts and textbooks on their reading lists.
After a brief look at what characterized Norwegian reading research of the time,
selected data from three quantitative sub-studies of EAP reading proficiency are
presented. Two are from higher education, and one from the General Studies (GS)
branch of upper secondary school that qualifies for higher education. The focus is
put on presenting reading scores, and their covariance with selected variables such
as unfamiliar vocabulary, EFL courses, extracurricular reading, and university
level study experience.

THEORY: DEFINING READING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

In the present thesis, reading or reading to learn was understood as the active cre-
ation of meaning in an interactive process between information in the text on the
one hand, and the knowledge of the reader on the other (Bråten, 1997). It drew
upon a model of reading as an interactive process involving lower-level (bottom-
up) processing and higher-level (top-down) processing (e.g. Alderson 2000;
Bråten, 1997; Grabe, 1999; Koda, 2005). The core, bottom-up process involves
recognizing the written words in the text along with relevant grammatical infor-
mation. This hinges upon rapid and automatic word recognition, which provides
the basis for higher-level processing, i.e. the creation of meaning in an interactive
process between the information in the text being read, and the reader’s knowl-
edge of language, content, processing skills and strategy use. For academic read-
ing it also requires the ability “to integrate text and background information
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 185

appropriately and efficiently” (Grabe & Stoller, 2002, p. 28). This involves using
background knowledge, that is content knowledge on the one hand, and knowl-
edge of the language and text types on the other. It may also involve other cogni-
tive processes, meta-cognitive monitoring in particular, and strategy use.
Reading in a second language (L2) was considered to be similar to in first lan-
guage (L1), but subject to “a number of additional constraints on reading and its
development” (Grabe, 1999, p. 11). The most important of these was vocabulary,
since fluent reading depends on rapid and automatic word recognition that leaves
as much as possible of the limited working memory free for higher level process-
ing (Rayner & Pollatsek, 1989). This means that having to struggle with unfamil-
iar words can slow down or even disrupt the reading process, as will excessive dic-
tionary use. There was at the time an on-going debate about what an adequate
vocabulary for academic reading meant in practice, and the ability to understand
95% of the words in academic texts was considered a minimum for the fluent read-
ing of academic English as the L2. Such a level would require extensive and sys-
tematic vocabulary instruction, along with years of reading practice (Coady, 1997;
Day & Bamford, 1998; Grabe, 1999; Paribakht & Wesche, 1997), and was by no
means reflected in either syllabus goals or requirements of the then current EFL
syllabi.
Another of the key differences between L1 and L2 reading discussed at the time
was the claim that readers approached the latter with a dual-language system
(Koda, 2005). For many such dual processing could even be an advantage – in the
Interdependence Hypothesis, Cummins (2000) argued that “academic proficiency
transfers across languages such that students who have developed literacy in their
first language will tend to make stronger progress in acquiring literacy in their sec-
ond language” (p. 173). Bernhardt (2005) proposed a compensatory model of L2
reading that attempted to quantify the importance of L1 literacy, L2 language
knowledge and what she terms “unexplained variance”. The latter category com-
prises content, comprehension strategies, interest and motivation, etc., and Bern-
hardt (2005) argued that a weakness in one area might be compensated for by
knowledge from another (see also Stanovich, 1980). However, poor L2 profi-
ciency could hinder the transfer of skills and strategies to the L2, which was
known as the threshold hypothesis (Alderson, 2000; Bernhardt & Kamil, 1995;
Carrell, 1991; Laufer, 1997).
Against this background, the reading construct in this thesis draws heavily on
Grabe’s (1999, p. 34) description of what is needed in order to be a good reader in
either the L1 or L2, researched-based criteria upon which tests such as the Inter-
186 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

national English Language Testing System (IELTS) admission tests were opera-
tionalized. Grabe’s (1999) criteria are listed below:

1. Fluent and automatic word recognition skills, ability to recognize word parts
(affixes, word stems, common letter combinations);
2. a large recognition vocabulary;
3. ability to recognize common word combinations (collocations);
4. a reasonably rapid reading rate;
5. knowledge of how the world works (and the L2 culture);
6. ability to recognize anaphoric linkages and lexical linkages;
7. ability to recognize syntactic structures and parts of speech information auto-
matically;
8. ability to recognize text organization and text-structure-signaling;
9. ability to use reading strategies in combination as strategic readers [ . . .];
10. ability to concentrate on reading extended texts;
11. ability to use reading to learn new information;
12. ability to determine main ideas of a text;
13. ability to extract and use information, synthesize information, and infer infor-
mation; and
14. ability to read critically and evaluate text information.

Again, few of these criteria were reflected in the then-current upper secondary
school curriculum.

READING RESEARCH IN NORWAY – A BRIEF REVIEW

During the late 90s there was mounting criticism of Norwegian L1 reading
instruction for failing to go beyond the decoding stage to the teaching of “reading
to learn”, with negative effects on students’ reading practices with regard to strat-
egy use and the ability to adjust reading to reading purpose (Bråten, 1997; Bråten
& Olaussen, 1997, 1999). In a study of teacher education students, Fjeldbraaten
(1999) found that these used the counterproductive, reading-for-detail approach to
their L1 textbooks they had learnt in secondary education. She also found that
even a one-year reading strategy course did not change this – when under stress,
the students promptly reverted to the reading-for-detail approach they were used
to. Despite the growing criticism, there was little debate about reading instruction
before the 2001 OECD “Pisa-shock” study showed that Norwegian 15-year-olds
were not proficient L1 readers (Lie, Kjærnsli, Roe, & Turmoe, 2001). It was first
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 187

and foremost the high, in-class variation in reading scores that led to serious
debate and the Knowledge Promotion curriculum reform, which continued when
the next tests showed no improvement (Kjærnsli, Lie, Olsen, Roe, & Turmoe,
2004).
Given the transfer from L1 to L2, there was good reason to expect that the weak-
nesses found in L1 reading proficiency would be present in the L2 – English – as
well. There had been only a few relevant but small-scale, studies. The first found
that that current EFL teaching was causing upper secondary school students to use
a counterproductive, slow and detail-focused approach to the reading of English
(Hellekjær, 1992). Later this became a serious problem for the early implementa-
tion of Content and Language Integrated (CLIL) instruction in Norwegian upper
secondary school, although the students’ reading skills improved rapidly when
given relevant reading instruction (Hellekjær, 1996). A later survey of 145 first-
year university college respondents confirmed that the same slow, careful, word-
by-word reading of English texts that was typical of upper secondary school stu-
dents persisted in higher education (Hellekjær, 1998). Finally, there was the 2004
large-scale European comparative study of English proficiency comprising repre-
sentative samples of Norwegian, Danish, French, Finnish, Dutch, German and
Spanish 16-year-olds (Bonnet, 2004). While Norwegian students did well, closer
analysis showed that the Norwegian scores had the highest standard deviations, in
particular for reading comprehension. Ibsen (2004, p. 35) concluded that this high,
in-class variation for English, mirrored the findings for L1 reading in the recent
OECD/PISA survey (see Lie, Kjærnsli, Roe, & Turmoe, 2001).
This brings us to the present study, where, in the light of the importance of EAP
reading proficiency for higher education, the available research on L1 and L2
reading clearly indicated the need to further investigate this issue. This led to this
doctoral study, where the main research aim was: Whether, and to what extent,
Norwegian students in higher education have problems reading the English texts
and textbooks on their reading lists. As mentioned, it compared university with
senior upper secondary school student reading scores.

METHOD
The present quantitative study, comprising three sub-studies with surveys and
tests of three different samples, used a quasi-experimental, one-group, post-test
research design (see Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002, pp. 106–107). See table
9.1 for a more detailed overview.
188 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

MATERIAL
Three questionnaires were used to collect data. All included items tapping into the
dependent variables English and Norwegian reading proficiency, into the independ-
ent variables expected to co-vary with reading comprehension such as English read-
ing habits, media use, and the handling of unfamiliar words when reading. They also
included items providing information about student backgrounds, such as university
students’ study experience. Sub-study 1 used self-assessment items that could be
merged into additive indices to measure reading proficiency; sub-study 2 combined
these and an IELTS Academic English Reading Module, part of an English profi-
ciency test used by UK and Australian universities for admission purposes, to vali-
date the self-assessment items; and the IELTS Module was used for sub-study 3.
The use of self-assessment items to measure the reading proficiency of univer-
sity students in sub-study 1 was to ensure that the survey could be answered
quickly during the last ten minutes of a lecture. Research shows that self-assess-
ment surveys can provide a reliable and valid picture of skills and/or levels of pro-
ficiency in low-stakes situations, such as in a survey (Bachman, 1990; Oscarson,
1997). Drawing on the construct definition of reading, I therefore developed a
number of self-assessment items testing different aspects of the reading process.
Items 40, 41 and 42 tapped into bottom-up processing, and 43, 44 and 45 into top-
down processing when reading. To allow for comparisons there were identical
items for Norwegian and English. Those for English are presented below:

40. How quickly do you read English texts on your reading lists? (Give only one
answer)
41. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 how many words you do not understand
in the English texts on your reading lists.
42. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to what extent you find the sentences in the
English texts difficult to understand.
43. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to what extent you find the English texts
coherent when reading.
44. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to what extent the information in the Eng-
lish texts is so densely presented that it hinders your understanding of the
contents.
45. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to what extent you find the contents of the
English texts understandable.

All the items used seven-point scales from 1 (highly difficult) to 7 (no difficulties).
Following reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha), these six items were merged
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 189

into additive indices and used as dependent variables – as measures of academic

reading proficiency.
I was granted permission to use an Academic English Reading Module speci-
men test that IELTS said was identical in difficulty to comparable tests (UCLES,
2001a, 2001b). It comprised a Geology, a Business, and a Technical text, each
about 900 words long (UCLES, 2001a). The tasks – in this case, 38 multiple
choice items – require respondents to read strategically, to make use of previous
knowledge, both of content and text type, to interpret and understand the texts, to
draw upon the ability to make correct inferences needed for understanding, and to
monitor and realign comprehension while reading. The one-hour time limit served
to give an indirect measure of reading speed – the more slowly the respondent
reads, the more unanswered items. IELTS uses conversion tables to score the
items from Bands 1 to 9, Band 6 being the most common minimum requirement
for admission to most UK and Australian universities, although some also require
Band 7. The IELTS conversion table with the weightings of the different items
was not available; instead I used the IELTS guideline in the accompanying booklet
(UCLES, 2001a) to determine band levels. For this specimen text, IELTS set Band
6 to 23 of 38 points.

PROCEDURE AND SAMPLES

For the first university-level study (sub-study 1), I first had to identify undergrad-
uate courses with English texts on their reading lists, which precluded random
sampling. Either the lecturer or I handed out the questionnaires to students during
the last ten minutes at the end of the lecture. This resulted in 578 undergraduate
level respondents from three faculties at the University of Oslo.
Next, for sub-study 2, I contacted Computing, Business and Administration and
Political Science students at Østfold University College, Geography and Social
Anthropology students at the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim
(NTNU), and with the help of an assistant, Biology students at the University of
Bergen. The students were given 80 minutes to answer the questionnaire and com-
plete the IELTS Academic Reading Module. Even though the students were paid
for their time, it proved difficult to get volunteers, so I stopped after 53 students.
Finally, for sub-study 3, I contacted ten upper secondary schools, three because
they had single-subject, sheltered Content and Language Integrated Learning
(CLIL) classes. Seven schools agreed to participate. The teachers handed out and
collected the questionnaires with the IELTS Academic Reading Module, and the
senior GS branch students were given roughly 80 consecutive minutes to answer.
190 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

This resulted in a convenience/purposive sample of 217 students. An overview is

provided in Table 9.1.

TABLE 9.1. Overview of the survey samples, time of surveying, type of survey,
respondent affiliation, respondent numbers and instruments used to assess English
reading proficiency.

Sub- Time of Type of survey Respondent Number of Instruments used

study survey affiliation respondents to assess reading
proficiency

1 Spring Survey of univer- University of Oslo, 578 Self-assessment

2001 and sity level stu- the Faculties of Edu- items
fall 2001 dents’ reading cation, Social Scien-
proficiency ces, and Natural
Sciences

2 Fall 2001 Validation test of Østfold University 53 Self-assessment

university level College and the Uni- items and an IELTS
students’ self- versities of Bergen Academic Reading
assessment sco- and NTNU, Trond- Module
res heim

3 Spring Survey of senior Seven upper secon- 217 An IELTS Acade-

2002 (third year) upper dary schools from dif- mic Reading
secondary level ferent parts of Module
students’ reading Norway. 39 students
proficiency had CLIL instruction,
178 EFL only

Of the 578 respondents in sub-study 1, 159 (28%) were from the Faculty of Edu-
cation, 266 (46%) from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and 53
(26%) from the Faculty of Social Sciences. Of these, 45 (8%) did not have Nor-
wegian as their L1. The majority of students were female, 427 (74%). The courses
in questions had 1,125 registered students, giving a 51% reply rate, rising to 65%
if the 894 completed examinations were used as a baseline.
Sub-study 2 comprised 53 respondents, 44 from Østfold University College,
seven from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and
two from the University of Bergen. Thirty-one (58%) of the respondents were
male and 22 (42%) female. Only one respondent (2%) did not have Norwegian as
his or her L1. The reply rate could not be determined.
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 191

Sub-study 3 comprised senior upper secondary students, 217 in all. Thirty-nine of

these had a single, sheltered CLIL subject from three different schools, either His-
tory or Physics taught in English. The remaining 178 had different EFL courses, 45
(34%) with the first-year Foundation course, 30 (17%) with English I, and 100
(56%) with English II courses. It was not possible to determine the reply rate.

DATA ANALYSES
The statistical analyses focused on mean scores, score and respondent distribu-
tions, and analysing co-variations between dependent and independent variables
using correlation analysis (Pearson’s r) and multiple regression (linear). I also car-
ried out reliability analyses (Cronbach’s alpha) of the self-assessment and IELTS
items prior to merging these into additive indices for use as dependent variables.

RESULTS
This doctoral study aimed to examine: Whether, and to what extent, Norwegian
students in higher education have problems reading the English texts and text-
books on their reading lists. The three studies showed that about 32% of the uni-
versity level respondents had difficulties reading English texts and textbooks and
that 66% of the upper secondary school GS students also had difficulties, scoring
below Band 6 on the IELTS Academic Reading Module. Interestingly, 74% of the
students with a CLIL course managed Band 6 or better. A more detailed analysis
is presented in the following.

SUB-STUDY 1 – THE MAIN UNIVERSITY LEVEL STUDY

This university-level study used a set of self-assessment items to investigate read-
ing proficiency in English and Norwegian. After a reliability analysis, these were
merged into the additive indices Enindex and Noindex to provide measures of
reading difficulty in the two languages. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were
high, a = .84 for Noindex, and a = .94 for Enindex. This made it possible to com-
pare the scores for reading difficulty between the two languages, and next to
examine reading difficulty in English. The mean score for Enindex, x = 4.6
(SD=1.1), was clearly below the x = 5.7 (SD=0.73) of Noindex, and with a mark-
edly higher standard deviation than for Enindex. The score distribution of is pre-
sented in Figure 1. The scores to the left indicate higher levels of reading diffi-
culty, on a scale from 1 (difficult to understand) to 7 (no difficulties).
192 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

350

300

250

200

NOINDEX ENINDEX

150

100

50

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

FIGURE 9.1. Distribution of self-reported Noindex and Enindex additive indices scores
displaying reading proficiency scores. The scale is from 1 (difficult to understand) to 7 (no
difficulties). For display purposes, values from 0 to 1.49 being counted as 1, from 1.5 to
2.49 as 2, etc.

As displayed, while the scores for Noindex are skewed to the right around a
median value of 5.8, while those for Enindex are more evenly distributed with
many well below the median value of 4.7 and with a markedly higher SD, clear
indications of greater perceived reading difficulties for Norwegian. As I will
return to in sub-study 2, a comparison of the IELTS and self-assessment scores in
this study indicated that self-assessment scores of 4 or below also fell below
IELTS Band 6. In other words, the 185 (32%) of 578 respondents that scored
below 4, and who would most probably not achieve Band 6 on the IELTS Reading
Module, are those experiencing moderate to serious difficulties reading English
texts and textbooks. As for main sources of reading difficulty, I investigated this
question through a more detailed comparison of the unmerged items used for the
Noindex and Enindex indices. The comparison is presented in Table 9.2.
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 193

TABLE 9.2. Comparison of reading difficulties between English and Norwegian,

mean scores and standard deviations (SD) for items 34 to 39 for Norwegian, and the
equivalent items for English, 40 to 45. Scoring is on seven-point scales from 1
(lowest) score to 7 (highest).

Items Norwegian English mean

mean scores scores and
and standard standard devia-
deviations tions

40. How quickly do you read the texts on your rea- 5.43 4.31
ding lists? (SD= 1.2) (SD= 1.4)

41. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 how many words 5.91 4.47
you do not understand in the texts on your reading (SD= 0.8) (SD= 1.1)
lists.

42. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to which extent 5.81 4.63

you find the sentences in the texts difficult to under- (SD= .1.0) (SD= 1.2)
stand.

43. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to which extent 5.83 4.73

you find the texts coherent when reading. (SD= 0.9) (SD= 1.3)

44. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to which degree 5.42 4.58

information in the texts is so densely presented that it (SD= 1.0) (SD= 1.3)
hinders your understanding of the contents.

45. Indicate on the scale from 1 to 7 to which extent 5.79 4.88

you find the contents of the texts understandable. (SD= 0.8) (SD= 1.2)

As can be seen in Table 9.3, the fairly low scores for reading speed (Item 40) goes
to show that this is a challenge in both languages. The next source of difficulty in
English is unfamiliar vocabulary (Item 41), with complex sentences (Item 42) and
with texts with densely presented information (Item 44) following close behind.
Finally, the higher standard deviations for reading in English give evidence of
greater variation in reading proficiency. To further investigate the problem of
unfamiliar vocabulary in particular, a number of items asked how the respondents
handled unfamiliar items of vocabulary when reading. How these correlate (Pear-
son’s r) with reading proficiency, as measured by Enindex, is displayed in Table
9.3.
194 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

TABLE 9.3. Bivariate correlations between Enindex and ways of handling unfamiliar
words when reading in the Study 1 survey. n=527 (51 missing answers).

Independent variables r

Dictionary use –.17*

Guess meaning of word using subject knowledge .17*

Guess meaning of word using context .27*

Ask lecturer –.01

Ask other students –.11*

I just keep on reading .04

I give up reading altogether –.50*

* p < .01

This overview shows that only the ways of handling unfamiliar words that
avoided disrupting the reading process, such as guessing word meaning, had pos-
itive correlations. Those that disrupted the reading process, such as using a dic-
tionary or asking fellow students, had negative correlations – meaning that the
more frequent their use – the lower the Enindex score. Interestingly, the highest
negative correlation, r = –.50, was for the item “I give up reading altogether” is a
clear indication of serious reading difficulties that are most probably due to poor
English proficiency.

FURTHER ANALYSIS
Given the two indices tapping into reading in the L1 and L2, this gave the oppor-
tunity to examine the Interdependence Hypothesis – the expectation that if a
respondent read well in Norwegian as the L1, they would also read well in English
as the L2. This was supported by a correlation (Pearson’s r) between Enindex and
Noindex of r=0.43 (p>01, N=528), with the caveat that there is no clear indication
of direction. Next, cross tabulation revealed a considerable number of respondents
who fell below the Linguistic Threshold Level due to poor English skills, with
high scores for Noindex but very low for Enindex.
There were also a number of background questions: about study experience,
advanced English courses taken in upper secondary school, and about extracurric-
ular reading and exposure to English. When correlated with Enindex, the item for
completing the third advanced upper secondary school English course gave only
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 195

a low correlation of r= 0.13 (p=.01, N=572). With regard to study experience,

where reading difficulty might be expected to decrease with time, no significant
correlation between study experience and reading proficiency was found. Instead,
extracurricular reading gave a positive result. Analysis showed that many students
read extensively, about half having read 16 novels or more, and of these 108 (18%)
having read 51 or even more. This gave a fairly high and positive correlation with
Enindex of r= .47 (p= 0.01, N= 573), while for magazine reading the correlation
was r= 0.43 (p= 0.01, N= 574), and for internet reading r= 0.4 (p= 0.01, N= 576).
Furthermore, multiple regression analyses with these three variables (for reading
novels, magazines and periodicals, and on the Internet), with Enindex as the
dependent variable, gave an explained variance of R2 = .29, accounting for 29%
of the variation in the reading scores.

SUB-STUDY 2 – THE VALIDATION STUDY

The main aim of this survey was to validate the self-assessment indices used to
measure English reading proficiency in sub-study 1, and if possible, benchmark
these against the IELTS Academic Reading Module scores. The questionnaire
included the same self-assessment items for reading in English and Norwegian as
in sub-study 1, and the same items on reading habits, the handling of unfamiliar
vocabulary, upper secondary English courses, and study experience. As in sub-
study 1, the self-assessment items for Norwegian and English could be merged
into additive indices. For this sample the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for Enin-
dex was a high  = .9, and for Noindex a moderate to high  = .7. With a high
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of  = .9, the 38 IELTS scores could also be merged
into the additive index Alltext.

The IELTS test results

The distribution of the IELTS Academic Reading Module scores (Alltext) for the
53 respondents are displayed in Figure 9.2.
As can be seen, 44 of 53 (83%) respondents scored Band 6 (24 points) or better,
with 40% achieving 34 of the 38 points or more, a clear indication of a ceiling
effect, and this should be considered an acceptable outcome. However, these were
volunteer respondents, as likely as not fairly confident about their English skills –
one respondent mentioned that many who did not feel proficient did not volunteer.
In addition, the 25 (48%) Computer Science respondents from Østfold University
College were at the outset above-average students because of heavy competition
196 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

for admittance to their study program. It is therefore probable this particular sam-
ple had a higher level of proficiency than would be the case with a representative
sample of Norwegian students.

6
Respondents

0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37

IELTS scores

FIGURE 9.2. IELTS Academic Reading Module scores. The maximum score is 38, the
mean, x = 30, and standard deviation, SD= 8.0, N= 53.

However, the main goal of this study was to validate the self-assessment indices
used to measure reading proficiency in sub-study 1. I therefore correlated the
index for the English self-assessment items, Enindex with the IELTS index Alltext,
and (Pearson’s r) correlation between these was r= 0.72 (p<.01, N= 53). This
fairly high correlation gives reason to claim that the self-assessment index Enin-
dex gives a useful and reasonably valid picture of student reading difficulties in
English.
Next, in an attempt to benchmark the self-assessment index for English against
the IELTS scores, further analysis showed that the (relatively few) respondents
who scored below Band 6 on the IELTS test also scored below 4 on Enindex. This
gives reason to argue that the 32% with Enindex scores below 4 in sub-study 1 also
fall below the IELTS Band 6 level.
Finally, further analyses gave largely the same results as in sub-study 1. For
study experience, correlating the number of completed ECTS credits (29) with
Enindex, Noindex, and IELTS scores gave no meaningful or significant correla-
tions. Once again, only extracurricular reading gave positive correlations; when
correlated against IELTS scores (Alltext), book reading gave r=0.58; periodical
reading r=0.38; and Internet reading r=0.47, all statistically significant (p=0.01,
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 197

N=53). Multiple regression analysis with IELTS scores as the dependent variable
and the three items for book, periodical and internet reading as independent vari-
ables gave an explained variance of R2 = 0.40, clearly higher than for sub-study
1. With regard to the handling of unfamiliar vocabulary, the pattern largely
reflected that of sub-study 1, but with non-significant correlations, most probably
due to the small sample.

Sub-study 3–The upper secondary school study

Having found that about a third of the university students had difficulties reading
English, the next step was to examine the proficiency of senior GS upper second-
ary school students. As mentioned, this sample comprised 217 students, of which
39 had a single CLIL (the CLIL sub-sample) while the remainder, 178 respondents
had EFL instruction only (the EFL sub-sample). The questionnaire had roughly
the same items as in the university surveys and the same IELTS Academic Read-
ing Module used for sub-study 2. The IELTS items were again combined into an
additive index (IELTS) to serve as a dependent variable. For the EFL sub-sample,
reliability according to Cronbach’s alpha was high, µ= .95; as for the CLIL sub-
sample, µ= .92. An overview of the IELTS scores for the different sub-samples,
and according to English course, is presented in Table 9.4.

TABLE 9.4. An overview of the IELTS mean scores with standard deviations, and of
the percentages who achieved 24 points/Band 6 or better for the EFL and CLIL sub-
samples, and for the EFL sub-sample according to completed English courses. N=217

Sample and Mean IELTS SD N Percentage who

subsamples scores achieve 24 points/
(x) Band 6 or better

EFL sub-sample 21 9.03 178 33 %

Foundation Course 22 9.36 45 47 %

Advanced English I 19 9.17 30 33 %

Advanced English II 21 8.92 99 29 %

CLIL sub-sample 28 7.9 39 74%

Total 217

As can be seen from this overview, only one third (33%) of the EFL sub-sample
achieved the Band 6 level or better. Closer examination of their IELTS scores for
198 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

the EFL sub-sample revealed a consistent pattern where respondents apparently

read and worked quite slowly, for the most part answering correctly, but leaving
many items unanswered.
Furthermore, in the EFL sub-sample completing the Advanced English I and II
Courses, each representing one or two extra years of English teaching with five
lessons per week, did not give higher mean reading scores ( x = 19 and x = 21
respectively). In fact, the scores for this group are somewhat lower than those with
the Foundation Course only ( x = 22), perhaps due to many of the better students
opting for the Natural Science subjects instead of English. In comparison, the
CLIL subsample, which had had a single CLIL subject taught in English, scored
far higher, with 74% achieving 24 points/Band 6 or better ( x = 28). In Figure 3
the EFL sample scores are compared with those of the CLIL sub-sample.

32
IELTS scores,
30 mean values
CLIL
28 sub-
sample
26

24

22
EFL sub-sample
20

18
N= 177 39

FIGURE 9.3. Confidence intervals for the IELTS scores of the EFL sub-sample with 178
respondents, and the CLIL sub-sample with 39. The interval between the group means is
statistically significant at the 95% level of certainty. Maximum IELTS score is 38.

As can be seen, the confidence intervals in Figure 9.3 also show that the interval
between the IELTS mean scores for EFL and CLIL sub-samples is about seven
points, and this is statistically significant at the 95% level.

Extracurricular reading and unfamiliar vocabulary

With regard to reading habits, further analysis of the EFL sub-sample revealed that
the great majority had read little beyond the minimum requirements in the current
R94 curriculum, which can probably explain the low correlations for reading
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 199

books, r= 0.21 (p=.01, n=177), periodicals r= 0.15 (not significant), and on the
Internet r= 0.21 (p= .01, n=177). With regard to how the EFL students coped with
unfamiliar words when reading, the correlations between these items and the
IELTS scores are displayed in Table 9.5.

TABLE 9.5. Ways of coping with unfamiliar words correlated with the IELTS test
scores in the EFL sample. N=177.

Independent variables r

Dictionary use .00

Guess meaning of word using subject knowledge –.03

Guess meaning of word using context .10**

Ask teacher –.20*

Ask parents –. 24*

Ask other students –.31*

I just keep on reading –.11**

I give up reading –.28*

* p < .01 ** p< .05

As can be seen, the correlations for guessing the meaning of unknown words and
otherwise not disrupting the reading process are quite low, lower than for the uni-
versity students in sub-study 1. There were also higher negative correlations for
interrupting the reading process to consult their teachers, peers or parents, but
interestingly, not for dictionary use.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

I would contend that the doctoral study presented in this chapter presented a seri-
ous, empirically based challenge to the Norwegian assumptions about the quality
of Norwegian EFL instruction in general, and for reading proficiency in particular.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
One of the main empirical contributions of this study was that upper secondary
school English instruction failed to prepare all-too-many students for the reading
200 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

of English texts in higher education – as indicated by as many as two thirds of the

senior upper secondary school students not achieving the minimum Band 6 IELTS
score required for admission to most UK and Australian universities.
The next contribution was to show that that these difficulties persisted in higher
education, with both sub-studies 1 and 2 indicating that about one third of the sur-
veyed university level students experienced difficulties. Interestingly, further
analysis found no correlation between study experience and reading scores, which
means that one cannot take it for granted that student reading proficiency
improves with experience, and cannot explain the performance gap between edu-
cation levels. Instead, either student attrition and/or selection factors stand forth
as probable explanations. It may be that many upper secondary school students
who are poor readers either do not go on to higher education, choose studies where
English textbooks are not used, or drop out of their first university-level courses.
Third, the many respondents who struggled with unfamiliar words to the point
where they gave up reading altogether clearly show the need to pay greater atten-
tion to vocabulary development.
Finally, to return to upper secondary school EFL instruction, the IELTS scores
of the EFL sample – one-third achieving Band 6, and that the advanced elective
English courses did not contribute to higher scores while a single, sheltered CLIL
courses clearly did, clearly showed the need to improve reading instruction.
Closer examination showed that the low scoring students at both levels tended to
read and work very slowly, often answering IELTS items correctly but leaving
many or most unanswered due to the lack of time. Correlation analysis also indi-
cated that many gave up reading due to unfamiliar words, probably either due to
inadequate vocabulary knowledge, and/or the inability to handle unfamiliar words
without unduly interrupting the reading process. However, while English profi-
ciency, and vocabulary in particular, can in part explain these challenges, another
explanation might be weaknesses in the respondents’ L1 reading proficiency,
given the arguments for transfer from L1 to the L2. One indication was that the
2001 OECD PISA study revealed that many Norwegian 15-year-olds were poor
readers in their L1. Another was the contemporary criticism of lack of emphasis
put on teaching Nordic students reading to learn (Bråten, 2007; Bråten & Olaus-
sen, 1997, 1999). Furthermore, the IELTS test data reflected those of Fjeld-
braaten’s (1999) study, which showed that university level students under pressure
used counterproductive reading strategies in the L1, first and foremost the ten-
dency to read carefully for detail. In other words, and paraphrasing Alderson
(1984), the reading problems found in this thesis are most probably due to reading
as well as language problems.
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 201

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
One of the theoretical contributions of this study was its support of the Interde-
pendence Hypothesis, given the positive correlation between L1 and L2 reading
scores found in sub-study 1. Cross tabulating these same scores also gave support
for the Threshold Hypothesis, since it revealed a considerable number of
respondents who were good readers in the L1 but among the poorest in the L2.
Among other issues there were the clear and consistent positive correlations
between reading of books and periodicals and reading scores, a clear argument
for the importance of extensive reading. Finally, the lack of any positive correla-
tions between study experience and reading scores at the university level indi-
cates that little incidental acquisition is taking place, unless, as Fjeldbraaten
(1999) shows, that this is a reading problem, not a language problem. This in turn
clearly indicates the need for consistent, long-term reading strategy instruction in
the L1 and L2.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
With regard to the methodological contributions, the main contribution of this
doctoral study was the development of, and subsequent validation of, using the
IELTS Academic Reading Module, a set of self-assessment items that can quickly
and easily be used to measure EAP reading difficulties, in part by benchmarking
this against reading in the L1. The other methodological contribution is that it
clearly demonstrated the utility of and need to use validated language tests to
assess student language proficiency – in this case, reading.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH AS L2

A key implication of this study for EFL instruction was the need to focus on the
teaching of reading strategies, and to teach students to accept uncertainty when
they encounter unfamiliar words and guess from context or using their previous
knowledge in order to avoid disrupting the reading process. Another was the need
for a far more systematic approach to improving students’ vocabularies to prepare
them for higher education. Improving reading proficiency as well as developing
vocabulary entails the need to read far more extensively as part of EFL instruction,
and requires going beyond the textbooks to the reading of a variety of longer texts
(novels, biographies, documentaries), including technical and academic reading.
A crucial part of this approach would be to allow students to choose challenging
texts on topics that they are interested in. Last, and by no means least, the study
202 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

showed the need for an overhaul of the content and teaching of the Advanced Eng-
lish elective courses.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This thesis was defended at the same time that a new curriculum (Knowledge Pro-
motion) was under development, intended to address the problems found by this
doctoral study and the OECD PISA “shock” study (Lie et al., 2001). A crucial
change made in the new curriculum was to make reading one of five basic skills
that were to be taught across the curriculum in the L1 as well as L2. The new cur-
riculum also designated clear competency aims for reading to be achieved after
grades 4, 7, 10, and after the Vg1, Vg2, and Vg3 courses. The need to teach read-
ing strategy use was also made clear, and the curriculum was quite explicit about
the students’ learning to adjust their “reading according to reading purpose”.
National reading tests for English after grades 5, 8, and the Vg1 level were also
developed to support changes in teaching2. Finally, the new English curriculum
acknowledged far more clearly than did its predecessor R94 the role of English
instruction in preparing for higher education.
A number of Norwegian studies have evaluated English reading instruction
since 2005, including Master’s theses. At the upper secondary school level, one of
the first follow-up studies was a Master’s thesis where Faye-Schøll (2009) found
that the teachers interviewed seemed quite unaware of the Knowledge Promotion
English curriculum requirements regarding the teaching of reading and strategy
use. However, a later doctoral study, Brevik (2015), found clear improvements in
reading strategy instruction. She also found that teachers needed help to articulate
their tacit knowledge of reading strategy use.
Another follow-up study by Hellekjær and Hopfenbeck (2012) investigated
whether upper secondary school GS student reading proficiency had improved
following the 2006 curriculum. It used the same IELTS Academic Reading Mod-
ule and many of the same questionnaire items from sub-study 3 that is reported in
this chapter. They found a clear improvement among upper secondary GS students
with only EFL instruction, with 57% of the students achieved 24 points/Band 6
compared to the previous 33%. However, despite the new curriculum, they also
found that completing the Vg2 and Vg3 elective English courses still did not give
improved reading scores, and since these students had the same Vg1 English
grades, this effectively countered the common assumption that the poor results

2. The Vg1 tests were so-called mapping tests from 2010–2016, and have since 2017 been repla-
ced by tests designed to support learning.
 9 PHD REVISITED: THE ACID TEST 203

were due to negative selection. While single-subject, sheltered CLIL classes still
gave better results, this varied according to the extent of English use for instruc-
tion. Hellekjær and Hopfenbeck (2012) found it difficult to explain the generally
improved IELTS scores, first and foremost because they found little increase in
student reading. They therefore speculated about the improvement observed being
due to increased internet reading, to increased extracurricular exposure to English
(e.g., Brevik & Hellekjær, 2018), due to the mandated focus on the teaching of
reading strategies at the lower secondary level, or due to greater student familiar-
ity with multiple choice tests due to the introduction of national examinations.
A number of newer studies have highlighted the growing importance of extra-
curricular English as an explanation for many students’ often impressive English
skills (Brevik, 2016; Brevik & Hellekjær 2018; Garvoll, 2017). Still, this is an
issue in urgent need of further research, in particular to explain the poor outcomes
from the Vg2 and Vg3 elective English courses.
In higher education, a number of recent studies have found that many students
still struggle with English. With regard to EMI lecture comprehension, Hellekjær
(2010) found that as many as 40% of the students had comprehension difficulties.
With regard to Academic English reading, a Master’s study, Arnsby (2013), used
the self-assessment items developed in sub-study 1 in combination with student
interviews to investigate university students’ EAP reading. She found that the stu-
dents’ reading proficiency had improved only marginally in comparison to sub-
study 1. She concluded that further improvements in upper secondary school read-
ing instruction are still needed. Another Master’s thesis is by Busby (2015), in
which she compared the reading speed, comprehension and vocabulary knowl-
edge of Norwegian students with native English-speaking students, finding that
Norwegian students were more likely to have a native speaker-like proficiency in
general-language English proficiency than in academic language English, particu-
larly with regard to vocabulary comprehension. She concluded that students
needed further help in developing their Academic English proficiency. In her doc-
toral study, Busby (on-going) continues work on this topic, using a combination
of reading and vocabulary tests to investigate Norwegian university students’
Academic English proficiency. In a recent article comparing student metacogni-
tive strategy use in the L1 and L2, she found little difference between languages,
although she concluded that for the L2 “students may benefit from additional
training in the use of higher-level reading strategies to improve their comprehen-
sion of L2 academic texts” (Busby, 2018, p. 1).
While some issues have been addressed, further research is still called for. The
perhaps most urgent project would be to investigate possible beginner student
204 GLENN OLE HELLEKJÆR | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

attrition in higher education – to find out whether many of the poorer readers drop
out of their beginner courses either due to L1 or L2 reading difficulties. Another
would be a follow-up of Hellekjær and Hopfenbeck’s (2012) study. By surveying
a new sample of upper secondary students with the same IELTS Academic Read-
ing Module that was used in this thesis and in the 2012 study, it would be possible
to see whether there has been any improvement. A comparable study of university
students would of course also be useful, as would investigating why the advanced
elective English courses do not improve reading proficiency. Yet another, and
quite ambitious project would be an intervention study where lower or upper sec-
ondary students were to read a larger number of longer texts than usual (novels or
documentaries), and their development monitored with pre- and post-tests. This
would also develop our knowledge about how best to implement additional read-
ing in the English classroom.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-11

10
PhD revisited: How teachers
teach and readers read
Developing reading comprehension in
English in Norwegian upper secondary
school 1
LISBETH M BREVIK
University of Oslo

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a doctoral study (Brevik, 2015) that investigated the
practices involved in developing reading comprehension in English as a second language
in upper secondary school; focusing specifically on reading strategy instruction and use.
The chapter describes how strategies were taught and used markedly differently in
general and vocational study programmes, and addresses recent developments related
to reading comprehension instruction across contexts in Norway, with suggestions for
further research.

KEYWORDS English as a second language (L2) | reading comprehension | strategy

instruction and use | reading proficiency

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Brevik, 2015) from the University of
Oslo. This is an article-based thesis, with three published articles (Brevik, 2014, 2017; Brevik,
Olsen, & Hellekjær, 2016). The thesis in its entirety can be found here: http://urn.nb.no/
URN:NBN:no-48331

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
208 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
At the heart of this doctoral thesis is scaffolding of reading comprehension – its
nature, instruction, and student proficiency. It is an article-based thesis comprising
three articles. At the initiation of this doctoral study, in 2011, little was known
about how English teachers in upper secondary schools in Norway worked with
reading skills in their instruction, or how students developed as readers of English.
What we did know was that Norwegian students were among the best readers of
English as a second language (L2) in Europe in 2000 (Ibsen, 2004), but that their
reading skills were not good enough to enable acceptance into universities abroad
(Hellekjær, 2005). We also knew that based on the current educational reform
(Knowledge Promotion), teachers reported working with reading skills on a regu-
lar basis across subjects (Aasen, Møller, Rye, Ottesen, Prøitz, & Hertzberg, 2012).
However, we had little knowledge of whether this was true for the English subject,
and if so, whether the development of reading skills in English was scaffolded by
reading comprehension strategy instruction and use, or supported by the use of
other basic skills. This lack of research on English reading comprehension and
strategy instruction in Norway at the time, compared to international reading com-
prehension strategy research, indicated a need for such research in upper second-
ary schools in Norway.
With this as a backdrop, I aimed to investigate practices involved in developing
reading comprehension in English in Norwegian upper secondary school. I sought
to identify what a sample of teachers did in their reading instruction, whether they
included reading strategies, and how they perceived their instructional practices.
I further aimed to investigate reading comprehension among these teachers’ upper
secondary students (16–17 years old), focusing on their use of reading compre-
hension strategies in the classroom and their perceived purposes for using the
strategies, along with their levels of reading proficiency. Thus, the overarching
aim was to investigate the practices involved in developing reading comprehen-
sion in English as the L2 in Norwegian upper secondary school.

REVIEW
Research has confirmed that strategy instruction improves reading comprehension
(e.g. Bernhardt, 2011; Block & Duffy, 2008; Duke et al., 2011; Grabe, 2009;
National Reading Panel, 2000). However, research has also suggested that reading
comprehension strategy instruction is not carried out in the majority of classrooms
(Duke et al., 2011). Through guided strategy instruction, teachers can help stu-
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 209

dents to overcome reading comprehension problems by using a small repertoire of

reading strategies flexibly (e.g. Block & Duffy, 2008; Duke et al., 2011; Fisher &
Frey, 2008), and to develop as independent L2 readers also without the direct
guidance of a teacher (Bernhardt, 2011).
One question is which strategies to teach and use, and Grabe’s (2009) summary
of research on reading strategies over the past two decades revealed that the same
strategies are to a large extent used in the L2 as in the L1. He further found that all
readers use many strategies, and while good and poor readers seem to use the same
types of strategies, good readers use these more effectively than do the poor read-
ers (see also Bernhardt, 2011; Bunch et al., 2014). The argument is that all readers
experience comprehension problems at some point, and that knowledge about
strategies is not enough, they need to learn how to use strategies effectively to
monitor and repair their developing L2 comprehension. For L2 reading, Bernhardt
(2011) has also emphasised the relationship between reading in L1 and L2, argu-
ing that L1 reading and L2 language knowledge together explain 50% of L2 read-
ing comprehension, with an unexplained variance accounting for the remaining
50%. Based on this prior research, I identified a need to observe whether English
L2 instruction in Norway included reading comprehension strategy instruction,
and to what extent the L2 students used such strategies. Furthermore, I included a
dual-language perspective on the students’ reading comprehension within and
across Norwegian L1 and English L2.

THEORY
Reading comprehension, according to the L1-focused RAND Reading Study
Group (2002) model, is “the process of simultaneously extracting and construct-
ing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language” (p. 11).
The construction of meaning requires interaction between the reader who is doing
the comprehending, the text that is to be comprehended, and the activity in which
comprehension is a part, occurring within a sociocultural environment (RAND,
2002). One goal of reading instruction is to help readers understand the immediate
text at hand, while another is to help the students develop into independent and
active readers who use a small repertoire of reading comprehension strategies
(RAND, 2002). In this doctoral thesis, I integrated reading comprehension theo-
ries with a Vygotskian framing: considering reading comprehension as a process
that moves from the internalisation of reading strategies as tools to understand
written texts, to the externalisation of how reading comprehension of such texts
210 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

manifests itself for the L2 readers, comprising a process where they ideally
develop strategic reading.
Thus, the general theoretical and conceptual framing of this thesis is that reading
instruction and reading comprehension in Norwegian upper secondary school take
place within a sociocultural environment where students actively participate in their
own learning and development. The thesis draws primarily on Vygotskian thinking
on the importance of the active learner and the teacher who supports such learners,
the internalisation and use of reading comprehension strategies as tools for learning,
and reading proficiency as an externalisation of reading comprehension. This
approach is influenced by the legacy of Vygotsky (e.g. Vygotsky, 1981, 1986), and
later interpreters such as Claxton (2007), Daniels (2008), and Edwards (2015).
In brief, the theoretical concepts of my thesis that relate to a Vygotskian legacy
are thus: (a) the adolescent L2 reader as a Vygotskian learner, (b) the L2 teacher
in the Vygotskian classroom, (c) reading strategies as tools for developing reading
comprehension, and (d) internalisation and externalisation of reading comprehen-
sion. Vygotsky’s learner is active, ideally propelling herself forward in a process
of learning and development (Edwards, 2015). These learners are not passive
receivers of information, but actively engage with the task, trying to make sense
personally and culturally. Participating actively in the learning environment ena-
bles Vygotsky’s learner to relate meaning-making in the classroom to his or her
individual consciousness, and to make personal connections between the task at
hand and other topics within and beyond the classroom, consequently reposition-
ing herself in these practices. Thus, in the Vygotskian sense, teachers and students
might learn to teach or use reading strategies as tools that are culturally valued
within education, for example how to summarise important information in a text
or how to integrate new textual information with prior knowledge (e.g., Block &
Duffy, 2008; Duke, Pearson, Strachan, & Billman, 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2008;
Grabe, 2009). In this sense, learning about a tool, such as a reading comprehension
strategy, is not enough; it also needs to be used.

METHODOLOGY
Methodologically, this doctoral thesis used a mixed methods approach to study the
qualitative and quantitative aspects of practices involved in developing reading
comprehension in English (Creswell, 2013; Johnson & Christensen, 2013). The
study moved from investigating the teacher perspective on strategy instruction,
with observations of such instruction in the classroom, to the student perspective,
in order to obtain a better understanding of their personal purposes for strategy use.
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 211

RESEARCH DESIGN
I designed my mixed-methods approach in three phases, as shown in Figure 10.1,
commonly recognised as a multiphase design (Creswell, 2013).

FIGURE 10.1. The research design.

I combined qualitative (teacher and student interviews, teacher narratives, class-

room observations), and quantitative (reading test results) data sources. In Phase
1, I studied teachers’ reported reading instruction during a teacher professional
development (TPD) course, which I facilitated. First, I used teacher interviews
and narratives. In Phase 2, I combined classroom observations with student focus
groups and teacher narratives to determine how the teachers taught English read-
ing comprehension one year after the TPD course, how their students used the
strategies offered to them, and how they reflected on the strategy instruction and
use. Phase 3 was a large-scale quantitative study in which I used two national
reading tests (Norwegian and English) and analysed the students’ results across
both languages.

SAMPLE
The participants in Phase 1 were 21 teachers at 11 different upper secondary
schools. In Phase 2, I asked all 21 if they would like to invite me to observe their
reading instruction. Twenty of these were positive, and five were randomly chosen
for participation. I followed these five English teachers and their 64 students one
year after Phase 1; see Table 10.1 for an overview.
212 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

TABLE 10.1. Overview of the participants in Phase 2.

Schools Teachers Study pro- Students in each class

(pseudonyms) grammes

School A Magne General 9

School B Petter Vocational 9

School C Linda Vocational 20

School D Ruth General 19

School D Andreas Vocational 7

Total 64 students

In Phase 3, I used a national sample of all students in upper secondary school (vg1)
who participated in both the English L2 reading test and the Norwegian L1 test
(N=10,331), including students in general and vocational study programmes.

DATA
The data used in this doctoral thesis was collected from 2011–2012 (see Table
10.2).

TABLE 10.2. Overview of the phases, including methods, sample, data, analytical
concepts.

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

TPD course Classroom observations Reading tests

Methods Qualitative Qualitative Quantitative

Sample Sample 1 (County): 21 Sample 2 (County): Five Sample 4 (National):

upper secondary teachers of the English teachers 10,331 upper secondary
from Phase 1. Sample 3 students (including stu-
(County): 64 students dents in Phase 2)

Data Teacher narratives and Teacher narratives, student Student reading scores in
teacher interviews interviews, and field notes the L1 and the L2

Analytical Reading instruction Reading instruction Reading proficiency

concepts Reading strategies Reading strategies
Metacognitive awareness Metacognitive awareness
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 213

Phase 1 combined two teacher interviews with their written narratives. The TPD
course took place over two separate days, with a four-week interval in between.
The pre-interview was conducted at the beginning of the first day, with the narra-
tives and the post-interview conducted during the last course day. In Phase 2, I
conducted classroom observations that included field notes, a new set of teacher
narratives, and student interviews. As a participant observer, I developed knowl-
edge of reading instruction and reading strategy use in each English lesson, which
helped enhance my semi-structured interviews with the students and my use of
classroom observation as validation of the teacher and student data. The reading
tests introduced a shift from Phase 2, which combined different types of qualita-
tive data from a county-based sample, to Phase 3, which built solely on quantita-
tive reading test data from a national sample of 10,331 students. The test scores
were collected from a print-based test in L1 and a digital test in L2. I collected the
L1 data directly from each upper secondary school, while the L2 data were pro-
vided from the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Research.

DATA ANALYSIS
To increase the methodological transparency of my research, I present some
examples of how the data analyses were carried out for the various data sources.
Teacher interviews: In analysing the teacher interviews, I analysed my notes to
see whether they revealed metacognitive awareness concerning their instruction
in terms of how the teachers reflected on their strategy instruction in the class-
room. Teacher narratives: I analysed the written narratives to identify how the
teachers described their reading instruction, which reading strategies they
reported teaching, and when, how, and why they taught them. To identify reading
strategies, I searched for the specific names of the strategies, as well as descrip-
tions of these strategies using other words. To identify reading instruction, I
searched for descriptions of how the teachers had introduced the strategies, pro-
vided tasks, and assessed strategy use in each lesson. I also compared the narra-
tives with my field notes in Phase 2. Field notes: I validated the findings in the
Phase 2 narratives with information from my field notes. There was a general con-
sistency across these data sources, suggesting overlapping perspectives from the
teachers and myself as researcher, and across Phases 1 and 2, which provided cor-
roborating findings of the strategies that were instructed and used.
Student interviews: I transcribed and analysed the audiotaped student interviews
to identify metacognitive awareness in terms of how the students reflected on their
strategy use in and out of school. Student reading tests: I analysed the reading test
214 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

scores using the quantitative software SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences). The two reading tests were merged by using Student ID as a variable to
create one data file for both tests, with each students’ L1 and L2 test results linked
together. This procedure was used to enable identification of the students’ reading
proficiency across L1 and L2, using frequency, reliability, and regression analyses.
The reading tests are standardised, with closed items only, in terms of all questions
having more than one fixed answer to choose between, with no open-ended rubrics.

RESEARCH CREDIBILITY AND ETHICS

I took a number of steps to minimise the credibility threats to my research through
multiple validities (Johnson & Christensen, 2013). The use of a mixed-methods
approach contributes to validity in and of itself by each phase influencing the design
of the next (sequential validity) and by comparing multiple data sources throughout
the phases (triangulation). Figure 10.2 illustrates this relationship, with the two
validity procedures placed in the centre of the figure, where the three phases overlap.
In addition, I have used sample integration validity, emic-etic validity, peer-
debriefing, and external audit in all three phases. I addressed additional validity
procedures in the separate phases; member-checking in Phases 1 and 2, reactivity in
Phase 2, and internal validity and construct validity in Phase 3 (see Figure 10.2).

Phase 1
Member-checking

Sample
Sequential
Triangulation
Emic-etic
Peer-debriefing
Phase 2 External audit Phase 3
Reactivity Internal validity
Member-checking Construct validity

FIGURE 10.2. Multiple validities addressed in each of the three phases, and integrated
across.
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 215

Furthermore, I employed three measures of reliability: reliability of results (as seen

in replication over time showing similar results), intra- and inter-rater reliability
(as in consistent coding over time), and measurement reliability as a psychometric
property (e.g., test-retest reliability). When analysing the narratives and interviews,
I coded and reanalysed the data three times in each phase, after two, six, and 18
months, and comparisons of the coding into categories indicated satisfactory over-
lap (intra-rater reliability). For the reading tests, all analyses were conducted sev-
eral times by myself and one of the co-authors (inter-rater reliability). Finally, all
participants gave their voluntary consent to participate after being informed that
they could withdraw at any time (e.g., Busher & James, 2012), in line with the eth-
ical guidelines compiled by the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), who
assessed and approved the data collection situations that needed approval.

FINDINGS
A main finding of this doctoral thesis was that reading comprehension strategy
instruction and use actually took place in English lessons in upper secondary
school. In Phase 1, I found that the teachers’ description of their reading compre-
hension instruction changed over time, and the findings suggested a more active
teaching of reading comprehension strategies than what the teachers themselves
initially articulated. Most of the English teachers first reported that they did not
teach reading comprehension strategies, but that their students “just read”. Based
on their descriptions, I developed the Mode of reading continuum (Figure 10.3).
The main idea in the Mode of reading continuum is to see strategies as powerful
tools to enhance comprehension when needed, in order to bridge gaps in compre-
hension. In the “Nike mode of reading”, students read as suggested by the Nike
slogan “Just do it!” without analysing the task or considering how to read, making
it difficult to know whether they understand what is read or whether they “just
read” to finish the task. The Sherlock Holmes mode of reading has a broader
vision of a deliberate puzzle resolution, where students use strategies in order to
read like a detective by analysing the task, searching for clues not explicitly stated
in the text, and monitoring their comprehension before, during, and after reading
in order to understand, and to initiate other strategies to repair comprehension
when needed.
216 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FIGURE 10.3. Mode of reading continuum2

After participating in the TPD course, the teachers’ descriptions changed, and they
made their implicit practices of reading comprehension strategy instruction
explicit, along with explanations of how and why they included strategies in their
reading instructions. Based on their descriptions, I identified a small repertoire of
strategies (Figure 10.3) that they seemed to use in their English lessons. To a large
extent, they used the same reading comprehension strategies in English L2 as in
Norwegian L1. In Phase 2, one year after the TPD course, I found evidence in the
five observed classrooms that reading strategies were considered valuable learn-
ing tools that helped the students develop reading comprehension in English. I
also found that these five English teachers to a large extent prompted the use of
the same strategies in 2012 as they had reported using in 2011 (Phase 1). Figure
10.4 provides an overview of the reading comprehension strategies used in both
years.
The main difference between the interactions in the teacher and student inter-
views was the explicitness and the way in which participants talked about the
strategies. While the teachers provided little information in the first interview and
explicit information in the second (Phase 1), the students richly revealed why,
when, and how they used reading comprehension strategies, both in the environ-
ment of the English lessons and individually (Phase 2). The classroom observa-
tions offered further details of how these strategies were instructed and used. Of
note was that the teachers’ reading comprehension strategy instruction was very

2. The Mode of reading continuum was created by the author, based on the “Nike mode of reading”
and the “Sherlock Holmes mode of reading” provided by Professor P. David Pearson in a private
conversation in 2013 at the University of California, Berkeley (see Pearson, 2012).
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 217

FIGURE 10.4. Overview of reading comprehension strategies reported by the five

English teachers in 2011 and observed in the English lessons in 2012.
Note. * = strategies taught in the TPD course.

different in general and vocational programmes. While the teachers in vocational

programmes demonstrated a gradual release of responsibility for the strategy use
to their students, for example by offering students time to practise strategy use, the
teachers in general programmes did not. These differences were also reflected in
the students’ own explanations. The vocational students found that using reading
strategies made them better readers and that they used strategies even when the
teachers did not ask them to (see Excerpt 1, translated from Norwegian). In con-
trast, the students in general programmes revealed that they used the strategies to
meet task and teacher demands only (see Excerpt 2, translated from Norwegian).

Excerpt 1. Vocational studies

Researcher: Do you use strategies when the teacher does not ask you to?
Student 1: Yes.
Student 2: Yes. It depends on which task I am going to do, and then I
choose reading strategies myself. If we get a task where I need
to find a year, then I search until I find it.
Researcher: And you do this without the teacher asking you to do so?
Student 2: Yes. Then I don’t have to read five pages.
218 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Student 3: I make questions. And then have others ask me questions. I read
until I find something that I think is important in a text. Then I
stop and then I ask another one a question about it. And see if
they remember it. And then the opposite; they ask me about
what they find important.

Excerpt 2. General studies

Researcher: Okay, so you usually open the book and read the heading. But
you said if you had to read it, so if you’re sort of instructed, [that]
this is something you should read, then you read the heading?
And then start reading?
Student 1: [nods]
Researcher: Okay. What if you read at home and no one has told you to do it?
Student 1: Then I just read.

Thus, while the vocational students saw a personal relevance of using reading
comprehension strategies to help them understand texts, the students in general
programmes mainly used the strategies to meet their teacher’s demand or to be
assessed on their strategy use.
The second main finding concerned the large-scale quantitative analysis of data
from the two national standardised reading tests (one in Norwegian L1 and one in
English L2) among 10,331 students. The regression analysis indicated that the
observed differences between the students in general and vocational classrooms
seemed to vary with their English reading proficiency based on their test results.
In short, the reading test results showed that the students in general programmes,
who used strategies because the teacher asked them to, achieved better reading
results than the vocational students, who used strategies because it helped them
understand. This difference indicates that vocational students chose to use strate-
gies in the classroom because they were poorer readers, and experienced that strat-
egy use helped them understand better.
The test results also demonstrated that although girls achieved higher results
than boys did when reading in Norwegian, the boys achieved almost as good
results when reading in English as the girls did, and that the majority of the poor
readers were boys in vocational study programmes. The findings further showed
that their reading proficiency in English was statistically related to their reading
proficiency in Norwegian, as well as to their study programme – with up to 49%
of the variance in students’ reading proficiency in English being explained by
their reading proficiency in Norwegian, in addition to their study programme.
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 219

However, the relationship between the two languages was not linear for all stu-
dents. An unexpected finding was that although three-quarters of the students read
almost equally well (or poorly) in English as in Norwegian, a small group of stu-
dents were among the poorest readers in Norwegian (20% score or less) and
simultaneously among the best readers in English (60% score or more). Most of
these students were boys in vocational studies, and based on this unexpected pro-
file, this group of students was labelled “Outliers”.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

In my doctoral work, I had the opportunity to study teacher and student learning
in the area of English reading comprehension. The main contribution of this doc-
toral thesis is knowledge about how teachers teach and readers read when devel-
oping reading comprehension in English in Norwegian upper secondary school.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The main empirical contributions of this doctoral thesis are the acknowledgement
among teachers and students that reading strategies are considered valuable learn-
ing tools that help readers develop their English comprehension, that the teachers
do indeed teach such strategies, and the confirmation that reading proficiency in
English is closely related both to reading proficiency in Norwegian and to the stu-
dents’ study programme.
First, I found evidence that teachers in fact do teach reading strategies in the
classroom to help their students develop reading comprehension in English, con-
trary to what we had learnt from prior research (e.g. Pressley, 2008). The English
teachers prompted their students to use a repertoire of reading strategies flexibly,
typically including a combination of the following strategies: setting purposes,
activating prior knowledge, previewing and predicting, skimming and scanning,
active listening, careful (close) reading, making inferences, noting key words, vis-
ualising, summarising, relating to study, and discussing with peers. Most of these
reading comprehension strategies have been identified as effective strategies in
international studies (Block & Duffy, 2008; Duke et al., 2011; Fisher & Frey,
2008; Grabe, 2009). The teachers’ written reflections concerning their own Eng-
lish instruction indicated that they found these strategies to be effective tools for
developing their students’ as strategic L2 readers.
Second, this thesis portrays how the design and instruction of English reading
comprehension strategies is quite different in general and vocational programmes.
220 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

All five teachers introduced the strategies, by naming and describing them, or
modelling them in action, and the strategies were then used independently or col-
laboratively by the students, with guided teacher practice, in tightly structured
tasks. However, after these introductory reading activities, a marked difference
emerged; in general programmes, the teacher either continued to suggest the use
of strategies or asked the students to work with a new set of tightly structured
tasks, while in vocational programmes, the teacher offered more open tasks,
prompting the students to apply strategies to texts when needed, releasing the
responsibility to the students, and providing opportunities to practise strategy use
and develop comprehension. This finding showed how vocational teachers are
aware that their students might struggle as L2 readers, and that they might need to
see personal relevance of strategies by experiencing that strategy use actually
helps them understand. In contrast, the general studies teachers seemed to be
aware that their students were good readers, and focused on reading more texts
instead of more complex texts that would demand the use of strategies to under-
stand.
A third contribution is knowledge that upper secondary students’ reading profi-
ciency in English L2 is, for most students, closely related to their reading profi-
ciency in Norwegian L1. The only available data for upper secondary school stu-
dents up until this doctoral thesis in 2015, were overall achievement and
examination grades in the English school subject at the end of Vg1, which means
that this doctoral thesis provided new information about upper secondary students
as readers of English. An important contribution here was that although girls read
better than boys in Norwegian, boys read almost as well as girls in English, which
challenges the view on languages and gender among adolescents in Norway
(Kjærnsli & Jensen, 2016). Also, while the test results in this thesis showed that
most students achieved almost similar results on both tests, a small group of students
– mainly boys in vocational programmes – was identified as markedly better readers
in English than in Norwegian, and therefore labelled “Outliers”. This was an unex-
pected finding among a group of students that is at risk of dropping out of school,
both in Norway and internationally, which might contribute to a more positive view
on vocational boys as good readers of English – contrary to popular opinion.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The first theoretical contribution of this thesis is the Mode of reading continuum,
which I developed based on the teachers’ reported strategy instruction in Phase 1
(see Figure 10.3).
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 221

Another theoretical contribution is the use of a Vygotskian framing to reading

research. In my thesis, this framing has contributed to expanding our knowledge
about readers being active in their own reading development, how they use strat-
egies as tools, and how teachers can support this process (Claxton, 2007; Daniels,
2008; Edwards, 2015; Vygotsky, 1981). The need to focus on how the reader
engages with tools is what the Vygotskian approach adds theoretically to the L2
reading research. This contribution is particularly important if we want to develop
the view on strategies from mainly a cognitive tool to seeing reading in a socio-
cultural framing, as a school activity and as a lifelong endeavour – where students
engage in strategic reading in English on their own initiative, without being
explicitly asked to do so, whether in higher education, in future work, or in the pri-
vate sphere.
A third theoretical contribution of this thesis is the confirmation of the cross-
linguistic aspect of Bernhardt’s (2011) Compensatory model of second-language
reading, where L1 is said to account for up to 20% of L2 literacy. My analysis not
only confirmed the model, but did so with large-scale data from 10,331 readers; it
also applied Norwegian L1 and English L2 to the model for the first time, and
showed that L1 explained up to 49% of the overall reading proficiency in English
L2.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The main methodological contribution of this thesis arises from my mixed-meth-
ods approach, obtaining the teachers’ and the students’ perspectives on the devel-
opment of English reading comprehension and integrating this knowledge with
information about the students’ reading proficiency. Another methodological con-
tribution is a template I developed for data collection (Figure 10.5). The template
functioned as an essential methodological tool in all data collection situations in
Phases 1 and 2; as interview guide, narrative structure, and observation protocol.
Using the same template enabled comparison of data across time, situations, and
perspectives, which minimised the threat to reliability. A final methodological
contribution is the merging of large-scale student reading scores from the tests in
different languages by using the same student ID across the two datasets. The use
of this approach argues that national assessments could profit from using the same
student ID on different tests, thereby enabling comparisons across not only read-
ing in two languages, but also with results for numeracy, which students at various
levels participate in annually in Norway (Norwegian Ministry of Education and
Research, 2009).
222 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Subject and year

Comprehension strategies:
School:
Teacher:
Topic:
Duration:
Learning aim
Preparations
Instruction
Before reading:
During reading:
After reading:
Didactic reflection

FIGURE 10.5. Template for data collection: interview guide, teacher narrative, observa-
tion protocol.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Since 2011, when the data collection for this thesis began, I have been constantly
reminded of the lack of reading research in Norwegian upper secondary schools
in general – and particularly in English L2. My doctoral thesis was the second one
in Norway to address this situation. Since my thesis was finalised in 2015, one
more doctoral thesis in English reading has been published; namely Charboneau
(2016). While in his thesis Hellekjær (2005) studied reading comprehension in
higher education and upper secondary school (see Chapter 8), and my thesis stud-
ied upper secondary school, Charboneau (2016) studied reading instruction in pri-
mary school (see Chapter 11).
Together, these doctoral studies have left a research gap concerning English
reading instruction in lower secondary school, a gap I have addressed in a recent
study (Brevik, 2019b) investigating what was being done in the name of reading
comprehension across two school years (9th and 10th grade) in 60 video-
recorded English lessons in seven classrooms. Key findings showed that across
these lessons, students worked with text more than half the time (56%), using a
variety of print, digital, and online texts. Most texts were authentic narratives
(56%) or informational texts (44%), with few non-authentic ones (8%). Teachers
who prioritised reading comprehension instructed their students in close reading
of texts, offering guided strategy practice based on student needs, and encour-
aged daily use of known strategies instead of explicitly teaching new ones. This
article builds on and extends the classroom research in my doctoral work, and
findings also indicate that in lower secondary classrooms, reading comprehen-
sion strategies are instructed and used to a greater extent than indicated by prior
research.
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 223

Based on my doctoral thesis, I have also looked into the potential existence of
an Outlier profile of students who are markedly better readers in English L2 than
in Norwegian L1. Thus, in order to find out why the Outliers were such good read-
ers of English, I designed the project Vocational and General Students’ Use of
English (VOGUE) in 2015. Findings from VOGUE research has confirmed that
the Outlier profile indeed exists both in national and local samples (Brevik, 2016,
2019; Brevik & Hellekjær, 2018), and that while most are vocational boys, there
are also some girls in vocational programmes and a few students in general pro-
grammes. Findings show that it is important to the Outliers to be good readers of
English, and that they considered their English use outside school, particularly in
online gaming, surfing on the internet, and using social media, to be the main rea-
son they were markedly better readers in English than in Norwegian (Brevik,
2019a).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

Not only my doctoral thesis, but also classroom practice and international research
demonstrate that the use of reading comprehension strategies improves reading
comprehension. The importance of strategy use cannot be overemphasised. It is
not enough for teachers to teach strategies, or for students to use strategies “just”
because they are instructed to do so by the teacher. Students need to consciously
choose to use a reading strategy, they need to do so to repair a comprehension
problem, and they need to experience that the strategy use helps them understand
aspects of a text that they did not understand without using the strategy. In short,
learning about a reading comprehension strategy will not easily propel the active
learner forward as such, while using it in the dialectic process of internalisation
and externalisation to expand learning capacity might promote and repair reading
comprehension.
This thesis highlights the notion that while using reading strategies will not
transform a poor reader into a good reader, helping students to see the potential of
using reading strategies as tools might develop their reading comprehension, thus
contributing to their development as active and strategic English readers. This
requires that teachers offer students the time to practise strategy use, to actively
engage with text demands, to both acquire and use the strategies as tools, to make
mistakes, get stuck and make an attempt at meaning. This means to create what
Claxton (2007) called “potentiating environments”, where “there are plenty of
hard, interesting things to do, and it is accepted as normal that everyone regularly
gets confused, frustrated and stuck” (p. 125). In other words, more importantly for
224 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

teachers than explicitly teaching new reading comprehension strategies is to give

the students opportunities to practise using the strategy, whether it is a new strat-
egy or a known one.
Another implication of strategy use is to establish the need for a strategy. In
short, if students are asked to read a text that they understand without much effort,
there is no need for strategies. As shown above in the Mode of reading continuum
(Figure 10.3), to “just” read a text – or a text the students easily understand – does
not require strategies. What students need is to experience authentic reading situ-
ations, where they are asked to read a text that offers some challenges, and to
acknowledge that this is normal for everyone, in any reading situation, as long as
the text is not known to them already. In fact, even known texts might be challeng-
ing depending on the situation and the reading task. These are the situations the
students should be prepared for. Such situations should make students consciously
choose a reading strategy – because they have experienced that strategies help
them understand.
A final implication is the need to highlight for the students that independent and
flexible use of reading strategies depends greatly on them seeing personal reasons
for doing so. In my doctoral study, the vocational students saw strategic reading
as useful to them personally, while the students in general studies primarily used
strategies to respond to teacher and task demands. The latter group of students will
not become strategic readers if this is the only reason and situation in which they
use strategies. If strategies are to be a means to an end, their potential as tools for
learning must be realised. This argument suggests that English teachers should not
expect proficient readers to uncritically embrace strategies as tools for learning.
The indications here are that students might not be able, by themselves, to see how
strategy use is useful to them. However, by explicitly pointing to students’ per-
sonal purposes for using strategies as tools, the teacher can create what Vygotsky
(1981) called active learners, where the tools help the students propel themselves
forward as learners (Edwards, 2015).
On the basis of my thesis, I would like to emphasise the importance of taking
the cross-linguistic aspect of reading comprehension into consideration in English
reading instruction. Teachers could for example compare their students’ results
from reading tests in Norwegian and English, instead of keeping them separate
between Norwegian and English teachers in their discussions with the students.
Doing so will offer insight into whether a student is a good (or poor) reader in both
languages, or whether the students is a more (or less) proficient reader in English,
as this might give a broader picture of the student as a reader.
 10 PHD REVISITED: HOW TEACHERS TEACH AND READERS READ 225

Thus, these are the situations I suggest teachers should prepare their students
for; (1) offering students authentic texts that are challenging, (2) prompting stu-
dents to use known reading strategies to help them close the gap between what
they are expected to understand and what they understand on their own, (3) offer-
ing students the time to try, and fail, and try again, possibly using another strategy
that might be more helpful to them in the situation, (4) helping the students
become conscious of the strategies they know, and when, how, and why to use
them, and (5) when necessary, explicitly teach new strategies that might be useful
for the students. By carefully designing reading instruction in such a manner as to
make strategic reading relevant for the students, the teacher can frame reading
strategy use in motivating ways, regardless of whether the purpose is related to the
students’ own interests or the formal English curriculum.
My doctoral work has made me value actions over words, and I would like to
encourage English teachers to emphasise students’ activities as readers and their
agency over their static understanding of texts. I propose that teachers, too, should
be agents with choice and voice in enacting quality reading comprehension
instruction. My doctoral work bridges research, theory, and practice in the area of
English reading comprehension, hopefully benefiting students, teachers, and
schools.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

To build on and develop the work in my doctoral thesis, researchers could study
curricularisation work at the local school level concerning research-based reading
comprehension strategy instruction in English. This could be done by studying
(i.e., by observation, interviews, or surveys) how English teachers plan their read-
ing comprehension and strategy instruction, with an eye toward whether these
practices reflect research findings. Researchers could study how teachers develop
their ideas into curriculum plans and materials, with the goal of making research-
based reading strategy instruction a regular part of their English lessons.
My doctoral study was the first one to systematically analyse reading profi-
ciency across Norwegian L1 and English L2, and to the best of my knowledge, this
has not been repeated later. There is a need to follow up on the knowledge about
students’ reading proficiency across languages in secondary school, and I suggest
future research in this area on three levels, both as separate studies and as longi-
tudinal research. First, using the national reading tests in Norwegian and English,
research could compare reading proficiency across the two languages in 5th grade
and/or 8th grade. Second, results in English reading from 5th to 8th grade could be
226 LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

compared over three years among the same readers. Third, in upper secondary
school, the English mapping tests I used have now been replaced by new stand-
ardised tests (Norwegian: læringsstøttende prøver) in English reading, listening,
and productive use of English, and comparing results across these three skills for
the same readers would be of utmost interest to the understanding of students’
strengths in English reading compared to their proficiency in the two other Eng-
lish areas.
English reading comprehension is challenging but critical on many levels. It is
challenging for teachers to teach comprehension strategies, and for students to use
such strategies; it is also challenging for researchers to collect and analyse evi-
dence of comprehension strategy instruction and use. However, it is vital for stu-
dents of all ages, regardless of their English reading proficiency, to develop as
comprehenders of texts and their world. Thus, it is vital to continue research in this
field.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-12

11
PhD revisited: Approaches to
English as a foreign language
(EFL) reading instruction in
Norwegian primary schools 1
REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND
University of Stavanger

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a doctoral study (Charboneau, 2016) that investigated
the use of four approaches to EFL reading instruction in Norwegian 4th–5th grades. The
study used a mixed-methods approach comprising a questionnaire sent to teachers
throughout Norway and a case study of four schools. The results suggest it was challenging
to provide differentiated teaching to meet students’ abilities and needs. The chapter dis-
cusses implications for EFL reading instruction, and suggestions for future research.

KEYWORDS Reading instruction | materials | practices | differentiation | interaction

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study, Approaches to English as a foreign
language (EFL) reading instruction in Norwegian primary schools (Charboneau, 2016) from
the University of Stavanger, focusing specifically on its practical implications for the teaching
of English in Norway. The doctoral thesis in its entirety can be found here: https://
brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/2578213

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
230 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
The aim of this doctoral study was to investigate the teaching of reading among
English foreign language (EFL) learners in the 4th and 5th grades in Norway, spe-
cifically the use of different reading approaches for EFL reading instruction.
These grades cover the important transition from basic primary (4th grade) to the
intermediate (5th grade) levels. It was a descriptive mixed-methods study combin-
ing quantitative and qualitative research data sources: a teacher questionnaire, stu-
dent and teacher interviews, and classroom observations.
Despite great emphasis on reading and writing skills in L97 and LK06, many
English primary teachers have no subject-specific training in English (Drew,
Oostdam, & van Toorenburg, 2007). The need for increased competence and pre-
service education of language teachers is widely acknowledged (Drew et al.,
2007; Hasselgreen, 2005; Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research [KD],
2007b). The demands on qualified teachers are great, since LK06 refrains from
mentioning teaching methods or approaches, placing the responsibility on teach-
ers to use appropriate methods and approaches to help students attain the compe-
tence aims (Hasselgreen, 2005). Additionally, reports have questioned whether
students have the necessary EFL skills to succeed in higher education given the
current English demands (Hellekjær, 2005; KD, 2007a). As few studies have
explored EFL practices in primary schools, especially the development of reading
skills, it is important to study how reading skills are taught in primary classrooms.
This doctoral study aims to increase knowledge about teacher competence and
instruction, in this case EFL reading at the primary level. The overarching
research question for this study is:

How is reading taught in Norwegian 4th and 5th grade EFL classes?

This overarching question is divided into four sub-questions:

RQ1. What materials, activities, and instructional practices do 4th and 5th grade
teachers use to teach English reading?
RQ2. To what extent do the reading approaches enable differentiation in rea-
ding instruction?
RQ3. What differences are there in the reading interaction between teachers
and students in the different reading approaches?
RQ4. What are teachers’ perceptions of their English reading instruction and
best practice?
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THEORY
First, in the context of this study, reading is understood as engaging with and creat-
ing meaning from texts in order to understand, find, interpret, reflect on, assess, and
acquire insight and knowledge from them. Reading, according to Coltheart (2005),
is “information-processing: transforming print to speech, or print to meaning” (p. 6).
Reading comprehension, as defined by the RAND Reading Study Group (RAND,
2002) is “the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning
through interaction and involvement with written language. Comprehension has
these elements: the reader, the text, and the activity, or purpose for reading” (p. xi).
Intensive reading is reading with a focus on details of language in short texts used
to exemplify specific aspects of the language or for targeted reading strategy use
(Nation, 2009). Extensive reading, in contrast, is reading for comprehension with
few or no specific language tasks to perform (Hafiz & Tudor, 1989), and reading for
pleasure usually associated with reading for longer periods of time and often longer
texts (Day & Bamford, 1998). A large body of research has shown the benefits of
extensive reading for developing language skills (reviews by Day & Bamford, 1998;
Krashen 2004) and the importance of time spent reading (Taylor et al., 2000).
Additionally, learners are expected to develop the use of reading strategies. The
aim is for the reader to choose appropriate strategies depending on the reading aim
and purpose (Grabe, 2009). In order for students to improve their reading skills,
they should be reading at their instructional reading level (texts where 90–95% of
vocabulary is known when reading with support) (Nation, 2009).
Second, differentiation is defined as adaptations made to reading instruction (includ-
ing practices and materials) for groups or individual students (Arends & Kilcher, 2010)
– for example, grouping arrangements during reading instruction, including whole-
class, small group, and individualized instruction (Taylor, Peterson, Rodriguez, & Pear-
son, 2002). Third, interaction is defined as the communicative exchanges in the class-
room. Generally, this applies to interactions between teacher and students while work-
ing with texts or talking about reading, or student interactions, in group work.
Finally, teachers’ beliefs have shown a relationship between classroom practice
and language teacher cognition, defined as “what teachers believe, know, and
think” (Borg, 2006, p. 81). Within the current study, the following aspects of
teachers’ perceptions of reading instruction are explored: priorities related to
teaching, policy statements regarding teacher qualifications, EFL reading prac-
tices, and factors that influence their teaching.
232 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

REVIEW
Reports claim little is known about English instruction in the early school grades
in Norway (KD, 2007b). Results of a 2003 questionnaire among primary EFL
teachers showed that almost 60% of teachers either had little or no formal English
education (Drew, 2009).
Previous research on EFL teaching practices at the primary level (Drew et al.,
2007) found that schools primarily use textbooks and “traditional” teaching prac-
tices (e.g., grammar translation and direct methods). These include reading in uni-
son, teachers reading aloud, and use of translation and assessment based on texts,
especially vocabulary and comprehension testing based on recall questions. A few
studies (Drew et al., 2007; Hellekjær, 2005) found that when teaching reading and
working with texts, teachers primarily adhere to intensive reading.
Studies have found most classroom interaction to be between teachers and students,
both in L1 contexts (Littleton & Mercer, 2013; Taylor et al., 2002) and foreign-lan-
guage contexts (Moon, 2005). Educational studies have found a typical teacher-led
pattern to classroom interaction: often teacher-initiated, followed by student response,
and responded to by teacher feedback (Littleton & Mercer, 2013), commonly referred
to as IRE/F. This is often manifested as a “recitation script”, where teachers ask closed
questions, followed by brief student answers where students are expected to report
others’ thinking rather than thinking for themselves (Hardman, 2008).
The results of the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement
(CIERA) project on effective reading instruction in elementary schools indicated
a clear difference between teachers with a strong teacher-directed stance and those
with a student-support stance (Taylor, Peterson, Pearson, & Rodriguez, 2005; Tay-
lor et al., 2002). Overall, teaching practices that have been found to be effective
include teachers who engaged students in on-task behaviors, who modeled for stu-
dents, and used a student-support stance. This allows for a participatory approach
to engaging with text, where students actively interact with a text, which may in
turn trigger reading strategy use (RAND, 2002).
Research has shown that comprehension skills and strategies are important in
reading instruction (Goldenberg, 2011). Reading strategies can be taught effec-
tively, strategy instruction can improve reading comprehension, and should be
included in reading comprehension instruction (Grabe, 2009). Teaching reading
strategies in the students’ L1 and helping them apply these to their L2 is an effec-
tive instructional practice (Goldenburg, 2011). Within this field of research, the
distinction between reading skills and strategies is made, allowing the researcher
to distinguish between teaching a strategy and teaching or applying comprehen-
sion skills to a specific text (Taylor et al., 2002).
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METHODOLOGY
The data from this study was collected from October 2010 until June 2011. Due
to the complexity of teaching, classroom context, and classroom research, a
mixed-methods approach was adopted in order to strengthen the validity of the
study (Dörnyei, 2007). The data collection proceeded in two stages. First, a
national questionnaire was created and disseminated among 4th and 5th grade
teachers (quantitative data, autumn 2010). Second, based on the questionnaire
findings, four case study schools were selected for lesson observations based on
variation in reading approaches, and interviews with teachers and students were
conducted during a six-month period in 2011 (qualitative data).

RESEARCH DESIGN
For the purposes of this study, I have defined a reading approach as the core mate-
rials used by teachers, their practices related to the development of reading ability,
and reading-related activities. Reading approaches are categorized as those that
use one of the following:

◗ a textbook-based approach
◗ a combination of textbook-based approach and the use of graded readers (leve-
led texts, often short books in a series)
◗ primarily extensive reading through the use of graded readers
◗ an approach adapted from an Australian/New Zealand literacy program, for
example the Early Years Literacy Program (EYLP)
◗ other approaches

The reading approach categories were derived deductively based on theory and
the literature review concerning the use of reading materials and practices used in
Norway. These approaches were the categories used for the teacher questionnaire.
As a mixed-methods study, the research questions are addressed using a combina-
tion of different research methods and data sources.

SAMPLE
The target population was defined as 4th and/or 5th grade English teachers. Schools
meeting certain criteria were excluded (special schools, medical institutes, schools
without students in these grades); 583 schools were excluded, with 2,572 schools
remaining. Three stratification variables were chosen to aid in selecting a nationally
representative sample: geographic location, school type, and number of students. A
234 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

questionnaire was sent electronically to 1000 randomly selected schools, with 370
responses from 4th and 5th grade teachers at 310 schools.
Potential schools for the case study sample were contacted based on the follow-
ing criteria:

1. Follow-up from the questionnaire

2. Invitation letter to local schools
3. Reading approach used by one or more teachers at the school
4. Geographic location and size of school

Four schools were selected for the case study, representing various reading
approaches: textbook-based approach (School 1); combination of textbook-based
and graded readers (Schools 2 and 3); and EYLP approach (School 4). Two
schools were located in Oslo and two in Rogaland. At each school, one teacher
was recruited in the 4th and 5th grades respectively, totaling eight teachers. The
backgrounds and experiences of these teachers varied. The teachers ranged in age
(23–56), teaching experience (1–20 years), and English teaching qualifications
(0–60 study points, i.e., a year of full-time study). Two teachers taught both 4th and
5th grade English, three only 4th grade, and three only 5th grade. In addition, sev-
eral students were interviewed from each class (a convenience sample of students
recommended by the teachers; see Table 11.2).

TABLE 11.1. An overview of the data and analyses used in the doctoral study.

Quantitative data Qualitative data

Data Analysis Research Data Analysis Research

question question

Questionnaire Descriptive RQ1 Classroom observations of Coding for class- RQ1

N = 370 and indu- RQ2 reading instruction room observation RQ2
ctive statis- RQ3 4 schools; 2 classes at analysis of frequen- RQ3
tics RQ4 each school cies of observation
coding

Teacher interviews (12 Transcription of RQ1

formal interviews, average recordings; Content RQ2
length 45 min, additional analysis RQ3
informal interviews) RQ4

Student interviews (37 Transcription of RQ2

interviews, average length recordings; Content RQ3
4 min) analysis
 11 PHD REVISITED: APPROACHES TO ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) READING INSTRUCTION IN 235
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QUESTIONNAIRE
The teacher questionnaire contained 48 questions; 46 closed and 2 open ones. It
was divided into three main sections: (a) teachers’ background, educational qual-
ifications, and school information, (b) the teachers’ practices in EFL reading
instruction, and (c) teachers’ perceptions of EFL reading instruction and language
learning. The questionnaire data was analyzed using PASW Statistics 18.0. Proce-
dures were performed to compute descriptive (means, percentages) and inductive
statistics (Chi-square) for data regarding teachers’ qualifications, reading
approach, materials, and practices used in English instruction.

TABLE 11.2. Summary of research participants’ data.

Case study schools

Student interview
Lessons observed

Lessons observed

Informal teacher

Additional data
Formal teacher
and teachers

in 4th grade

in 5th grade

interviews

interviews

sources
Visits

School 1 Teacher 1 5 5 5 2 2 7 E-mails

(textbook)

School 2 Teacher 2 5 5 – 2 3 8 E-mails

(combination)
Teacher 3 5 – 5 2 1 1 E-mails

School 3 Teacher 4 5 5 5 2 4 5 E-mails

(combination) Teaching
materials

School 4 Teacher 5 1 – 2 1 – – E-mails

(EYLP)
Teacher 6 1 2 – – 1 8

Teacher 7 2 4 – 1 – 8

Teacher 8 3 – 7.3 2 2 – E-mails

Student work

OBSERVATION
Data was collected from the following sources at the case study schools:

1. Observation of lessons (n = 45.3 class hours)

2. Interview with teachers (n = 12 formal, 13 informal)
236 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

3. Interview with students (n = 37)

4. Texts used during reading activities and instruction in the lessons

An observation coding system, CIERA (Taylor et al., 2002, 2005; Taylor, 2004),
was used to support the collection of consistent data from the case study schools
during the classroom observations. The system had the following areas of focus
for data collection: (1) who led the instruction, (2) grouping, (3) general focus and
(4) specific focus of literacy events or activities, (5) material, (6) teacher interac-
tion styles, and (7) expected student responses to literacy events (Table 11.3). Dur-
ing the observations, two types of data were collected: qualitative note-taking (a
narrative of what was said and done in five-minute increments), and quantitatively
oriented coding based on the previously mentioned categories. As it was possible
for more than one code to be observed in a five-minute segment, some increments
were coded more than once at the same level within the same segment. After the
observation, the codings were tabulated and entered into a coding tally sheet. The
possibility of multiple coding within a segment level consequently meant that the
coding tabulations could also equal more than 100% within each level.

TABLE 11.3. Codes for classroom observation.

Level 1 – Who led instruction

Classroom teacher (C) Special education Reading specialist

No one Other specialist Other

Not applicable

Level 2 – Grouping

Whole class/large group Small group Pairs

Individual Other Not applicable

Level 3 – General focus of literacy event or activity

Reading Composition/writing Other language

Other Not applicable

Level 4 – Specific focus of literacy event or activity

Reading connected text Listening to connected text Vocabulary

Sight words Word recognition strategies Comprehension skill

Comprehension strategy Writing Word identification

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Meaning of text, lower Meaning of text, higher Phonics

m1 for talk m1 for talk P1= letter sound
m2 for writing m2 for writing P2=letter by letter
P3=onset/rime
P4=multisyllabic

Phonemic awareness Letter identification Spelling

Other Not applicable

Level 5 – Material

Narrative Informational Student writing

Board/Chart Worksheet Other

Not applicable

Level 6 – Teacher interaction

Telling Modeling Recitation

Coaching/scaffolding Listening/watching Reading aloud

Assessment Discussion Other

Not applicable

Level 7 – Expected student response

Reading Reading turn-taking Orally responding

Oral turn-taking Listening Writing

Manipulating Other Not applicable

In addition to notes taken during the observations, the lessons were audio
recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. The coding was also analyzed for inter-rater
reliability with an external coder who was trained in the coding system (one obser-
vation from each school). Inter-rater reliability was calculated using percentage of
agreement and Cohen’s kappa (Posner, Sampson, Caplan, Ward, & Cheney,
1990), with an overall initial inter-rater reliability of 88% and a kappa score of .66.

INTERVIEWS
During the case study period, semi-structured interviews were conducted with
both teachers and a small selection of students (Table 11.2). During the formal
interviews, which were conducted before the first observed lesson and following
the final observed lesson, the teachers were asked about their reading approach,
238 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

materials used, how these were used, types of reading assessment, and their opin-
ion regarding certain language policies, such as the national test in English. Infor-
mal interviews were used to follow up after some observed lessons. Semi-struc-
tured interviews with students addressed their exposure to various texts and
teaching methods, and how these affected their motivation and learning outcomes
of the lessons.
The interview data was transcribed and processed using qualitative content
analysis. During the transcription process, content categories were created based
on the questionnaire categories (which were based on relevant topics from theory
and the Norwegian EFL context) related to the topics covered in the interviews:
their reading approach, teaching, materials, differentiation, reading levels, reading
assessment, lesson aims, curriculum aims, and the national test. The interviews
were coded and summarized within these categories.

RESULTS
Overall, the results showed that most teachers used a textbook as their primary
reading material, and many teachers had few other reading materials available.
Teachers generally did not use differentiated reading material or allow students
choice of what to read. However, most teachers felt differentiated materials were
important and differentiating teaching was difficult.

READING INSTRUCTION RESULTS FROM THE NATIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE

First, 48.3% of the teachers did not have English teaching qualifications (30
ECTS is the minimum level for teaching in primary school; KD, 2009). However,
higher education in English did not appear to be significantly associated with a
particular reading approach, χ2(4, 357) = 8.498, p = 0.75. This means that the
teachers’ English teaching qualification was not reflected in their choice of read-
ing approach.
Regarding reading approaches, the questionnaire found that 62% of teachers
used a textbook as the basis of English reading instruction, whereas a combination
approach was used by 30%, and 8% used graded readers or the EYLP. Only half
as many teachers used a textbook in their Norwegian reading instruction (n = 102)
compared to English (n = 212); over half of the teachers reported using a combi-
nation of textbook-based and graded readers in Norwegian (n = 199) compared to
a third in English (n = 103), yet most of them used the graded readers and EYLP
infrequently both in Norwegian (n = 42) and English (n =28). However, there was
 11 PHD REVISITED: APPROACHES TO ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) READING INSTRUCTION IN 239
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a significant relationship between the languages; namely, when the teacher used
one approach in Norwegian they were likely to use the same approach in English
(χ2(4, 343) = 83.599, p < .001). This is an important finding related to the potential
for transfer of reading practices and skills from one language to another.

TABLE 11.4. Crosstable showing reading approaches of teachers in Norwegian and

English classes (actual numbers, expected numbers, adjusted residual).

Norwegian reading English reading approach

approach
Textbook Combination Graded readers/
(n = 212) (n = 103) EYLP (n = 28)

Textbook Actual 97 4 1
(n = 102)
Expected 63 30.6 8.3

Adj. res. 8.3*** -6.9 –3.2

Combination Actual 98 85 16
(n = 199)
Expected 123 59.8 16.2

Adj. res. –5.6 6*** –.1

Graded reader/EYLP Actual 17 14 11

(n = 42)
Expected 26 12.6 3.4

Adj. res. –3 .5 4.6***

Note. ***= significance level 0.1%. Expected numbers are calculated using probability theory.

Regarding reading materials, 47% of the teachers had no other English books than
the textbook in their classrooms, and 21% had no English books in their library. There
appeared to be a lack of information available to teachers as to how they could best
work with different text genres, texts at different comprehension and ability levels,
reading for different purposes, and incorporating reading strategies into their teaching.
Concerning teaching practices, the majority of teachers most often used a
whole-class teacher-led reading session where all students read the same text. The
most common reading practices were reading aloud by the teacher (64% three or
more times per month), chorally by the class (53%), or students reading aloud
individually to the class (56%). Students reading in groups (23%) or individually
(28%) were not commonly applied.
Concerning how they differentiated and incorporated learner autonomy into
text choice, 63% did not allow students to choose which text to read, 59% used
240 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

differentiated texts fewer than three times per month, 52% never organized stu-
dents in ability groups, 48% did not enable students to use English reading com-
puter programs, and 86% did not enable students to use online books.
Regarding their collaboration on reading instruction with other English and
Norwegian teachers, it tended to either be frequent (weekly: 44% grade 4; 24%
grade 5), or almost never (35% grade 4; 51% grade 5). Similarly, a majority never
(50%) or almost never (53%) collaborated with other English teachers regarding
reading instruction.
Related to teachers’ perceptions of teaching EFL reading, feeling prepared to
teach English reading was related to whether teachers had English teaching qual-
ifications, χ2(10, 347) = 89.551, p < .001. In addition, the majority of teachers felt
that mixed-ability classes were the greatest challenge to an English teacher (56%),
but only a quarter of them felt they were able to provide differentiated instruction
to all students.
Related to teachers’ perspectives on reading materials and their use, nearly all
reported being strongly in favor of differentiated reading materials (96%), yet few
actually had their students read level-differentiated texts on a regular basis (18%).
More teachers reported a paucity of teaching hours as influencing their reading
teaching (45%), compared to a paucity of materials (20%). However, satisfaction
with reading materials was related to the quantity available (classrooms χ2(6, 360)
= 26.426, p < .001, school libraries χ2(6, 360) = 25.172, p < .001). Thus, those with
fewer materials felt this influenced their teaching more than other factors. Some
teachers felt that their schools were unwilling to invest in reading materials (37%).

READING APPROACHES AT THE CASE STUDY SCHOOLS

Although the teachers using the combination and EYLP approaches appeared to
be more satisfied with their reading approach because they were able to choose
from both the textbook and other reading materials, as well as a variety of teaching
practices, the teachers from all three approaches saw room for improvement.
Observations found that although there was some focus on reading strategies in
the EYLP approach, none of the approaches had an explicit focus on transference
of strategies from L1 to L2.

Textbook-based approach (School 1)

The textbook-based approach appeared predictable and easy for the teacher and
students; providing topics, written language input, and structure for the EFL
 11 PHD REVISITED: APPROACHES TO ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) READING INSTRUCTION IN 241
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teaching, in addition to support from the teacher’s guide, including curriculum

aims. However, the teacher supplemented the textbook, most commonly with
YouTube videos and music. This school practiced differentiation by grouping stu-
dents into two groups; lower-level students reading the simplest texts, and the
remaining students reading all of the texts in class, only differing texts for home-
work. Students were not given choices among other types of texts or books to read.
The predominance of whole-class teacher-led instruction, broken up with short
episodes of pairs of students reading aloud or translating texts, meant that the
majority of the students were often passive in class with only a few participating
by speaking or reading aloud. The teacher primarily interacted with the students
through telling and recitation in 4th grade, but telling, listening/watching, and giv-
ing feedback in 5th grade. The aim of the lessons often appeared to be getting
through the text and learning vocabulary, rather than interaction or discussion of
the text, content, or theme. One exception was one 4th grade lesson focusing on
the English national test (which tests English reading comprehension), where the
teacher modeled reading strategies and thought processes as she answered the
reading comprehension questions. Reading comprehension strategies were
addressed in one lesson only, separate from their class reading texts, and not
addressed in any other observed lessons in 4th or 5th grade.

Combination approach (Schools 2 and 3)

The combination approach schools used a variety of reading materials for inde-
pendent reading, but primarily the textbook for whole-class interactions and activ-
ities. There were differences between the schools concerning quantity and access
to other books. The School 2 teachers purchased books themselves or ordered
them from the library. Therefore, there were more authentic children’s books than
graded readers. In contrast, School 3 had invested in graded readers and authentic
children’s books. The 4th grade teacher at School 2 (who attended an in-service
course) occasionally read authentic children’s literature aloud. The School 3
teacher designed a book project using Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. The stu-
dents at both schools appeared to benefit from these experiences, in terms of read-
ing engagement and reported reading motivation. At these schools, differentiation
was addressed both through materials for individual reading, and through a com-
bination of whole-class and pair work.
When working with textbook texts, there was a predominance of teacher-led
instruction, in the form of choral reading or students taking turns reading aloud,
which led to lower student activity and incorporated fewer other activities.
242 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The most common types of teacher interaction were telling and recitation at
School 2, and telling and listening/watching at School 3. Modeling and coaching
(i.e., the teacher prompting or providing support that would transfer to other situ-
ations as students attempted to perform a strategy to answer a question) were
rarely employed, except the 4th-grade teacher at School 2 who used coaching once
or twice in most lessons.
In 5th grade, the use of comprehension skills and strategies was not common,
except at School 3. In 4th grade, the teachers mentioned and used comprehension
strategies occasionally, and occasionally modeled comprehension skills, without
any explicit expectation that the students use these in subsequent reading.

Early Years Literacy Program approach (School 4)

At the EYLP school, students worked at stations, in ability groups. The school pri-
marily used graded readers at the teacher station, and a combination of graded
readers and other children’s literature at the individual reading stations. At the
individual reading station, students chose books and read extensively, focusing on
comprehension. At the teacher station, they read intensively, focusing on vocabu-
lary, grammar, and translation into Norwegian. There was also a focus on compre-
hension and discussion of the text, but this supplemented the intensive reading and
did not constitute extensive reading.
In the 4th grade class there was no strategy modeling. However, on two occa-
sions the teacher reminded the students to use the comprehension skills they had
learned, namely looking in the text for answers and using pictures for comprehen-
sion support. In 5th grade, the teacher expected the students to explain their think-
ing based on evidence in the text or pictures, which was unique among the four
schools. At the teacher station in 5th grade, comprehension skills were used during
40% of the reading segments, whereas comprehension strategies were presented
to the students during nearly 15% of the segments. At this school there was a
strong focus on translation of the texts read at the teacher station. This was not
only time-consuming, but also appeared to be challenging for the students, who
usually spent more time translating than reading the original English text. The
teachers primarily used recitation at the teacher station to initiate conversation
about the texts. Modeling was infrequent, but coaching occurred in 28% of the 5th
grade teaching segments, which was more frequent than at the other schools. For
example, the teacher coached the students in the use of comprehension skills and
reminded them about appropriate reading aloud behavior, including taking pauses
and using intonation.
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DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

This has been a large-scale doctoral study of EFL reading in Norwegian 4th and
5th grades where four different approaches to reading instruction have been iden-
tified to analyze teaching materials, practices, interactions, and differentiation.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The focus on comparing different approaches to EFL reading instruction has con-
tributed to new knowledge regarding teachers’ practices and the use of various
reading materials. This has helped to create a more complete understanding of cur-
rent EFL reading instruction at the primary level and to highlight the use of
research-supported practices (e.g., greater use of a wide range of materials and
grouping differentiation) and areas where there is need for improvement (e.g.,
teacher modeling reading strategies for students). Furthermore, this research has
included an understanding of how the EYLP approach is both similar to and dif-
ferent from other approaches being used by EFL teachers.
The questionnaire findings confirmed that the majority of teachers used a text-
book as the primary reading material in their English lessons. Additionally, 47%
of the teachers had no English books other than the textbooks in their classroom,
and 20% had none in their library. These findings indicate a lack of reading mate-
rials available to support differentiated reading instruction.
Regarding class practices, the case study data shows a predominance of teacher-
led, whole-class instruction, with the exception of the EYLP approach school. Most
of the classroom interaction was between the teacher and the students. Teacher reci-
tation (Hardman, 2008; Taylor et al., 2002, 2005) was used frequently at all of the
case study schools, as was teacher telling. Additionally, reading interactions at these
schools were predominantly teacher-initiated and teacher-dominated, with few
examples of students asking questions (Van der Meij, 1993). In contrast to recitation,
coaching was infrequently employed at all of the schools. However, this did not
mean that the teachers did not support students and employ interaction techniques
such as elicitation, but rather that these occurred infrequently.
This study has found that intensive reading is the most common practice in Nor-
wegian schools, normally using textbook texts. Although the questionnaire data
revealed that the teacher reading aloud was still a common practice, it was never-
theless an uncommon practice among the case study teachers. The frequent use of
student translation of texts, repeated choral reading, and taking turns reading
aloud, which were practices found in the case study schools (and to some extent
among the questionnaire respondents), were somewhat disappointing findings.
244 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Although these practices had previously been common in EFL instruction, they
are generally associated with more traditional methods of instruction compared to
a more recent focus on communicative language learning. However, how this was
conducted varied by approach. Generally, when students take turns reading aloud,
most of the class is passive. In contrast, when interaction takes place in small
groups, students are usually more active, such as at the EYLP approach school
where students interacted with the teacher at the teacher station (guided reading)
or with other students at the other stations.
Another reading practice, individual silent reading, although not a common
practice in the questionnaire answers, was used at three of the four case study
schools (occasionally by the two combination approach schools and regularly by
the EYLP approach school). Individual extensive reading has a strong basis in
reading and language learning research and was thus considered a strength of
these two approaches.
Comprehension skills and strategies was an area in which there were differ-
ences among the reading approaches in the case study schools. Among the 5th
grade classes, the teachers in the EYLP school used and talked about comprehen-
sion strategies and skills more than the other approaches. The comprehension
strategies included using pictures, applying background knowledge, using contex-
tual clues to guess unknown words, and using a dictionary; some of these strate-
gies were also used at the other case study schools. Generally, there is greater
focus on comprehension strategies and applying higher-level comprehension
skills2 in guided reading, which is used in the EYLP approach.
Although presented as a specific reading approach, the combination approach
is just that, the use of a combination of different reading materials, and in this case
reading practices. The teachers at the two case study schools could have chosen to
add more differentiated interaction or focus on reading skills and strategies. How-
ever, the strength of their implementation was in the greater use of individual read-
ing, even if it was more intensive in approach at School 3 and extensive at School
2. Thus, although this approach incorporated a greater use of differentiated mate-
rials, primarily through graded readers, there was still room for improvement,
especially in terms of greater differentiated interaction between the teacher and
students and more focus on reading skills and strategies.
The EYLP approach appears to have many advantages. For example, the extent
of differentiated interaction between the teacher and students at the teacher station

2. Higher-level comprehension skills are defined as comprehension that is at a high-level of text

interpretation or goes beyond the text, such as with generalization, application, evaluation, and
aesthetic responses (Taylor, Peterson, Rodriguez, & Pearson, 2002).
 11 PHD REVISITED: APPROACHES TO ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) READING INSTRUCTION IN 245
NORWEGIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

meant the teacher had fewer students to interact with at any one time. Other advan-
tages were the differentiated materials for extensive reading, both graded readers
and children’s literature, and the overall focus on reading skills and development
of strategies through guided reading at the teacher station. However, although this
may be considered an ideal program from the perspective of reading development,
from an EFL perspective, one drawback is its lack of focus on oral communication
skills. Oral communication could be featured at the other stations besides the
teacher station, although there is no specific station intended for this purpose. This
is because the EYLP program was taken from an L1 reading and writing program,
which, accordingly, did not require a component focused on oral language devel-
opment. This is one area in which the EYLP program in Norwegian schools may
not have been adapted well enough for EFL learning, and therefore it could be fur-
ther developed.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The study presented here has contributed to EFL research through a mixed-meth-
ods study of teaching and learning in 4th and 5th grades. The application of mixed
methods was comprised of quantitative and qualitative data from two primary
sources: a national questionnaire sent to teachers and a case study of four schools.
The questionnaire was designed by the researcher specifically to address teach-
ers’ reading practices, use of materials, and their perceptions of reading instruc-
tion and best practice. In terms of a research instrument, the questionnaire could
be further developed and used in other countries as a means of international com-
parison.
Related to the qualitative data collection at the case study schools, the mixed-
methods approach allowed first for systematic observation, which could be tabu-
lated and compared. This research has shown that the observation coding scheme
developed by Taylor et al. (2000) for L1 reading instruction can also be applied to
an L2 context with minor adaptations. This can be an effective tool for evaluating
and tracking changes in reading instruction. Second, the mixed-methods approach
has also enabled the researcher to view EFL reading instruction from multiple per-
spectives, (e.g., both teacher and student perspectives on reading instruction).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

Based on the results and discussions of the current research, three main implica-
tions appear to emerge from this study. First, there is a need for a greater focus on
246 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

reading skills, purpose, and strategies within EFL reading instruction in 4th and 5th
grades. This includes helping to raise students’ and teachers’ awareness of trans-
ferring reading skills from Norwegian to English. Second, there is a need for
greater use of differentiation and different types of differentiation to support read-
ing development. Finally, there is a need for more teacher professional develop-
ment.

Reading skills, purposes, and strategies

Reading skills in all subjects are a focus in the LK06 curriculum. Additionally, fur-
ther clarification of the reading construct is addressed in the Framework for Basic
Skills. These documents specify that students need to develop lower- and higher-
level comprehension skills, reading strategies, and knowledge of how and when
to apply these skills and strategies. Since students are introduced to English read-
ing and writing early in their school careers, it could be beneficial to view Norwe-
gian and English reading development as complementary rather than supplemen-
tary. For example, the frequent focus on comprehension skills and strategies in the
EYLP approach school is likely to have benefited the students’ reading develop-
ment (Taylor et al., 2000), despite less focus on transfer of L1 strategies.
There was little indication, based on the case study data, that teachers actively
promoted the use of knowledge and strategies from the Norwegian subject in Eng-
lish reading instruction, even though most also acknowledged the connection
between reading abilities in the two languages. Collaboration among English and
Norwegian teachers is important because, although research has shown that L1
reading strategies can be transferred to L2 reading (Grabe & Stoller, 2002), teach-
ers need to actively support students in practicing transference of the strategies
(Goldenberg, 2011). Since both lack of time and difficult transitions between
grades were mentioned as a problem by teachers in the questionnaire, greater
focus on time to discuss English teaching content, how to improve transitions
between grades, and the transfer of skills from L1 to L2, would be beneficial for
both generalist and specialist teachers in planning and promoting English deve-
lopment.

Differentiation
The need for increased differentiation related to materials, practices, interaction,
and teacher expectations for students is a second implication of the study.
 11 PHD REVISITED: APPROACHES TO ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) READING INSTRUCTION IN 247
NORWEGIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

The research implications on extensive reading, and its ability to differentiate

reading, is that one needs to reassess the popular approaches to EFL reading
instruction that rely heavily on textbook use and traditional teacher-led methods
of reading instruction (Drew, 2004). Since differentiated reading instruction
depends on teachers having materials appropriate to the different needs of their
students, this is an important issue.
Although research has found teacher recitation to be a common type of teacher
interaction, it is limiting for student learning because of its focus on display of
knowledge and teacher evaluation rather than opportunities for knowledge build-
ing, engagement, and dialogue (Littleton & Mercer, 2013). The interaction at the
teacher station at the EYLP school, namely reading in small groups using guided
reading, came closest to a balance of recitation and dialogic discourse (cf.).
Although the three teaching approaches studied in the current case study
research appeared to be teacher-dependent, the EYLP approach may be consid-
ered even more so than the others, partially because some of the greatest benefits
of the program come through the scaffolded and guided interactions at the teacher
station. This is where the teacher can best support individual students’ reading
development. A teacher who is less aware of differentiation, or how best to model
and provide scaffolding for using reading strategies, will be less effective in this
setting.
Despite these challenges, there are numerous benefits of the EYLP approach
(Drew, 2009). In the opinion of this researcher, it is possible to take some of the
positive aspects of the EYLP approach and combine them with other approaches,
such as the combination approach. Increasing the amount of time students work in
smaller, level-differentiated reading groups with the teacher, focusing on compre-
hension skills and strategies development, and creating opportunities for exten-
sive reading, especially of level-differentiated texts at home, could arguably lead
to improvements in students’ reading motivation and development.

Teacher professional development

The need for increased qualifications and training for language teachers in Nor-
way has been widely acknowledged (Drew & Vigrestad, 2008; Hasselgreen, 2005;
KD, 2007a). The findings from the questionnaire confirmed that almost half of 4th
and 5th grade EFL teachers have no formal qualifications to teach English. Thus,
there is a continuing need for more support for teachers through English planning
teams, professional development, and in-service and further education courses.
These findings indicate a gap in what teachers perceive as challenging, namely
248 REBECCA ANNE CHARBONEAU STUVLAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

differentiating for the wide range of ability levels among primary school students,
and what they feel they can manage in their teaching. It is therefore important that
this gap is addressed, for example through in-service training and additional mate-
rials and teaching methods that support teachers in differentiating English lessons,
especially when teaching reading. Additionally, it could promote a greater degree
of teacher collaboration between Norwegian and English teachers and among
English teachers to support the transfer of and better progression of reading skills.

Reading approaches
Some final words about the approaches studied. First, the use of the EYLP in EFL
education is innovative in its focus on reading development and differentiation. As
far as this researcher is aware, Norway is the only country that uses this program for
L2/FL teaching. Its use has increased in the past decade and it should thus receive
more attention in future research. However, although interest is growing, it is still
only used in a small percentage of schools. It is important to consider that the actual
implementation of the EYLP approach will always be teacher-dependent and influ-
enced by the skills and focus of the individual teachers. Second, the combination
approach, as described in this research, offers a middle way for teachers to incorpo-
rate aspects of various materials and practices. This has real potential given that
nearly a third of the teachers describe their teaching as using a combination
approach. However, even within this approach there is room for improvement in
how teachers can differentiate practices and reading aims, and how they can interact
with the students. This is an area that, if given priority in future teacher training or
in supportive materials for teachers, could potentially have a large impact on current
EFL practices. Finally, there is large untapped potential in helping the nearly two-
thirds of teachers who use a textbook-based approach to move towards a more var-
ied and differentiated way of teaching. This is important in order to create discussion
and meaningful interactions with texts, which are both included in the curriculum
definition of reading (Ministry of Education and Research, 2013).
In conclusion, a focus on reading skills, greater understanding of the possibili-
ties for differentiation, and teacher training and collaboration, would greatly
enhance the state of EFL primary education in Norway.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

In terms of future research, this doctoral study has indicated numerous areas for
follow-up. First, a more thorough analysis of the interaction patterns used while
 11 PHD REVISITED: APPROACHES TO ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) READING INSTRUCTION IN 249
NORWEGIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

reading texts in class could yield interesting data about how differentiation is
implemented, and the extent to which students are active in English lessons. As
there is evidence that much EFL instruction is still teacher-led, it would be useful
to look into effective ways to increase teacher modeling and scaffolding, rather
than primarily teacher recitation and telling types of interactions.
Second, collaboration between language teachers, whether L1, L2, or other lan-
guages, is important for students to apply language learning skills and other skills
in multiple languages. Therefore, a study of practice among teachers who have
been actively supporting students in applying cross-linguistic reading and lan-
guage strategies could support language teachers.
A third potential area for research is how to train and inform teachers about how
to implement research-supported practices into their teaching. Specifically, it
would be interesting to compare the guided reading instruction students at EYLP
schools receive in their L1 and how, if at all, this is used to support L2 reading. It
would also be interesting to investigate to what extent L1 graded readers written
for L2 students are more or less supportive for language learning.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-13

12
PhD revisited: Questions of
culture and context in English
language textbooks
A study of textbooks for the teaching of
English in Norway 1
RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND
University of South-Eastern Norway

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a doctoral study (Lund, 2007) that investigated four
English textbook series for lower secondary school, published 1997–1999. The 1997
national curriculum introduced new perspectives on the role of cultural questions for
teaching and learning English. The chapter describes how textbooks followed up these
ideas only to a limited degree. It also describes recent developments related to questions
of context and culture in foreign language education, and suggests further research.

KEYWORDS English language textbooks | culture | context | curricular guidelines

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Lund, 2007) from the University of
Bergen. The doctoral thesis can be found here: http://bora.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/2421/
Dr%20Avh%20%20Ragnhild%20Lund.pdf?sequence=1

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 253

INTRODUCTION
My doctoral study was inspired by the new perspectives in the 1997 Norwegian
national curriculum (L97) on the role of cultural questions in the teaching and
learning of English (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research [KD], 1999).
The curriculum pointed to the fact that successful communication “is not a matter
of language skills alone”. Students also need to develop the ability to use the lan-
guage in different contexts and to “communicate across cultural differences” (KD,
1999, p. 239). The curriculum argued further that foreign language learning pro-
vides an opportunity to become acquainted with other cultures. Such insight, it
says, “lays the foundations for greater respect and tolerance, contributes to new
ways of thinking, and broadens [the students’] understanding of their own cultural
roots. This gives them a stronger sense of their own identity” (KD, 1999, p. 237).
Since the 19th century it has been customary to teach cultural topics as part of a
foreign language course (Stern, 1983). Focus has most often been on the country’s
(or countries’) history, literature and institutions (Hadley, 1993). The topics were
often referred to as “background studies” (Risager, 1989), and the objective was
to contribute to the students’ general education (Risager, 1987; Nelson, 1995).
However, cultural issues can also have other, more central roles to play in foreign
language education. Research has shown how a whole range of contextual and
cultural factors are in play whenever language is used (Halliday & Hasan, 1985).
In order to be able to communicate in a foreign language, then, learners should
learn to cope with these factors (Kramsch, 1993). Furthermore, since a foreign
language is used first and foremost in situations when people from different cul-
tural backgrounds meet, learners need to be prepared for cultural encounters and
at least some of the challenges that they may involve. In order for successful com-
munication to happen, learners need to develop cultural awareness and attitudes
of curiosity and openness (Byram, 1989; Corbett, 2003).
To me, these new perspectives were reflected in the 1997 English subject cur-
riculum, and in my doctoral study, I was interested to find out how they were inter-
preted and followed up in the textbooks that were written in accordance with the
curriculum. My main research question was:

How are questions of context and culture dealt with in present-day textbooks
for the teaching of English in Norwegian lower secondary education?
254 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

THEORY
Traditionally, learners have worked with the words and the systems of the foreign
language without considering the contexts in which the language can be used
(Stern, 1983). In the 20th century, however, a new awareness developed of the role
that context plays in determining the meaning of language. The anthropologist
Malinowski (1923) introduced the terms “context of situation” and “context of
culture” and claimed that outsiders need insight into the context of a text or an
utterance in order to be able to understand it. The linguists Halliday & Hasan
(1985) pointed out how language only makes sense if it is placed within a context,
and that texts and contexts are in fact two sides of the same coin. As soon as we
hear or read a piece of text, we simultaneously interpret the context in which we
encounter it.
For learners of a foreign language, it is obviously beneficial to acquire knowl-
edge about the contexts in which the language can be used. However, while one
may be able to identify some relevant situations of language use, it is impossible
to prepare learners for all possible contexts. Therefore, it is just as important to
help learners become aware of the role that different aspects of context play in any
communication situation, and to prepare them to be able to cope with the com-
plexity of it (Kramsch, 1993). English language skills will open for contact with
different groups of people, from many different cultures. For users of a foreign
language, insight into the interlocutor’s “context of culture” will be useful both in
order to understand the references that are being made and to be able to use the
language appropriately (Kramsch, 1993). However, “culture” is a complex phe-
nomenon, and different perspectives can be taken when selecting the areas to be
dealt with in a foreign language classroom.
Some scholars differentiate between “high culture” and “everyday culture”, or
“big C Culture” and “small c culture”. While “big C Culture” refers to visible and
often elitist manifestations of culture, such as intellectual and artistic achieve-
ments, “small c culture” refers to everyday practices of a specific group of people.
“High culture” had precedence in foreign language classrooms up to the 1960s
(Hadley, 1993). With the increased focus on the students’ practical language skills
in the 1960s and 1970s, however, more topics related to “small c culture” were
introduced. The idea was to prepare the learners for communication in everyday
situations (Risager, 1987).
In foreign language education, as well as in common discourse, the notion of cul-
ture has often been related to specific countries and their populations (Stern, 1983).
This understanding has been contested for several reasons. First, any nation state is
the home of people from a variety of nationalities and cultural and linguistic back-
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 255

grounds, in addition to members of sub-cultures that may identify to varying degrees

with the dominant culture (McLaren, 1995). Secondly, there is a movement away
from the understanding of culture as something static, with clear boundaries between
different cultural groups. Rather, culture has come to be seen as something which
changes continually, and which is constantly renegotiated in meetings between peo-
ple. Bhabha (1994) talks about the enunciation of a hybrid culture in a “third space”.
Situations of communication between people from different cultural backgrounds
constitute one arena where such a “third culture” can be built (Casmir, 1999).
In other words, there seems to be a movement away from the understanding that
culture is something monolithic, linked to nation states. Many people – at least in
the western world – will identify themselves with several cultural groups. There-
fore, it can be argued that communication can be just as challenging between peo-
ple from different cultural backgrounds within a nation state as it is between peo-
ple from different nationalities. Rather than different cultures, one can talk about
different discourse systems, and the challenges can be related to interdiscourse
rather than intercultural communication (Scollon & Scollon, 2001).
However, from the perspective of foreign language education, the difference
between intra-cultural and inter-cultural communication is significant (Byram,
1997). In working to develop new language skills, learners will necessarily meet
interlocutors, texts and other cultural expressions from backgrounds that differ
considerably from their own. Preparing learners for cultural encounters therefore
emerges as a crucial ingredient in a foreign language course. Moreover, since dif-
ferent languages and different cultures represent different ways of conceptualizing
and understanding the world, foreign language education has come to be seen as
a golden opportunity to expose learners to expressions of “otherness” and to
increase their awareness of – and openness towards – cultural diversity (Fantini,
1997; Geertz, 1973).
However, in order for learners to become engaged in issues related to cultural
encounters, they must be able to recognize the descriptions as realistic, believable
and relevant. The presentation of “real” representatives for other cultures is seen
as a central ingredient here. In order for learners to become interested, engaged
and feel the need for further contact, Risager (1991) suggests that they should
meet real people from the foreign country in micro level texts. Her notion of micro
level texts refers to texts that present people who come to life as believable human
beings with “feelings, attitudes, values and perceived problems” (Risager, 1991,
p. 183).
256 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

REVIEW
Earlier research has shown that textbooks for the teaching of English have often
included information about the two countries that have, traditionally, had the clos-
est links to the language, namely the United Kingdom and the United States. Some
textbooks, however, have included countries where English is used as a second
language, and some have referred to countries where English is learnt as a foreign
language. With reference to the fact that learners will need English language skills
to be able to talk about their own experiences, other textbooks have prioritized
topics from the learners’ own culture (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999). At the same time,
some textbooks have used cultural topics merely as “carrier content” in order to
provide foreign language learners with something to relate their language use to
(Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998).
While both “high culture” and “everyday culture” topics have been included,
textbooks have been criticized for a random selection of topics and for providing
only a superficial picture of other cultures (Risager, 1991). Learners are often seen
as potential tourists to the country in question, and the destination comes across as
conflict-free and glossed-over (Byram, 1989). Research has also shown how
many texts seem to take place in a “culturally neutral universe” (Henriksen, 1995,
p. 119, my translation), or reflect the learners’ own cultural references more than
those of the target language community (Kramsch, 1988).
Therefore, voices have been raised for the need for foreign language textbooks
to focus explicitly on cultural issues, so that learners can meet expressions of “oth-
erness” and thereby learn about other cultures as well as about their own
(Kramsch, 1993). A parallel argument has been linked to the development of the
learners’ language skills. Aspects of context also need to be examined and
explored in order for learners to be able to understand how language is used dif-
ferently in different situations (Vellenga, 2004).

METHODOLOGY
The study is based on qualitative as well as quantitative methods. I analyzed the
English subject curriculum and the textbook materials in terms of perspectives
that address different aspects of my research question. The prose texts for reading
and listening, which constitute the bulk of the material in the textbooks, were sub-
ject to quantification.
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 257

RESEARCH DESIGN
As a point of reference, I investigated the 1997 Norwegian national curriculum
and the guidelines for work with questions of context and culture that the English
subject curriculum provided (KD, 1999). In order to provide some historical back-
ground, I also investigated earlier curricula (from 1885, 1911, 1925, 1939, 1957,
1960, 1964, 1974 and 1987). My main material consisted of the four English lan-
guage textbooks series that were produced in accordance with the 1997 national
curriculum for use in Norwegian lower secondary school. These were Catch 8–10
(Aschehoug), Flight 8–10 (Cappelen), New People, New Places 1–3 (NKS-forla-
get) and Search 8–10 (Gyldendal). The books were all approved for use in grades
8 through 10 by Norwegian authorities.2 I investigated the textbooks, workbooks
(Flight), Teacher’s Guides, and CDs.

PERSPECTIVES IN THE ANALYSIS

The materials were analyzed in terms of four perspectives; (1) Culture-specific
reference, (2) Countries, cultures and content areas dealt with, (3) Focus on ques-
tions of context and culture, and (4) The objectives linked to the material. All four
perspectives were used in the analysis of the textbooks, while only perspectives 2,
3 and 4 apply to the analysis of the English subject curriculum (KD, 1999).

1 Culture-specific reference
Textbooks have been criticized for portraying a seemingly “culturally neutral uni-
verse” (Henriksen, 1995; Kramsch, 1993), and I wanted to investigate the degree
to which this is a trait in the textbooks in my material as well. I coded the prose
texts for reading and listening in the textbooks as having culture-specific refer-
ence, which means that they refer to a specific and identifiable cultural context, or
as texts that refer to an unidentifiable and seemingly culture-neutral context. The
texts in the former category refer explicitly or indirectly to a specific geographical
area and/or a specific group of people, such as Native Americans.

2 Countries, cultures and content areas dealt with

With reference to the tradition of focusing on “big C Culture” topics from the
United Kingdom and the United States (Hadley, 1993; Cortazzi & Jin, 1999), I
looked for references to specific countries and topics in the English subject cur-

2. The system of official certification of textbooks was abolished in June, 2000 (Selander & Skjel-
bred, 2004).
258 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

riculum. The textbook texts with culture-specific reference were coded in terms of
which countries and content areas they deal with.

3 Focus on questions of context and culture

With reference to Kramsch’s (1993) call for an explicit focus on aspects of context
and culture, I looked for specific references to such issues in the goal formulations
and the guidelines and requirements in the national curriculum. In the textbooks,
the commentaries, introductions, tasks and activities attached to the texts were
investigated in terms of the degree to which – and the ways in which – they
encouraged the learners to work with questions of context and culture.

4 The objectives linked to the material

As shown in the theory and the review sections, different objectives can be – and
have been – related to work with cultural issues in a foreign language course, as
English was in the 1997 curriculum. I therefore investigated the objectives related
to the cultural material as they are expressed in the goal formulations and the
requirements in the English subject curriculum (KD, 1999). In the textbooks, I
looked for statements of intention in the prefaces and in the introductory texts in
the teacher’s guides. I also investigated the texts, the commentaries to the texts
and the activities linked to them in terms of the ways in which learners are encour-
aged to relate to the textbook materials and the positions they seem to be offered.
Here, I built on the notion of the model reader, the reader that the authors had in
mind when they put the book together (Eco, 1984).

DATA ANALYSIS
Initially, I identified the guidelines in the 1997 English subject curriculum related
to the choice of cultural material. I also identified explicit and implicit references
to objectives linked to work with such material.
Next, in order to get an impression of the relative distribution of textbook texts
and topics, I counted the lines in the prose texts in each textbook, and coded them
as belonging to different categories. First, I coded texts that referred to a specific
cultural context in one group and texts that referred to a “culturally neutral uni-
verse” in another. Then, I coded the texts with culture-specific reference in terms
of which countries and content areas they dealt with. The fictional and the non-
fictional texts were coded separately. The length of the lines varied from text to
text, and from one textbook to another, so a word count would have given a more
precise quantitative rendering. However, for my purposes, the line count provided
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 259

a sufficient impression of the content of the texts. Based on the grouping of texts
into different categories, my main analysis was a qualitative one. I did not see any
reason to quantify the different tasks since it is only natural that the majority of
them focused on linguistic issues. Instead, I looked for and identified examples of
tasks that addressed questions of context and culture. I also identified the use of
open versus closed questions, as this difference could impact on the learners’ posi-
tions vis-à-vis the cultural material.
While I wanted to investigate how questions of context and culture were dealt
with in the national curriculum and the textbook series, I also wanted to shed light
on the rationale behind the choices that had been made. I regarded my empirical
material as part of a larger discourse, where the curriculum and the textbooks con-
stituted a manifestation of the discourse at the same time as they contributed to
maintaining certain structures of meaning. However, discourse analysis can reveal
and counteract such perpetuation (Neumann, 2001). In order to reveal the some-
times-tacit understandings on which choices are being made, I looked for indica-
tions of these understandings in the objectives that seemed to be linked to the
material.

RESULTS
The results showed that the curriculum’s requirements for each grade level and the
textbooks only followed up the intentions expressed in the introduction to the
English subject curriculum to a limited degree. While the introduction describes
objectives linked to the learners’ cultural awareness and ability to communicate
cross-culturally, the requirements and the textbook materials focus primarily on
the development of the learners’ knowledge about “big C Culture” topics.

THE 1997 ENGLISH SUBJECT CURRICULUM (L97)

The introduction to the 1997 curriculum describes English, first and foremost, as
a language for international communication, and it argues that learners need Eng-
lish language skills in a variety of different domains and settings.

Countries, cultures and content areas dealt with

In the curriculum requirements for each grade level, however, the scope is limited
to “the English-speaking world”, with a particular emphasis on the United King-
dom and the United States. Learners are to work with central texts from these
260 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

countries’ literary canon, and 36 specific literary texts are mentioned (or, in some
cases, non-specified texts by specific authors). Only Gulliver’s Travels by the Irish
author Jonathan Swift is mentioned from a country other than the UK or the US.
When it comes to cultural topics, students are expected to learn about “historical
and current developments in English-speaking countries” (KD, 1999, p. 244). The
requirements for grade 8 mention “schools and education, current affairs and art”,
while grade 9 should provide knowledge about “geographical conditions, impor-
tant events and people, and music, films, and graphic art” (KD, 1999, p. 245).
These topics can be said to reflect the tradition of “background studies” (Risager,
1989), with an emphasis on the presentation of the countries’ “high culture”.

Focus on questions of context and culture

L97 provides specific requirements when it comes to the literary texts and the cul-
tural topics that students should acquaint themselves with. In addition, the intro-
duction to the curriculum makes explicit references to the objectives linked to the
students’ work with questions of context and culture.

The objectives linked to the material

The goals presented in the introduction to L97 are, as already mentioned, linked
to the development of the students’ ability to “communicate across cultural differ-
ences” (KD, 1999, p. 239). Encounters with other cultures are expected to broaden
the students’ understanding of their own cultural roots and lay “the foundations
for greater respect and tolerance” for those of others (KD, 1999, p. 237). The
requirements for each grade level, however, seem to signal that the objectives
have to do with the development of the students’ general knowledge. The require-
ments do not refer to the goals presented in the introduction, nor do they indicate
the relevance of the texts and the topics in relation to these goals. It therefore
remains unclear how students should proceed in order to develop their intercul-
tural communication skills and attitudes of cultural understanding. It is stressed,
however, that learners should be allowed to “meet”, “discover” and “explore”
texts and other cultural expressions. These references, along with repeated
reminders of the need for learners to talk about their own experiences and express
their own views, can be said to open for learners’ personal engagement with the
cultural material.
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 261

THE TEXTBOOK SERIES

The textbooks provide a wealth of texts and topics about the English-speaking
world. The main intention seems to be to balance central information about the dif-
ferent countries with topics that the learners will find interesting and motivating.

Culture-specific references
When deciding whether a text refers to a specific cultural context or not, I looked
for the use of place names, names of well-known people and culture-specific ter-
minology such as “A-levels” (UK) and “the great Irish famine” (Ireland). Intro-
ductions that inform readers about the author of a piece of fiction and illustrations
also helped place a text in a culture-specific context. The coding of the prose texts
for reading and listening shows that all four textbook series have relatively few
texts without culture-specific references. Flight has the highest proportion of such
texts, 29 per cent, while the figures for Search and Catch are 14 and 16 per cent,
respectively. Only 12 per cent of the texts in New People, New Places (NPNP)
cannot be placed in a specific cultural context. However, the culture-specific ref-
erence was often quite vague and difficult to detect. One reason for this lies with
the books’ obvious desire to appeal to the learners and their interests. Many texts
deal with topics such as leisure activities, friends and relationships. The characters
portrayed have dogs as pets, they enjoy listening to American popular music and
going to the movies, and they have parents who embarrass them. Despite the use
of English names, many of these texts may come across as reflecting most Nor-
wegian learners’ own cultural background.
Many texts present people with experiences, interests and concerns that the
learners will recognize from their own everyday life. This goes for example for
texts that describe relationships between children and parents and between men and
women. No mention is made of the fact that some of the situations would be rather
unlikely in many parts of the world and that the language used may not be equally
inappropriate in any context. Since most of the commentaries and activities linked
to such texts do little to point out the culture-specific traits, many opportunities for
learning about questions of context and culture would probably be lost.

Countries, cultures and content areas dealt with

Most of the non-fictional texts with culture-specific references deal with issues in
the United Kingdom and the United States. An obvious explanation for this lies in
the close ties between these countries and Norway and in the countries’ central posi-
262 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

tion in the English-speaking world. Since the learners already know quite a bit about
these countries, it is natural to think that it will be motivating for them to learn more.
Many other English-speaking countries are presented as well, with a main
emphasis on Australia, India, Ireland and South Africa. The intention here seemed
to be to show how English is used in a variety of countries around the world. It is
worth noticing, however, that issues related to differences in language and lan-
guage use are not given priority. Only New People, New Places makes a point of
preparing learners to talk about Norway and typical traits of Norwegian culture.
In a series of “Norwegian pages”, the learners are provided with illustrations and
vocabulary that can be used as the starting point for oral and written activities.
The content areas fall into three categories, namely History and cultural heritage,
Contemporary issues and general information, and Presentation of individual peo-
ple. The great majority of texts fall into the first category, and many of these texts
present information about the authors of fictional texts. The textbooks apparently
aimed to contribute to the learners’ general education in providing information
about famous authors, such as William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain,
and Ernest Hemingway. Learners can also read about historical people and events
such as Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement (Search 10). There are
many anecdotal stories about famous people, and there are also historically oriented
texts about phenomena such as Levi’s jeans (Flight 8) and Coca-Cola (Search 10).
A considerable number of the texts that deal with contemporary issues and gen-
eral information are written from a tourist’s perspective. This goes for typical des-
tinations in the UK and the US, but famous sights in Australia and India also
receive due coverage (Catch 9, NPNP 1, Search 8, Search 9). The intention
seemed to be to provide the learners with varied and motivating glimpses of dif-
ferent places in the English-speaking world. Search is the textbook series that
emphasizes cultural information to support the development of the learners’ com-
munication skills. Here, learners are helped to distinguish between the terms Brit-
ish and English, for example, and they are told about the significance that 4th of
July and Thanksgiving have for speakers of American English. The textbook
series provide few opportunities for learners to meet non-fictional presentations of
individual people from other countries. Dialogues, interviews and even mono-
logues are often designed to provide factual information or exemplify vocabulary
and structures rather than to provide encounters with “real people”.
Approximately 40% of the fictional texts are excerpts from well-known literary
works. Canonical texts from the UK and the US are well represented, but the textbooks
go beyond the suggestions from the English subject curriculum (KD, 1999) and
include many literary texts from other parts of the English-speaking world as well. The
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 263

fictional texts present many “believable” representatives from other cultures. More
than half of these texts are excerpts from children’s or young adults’ fiction, and deal
with issues that seem to link up with the learners’ interests and concerns. In this way,
they provide good opportunities for the learners to relate to and possibly become per-
sonally involved with the characters portrayed. At the same time, many of the texts
have only vague references to other cultures. Rather than opening the students’ eyes
to cultural diversity and helping them develop the respect and tolerance that the Eng-
lish subject curriculum asks for, then, these texts may convey the understanding that
young people’s experiences are essentially the same wherever they live.
Other fictional texts are presented in connection with information-focused ones.
Here, learners are informed about an issue such as immigration to the United
States, the conflict in Northern Ireland or the history of Native Americans. Then,
a fictional text provides them with insight into the same issue from a personal per-
spective. In appealing to the learners’ emotional involvement, the latter texts can
probably add much to the learners’ understanding.
Only New People, New Places has a section which explains the phenomenon
“literary classic” and dwells a little on ways in which canonical texts often make
their way into other domains, such as the film industry. One chapter in Search
focuses on what good literary texts can offer in terms of inspiration and models
for the students’ own writing. Other than this, little emphasis is given to providing
learners with insight into the literary quality of the texts. There is also a lack of
information about the texts’ and the authors’ significance in the society in ques-
tion. The textbooks also include a small portion of crime and mystery stories, fairy
tales, legends and myths. These seem to be chosen in order to fit in with the topic
of the chapter, to add an element of entertainment, and to provide examples of dif-
ferent types of literary texts. The myths and legends are typically linked to infor-
mation about indigenous peoples such as the Aborigines in Australia and the
Native Americans in the United States. Poetry and songs are spread out through-
out the textbooks. They fit in with the chapter topic, but they also provide encoun-
ters with the different countries’ cultural heritage. In a chapter about animals, for
example, learners can read “To a Squirrel” by W.B. Yeats, and “Little Lamb” by
William Blake (Search 9). In a chapter about love and friendship, they can read
“My love is like a red, red rose” by Robert Burns (Catch 10).

Focus on questions of context and culture

The table of contents and the chapter headings in the textbooks signal that knowl-
edge about the English-speaking world is a central ingredient in the course. Each
264 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

textbook in each series contains one or more headings, such as “Cool Britannia”
(NPNP 1), “The Land Down Under” (Search 8) and “Going Places – USA” (Catch
9). However, the Teachers’ Guides and the prefaces to three of the series do not
dwell on the reasons why the students should work with these topics. Rather, the
inclusion of cultural material seems to be regarded as such an obvious part of
learning English that it needs no further justification. Only the Search Teacher’s
Guide refers to the new perspectives in the 1997 curriculum and explains what the
formulations there about language, context and culture imply.
Relatively few of the introductions and the commentaries to the textbook texts help
draw the learners’ attention to issues of language use in different contexts or to the cul-
tural content of the texts. Rather, a common strategy is to appeal to the students’ curi-
osity, or to establish a link with their own experiences. Before a text about the Tower
of London, for example, learners get these questions: “Do you believe in ghosts?
Would you like to meet one?” (Flight 10, p. 32). Before a text about King Henry VIII,
they are asked to consider royal scandals that they have read about (Search 9).
Most of the introductions that do address cultural content provide extra infor-
mation. In connection with fictional texts, students often get to know about the
author or, if the text is an excerpt, about the rest of the work in question. Some-
times, the introduction helps place a text in a specific cultural context, for example
when it provides background information about the people involved. Other intro-
ductions provide information that gives the learners a head start when it comes to
understanding the text that follows. In this way, these introductions also help
underline the importance of the cultural content of the texts.
Some information-focused texts are followed by comprehension questions.
Although most of them ask for detailed pieces of information that can be “lifted”
directly from the text, they do provide an opportunity for learners to go through
what they have just read and to reinforce learning. On other occasions, questions
and tasks focus on the learners’ own experience at the expense of the cultural
information provided in the text. After a text about a South African girl’s experi-
ences in school, for example, students are asked to talk and write only about their
own school experiences (Search 10).

The objectives linked to the material

The textbooks signal that a main objective with the cultural material is to contrib-
ute to the learners’ general education. They expose the learners to influential
works of fiction from the English-speaking world, and they provide information
about some well-known people and central historical events.
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 265

Search, however, signals that the students are also expected to develop into
knowledgeable and engaged citizens of the world. This is signaled in the textbook
topics and, most of all, in the number of open questions, which is higher than in
the other series. The learners are encouraged to express their own understandings
and interpretations of a range of different issues, and they are asked to present
their own opinions and to discuss their own concerns. In this way, Search provides
many opportunities for the learners to develop their own voice as users of English.
This can be seen as an attempt to meet the curriculum’s call for students to
acquire “new ways of thinking” and to provide them with “a stronger sense of their
own identity” (KD, 1999). Students’ opportunities to reflect independently and
critically on a number of different issues can also contribute to “the foundations
for greater respect and tolerance” mentioned in the curriculum (KD, 1999, p. 237).
It remains unclear even in Search, however, how students are expected to develop
the ability to “communicate across cultural differences” (KD, 1999, p. 239).

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

The doctoral study presented here points to the ways in which one generation of
English language textbooks deal with questions of context and culture. It also indi-
cates how these issues could be handled differently in textbooks in the future. In
the following, I present empirical, methodological and theoretical contributions of
my study, in addition to implications for teaching English, and future research.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
One empirical contribution of my work is to show that the objectives related to the
cultural material can be seen in the model reader (Eco, 1984) that the textbook
authors seem to have had in mind, or the positions that are made available for the
learners. It comes as no surprise that students are, first and foremost, addressed as
learners of the English language. This is seen in the great majority of exercise
material that follows up linguistic aspects of the textbook texts, encouraging var-
ious forms of language practice. However, the relatively large number of informa-
tion-focused texts and excerpts from canonical literature signal that the learners
are also expected to develop into knowledgeable and well-educated youngsters.
Another obvious position for the students is that of a potential tourist. Many of the
presentations of famous sights and attractive destinations are clearly written in
order to motivate the students and arouse their desire to travel.
266 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

My investigation shows that the textbooks provide considerable amounts of

information and encounters with a variety of fictional texts. Most of them have to
do with the United Kingdom and the United States, but many other parts of the
English-speaking world are represented as well. While the intention must be to
provide students with knowledge about the texts and topics presented, the impor-
tance of this knowledge is undermined by the fact that commentaries and tasks
rarely follow up the cultural material. As a result, one gets the impression that it
is not very important whether the learners remember much of the material pre-
sented or not. The juxtaposition of significant and rather insignificant issues also
seems to reduce the importance of the information provided. Central texts and top-
ics are often presented next to “fun facts” and inconsequential stories, seemingly
in order to motivate the students and to provide an element of entertainment.
The textbooks contain many dialogues that exemplify language which can be
used in different situations, for example at a dinner table or when buying tickets for
a show. These dialogues present useful vocabulary and structures, and the intention
is clearly to provide learners with “core” language that they can use in similar sit-
uations. At the same time, many of them show different conventions of language
use, for example related to polite ways of addressing someone or showing grati-
tude. However, the commentaries and exercises to these dialogues rarely follow up
these aspects of language use. The same thing can be said about the questions and
tasks related to the fictional texts, which hardly ever draw the students’ attention to
the many, varied examples of language use that these texts provide.
It may only seem natural that the great majority of tasks focus on linguistic
aspects of the texts, since the primary objective of the textbooks is to contribute to
the development of the learners’ language skills. Still, it seems strange that the
textbooks contain so much information about other countries and provide so many
encounters with people from other cultural backgrounds when so little is done to
help learners remember and reflect on the material. Even texts that represent other
countries’ literary canons are, most often, followed up exclusively for linguistic
purposes. After having read about Jonathan Swift and Gulliver’s Travels, for
example, students are asked to practice the genitive s on the basis of sentences like
these: “Gulliver’s Travels is read all over the world. It’s Swift’s most famous
book” (Flight 8 Workbook, p. 179).

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Previous research has investigated textbooks’ selection of countries and content
areas, the occurrence of culture-neutral texts and the (lack of) focus on questions
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 267

of context and culture (e.g. Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Henriksen, 1995; Kramsch,
1988). Research has also investigated the model readers of educational texts
(Aamotsbakken, 2006). My doctoral study brought these perspectives together
and applied them to an analysis not only of the texts, but also of the introductions,
commentaries, questions and tasks in the textbooks.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTION
In using quantitative as well as qualitative methods, the study indicates which
texts, topics and objectives are given priority in the textbooks, linking this insight
with a more nuanced discussion of the material. The study illustrates how explicit
and implicit requirements in curricular documents can be a point of reference in
the analysis of textbooks and other teaching materials. It also shows that in order
to get a full picture of teaching resources’ affordances, they need to be analyzed
from different perspectives.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The investigation was conducted more than ten years ago. Since then, a new Eng-
lish subject curriculum has been launched (UDIR, 2006) and accordingly new
textbooks have been written. While the curricular objectives and guidelines
related to questions of context and culture remain quite similar, the new generation
of textbooks has undergone considerable development.
My own investigation of English language textbooks produced in accordance
with the 2006 curriculum shows that the new textbooks for grades 8 through 10
all included more substantial information about other countries and cultures than
the textbooks from 1997–1999 did. The choice of texts and topics signaled a will
to contribute to the development of the students’ cultural insight and understand-
ing, and many questions and tasks encouraged the learners to take a stand when it
comes to controversial issues and global challenges (Lund, 2012).
Other investigations show that the cultural content still often consists of super-
ficial facts about the target country. Vatja (2012), for example, found that French
language textbooks in Sweden provide a stereotypical and unrealistic picture of
France. When investigating textbooks for the teaching of Spanish in Norway, Eide
(2013) found that they, too, provide overly harmonious renderings of the target
country, and that the learners are placed, first and foremost, in a position as
observers or potential tourists. In their investigation of images in English language
textbooks for Norwegian lower secondary school, Brown and Habegger-Conti
268 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

(2017) found significant differences in the ways white people and people from
indigenous cultures were portrayed. They conclude that the visual representation
of indigenous peoples contradicts the curricular aims related to cultural issues as
they may promote rather than challenge myths and stereotypes.
When it comes to the relationship between language use and questions of con-
text and culture, my investigation showed that the textbooks written in accordance
with the 2006 Norwegian curriculum concerned themselves with this only to a
limited degree (Lund, 2012). Nguyen (2011) found the same tendency in English
language textbooks in Vietnam. She shows that the textbooks fail to provide learn-
ers with realistic models for language use and that they also lack sufficient expla-
nations of the pragmatics at work in situations where people from different cul-
tures communicate. According to her, textbook authors need to inform themselves
about the growing body of literature on cross-cultural and intercultural pragmatics
and to make use of this insight in their future work.
The formulations in the 1997 and 2006 Norwegian national curricula echo an
increased awareness internationally of the relationship between language, context
and culture. Since the turn of the century, much work has been done to describe
the role that questions of context and culture can have in foreign language educa-
tion. Focus has been on what to teach as well as the ways in which such issues can
be worked with in the classroom.
Summing up the situation in Europe, Byram (2014) holds that policy documents
have adopted the view that cultural and intercultural perspectives have an impor-
tant role to play. He also refers to the substantial work that has been done when it
comes to the development of pedagogical principles and practical teaching and
learning materials. However, he claims that most teachers still lack an understand-
ing of the significance of intercultural issues and of the relationship between inter-
cultural competence and linguistic competence, and that the issue of assessment
is still insufficiently developed.
Intercultural communicative competence has been a buzzword in foreign lan-
guage education for decades, and Byram’s model of five “saviors” has been par-
ticularly influential. Byram posits “the intercultural speaker” as the goal for for-
eign language instruction, and claims that this involves “curiosity and openness”
towards other cultures and a “readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures
and belief about one’s own” (Byram, 1997, p. 57). The Norwegian scholar Hild
Elisabeth Hoff (2014) is among those who have criticized Byram’s (1997) model
for being not only unrealistically harmonious; it may also be counterproductive in
the way that it glosses over the possible challenges involved in cultural encoun-
ters. Risager (2007) brings Byram’s views a step further in linking intercultural
 12 PHD REVISITED: QUESTIONS OF CULTURE AND CONTEXT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS 269

competence to a sense of global responsibility. The interculturally competent per-

son, she argues, looks at him- or herself as a citizen of the world, with knowledge
about the challenges in the world and a willingness to do something about them
(Risager, 2007).
Other scholars have discussed the implications that postmodernist views of cul-
ture have on work with intercultural issues and on the tradition of “culture stud-
ies”. Dervin (2015), for example, warns against focusing on cultural differences,
as this may perpetuate rather than counteract stereotypes. Instead, work with cul-
tural issues in education should involve a continuous questioning of appearances
and understandings. Kramsch (2013) links culture directly to language use, and
claims that culture can only be seen in “the meaning that members of a social
group give to the discursive practices they share in a given space and time and
over the historical life of the group” (Kramsch, 2013, p. 69). Modern forms of
communication, not least digitally, contribute to this understanding of culture.
Still, she argues, the teaching of culture will always be marked by a need to “iden-
tify, explain, classify and categorize people”. This, however, needs to be balanced
with necessary space provided for the changing understandings and positions of
the users of the language (Kramsch, 2013, pp. 71–72).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

Byram’s (2014) claim that policy documents have adopted the view that cultural
and intercultural perspectives have an important role to play in foreign language
education certainly holds for the 2006 Norwegian national curriculum (LK06).
The English curriculum here underlines the need for learners to learn how the lan-
guage is used in different contexts and to be able to “take cultural norms and con-
ventions into consideration” (UDIR, 2006, p. 1). It also stresses the role that the
subject has when it comes to promoting “greater interaction, understanding and
respect between persons with different cultural backgrounds” (UDIR, 2006, p. 1)
and the development of “knowledge about, understanding of and respect for the
lives and cultures of other people” (p. 2).
However, as recent research shows, adequate teaching and learning materials
related to questions of context and culture in English and foreign language educa-
tion have yet not been developed. There also seem to be deficiencies in the train-
ing of language teachers related to such issues and, consequently, in the teachers’
awareness and skills when it comes to implementing work with them in the for-
eign language classroom (Byram, 2014). The call for increased efforts in order to
meet today’s curricular requirements must therefore be addressed to all actors in
270 RAGNHILD ELISABETH LUND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

the field: teacher educators, authors and producers of textbooks and other educa-
tional media, as well as teachers of English and foreign languages, and students.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

As the previous discussion shows, the possibilities for further research are many.
One area relates to textbooks and other educational media. What kinds of cultural
material do they contain? Which understanding of “culture” do the materials con-
vey? How are learners expected to work with the material, and what are the objec-
tives linked to this work? This research could be based on content analysis of
existing materials. Another area focuses on teachers’ and students’ perceptions of
the role that questions of context and culture can have in foreign language educa-
tion. Here, it would be natural to use interviews as well as observation, and the
notion of teacher cognition (Borg, 2006) can be a central point of reference. Yet
another area relates to classroom work. How do teachers and learners work with
questions of context and culture as part of foreign language education? Which
texts, topics, perspectives and activities are given emphasis? This research could
be based on surveys, interviews and/or observation. It can also be linked to inter-
vention studies, where different materials and approaches can be tried out and
examined.

REFERENCES
Aamotsbakken, B. (2006). The relation between the model reader/-s and the authentic reader/-s.
The possibilities for identification when reading curricular texts. In É. Bruillard et al. (Eds.),
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Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge.
Borg, S. (2006). Teacher Cognition and Language Education: Research and Practice. London:
Continuum.
Brown, C. W. & Habegger-Conti, J. (2017). Visual representations of indigenous cultures in
Norwegian EFL textbooks. Nordic Journal of Modern Language Methodology 5 (1), 16–34.
Byram, M. (1989). Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education. Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Cleve-
don: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Byram, M. (2014). Twenty-five years on – from cultural studies to intercultural citizenship.
Language, Culture and Curriculum, 27 (3), 209–225.
Casmir, F. L. (1999). Foundations for the study of intercultural communication based on a third-
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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-14

13
PhD revisited: Poetry: Prima
Vista
Reader-response research on poetry in a
foreign language context 1
SIGNE MARI WILAND
University of Agder

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a doctoral study (Wiland, 2007) that investigates the
experience of poetry reading in English and aims at revealing what foreign language stu-
dents experience cognitively and affectively when they read a poem for the first time. By
applying an experimental slow line-by-line reading method, the assumption is that the
readers will document more thoughts and feelings than when conventional approaches
are used. The chapter discusses some of the implications of this research.

KEYWORDS Poetry reading | line-by-line reading method | reader-response | reader

autonomy

1. For the entire thesis and companion volume including the respondents’ protocols, see Poetry:
Prima Vista. Reader-Response Research on Poetry in a Foreign Language Context, Bergen:
Bergen University, 2007. The doctoral thesis in its entirety can be obtained through the Univer-
sity of Agder Library, UiA (https://www.uia.no/bibliotek).

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 275

INTRODUCTION
No doctoral study had been submitted in English didactics in literature in Norway
when I defended my dissertation in 2007. However, response studies had been
conducted in native language contexts in many countries, particularly in the USA
and Great Britain, where some of the most influential theorists have worked and
conducted research. Though different, native and second language research may
be informed by some of the same methodological and theoretical approaches to
produce their empirical material.
If the first encounter with the poetic text, often referred to as the primary level
of reading, is uncensored and unconditional, the possibility of forming new and
secondary level discourses for the joint classroom experience may not prove to be
such an ordeal for the classroom readers and teacher. To create a lasting interest in
poetry, the teacher must help to make the student into an autonomous and confi-
dent reader, so that when literature is presented in the classroom it can work for
the classroom reader, not against her. Only then will literature become a valuable
means of personal growth and language development. Crediting the real readers
with the competence they already have was an important and positive premise for
my doctoral research, which was motivated by the lack of insight into what stu-
dents think or feel when they read a poem in a school context. In case they do react
to the poem, what is it that they think and feel about it? My doctoral thesis was an
attempt to trace, understand, and interpret student readers’ thoughts and feelings
during the reading of a poem “prima vista”, that is, when they read it for the first
time. Teachers are often left with the impression that most readers in their class-
rooms do not respond to poems at all. Despite negative classroom experiences,
there is reason to question such assumptions about the linguistic and literary igno-
rance of student readers and their lack of engagement when they read poetry in
English. Therefore, the research questions of my thesis were the following:

1. Do student readers have richer experiences cognitively and affectively than

they are able or willing to express verbally in class? If they do, what does this
experience consist of, and how can it be described and interpreted?
2. Can students become engaged in a poem even if they do not understand all the
language problems connected to lexis, grammar, and syntax?
3. Is it possible, by means of a productive research method, to enable student rea-
ders to express their personal and sincere experiences in a way that classroom
reading does not?
276 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The first two questions concern the readers and their competence. It is my conten-
tion that the reader needs theoretical support to become visible. For this reason,
the reader concept used in my thesis is vital for the outcome of the study. The last
question taps into the experimental research method, which is crucial and condi-
tional to answer the other research questions.

THEORY
Most of the theories I found supportive of my research were taken from scholars
who have worked theoretically and/or practically with issues of reading literary
texts. The philosophical justification of reader-centred approaches to literature was
dependent on hermeneutic theories developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer (1998) in
Truth and Method. In his discussion of literature, he questions the authority of the
author and the text by reassessing the value of the reading, and defines literature
both as our common canon of “world literature” and as “the process of understand-
ing” it as an aesthetic experience, where “the capacity to read… is like a secret art,
even a magic that frees and binds us” (Gadamer, 1998, p. 162, pp. 164–165).

THE READER
Wolfgang Iser (1978, 1993) and his theory of “aesthetic response” (1978, pp. 20–
21) and his notion of “prospecting” (1993, pp. 234–235) as an anthropological
approach to literature helped me to understand the reader and define the reader
concept constructively. However, to engage in practical classroom based reader-
response research, it was primarily the American reader-response tradition with
Louise Rosenblatt (1981), Stanley Fish (1980), and David Bleich (1975, 1978,
1988) that I found useful in my empirical study. The theoretical support for the
“reader” concept was further based on an eclectic selection of reader-oriented the-
ories in various fields such as philosophy, linguistics, and literary theory, repre-
sented among others by Roland Barthes (1973, 1977), Jacques Derrida (1997,
1992), I. A. Richards (2001), Hans Robert Jauss (1984), and Jonathan Culler
(1994). The reader-oriented theorists in principle, though not always in practice,
attribute the control of the meaning creating process to the reader, not to the liter-
ary authorities such as teachers of literature.
What kind of meaning can the classroom reader be expected to arrive at? What
kind of understanding or experience can be expected during the process of read-
ing? Since the concept was to cover real classroom readers, it must be open in the
sense that the range of competences, attitudes, and personalities represented in an
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 277

average class were included, and their role as learners, whose main aim was to
develop personally and professionally, was taken seriously. The concept coined by
me for the study of the classroom reader was the “dynamic prospecting counter-
signatory”. “Dynamic” indicates movement or development, essential to all learn-
ers without requiring a certain standard of linguistic and literary competence.
“Countersignatory” implies a restricted freedom on the part of the reader as to how
to make sense of the words in the poems and how to express an understanding of
them without being hemmed in by the constraints of definitions of the language of
poetry as opposed to the language of prose (Derrida, 1992, p. 41). The “dynamic
prospecting countersignatory” need not be equipped with the full semantic knowl-
edge of a mature reader and have internalised the properties of literary discourses,
according to Fish’s definition (Fish, 1980, pp. 48–49), because this definition lim-
its the possibility untrained readers have for experiencing literature through the
language they command. “Prospecting” indicates that there is something valuable
to be found (but not necessarily is found), without defining the nature and weight
of this object more closely. By asking readers to respond to poetry one line at the
time, the notion of experience became wide enough to cover a range of reactions
from the readers, from a general indifference to a profound aesthetic experience;
from a rudimentary command of lexis and grammar to a well-developed compe-
tence of language forms and poetic rhetoric.

COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE ASPECTS OF EXPERIENCING POETRY

In the context of the study, “cognitive” is understood as the analytical, intellectual
approach, pertaining to reason rather than emotion, where thinking is based on
concepts and ideas or images. “Affective” is used not only as the emotional reac-
tion or approach to language, but as a way of thinking, comparable to ideas and
images (Opdahl, 2002, pp. 59–73). To apply the cognitive/affective continuum
does not imply a simplification of the complex way readers make use of their com-
bined personal resources, and neither of them is made an ideal for the reading. Nor
does it ignore other concepts such as aesthetic experience and the force of imagi-
nation, generally applied in the discussion about poetry. Still less does it ignore the
existence of the artistic creation, the poetic text, and poetic rhetoric. In Aesthetic
Experience and Literary Hermeneutics, Hans Robert Jauss (1984) discusses “aes-
thetic pleasure and the fundamental experiences of poiesis, aesthesis, and cathar-
sis” (pp. 22–36), saying that “aesthetic experience can be included in the process
of the aesthetic creation of identity if the reader accompanies his receptive activity
by reflection on his own development” (p. 36). If the reading experience is to be
278 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

decisive for the individual reader’s aesthetic development, there must be a combi-
nation of personal faculties involved in the experience, such as sensitivity to emo-
tions, ideas, and thoughts concerning the primary activity of perception and recep-
tion, but not least the reflection about the personal development as a reader.
Affective approaches have been defined in various ways (Opdahl, 2002, pp. 74–
96) and often discredited in serious literary criticism (Wimsatt, 1989, pp. 21–39).
Both Bleich (1975, pp. 97–105), in arguing for a subjective but responsible
approach to literary response, and Richards (Practical Criticism: A Study of Liter-
ary Judgement, 2001, pp. 73–82, 89–93), in trying to develop a more scientific,
objective, and balanced approach to literary criticism, are aware of the inescapa-
bility and force of emotional reactions to what we read. The question is not
whether affective reactions should be totally embraced or avoided, but how to
define what we mean by affective responses, as opposed to cognitive ones, and to
be conscious of how cognitive and affective reactions are both part of the reading
experience and must be treated accordingly.
To Richards (Practical Criticism, 2001), “the interference of emotional rever-
berations from a past, which have nothing to do with the poem” is listed as one of
ten obstacles to successful reading (pp. 22–25). To Bleich (1975), emotions are the
primary resource in literary response, and they are essential and necessary to enjoy
poetry and to write response statements, defined as “a record of the perception of
a reading experience and its natural, spontaneous consequences” (p. 147), which
in turn are a condition for writing critical commentaries on poetry, containing
what is referred to as secondary or tertiary readings. To embrace all readers, the
researcher needs to be aware of these contesting concepts pertaining to the reading
activity (Opdahl, 2002, p. 10).
Rosenblatt’s distinction between the efferent or non-aesthetic and aesthetic
reading attitude is an attempt to define poetry, not by the nature of the text, but by
the attitude of the reader (1981, pp. 22–29). In her transactional theory, efferent
means carry away and describes the kind of reading where the reader is carried
away from the reading in the sense that the outcome, in the form of information
and knowledge, is the most important aspect of reading. “In aesthetic reading, in
contrast, the reader’s primary concern is with what happens during the actual
reading event” (1981, p. 24). The awareness of this continuum may help teachers
to guide the learners in reading techniques that facilitate aesthetic reading, so that
the efferent reading does not take over and thereby helps to undermine literature
as an aesthetic expression of a work of art. For very many readers, the efferent
reading is the only one they seem to accept. No wonder this is the most frequent
approach, as there is usually something to be learnt from a text, even from a poem.
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 279

METHODOLOGY
In my doctoral study an experimental line-by-line method was developed, inspired
by Short and Van Peer (1989), aiming at opening up for the student readers’ personal
and sincere experiences, and permitting me as a researcher to find out what the stu-
dents experienced cognitively and affectively when they read a poem for the first
time. The rationale behind the experimental method was to facilitate responses that
are otherwise usually lost in the classroom or never communicated to others.

RESPONDENTS
My doctoral study included 95 respondents in three reader groups; one group of
upper secondary school students from five different schools attending the
advanced courses in English, and two groups of student teachers in English didac-
tics; one group training to become teachers in primary school, the other practical-
pedagogical education (PPU) group training to become teachers in lower and
upper secondary school. I have taught English literature and didactics in all three
groups, and the method used to collect data in the study was first used as a teach-
ing method for my own teacher students.
References to the respondent groups were made in the text as follows: S = upper
secondary school student (40 respondents, 17–19 years old), TT = student teacher
of the Norwegian general educational programme (29 respondents, 25–30 years
old), and T = student teacher (PPU) (26 respondents of various ages from their late
twenties to practicing teachers).

DATA COLLECTION
The participants read and responded to one of five poems by writing down the
responses by hand on a sheet of paper handed out by me in class, later transcribed
and printed as a companion volume to my thesis, covering 203 pages. Many of my
respondents wrote from one or two to seven pages on a relatively short poem. The
poems were “Mid-Term Break” (MB) by Seamus Heaney, “He Wishes for the
Cloths of Heaven” (CH) by W. B. Yeats, “A Birthday” (B) by Christina Rossetti,
“maggie and milly and molly and may” (MM) by e. e. cummings, and “Infant Sor-
row” (IS) by William Blake. The handwritten protocols (Richards, 2001, p. 13)
represented the empirical material of my research, were the only documents I had,
and the only means to access the thoughts and feelings of the respondents. Refer-
ences to readers’ responses, printed in the companion volume, were made as fol-
lows in the text: T7: MB, line 5 = the 7th PPU student teacher responding to line
280 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

5 in “Mid-Term Break” by Seamus Heaney. S6: IS, line 4 = 6th upper secondary
school student responding to line 4 in “Infant Sorrow” by William Blake, etc.

Infant Sorrow (IS), William Blake

1 My mother groan’d! my father wept.
2 Into the dangerous world I lept:
3 Helpless, naked, piping loud:
4 Like a fiend hid in a cloud.

5 Struggling in my father’s hands,

6 Striving against my swaddling bands,
7 Bound and weary I thought best
8 To sulk upon my mother’s breast.

maggie and milly and molly and may (MM), e. e. cummings

1) maggie and milly and molly and may
2) went down to the beach (to play one day)

3) and maggie discovered a shell that sang

4) so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles, and

5) milly befriended a stranded star

6) whose rays five languid fingers were;

7) and molly was chased by a horrible thing

8) which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and

9) may came home with a smooth round stone

10) as small as a world and as large as alone.

11) For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

12) it’s always ourselves we find in the sea

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (CH), W. B. Yeats

1) Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
2) Enwrought with golden and silver light,
3) The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
4) Of night and light and the half-light,
5) I would spread the cloths under your feet:
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 281

6) But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

7) I have spread my dreams under your feet;
8) Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Birthday (B), Christina Rossetti

1) My heart is like a singing bird
2) Whose nest is in a watered shoot;
3) My heart is like an apple-tree
4) Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;
5) My heart is like a rainbow shell
6) That paddles in a halcyon sea;
7) My heart is gladder than all these
8) Because my love is come to me.

9) Raise me a dais of silk and down;

10) Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
11) Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
12) And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
13) Work it in gold and silver grapes.
14) In leaves and silver fleur-de-lys;
15) Because the birthday of my life
16) Is come, my love is come to me.

Mid-Term Break (MB), Seamus Heaney

1) I sat all morning in the college sick bay
2) Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
3) At two o’clock our neighbours drove me home.

4) In the porch I met my father crying-

5) He had always taken funerals in his stride-
6) And big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

7) The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram

8) When I came in, and I was embarrassed
9) By old men standing up to shake my hand

10) And tell they were “sorry for my trouble”.

11) Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
12) Away at school, as my mother held my hand
282 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

13) In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.

14) At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived
15) With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

16) Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops

17) And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
18) For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

19) Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,

20) He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
21) No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

22) A four foot box, a foot for every year.

PROCEDURE
The poems were physically chopped up in as many lines as each poem consisted
of and handed out individually one line at the time, giving each respondent as
much time as desired to complete the work with a single line. Gradually they built
up the poem until they finally had the entire text in front of them. Before I handed
out the first line of the poem, I presented the students with the following informa-
tion on an overhead projector:

1 Line-by-line reading  line-by-line reactions  interpretation

2 Your protocols  detailed reactions to each line: language, style, rhyme,
rhythm, theme, emotions, anticipation, the process itself, introspection.
3 Use the line numbers to structure your process of reading, nothing else.
Your protocols should reflect the “messiness” of the reading process. Arrows,
circling etc. may be used.
4 The title: “Mid-Term Break” (or the title of one of the other poems, where
these were used)

Poet: Name not given.

English/English dictionary may be used.

Further instructions were given orally in plenary and students’ questions were
answered to secure as open and unprejudiced an attitude as possible. To make sure
that the respondents would be able to get started, I supplied them with some of the
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 283

meta language they knew from their previous study of literature. So, the concepts
like “rhythm”, “rhyme”, and “theme” were not meant as guiding principles for the
reading, but simply a possible way into the poem. They did not function as
prompts, and only a handful of readers used these concepts in their protocols.
Poems of a manageable length for the duration of a double lesson were chosen by
me. They were relatively open in the sense that they did not require specific fac-
tual information to be understood, at least superficially. This openness did not
imply that they were simple, but rather that they were what Umberto Eco (1984)
describes as difficult enough to offer resistance and ambiguities. I also used dif-
ferent kinds of poems to elicit responses to various poetic styles and poetic
devices. The intention of the method was not to document the optimal reading of
the poem, but the realistic first encounter with an unknown text.

DATA ANALYSIS
Since my research took its epistemological point of departure in subjective criti-
cism and the assumption that every reader responds emotionally to a text, it was
essential to include a conscious and positive approach to emotion in my interpre-
tation of the protocols. The interpretation of the protocols was based on my
knowledge of the school environment and the students, which helped me to under-
stand the language competence of the readers, but also their worldview (Sperber,
1985, p. 16).
My position was also comparable to that of the literary critic in the sense that
the textual material was the visible object of study. My long-lasting fascination for
students in the process of development and growth made me interpret the misun-
derstanding of a word like “fiend” (IS), the problems of finding out the identity of
the dead person (MB) and line 10 in MM not as weaknesses or mistakes, but rather
as interesting information about the emotional aspects of reading. The risk of all
hermeneutic practices, of misinterpreting the respondents’ conscious intentions,
was present, but it would be a greater offence to the writers of the protocols not to
give their “language of thought” (Pilkington, 2000, p. 46) the same sincere treat-
ment as any critic does to a literary text. It was necessary to approach the minds
behind the language of the protocols with caution and openness, because it was
the respondents’ first attempt to verbalise an experience of great personal impact,
and it was a means to find out what potential learners of English had, to develop
their literary and linguistic competence further and to grow personally.
284 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

RESULTS
The respondents’ attitudes to the reading permeated the protocols and revealed
how they looked upon the task of reading a poem. The attitude favoured at the
beginning of the reading was not necessarily the one they supported during the
entire reading process, as their unexpected emotional reactions often contested
with the cognitive wish to understand every word.

ATTITUDE TO THE READING

The explicit initial attitude was important as it signalled the respondents’ view of
poetry and how they intended it to be approached. A recurring reaction in most
protocols pertained to the value of information about the content of the poems,
defined here as plot and motif,2 and knowledge about lexis, grammar, or seman-
tics, either when the respondents’ anticipations were confirmed (see first two
extracts below); or when it was “difficult to place” the information with what the
readers already knew (see third extract):

I don’t have much more to write now. I still think it is about a baby that has just
been born. (S2: IS, line 6)

“Whispers”– typical form of communication when something sad, tragic has

happened. No raised voices. Precise information about the main character –
eldest in a flock of children. Is there a bit of sarcasm, disapproval from the
main person because of how people are reacting? (T1: MB, line 11)

Change of person, scene. Difficult to place this information with what I know
already. Mood has changed again. The word “embarrassed” describes unea-
siness but whether this is to be understood as totally negative or not we’ll not
know until we read more of the poem. Is it to do with shame or shyness? (T1:
MB, line 8)

When Rosenblatt (1981) describes the efferent reading attitude as what the reader
“will carry away from the reading” (p. 24) in terms of information, this description
aptly covers the wish many of the respondents expressed when they tended to

2. Content is a vague concept, often used in schools to denote the dichotomy between form and
content. In this context, it comprises both plot and motif in line with the respondents’ own
understanding of these concepts. Form covers the poetic rhetoric and structure.
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 285

postpone what they called the “meaning” or “message”, until there was a break in
the poem, or when the reading was completed:

Finally I know why this person is so happy. He has found love. And then his
heart want to sing of joy. (TT1: B, line 8)

I was right. It all sums up neatly. (TT3: B, line16)

Despite the intention inherent in the line-by-line method, the efferent attitude is
the explicit attitude taken by most respondents at the beginning of their reading,
and it pertains to all five poems:

What is this? It doesn’t look too promising – because of the word sick, I think
And I really don’t understand what “college sick bay” means We’ll see what
comes out of it, but the person seems to be in a bad mood/depressed. (T7: MB,
line 1)

The title – Capital letters – why emphasize? What is the Cloths of Heaven?
Who is he? The line ? a wish, language – “embroidered cloths” ? what does
the writer mean? Alliteration – had, heaven. A very nice line – I like it. I am
curious about “heaven’s embroidered cloths”! I have to get the next line now!
I can’t wait! (T2: CH, line 1)

rhyme and rhythm About four girls, Kind of “childish” poem, easy to read
and to remember. The four girls are probably on theyer way somewhere. (S2:
MM, line 1)

Something nice have happened, may be someone has fallen in love, or some-
one has got pregnant, or become parents. Singing bird is something nice,
something you hear in the morning, it her/his heart is like a singing bird he/
she must be happy. (S5: B, line 1)

The frequent use of “understand”, “know”, and “meaning” in the protocols signals
an efferent attitude. However, expressions like “I don’t know what has happened,
why they react in this way” (IS: T1: line 1) do not imply that the readers do not
experience the poems affectively or enjoy the poems as sources of pleasure, con-
fusion, and pain. Generally, a lack of enjoyment is not documented in my material,
but the way the readers balance the efferent attitude against their cognitive and
affective competence demonstrates different personal preferences in their read-
286 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ings. The efferent reading attitude has some obvious positive functions that are a
necessary and valuable resource in all reading. At the same time, it has clear lim-
itations, particularly as regards the reading of poetry.

SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT CONTENT AND CHARACTERS

How far can the efferent reading attitude carry the readers towards an understand-
ing of the poems as it is displayed in the protocols? The respondents knew that
they read poetry, even though they were prevented from taking the traditional
approach to poetry reading used in classrooms. The results pertaining to reader
identity revealed how this knowledge of reading sometimes made them feel
unequal to the task when they experienced problems during the reading. Some of
these problems were associated with what the readers defined as “meaning” or
“message”, and in many cases difficulties were explained as a consequence of
poor vocabulary, as in these protocols:

Frustrating not to understand this 100%. Am I the only one with this poor
vocabulary? (T5: MB, line 22)

Vair? The lines become more difficult, I’m not really sure what this line means
because I didn’t find the word vair in the dictionary, and this word, I feel, is
important to understand what the line is all about. It has to do with the silk.
(TT2: B, line 10)

I do not understand the meaning of the word: enwrought. But if I only think
about – wrought the line may have something to do with the cloths being for-
ged or prepared with “golden and silver light. (S3: CH, line 2)

What’s fiend? Devil…HUH!?!? Why is the baby like the devil hid in the
cloud? I’m confused. That certainly was unecspected. I like the rhyme. The
language is good, but there are some key words that I don’t understand, and
that ruins a whole lot. I have to look it up in the dictionary, and that is not
something that you want to do when you read a poem. It sort of ruins the har-
moni around the poem. I enjoy reading poems. I am curious of what this devil
is to do next! (S7: IS, line 4)

When the explicit attitude is that it is desirable and possible to find a clear seman-
tic meaning, and to understand what happens in the poem, the experience of frus-
tration and confusion is unavoidable. This is a major cognitive challenge to the
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 287

readers, as they consider this information necessary to understand, experience, or

interpret the poem. In other protocols, success in this respect translates the expe-
rience as a combined cognitive and emotional challenge, often sustained from the
very first line of the poem, as in this protocol, where the afterthought contains an
emotional reaction and an existential conclusion:

He did not get old only four years. A victim. It is a very sad poem, it involves
a lot of emotions, you can sent (føle) that it’s a sad poem from the first sen-
tence. It tells me that there is just a fine line between life and death. Suddenly
you can be on “the other side. (S1: MB, line 22)

Of all the poems, “Mid-Term Break” is the one leaving the readers with the most
confused understanding of content and characters, which the frequent use of ques-
tions indicates:

Who is Big Jim Evans? Big and black? A friend? Why is he saying that? Is he
saying it right now, while the father is crying? A hard blow? Blowing his nose?
Has the funeral already been? (T5: MB, line 6)

The respondents invest a lot of cognitive energy in trying to decide the plot they
anticipate in the poem, but without being able to sustain a consistent idea during
the reading and through to the end. The identity of the dead person causes prob-
lems for many students as they try to apply a predominantly efferent attitude to the
reading. Even though the wish to make use of an efferent reading attitude is con-
spicuous in all the poems, the individual poems encourage cognition in various
ways. In addition to MB, IS is the poem that makes the readers focus mostly on
the story aspect and how important it is for the reader to come to terms cognitively
with content and cultural context. Contrary to the case in MB, most of the IS read-
ers generally feel they are able to grasp the content at the end of the reading, as is
demonstrated in the two following quotations, with the student teacher (TT1)
being satisfied with finally having found the answer, and the student (S2) adding
her reflections in her responses to the same line:

The last sentence makes the whole sence – it is a birth of a baby. Things fall
together, the poem is complete. Partially the sentence can mean lots of things
together they mean one thing. Rhyme here, too. Words express different ways to
interpret. Maybe the poem has a hidden meaning? (TT1: IS, line 8)
288 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

I was right!!! It’s a sweet poem, but I [it] also makes me think of how right it
is that we are all very naked and helpless when we are born. (S2: IS, line 8)

As the title of the poem was intentionally left out for a random number of the IS
readers, it is likely that this has affected the wish to approach context and content
cognitively. It is interesting to notice where the discovery of the birth takes place
in the reading process to see what significance this awareness has for the total
experience of the poem.
The students (S) and student teachers (TT) that identified with the narrator at an
early stage during the reading referred to the birth at an early stage in their proto-
cols. This implies that most of the youngest readers (five out of eight students, and
six out of ten student teachers) find out that the poem is about a birth. The young-
est readers (S) draw their conclusions on average at an earlier stage than the older
students (TT) do. The young readers seem to need less evidence in the text than
the older readers do to follow an inkling that perhaps can be explained as a non-
rational and emotional reaction. They are greater risk-takers than the student
teachers, who seem to need more textual proof to conclude in a similar way. Of
the three older student teachers (T) that were given the title, only one suggested
the birth after reading line 6, and the two other readers did not even mention it.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
Regardless of the difficulties the readers expressed in understanding the seman-
tics, the content, and context of the poems, the efferent reading attitude was fruit-
ful for its insistence on understanding these elements and for the effort the readers
were willing to invest, also when they felt there was little to “carry away” (Rosen-
blatt, 1981, p. 24) from the reading. A comparison of the first and last line
responses gave interesting perspectives on the readers’ approaches to poetry as the
last line was often a summing up of content, as opposed to the more complex and
richer cognitive and affective experience the respondents revealed during the pro-
cess itself. The readers themselves often attached such great value to the informa-
tion to be had at the end of the reading, that other important aspects of the reading
experience were underestimated and neglected, particularly the affective aspects,
sense impressions, and the aesthetic value of reading poems. This applied to all
the poems, but “Mid-Term Break”, “Infant Sorrow”, and “maggie and milly and
molly and may” encouraged and challenged the efferent reading attitude particu-
larly clearly because of the expectations raised by the use of finite verbs, which
promised a story to be told. In “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” and “A Birth-
day”, the students’ frequent complaints about difficult vocabulary did not seem to
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 289

prevent them from enjoying the poems. Still, their engagement in all these aspects
far surpassed the level seen in the poetry classroom.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTIC FIELD

The doctoral study presented in the present chapter explored and documented the
train of thoughts and feelings of English language students that to my knowledge
had never been conducted academically before.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
It is evident that the readers’ reactions confirmed the problem associated with try-
ing to apply a firm but false distinction between what is cognition and what is
emotion in response (Opdahl, 2002). It is also evident that the readers themselves
experienced that the efferent reading attitude contested with the aesthetic attitude
when they clearly enjoyed the poems, despite problems of understanding lexis and
semantics. The empirical data discussed in my doctoral thesis showed sincere
commitment to the task of reading poetry and great enjoyment in the encounter
with the texts. Despite the fact that the self-awareness of many readers was low,
they still experienced pleasure, reflected existentially on what they read, and were
able to express their ideas in a personal discourse. Their protocols are what I
would call examples of interliterature, students’ documented authentic encounters
with poetry in an average class without peer pressure and teacher expectation to
direct and disturb individual reactions.

METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

The methodological and theoretical contributions of my doctoral study concern
the line-by-line design, specifically offering an alternative to efferent reading atti-
tudes, and possibilities for authentic reader responses. The three aspects of the
method I used – that the readers read a poem prima vista in privacy without dis-
cussing it with anyone; that they read it line-by-line in a slow process where they
were deprived of an overall view until the end; and that they wrote down their
immediate reactions to each individual line – have proved an effective means to
understand more of the complex reading process of students of English. First, the
readers in this doctoral study lacked certainty of cognition and therefore hesitated
to decide the meaning of the poems, even though they had clearly experienced
emotions worth while expressing in their protocols earlier during the reading.
290 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

According to Rosenblatt (1981), this tendency is typical of non-aesthetic or effer-

ent readings, as “the reader’s attention is focused primarily on what will remain as
the residue after the reading – the information to be acquired, the logical solution
to a problem, the actions to be carried out” (p. 23). From her description of the
efferent or non-aesthetic reading attitude, it is easy to get the impression that this
is something negative and that an efferent reading attitude destroys the possibility
of enjoying a poem as an expression of art. In principle, this initial attitude con-
tests with the slow “reading event” (p. 24) inherent in the line-by-line method, but
reveals more clearly how the readers balance the two attitudes.
Second, the line-by-line design encouraged authentic reader responses. In this
respect, my research differs from other response studies. Usually, the readers are
given optimal conditions during the reading, in the sense that they are presented
with the unity of the text and are explicitly or implicitly assessed according to a
master interpretation. The students are commonly given ample time to read, study,
and discuss the poem to get the most out of it (Richards, 2001, pp. 13–14). Even
in more recent research, where the form of response differs from the traditional
form of academic poetry analysis, the objective is to find out how much the read-
ers can get out of a text when given optimal conditions. However, optimal reading
conditions do not necessarily result in the most advanced understanding of a
poem, and my concern has not been the optimal reading conditions, but the first
authentic approach. Therefore, the development of my new reader concept, the
“dynamic prospecting countersignatory”, as well as my concept of “interlitera-
ture” (see Implications below) have been decisive for the constructive view of the
respondents and their protocols.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH LITERATURE

Making students literate is one of the primary objectives of the school system.
Some students seem to find the forms of literacy that the school system prioritises
difficult and fail in their attempts to move from an oral discussion of texts to the
kind of literate community that literary analyses presuppose. The protocols in my
doctoral study represent a crossbreed between orality and literacy, a written dia-
logue between poem and reader (Ong, 1999) that teachers of English can use in
their own instruction. Students of literature need a field of experimentation, a field
of interliterature, comparable to interlanguage (Selinker, 1972), where they should
be allowed to experiment with reading on their own premises. Therefore, my
intention was not to document the optimal reading of the poems, but to examine
how the students’ realistic first encounter with the text might be conducted.
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 291

The protocols reveal uncertainty about what knowledge of poetry implies, most
of all through the fact that the student teachers (T and TT) do not show more ana-
lytical and cognitive approaches to the reading than the upper secondary school
students (S). In many classrooms, students and teachers have vague notions about
what kind of knowledge is necessary or desirable when reading poetry and for
what purpose. The findings show that the respondents reveal little need for an
understanding of poetic rhetoric when they write their protocols, even though it
has been demonstrated that the protocols contain secondary level responses,
where cognition and reflection ought to encourage the use of critical vocabulary.
However, knowing literary rhetoric and meta-language is perhaps not the only
way to expand knowledge cognitively and to increase reflectivity. The protocol
findings suggest areas, pointed at below, where such knowledge can be developed
in English classroom teaching.
The study of literature requires conceptual frameworks as a means of orienta-
tion and memory. The most motivating way of introducing students to theoretical
questions is to let them see the need for concepts to describe their experience
through the reading of texts. Some of the issues taken up by the respondents in this
doctoral study are complex, such as the relation between the poet and the voices
of the poem, the address of the poet, the function of poetry, the function of meta-
phors, what is a good poem, how to respond to poetry, and how to write about it.
Even though the respondents do not discuss these issues in an academic way, they
point to them as crucial to the experience of different aspects of the poem they
read. If teachers introduce their students to the line-by-line reading, the slow
method gives the readers time and opportunity by induction to voice these issues
in a personal way, which is the first step towards increasing knowledge about
poetry cognitively. Perhaps the challenge of literature teaching cannot be ascribed
to the students’ lack of cognitive curiosity, but to the fact that the student readers
are not given time to process their reflections properly and become confident read-
ers. If teachers of literature do so, knowledge, including useful conceptual frame-
works, might not be a stumbling block to the students, but a natural extension of
their own reflections. In this way, knowledge would be more than the rote learning
of interpretations conveyed by the teacher.
The most important motivating factor in education is the students’ own need
and wish for knowledge (Simensen, 1998). Knowledge of literary theory does not
necessarily mean quoting well-known academics for their opinions on literary
texts. If teachers plan their lessons in such a way that the students can contribute
from personal need to defining some of the aspects of literary knowledge in their
first encounter with a text, as is demonstrated in my research, perhaps their will-
292 SIGNE MARI WILAND | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ingness and ability to accept the conceptual frameworks of traditional poetic and
general literary rhetoric may become greater.
Measured against the findings concerning reader identity, there is reason to
believe that all readers would profit from a greater consciousness about their own
attitude to reading and how this attitude can decide or guide, but also restrict the
outcome and enjoyment of poems. It is necessary to accept the conflicting atti-
tudes to reading as a natural part of a reader identity and to realise that the efferent
reading attitude is not enough to enjoy poetry and develop a positive and confident
identity.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

In my more recent work, I have argued that, “Considering the extensive place
English has had for more than a century in Norwegian schools and at universities,
relatively little research has been conducted into the effect of teaching” literature,
but also culture in the English foreign language classroom (Wiland, 2013, p. 13).
One study that has looked into this field is Juliet Munden’s (2010) doctoral study,
How students in Eritrea and Norway make sense of literature (see Chapter 14 in
this anthology). She suggests an interesting field of research, where literature and
multicultural issues overlap to inform the readers of similarities and differences
between students from two ethnic groups when they approach the same literary
text and seek to interpret it. Aspects of these doctoral studies could be replicated
with new student groups to inform educators about the function of literature in the
present multicultural classroom.
The multicultural communities in Norway have likewise challenged me to con-
duct a response study in the overlapping fields of American literature, religion and
feminism based on protocols written by female students of English from the
majority and minority cultures in Norway, representing Christian, Muslim, Bud-
dhist and atheist backgrounds (Wiland, 2013). The project was initiated with an
equal number of female readers from the majority and minority cultures and with
an equal number of representatives from university and upper secondary school
students. They responded to books thematising various versions of Christianity,
Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. My aim was to “start exploiting the potential there
may be in literary texts for achieving some of the subtler aims and general objec-
tives of the national curriculum, such as tolerance and international understanding
in a research context” (Wiland, 2013, p. 14). Although interesting findings were
documented, the empirical material was difficult to produce. Reading two books
in addition to their regular schoolwork proved to be beyond the capacity of most
 13 PHD REVISITED: POETRY: PRIMA VISTA 293

of these upper secondary school students. Moreover, some of the interesting

voices from minority cultures dropped out of the project at an early stage for var-
ious personal reasons. I urge future researchers to exploit this field further, per-
haps covering more minority students and showing greater geographical spread
than my research displays in order to examine whether literature still matters and
can make a change in the lives of young people.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-15

14
PhD revisited: Content in
Nordic pupil narratives in
instructed EFL
A Norwegian Perspective 1
ANNELISE BROX LARSEN
UiT Norges arktiske universitet

ABSTRACT In this chapter, the results of a doctoral study (Larsen, 2009) of thematic
content in Nordic pupil narratives in EFL2 are presented. A literary analysis of pupil texts
focussing on intertextual references was applied. The findings suggest that the pupils’
narratives formed a discourse in which these narratives explored the power aspects of
the parent–child relationship, rebelled against teachers, and ridiculed the perfectionism
ideals of popular culture. Implications for teaching English in Norway and suggestions for
further research will also be discussed.

KEYWORDS Pupil narratives | Instructed EFL/ESL | English as a global language |

Intertextuality

1. This chapter presents some of the results of a doctoral dissertation (Larsen, 2009) from the Uni-
versity of Tromsø, Norway. https://munin.uit.no/handle/10037/11035
2. The term EFL was used in the doctoral thesis on which the present chapter is based and is there-
fore used throughout, even if it has often been replaced by the term ESL in more recent research.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
296 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
The English language has developed into a language that the individual citizen
needs to master in a number of fields, not only professionally and socially, but also
in the personal sphere. Worldwide, pupils with cultural backgrounds other than the
typically British or American ones use English as a means of communication
(Graddol, 2006). The emphasis on “communicative competence” (Savignon,
2000), which has influenced EFL learning and teaching during recent decades, has
made the pupils’ roles constantly more active and makes their contribution mean-
ingful in a new way. Pupils’ EFL narratives take on traditional mother tongue
qualities of self-development and the content of their narratives thus gain impor-
tance. According to Barthes (1966), “narrative is international, transhistorical,
transcultural: it is simply there, like life itself” (p. 46); pupils’ narrative texts could
be seen as part of this collection of narratives. What pupils communicate in their
texts becomes relevant; and, in this respect, the phenomenon of intertextuality is
important. As Lodge (1992) puts it, “some theorists believe that intertextuality is
the very condition of literature, that all texts are woven from the tissues of other
texts, whether their authors know it or not” (pp. 98–99). In an intertextual
approach to language, the individual writer is seen to contribute to what has
already been written by other writers in previous texts; something novel is formu-
lated from another position by the pupil writer. Pupil narratives may be seen to
form a discourse by young people who are in the role of Nordic EFL pupils when
they write English narratives.
Within the broader field of social constructivism, the doctoral study reported
here put forward two main research questions:

1. What characterises the discourse that is developed in the narratives?

2. What aspects of identity are expressed in this discourse?

Previously, this interest in thematic and discursive content was not at issue in Eng-
lish didactics. According to Tornberg (2000), it was rather the language-practising
potential of pupil texts that had so far been emphasised within modern foreign lan-
guage teaching (p. 132). Substantiating the content-wise meaning seemed some-
what unusual, and this reflected the relative novelty of the research topic. The rea-
son for studying pupil narratives in this way was based on the need to enhance
knowledge about what pupils communicated in their role as EFL pupils.
 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 297

THEORY
The theoretical basis involved multidisciplinary research areas within pedagogy
and literature studies, and it was relevant to integrate perspectives from different
research disciplines. The actual writing was seen as both an individual (Piaget,
1923) and a social act (Vygotsky, 1962). The ideas of some poststructuralist theo-
rists who see language as intertextual (Kristeva, 1974) and dialogic (Bakhtin,
1981), and who see discourse as institutionalised practices in communication
(Foucault, 1986), were seen as relevant. The study leaned upon the concept “dis-
course” not as defined in linguistics, but as it is defined in social science as an
institutionalised way of communication characterised by the absence or presence
of power. Scollon and Scollon (1995) distinguish between two major categories of
discourse relevant to the understanding of pupil discourses; firstly, “those into
which one becomes a member through the natural processes of birth and growth
within a family and a community (one’s gender and one’s generation, for exam-
ple)” (p. 136); and, secondly, those one enters for utilitarian purposes, such as
one’s professional specialization. In the second category, individuals are seen as
able to choose how they express their membership in various group identities.
According to Foucault (1977, 1985), this freedom of choice is restricted. The
pupil identity is formed, by not only the individual pupils’ background, but also the
role that pupils are objectified into. What is possible within a particular discourse is
defined by the rules of the discourse system in which any identity is located. The
concept “identity” is ambiguous; it denotes the ego-identity of individuals in psy-
chology (Erikson, 1958), but is in sociological studies to be understood, “not as the
core of an individual’s being, or as a set of fixed characteristics, but as changing,
fluid and multiple” (Hawkins, 2004, p. 18). Nevertheless, the identity of someone
who communicates his or her emotions, cognition and knowledge, is inherent in that
person’s voice whether in spoken or written form (Scollon & Scollon, 1995). The
personal identity or signature of the writer will rub off in some way (Ivanic, 1998).
Within this view, identity can be perceived as both constructed and negotiated in lan-
guage; the pupils negotiate their role with each other and with society in general.
The composite relationship between the text and its writer and reader is multi-fac-
eted. The notions of text versus intertext step up the complexity of this relationship.
Kristeva (1974) coined the concept “intertextuality”, where she sees the text in rela-
tionship to two axes, the horizontal one and the vertical one. She charts a three-
dimensional textual space as intersecting planes whose three coordinates of dialogue
are: 1) the writing subject, 2) the addressee, and 3) exterior texts. The horizontal axis
relates the writer of the text (the writing subject) to the reader of the text (the
addressee). The vertical axis relates the text to other texts. The words in the text
298 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

belong to both writing subject and addressee. The meaning of the words in the text
is oriented towards a preceding or synchronic literary corpus. Any text is the absorp-
tion and transformation of other texts and constructed as a mosaic of quotations, “the
term inter-textuality denotes this transposition of one (or several) sign system(s) into
another” (Kristeva, 1974, pp. 59–60). The intertextual nature of any new text
implies that the new text is a conversion of at least one text already written.
The pupil narratives in my doctoral study belong in such a textual universe. The
influences from other texts are thus central in the analysis of the pupils’ narratives.
A Bakhtinian perspective on language allows the identification of novel elements
in pupil texts. The doctoral study used the somewhat inaccurate term “novel ele-
ments” to denote the alterations that the pupil text made to elements in the inter-
texts, where the novel is seen, not only as something new, but also as a force that
operates in language (Bakhtin, 1981). The novel “was formed and matured in the
genres of familiar speech, found in conversational talk language (genres that are
as yet little studied) and also certain folkloric and low literary genres” (Bakhtin,
1981, p. 50). Given that any text is in essence intertextual, the somewhat parodic
nature of any textual production is thus given emphasis in a Bakhtinian view. Pupil
narratives may be seen as stratified into what Bakhtin would perhaps have called
a pupils’ professional jargon, a pupil discourse. In this research connection, a non-
mother-tongue discourse, which is fictional and narrative, is formed. The term
“the low language of contemporaneity”, applied by Bakhtin (p. 21), denotes the
type of authentic language that this may invoke. The term “speaking subject” may
elucidate how identity operates in narrative texts. “Behind the narrator’s story we
read a second story, the author’s story, he is the one who tells us how the narrator
tells stories, and also tells us about the narrator himself” (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 15).
The speaking subject, who is behind the narrator, is here defined as the author of
the narrative (i.e., the pupil participants in my doctoral study). When the narrative
is seen as an intertextual text, the speaking subject may involve the positions of
several subjects in the production of the narrative; the speaking subject may con-
stitute multiple subjectivities.

REVIEW
Most of the studies of both Nordic and other EFL pupil narratives that had been
carried out before my doctoral study concentrated on the linguistic aspects of writ-
ing (Tornberg, 2000). Linnarud (1986) studied vocabulary in Swedish upper-sec-
ondary level texts and claimed that poor lexicon was to blame when Swedish
pupils wrote “dull and uninteresting compositions with repetition of high fre-
 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 299

quency lexical items” (p. 42). In Albrechtsen, Evensen, Lindeberg, and Linnarud
(1991) the various aspects of Scandinavian pupil writing with regard to discourse-
level properties, such as superstructure and cohesion, were examined, and Lee
(2003) compared their results to Chinese English as a Second Language (ESL)
students’ discourse development, finding a consistent pattern of superstructure
even though their first languages are different. Rahbek (2005) compared the out-
come of text exchange for pupils who exchanged texts internationally, to texts
written in an ordinary classroom context. She found that the “ authenticity and the
demands for a tangible product” (Rahbek, 2005, p. 220) that developed through
international interaction with peers was beneficial.
Backlund (2005) studied gender contrasts in the use of adjectives and found that
pupils who took part in an international exchange program “improved in their
ability to write descriptively” (p. 59). In Larsen (2005), the thematic content of
pupils’ text production was interpreted with a focus on “what the pupils say in
English, as opposed to focusing on, for instance, their range of vocabulary, their
grammar or their spelling” (p. 121). Flognfeldt (2005) examined the use of lexical
chunks in pupil narratives and found, for example, that “there is a great chance for
a pupil to learn idiomatic English if he or she internalises chunks like make a mis-
take and What does ___ [NP] look like? as functional wholes rather than through
item-by-item processing” (p. 86). Guldal and Raaen (2007) studied linguistic
characteristics of Norwegian seventh graders’ written English.
Broadly speaking, the linguistic aspects, as opposed to the meaning of the gen-
uine content of EFL texts, were dealt with in the above-mentioned studies. Appar-
ently, analysis of substantial content of pupil texts in EFL was not a well-docu-
mented field outside the Nordic countries either (Tornberg, 2000). Within an EFL
paradigm, the focus on linguistic, and not thematic content, was prevalent.

METHODOLOGY
In the doctoral study, a qualitative document analysis design in which pupil nar-
ratives were approached as literary texts was developed. First, quantitative data
were collected from a text corpus in the Nordplus project Teaching and Learning
English (TALE)3, (Hansson, Kjartansson, Larsen, & Lassen, 2005). Qualitative

3. TALE utilised a commercially available teaching platform provided by Blackboard Inc. for
several of its basic functions, including the protection of the TALE corpus according to the
security policies specified for TALE. Access rights to the corpus were granted by the University
of Southern Denmark to the TALE partners, depending on the stated purposes of the access.
300 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

methods were then used in the assessment of the various text types. They involved
thematic and literary analysis.

RESEARCH DESIGN
In the doctoral study, a mixed-method, qualitative-dominant research design was
used consisting of document analysis methods that were purposeful for the different
parts of the study. Determining which of the text submissions were narratives called
for an initial quantitative approach to the data (Grønmo, 1982). From an estimated
400 texts in the open fictional genre, 15 pupil texts were randomly selected for fur-
ther study. Because of deviation in submission procedures applied by the approxi-
mately four hundred 12–14-year-old pupil users, it was difficult to determine the
exact number of texts and categorize the different tasks that constituted the doctoral
study’s material; some texts were submitted as Messenger files, not as Word docu-
ments in attachments. Firstly, thematic analysis was applied by the researcher to
delineate the material. The number of target texts was reduced from a corpus of
5,000 pupil entries – consisting of messages, narratives and response to narratives –
to a corpus of 400 pupil narratives (see Table 14.1). Secondly, the 178 narrative text
types in the corpus (i.e., fictional and biographical) were evaluated to select the tex-
tual contributions in which the level of pupils’ own content was high. The fictional
narratives provided more pupil-produced content than the biographical narratives,
which were often cliché-ridden and standardized. Open fictional narratives provided
a higher level of the pupils’ own content than hometown descriptions and chain sto-
ries, which were often standardized. Pupils’ open fictional narratives were selected
for further study, and 15 narratives were randomly selected. Thirdly, a literary anal-
ysis was used by the researcher to interpret the 15 selected narratives.
In the literary analysis, each pupil text was juxtaposed to its relevant intertext(s)
(see Table 14.2); the analysis was then focused on an interpretation of novel ele-
ments in the pupil’s narrative (see the theory section). These novel elements were
seen as an important part of the pupil writer’s own content. In the doctoral study,
the wide term “element” was applied to account for the variety of literary devices,
for example, character portrayal, setting, plot and motif that this could involve.
The change that the pupil made to an established element of the intertextual refer-
ence was seen as significant. Each text was interpreted on its own terms; the pupil
texts were not compared to each other, only to the intertexts.
 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 301

TABLE 14.1. Data and analyses used in the doctoral study.

Step Quantitative data Qualitative data

Data Analysis Data Analysis

1 5,000 pupil entries Thematic analysis of

entry category

1,200–1,600 narra- Thematic analysis of

tive pupil texts narrative category

400 pupil narra- Thematic analysis of task

tives type

2 178 open fictional Thematic analysis of

narratives narrative genre

45 open fictional Random reduction 1/3 of

narratives target texts
Gendered representation

3 15 open fictio- Literary analy-

nal narratives sis

MATERIAL
The writing sessions in which the pupils had written the 15 narratives that com-
prised the material of the doctoral study took place in various Nordic classrooms.
Following an introduction by a student teacher, the texts were written on comput-
ers and exchanged in an international e-network in transnational groups, each
comprising three pupils with different first languages (L1). In the following, three
pupil narratives from the sample are presented; (1) target text 4, Pou’s Comeback,
(2) target text 10, The hippo, and (3) target text 15, The three trolls.
302 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Once upon a time it was a show called the teletubbies on TV. It was 4 of the teletubbies, but one of them
got kicked out of the show because she had ugly clothes. The show was in Las Vegas but Pou was in
Mexico. So she had to walk… so she walked and walked. She walked for years. After
100.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000 years she had come to Las Vegas. Now she had to get a job. She
hadn’t eat at all on the time she walked so she was pretty hungry. Tingky Vinky was another of the
teletubbies so he gave Pou a job on burger king with he owned. But the evil Lala had her plan to take
over da world. So she didn’t thought that if Pou would get the job her plan would be destroyed! So she
gave Tingky Vinky 16,12$ if he would not give Pou the job. So now Pou was whiteout a job… she
thought that she can sell her self on the street. Many men come to her for a little bit of the thing
she sold. She took only 2$ for one night. After 100.000.000.000.000 ears she had enough money to new
clothes. So now she can go to the show. She got in to the show and they started play in new programs.
Butt… one minute after they started play in the show a very, very big bomb exploded. Every living thing
on the planet earth died and the planed vent to very, Very small pieces.
THE END

FIGURE 14.1. Pupil narrative (target text 4).

The hippo
Once uppon a time there was a hippo that wanted to marry a hippo girl so he went to a girl
and said “möööööööööööh” and the girl said “ im so not interested ” so he said the same
thing to every girl in the river but nobody wanted to marry him. Then when he saddly
swimmed in his privet pond he heard some bullets and ran to the river. He saw hippos
runing in every direction and behind them where some hunters so the hippo stod in there
way and burpd. He burpd so hard the hunters flew to china. Now the hippo is surrounded
by girl hippos that want to marry him so he marryd the fatest hippo and they lived happily
ever after.

THE END

FIGURE 14.2. Pupil narrative (target text 10).

 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 303

The three trolls

Once upon a time there were three, very big and ugly trolls! The trolls were left from there
family and they were all alone in the scary forest! Their task was to find the witch, because
she knows were the parents of the trolls was, but the three trolls was not so nice as you
think they are! They didn't like their parents because they were mean with the trolls, and
they want to kill them! But they have to find the witch first! She lived in the scary forest!
They start their task, and till the end they have find the house, the house was big and little
scary. They knock on the door, and there is no answer, they knock on the door for the
second time and there is still no answer. They knock on the door for the third time and
finally the witch open the door, and they ask were their parents are, and she answer: they
live in a cottage, deep done in the forest! They say they have to begin the trip. And of they
go. After four hours with Woking they finally see the house! They knock on the cottage,
and some big trolls open the big door! And they ask, “who are you”? They answer “we are
your children, when we were baby trolls, you was not so nice to us! And we are for
revenge! And it was then the fights start! And a while after that their parents was dead!!!
And they have got their revenge! They wanted to find the witch, and give her something,
because she help the trolls to find their parents! They walked to her house, and they knock
on the door, and she opens the door, and they go “ thank you for helping us, and they gave
her some magic boots! And they began the travel home! And finally they got their
revenge..
And they live as trolls happy ever after!!!!!!!

FINISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..

FIGURE 14.3. Pupil narrative (target text 15).

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
To evaluate the relationship between the narrative and the pupil writer was diffi-
cult, and an ethical dilemma was related to the information the narrative provided
about its writer. Rather than being perceived as informative about their individual
writers, the narratives were seen to provide information about a pupil discourse.
My interpretation did not necessarily provide information about what the pupil
writer had intended to tell; as researcher, I could hardly prove that my interpreta-
tion was correct or true, but by showing the procedures for the interpretation, I
substantiated that it was trustworthy. Thus, the text analysis was not meant to be
a reconstruction of what the individual pupil had meant to narrate, but more what
the text communicated when applying the method of interpretation developed in
the doctoral study.
304 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FINDINGS
Popular culture constituted a common frame of reference in the texts. This was
evident in the multitude of intertextual reference to films and TV shows, for exam-
ple, The Karate Kid and Teletubbies. Presumably, screen and game versions of lit-
erary works were also part of the intertextual framework included. Although bib-
lical texts and literary heritage texts were also referred to, what can somewhat
summarily be called a “global entertainment culture” dominated this framework
(see Table 14.2).

TABLE 14.2. Overview of the 15 pupil narratives and their intertexts.

Pupil narrative (target text) Intertexts

1 The ugly princess Sleeping Beauty

Snow White

2 The superworm Superman

3 The karate dog The Karate Kid

4 Pou’s comeback Teletubbies

5 The three bugs The Three Billygoats Gruff

6 The three bears Goldilocks and the Three Bears

7 The witch as lifesaver Jonah and the Whale

Hansel and Gretel

8 The boy and the magic word Jack and the Magic Beanstalk
The Princess and the White Bear
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Rumpelstilskin

9 The fairytale about the big fat boy The Prodigal Son

10 The hippo Various fairy tale motifs

11 Philip the fox The Fox Widow

12 The biggest battle Star Wars

Lord of the Rings

13 A day in the school Various popular cultural references

14 Hero - monster Various popular cultural references

15 The three trolls The Hobbit

Hansel and Gretel
 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 305

The literary interpretation of pupil narratives 4, 10 and 15 are presented in the fol-
lowing:

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TARGET TEXT 4: POU’S COMEBACK

The headline is succeeded by a grey shadow repeating the headline and thereby
pointing to the denotative meaning of the word “comeback”. The shadow headline
suggests that this is a parody of something well known already, a shadow narrative
slightly altered. The pupil text refers to the Teletubbies quite explicitly and uses
almost identical names for the dolls, Tingky Vinky, Lala and Pou. The deviant
spelling might be misprints or deliberate modifications. The BBC television show
about the four Teletubbies, Tinky Winky, Laa-Laa, Po and Dipsy – the fourth
teletubby is not mentioned by name in the pupil’s version – was produced from
1997 to 2001. Teletubbies features mechanical figures who repeat simple activi-
ties. For example, Laa-Laa throws a ball repeatedly, and the phrase, “Laa-Laa
throws the ball”, is repeated while one sees the action performed by the doll.
In the pupil’s narrative version, the idea of the original work is parodied. So
when Pou was in Mexico, “she had to walk… so she walked and walked” (lines
4–5). The repetitious activity typical of the action in the original TV series is
slightly exaggerated: “She walked for years” (line 5). The BBC’s Teletubbies are
nice entertainment figures aimed at entertaining babies and preschool children,
but the pupil’s teletubbies are corrupted power-seeking scoundrels whose actions
are described, for example, in the following way: “Lala had her plan to take over
da world” (line 9). The use of the word “da”, taken from the hip-hop culture’s
modern slang instead of “the”, underlines the rebellious attitude portrayed in the
narrative. The innocent Teletubbies are turned into prostitutes and terrorists, and
although the tone is ironic, the narrative is rather depressing. Pou is kicked out
because of her ugly clothes, and when she tries to get a decent job, she fails. She
earns her money through prostitution to get new clothes.
In the BBC’s Teletubbies, the dolls do not wear specific clothing. The novel ele-
ment in the pupil narrative, of having modern designed clothes on the teletubbies
instead of the original jumpsuits may allude to the focus on dress and individuality
in modern media. The promise of success if one dresses stylishly, and the finding
of one’s own personality through clothing is ridiculed; Pou has to sell her body in
order to get clothes that will fulfil this desire. The narrative seems to deal with the
idyllic portrayal of society that some TV series for children present. The text sat-
irises the escapist content of modern media and disassociates itself from society
as it is portrayed in unrealistic TV shows such as Teletubbies. The irony is sus-
306 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

tained to the very end. There is no happy ending to this story. The mimicking of
the repetitious style is maintained throughout when the “very, very big bomb
exploded” (line 20), and the planet turns into “very, Very, small pieces” (lines 21–
22). In “Pou’s Comeback”, the superficial focus on appearance does not pay.
When the girl is corrupted into selling sex to promote her career, everything else
in society is corrupted as well, and the world falls apart.

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TARGET TEXT 10: THE HIPPO

The title denotes the big, fat African mammal, and the main character is a fat male
hippo. The romantic topic of courtship is suggested in the introductory line. The
hippo wants to marry a hippo girl, but when he tries courting, he is constantly
rejected by the opposite sex. The modern slang of negation, “im so not interested”
(line 3), locates the hippos in the younger generation of modern society (Drange,
Kotsinas, & Stenstrøm, 2002). His pick up line “möööööööööööh” (line 3) is not
appreciated by his fellow hippos. The fact that there is no particular hippo girl he
fancies, and that he tries to pick up all of them, helps portray an unromantic hero
who is desperate in his search for a mate. Luckily for the hippo, a moment of crisis
occurs in the hippo gathering: an opportunity to demonstrate his true heroic nature
occurs. Hunters attack the hippos, and panic breaks out. The hippo gets an oppor-
tunity to show off. He burps heavily, but his malodorous burp is so powerful that
it blows the hunters to China. By chasing the hunters away, the hippo saves his
fellow hippos. Afterwards, he is surrounded by female admirers.
Alliterations such as in the misspelled introduction, “Once uppon a time there was
a hippo”, are frequent, and regardless of their faultiness they help to create a poetic
style. The moment of crisis is conspicuously alliterative: “Then when he sadly
swimmed in his privet pond he heard some bullets and ran to the river”. “Sadly
swimmed”, “privet pond”, “pond he heard” and “ran to the river” (lines 5–7) are
sequences of alliterative language that may soften the vigorous edge of the action.
This narrative seemingly has no particular intertext, but does refer to predomi-
nant plots in popular culture in general: the male has to carry out a heroic deed to
attract the attention of the female. However, the main character does not fit into
the formula of the archetypal romantic hero (Radway, 1984). He lives in hippo-
land, a different society, like a hippy gathering, perhaps. In the alternative culture,
other values apply. In hippo-land, there is no point in being the slimmest hippo-
girl around; quite the opposite is the ideal here. Fatness is approved of and made
into a positive attribute. The novel element of twisting the significance of corpu-
lence affects the way in which identity can be constructed and negotiated. By por-
 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 307

traying an alternative setting, this narrative suggests that fatness can be attractive.
The hippo chooses the fattest hippo-girl. His choice is self-evident in hippo-land.

LITERARY ANALYSIS OF TARGET TEXT 15: THE THREE TROLLS

The title may connote Tolkien’s character Bilbo Baggins’ encounter with the three
trolls in The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins somewhat unwillingly accompanies Gandalf
and the thirteen dwarfs to reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. On
their way to the Lonely Mountains, they encounter various threatening creatures,
and among them are the three trolls. Bilbo Baggins is taken prisoner by the three
trolls and has to tell stories to be released.
The pupil’s text depicts the story of three siblings who are searching for their par-
ents. The trolls are “very big and ugly” (line 1) and have been left by their family
and are “alone in the scary forest” (line 2). Thus they may earn sympathy, even
though they are trolls. They want to find the witch because she knows where their
parents are. Connotations of Hansel and Gretel in the wood create an impression of
their underlying wish to become united with their parents in a happy ending. The
trolls disapprove of their parents because they were mean to the trolls when they
were little. The three trolls seek revenge, and they actually want to kill their parents.
The novel element of dealing with the parent-child relationship in a troll universe
makes it possible to elaborate on aggression and hatred in a safe frame. They need
the assistance of the witch, who lives in the spooky forest. The witch knows where
their parents reside. “After four hours with Woking they finally see the house” (lines
11–12). The parents do not recognise their children: “who are you” (line 13). The
crisis implied by not being recognised forms a climax in the narrative. Who are we
when we are not even recognisable to our own parents? The three trolls are full of
revenge: “we are your children, when we were baby trolls, you was not so nice to
us” (lines 13–14). The confrontation in the doorway ends with a fight between the
parents and their children. To be vindictive is not necessarily an honourable senti-
ment; however, this is a troll’s universe with its own ethical codes. Human ethics are
adjusted to suit the troll world. One is led to feel that justice is done. This is possible
since the three siblings are not children, but trolls. Here it is possible to play with
identity, put on a tail, become trolls and deviate from common ethics.

SUMMARY OF THE LITERARY ANALYSIS

The persistent demand for beauty from popular culture was dealt with in several
narratives. “The ugly princess” (Target text 1), for example, can be read as an
308 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

example of revolt against the beauty ideal and portrays a society that does not
accept girls who are not beautiful. Quite the opposite is portrayed in “Philip the
fox” (Target text 11). Philip is excluded because he is too beautiful. In “The fairy
tale about the big fat boy” (Target text 9), the main character is excluded because
he is too fat. There is no way that he can go back home before he has lost weight.
Most narratives dealt with the relational sides of human existence. Different
family situations were portrayed. The single parent family was often favoured, but
the conventional family, with two parents and two children, was not represented
at all. The modern extended family was also absent. Some narratives dealt with
the absence of one or both parents. The sibling relationships in the narratives were
genuinely happy; siblings were often wandering about on their own with little
parental support. Brothers and sisters were joined in their fight against possible
threats that grown-ups in different roles represented. Friendship was portrayed as
demanding but generally worthwhile. Identity was explored mainly through the
portrayal of a multitude of different main characters where the individual’s strug-
gle to fit in was a frequent topic. The individual’s role in the group was often por-
trayed. On the surface, the demands from the group with regard to individual exte-
rior success were portrayed as merciless.
Both male and female heroes struggled to fulfil individual goals. Their heroic
deeds were often portrayed with humour and intelligence and questioned conven-
tional gender roles. As to the portrayal of heroes, they operated both on an indi-
vidual basis or as part of a group. The heroes and heroines struggled to obtain
acceptance, peace, love, even revenge, but heroic deeds were ridiculed and paro-
died in the narratives. The traditional simplification of good/bad conflicts between
princesses and witches, heroes and villains were confused. In “Hero – monster”
(Target text 14), the question of distinguishing between good and bad was chal-
lenged through irony. Although narratives such as “The biggest battle” (Target
text 12) confirm the belief in the heroic deed, several narratives’ playful approach
to this motif implied an ironic distance. Finally, the distribution of power between
generations was also dealt with in several narratives.

DISCUSSIONS: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

The two main research questions in this doctoral thesis were: What characterised
the discourse that was developed in the narratives? What aspects of identity were
expressed in this discourse?
 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 309

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The main empirical contribution in this doctoral thesis is that the narratives sug-
gest that the pupils did not necessarily turn to the mother tongue to write about
topics from the personal sphere, but did so using English. The pupil narratives
formed a discourse where certain aspects of identity were explored. For example,
the narratives idealised the relationship between siblings and stressed the impor-
tance of friends. Moreover, the narratives explored the power aspects of the par-
ent-child relationship. The pupils seemed to make English into their other tongue,
a language which is not their mother tongue, but which still provided them with a
different position for the exploration of identity. One might expect texts to be less
locally marked since their intertext basis was fairy tales, hence identity was almost
denationalised. The pupils’ frames of reference constituted content that is readily
expressible in English in such a way that the non-local and non-national interloc-
utor or reader can understand.
The pupils wrote their image of the generic narrative in another language, which
in Bakhtinian terminology could be referred to as other-languageness. The notion
of other-languageness may imply that the pupils parody the narrative genre in
which they write their narratives. It may also suggest that the language they
employ is different, as “one’s own language is never a single language: in it there
are always survivals of the past and a potential for other-languageness” (Bakhtin,
1981, p. 66). The pupils write in the global language English, which, to these
pupils, is a language that is not their mother tongue. Although Nordic EFL pupils
do not necessarily engage in “a deeply involved participation in alien culture and
languages” (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 369) when they write narratives in English, they
write in another language from a different perspective from that of their mother
tongue. When pupils write in another language, it may provide another outlook on
the world. Their texts are part of an intertextual repositioning which involves a
different perspective. Their texts are intertextual according to Kristeva’s (1974)
definition of the term; a possibility to take on a different position and to formulate
something novel within the given genre is thus provided. The concept of other-
languageness may be applied to the EFL pupils’ narratives to suggest this other
perspective that is involved in their non-mother-tongue writing.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION
The main theoretical contribution concerned the identification of a Nordic EFL
pupil discourse. The doctoral study involved multidisciplinary research areas within
pedagogy and literature studies, and it produced knowledge about the thematic con-
310 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

tent of pupil narratives. It also demonstrated that pupils’ language-practising texts

could be viewed as literary texts to be analysed with literary methods. The interpre-
tation of pupil texts and their various intertext(s) substantiated that the pupil narra-
tives could be perceived to form a discourse, a Nordic EFL pupil discourse.
When the pupils wrote narratives in English, the expressions of identity seem-
ingly moved away from the national and the local into the direction of global popu-
lar culture and the personal sphere. Thus, a Foucaultian discourse, in which the
fight for power is central, was formed (Foucault, 1986). In general, the grown-up
parental world was often made into an enemy. “A day in the school” might be read
as a protest against the ageing and feminised teaching profession. In this fight for
power, the good/bad distinction was zero-grounded. Troll children can do terrible
things to gain power; the end justifies the means. In order to become independent
of parental power, anything goes.
It was symptomatic that national, regional and local identities were de-empha-
sised. Primarily, the relational aspects of human existence were dealt with. The
pupil narratives addressed topics that were significant to the authors’ age group; a
generational pupil discourse was formed. The identity that was formulated in such
settings was disengaged from nationality. It was disengaged from a specific Nor-
dic culture. The exploration of local identity was likewise difficult to trace in the
narratives. The international, global language did not promote the constitution of
national identity.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTION
The main methodological contribution concerns the method developed in this
doctoral study, which attempted to identify novel elements as the interface
between the pupil’s text and its intertext(s). The novel elements were seen to pro-
vide insights into the pupil-produced contribution in the narrative. The identifica-
tion of the novel elements in the pupil narrative provided information about which
aspects of identity were expressed. In this research context, the pupils wrote their
novel content in EFL. Pupils’ intertextual references in the narratives involved a
new or novel mode of expression of, for instance, motifs and characters.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

The pupils in this doctoral study seemingly reflected on matters of genuine inter-
est to themselves and fellow pupil readers in their narrative discourse. Thus, the
networked text exchange may be beneficial for teaching English as L2, not only
 14 PHD REVISITED: CONTENT IN NORDIC PUPIL NARRATIVES IN INSTRUCTED EFL 311

to develop pupil proficiency in English, but also to develop as human beings. The
participating pupils’ textual contributions were influenced by intertexts, rendering
it important for English teachers to pay attention to which selection of texts is at
their pupils’ disposal in the school setting. Vestli (2008) discusses the develop-
ment of the didactics of literature in foreign languages and argues in favour of an
action- and production-oriented approach to literature. Such an approach would
include practising creative writing to achieve what she calls “literary compe-
tence”, here understood as part of pupils’ cultural formation, such as the ability to
read and interpret a literary text and recognise various literary devices (p. 14).
With regard to the content of texts that pupils read in school, English teachers’
search for high quality literature suitable for pupils will possibly continue. The
canonical texts from cultural heritage have seemingly paved the way for pupils’
literary production, but input from popular culture is overpowering. To include
more popular culture in the English school subject’s reading list is perhaps not
required since such input is overwhelming in society, regardless of what happens
in the classroom. However, pupils may be able to master this input overflow. They
are not entirely mesmerised by popular culture. The literary interpretation in this
doctoral study demonstrated that pupils do manage to resist popular culture con-
tent. For instance, if given the opportunity in English lessons, they may construct
a narrative discourse together in which criticism of such content appears.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Firstly, the pupil narratives were shared with peers, teachers, and student teachers;
however, a subsequent study of response activity in the same corpus (Larsen,
2012) showed that there was little evidence of pupils paying attention to peer and
teacher responses to their linguistic performance. The pupils were to some extent
more open to making minor revisions to the thematic content, but even the
response on content was generally ignored in subsequent versions of the texts.
Further research into the response phase in pupils’ written narratives is important,
considering the amount of time and energy spent on making it worthwhile for both
teachers and fellow peers. There is a need for more research into the form that lit-
erary feedback might take.
Secondly, the doctoral study suggests that learning and teaching critical analysis
of a great variety of texts may be worthwhile. Future studies in this field might
address questions related to the quality of the input. Does the intertextual nature of
pupil writing require high quality model texts if one aims to support a high level of
language proficiency and promote pupils’ development as human beings? It is also
312 ANNELISE BROX LARSEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

relevant to study if and how pupils may benefit from deep learning (Kunnskapsde-
partementet, 2016) about the origin of the literary formulas they are surrounded by.
Another point worth researching more fully is the learning and teaching of critical
analysis. The fact that a number of pupils in their texts indirectly expressed a criti-
cal attitude to their parents needs to be approached critically.
Furthermore, a comparison of narrative content in pupils’ texts in L1 and L2
might study whether there are differences in the type of thematic content that is
taken up in the L1 versus in L2 English. The analysis in the doctoral study sug-
gested that pupils took the opportunity to question the power of grown-ups in soci-
ety. They were critical towards both teachers and parents. To study whether there
are qualities in L2 English language narrative practices that allow pupils to
express criticism would be an interesting research question to pursue.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-16

15
PhD revisited: How students in
Eritrea and Norway make sense
of literature 1
JULIET MUNDEN
Inland University of Applied Science

ABSTRACT This chapter summarises a doctoral study (Munden, 2010) that describes,
compares and explains how student teachers make sense of literature. The twenty-two
participants were student teachers of English in either Norway or Eritrea. They first
wrote answers to a questionnaire and then to assignments based on three literary texts.
How and what they wrote provides insight into their cultural and academic expectations
and socialisation, both as members of an interpretive community and as individuals.
These insights can contribute to raising English teachers’ awareness of how differently
learners make sense of texts in their own classrooms.

KEYWORDS Norway | Eritrea | English-language literature | reader response

1. The chapter presents the main findings of a doctoral study (Munden, 2010) from the University
of Oslo. The thesis in its entirety – with theoretical, methodological and empirical details – can
be found here: https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/132010.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 315

INTRODUCTION
The anthropologist Fredrik Barth once wrote:

If we want to understand something of other people’s lives, we have to accept

their perceptions of what is important in life; we must listen to them and their
priorities. […] about justice and belief and love and death and violence, on
freedom and what they count as personal fulfilment. (1991, p. 8, my transla-
tion, original italics)

The premise of the research presented in this chapter is that literature can help us
“understand something of other people’s lives”, because how readers respond to
literature tells us a great deal about the values, attitudes and experiences of their
everyday lives. The empirical data comprised a questionnaire and student teach-
ers’ texts written in response to three literary works. It was collected from students
at two institutions offering teacher education, one in Norway and one in Eritrea.
Furthermore, a review of the cultural, social, and educational contexts in which
these two groups of students were embedded was undertaken in order to offer an
answer to the question

How is Eritrean literature in English read in Norway and Eritrea?

The differences between the two sets can be discussed in relation to many factors.
One of the more important of these is the conventions and preoccupations of the
media in Eritrea and Norway. Newspapers, television and radio in Eritrea, all of
which are state-run, are adulatory of the nation and of the president, and news cov-
erage is predominantly made up of success stories. Problems, if mentioned at all,
are consistently dismissed as misinformation or foreign propaganda. In Norway,
national and local public media tend to be problem-oriented, contributing to a per-
ception of the world as somewhere where individual and collective agency is often
overtaken by events beyond popular control. This mediated world view necessar-
ily contributes to the interpretive strategies available to Eritrean and Norwegian
readers.
By exploring the role and functions of culture and context, this study ventures
not only to describe, but also to explain how people understand the world. By
comparing the texts of the Norwegian and the Eritrean respondents, a researcher
resident in Norway can establish a distance to the world of the Norwegian stu-
dents, identifying values and assumptions that are otherwise so familiar as to be
taken for granted. It also allows for the exploration of values and assumptions in
316 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

a less familiar cultural and national setting. Particularly in the years following 9/
11, people have demanded explanations for alternative systems of collective
meaning (Griswold, 2008). In fact, Wendy Griswold reports that the increased
research interest in culture and context dates back forty or so years, and can be
understood as an aspect of globalisation, which generates a pressing need to
understand groups of people who seem to think differently from “us”.

THEORY
In an interdisciplinary study such as this, theory – understood as a way of making
sense of complex empirical material – must draw on different fields for different
purposes. Theory is needed to develop an understanding of what readers do when
they make sense of, or interpret, literary texts. It is also necessary in order to estab-
lish a workable definition for the terms “culture” and “nation”, and to understand
the implications of talking about individuals as representatives of a group. Finally,
literary and discourse theory supply categories for the description of student texts
as culturally situated. In what follows I sketch some of these theoretical gather-
ings.

READERS AND WRITERS

Louise Rosenblatt is credited with launching the claim that a text does not exist
without a reader, and that readers are therefore as important as the texts they read
(1983, p. xiv). Rosenblatt sees readers as integrated subjects who bring their sen-
sitivities and experience to each reading event. “Every time a reader experiences
a work of art, it is in a sense created anew” (1983, p. 113). A literary text, she says,
will have “very different meaning and value to us at different times or under dif-
ferent circumstances”.
J. A. Appleyard (1991) describes becoming a reader as a set of developmental
stages, where the university student has reached the advanced stage of systematic
interpreter. This role in Appleyard’s schema is higher than the role of the adoles-
cent reader, who looks to find a message about how to live his or her life. The first
is arguably a more sophisticated reading, but it is not “higher” or better.
Rosenblatt and Appleyard are, in their different ways, concerned with how indi-
vidual readers make sense of texts. Stanley Fish (1980), on the other hand, is pri-
marily concerned with collective strategies. Although he describes interpreting
works of literature as an individual activity, it is, he says, authorised and con-
strained by the various interpretive communities to which a reader belongs. The
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 317

idea of interpretive communities was central to this research project, but so was
the nitty-gritty of how these communities were constituted and maintained –
something Fish himself had little interest in, beyond acknowledging the central
role of ideology.
These various understandings of what it means to be a skilled reader represent
competing ideological positions if we understand ideology to be “seemingly
coherent representations and explanations of our social practices, and the lan-
guage by which we describe and thus try to perpetuate them” (McCormick, 1994,
p. 74). Kathleen McCormick stresses that both texts and readers are ideologically
situated (1994, p. 60). Stuart Hall describes how ideology prescribes the way we
can make sense of our social reality. As individuals we “speak through” a particu-
lar ideology of which we are often not aware, because we understand the catego-
ries that we use to be common sense (Hall, 2006). This matters, because how we
talk about things determines how we understand ourselves in relation to every-
body else, both locally and globally. Hall offers a way of dealing with ideology in
texts by considering how groups share, adapt or resist the ways in which informa-
tion is presented (Hall, 2001). These positions he calls “dominant”, “negotiated”
and “oppositional”, and they provide a framework for the discussion of the stu-
dents’ response to The Other War, the most ideologically loaded of the three liter-
ary texts.
Peter Rabinowitz (1987) argues that an author always writes features into a text
with the expectation that the reader will find them. For Rabinowitz, this “authorial
reader” is an imagined someone who shares the author’s understanding of these
features. Very often it will involve an assumption of values and particular histori-
cal or cultural knowledge, knowledge that the contemporary reader was assumed
to have, but that today’s reader, at some distance of time or space, may lack. The
student texts had themselves an authorial reader, and were written in relation to
differing traditions of academic socialisation (Lea & Street, 2006). As Ken
Hyland explains, “writing is a social act, and every successful text must display
its writer’s ability to engage appropriately with his or her audience” (2001, p.
571).

CULTURE AND NATION

“Culture” and “nation” are two hypercomplex terms that had to be beaten into
shape and put to work in order to analyse the material in this study. The term “cul-
ture” is extremely complex, and can be as misleading as it is helpful. Clifford
Geertz usefully describes culture as that which has meaning for a group of people
318 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

– attitudes and values that are held in common (1973). Geertz claims that culture
is observable as actions in the public domain, and such actions would include the
writing of texts. Culture can therefore, he says, be described and studied. This rel-
atively stable definition has been challenged by a more recent emphasis on cul-
tural repertoires. Thinking of culture as a repertoire of possible patterns, percep-
tions and behaviours allows us to ask not only what someone has in their
repertoire, but why they perform some items more frequently than others, and
under what circumstances (Swidler, 2001, p. 25). Swidler argues that we are too
inclined to regard culture as internalized meanings and practices rather than as
people’s knowledge of which cultural repertoires are appropriate in the public
domain (2001, p. 180).
The term “nation” also has different connotations in different contexts (Oliph-
ant, 2004). My use of the term acknowledges that both Norway and Eritrea are
imagined and constructed as nations, though at different times and in significantly
different ways. Norway and Eritrea share the idea of “a deep, horizontal comrade-
ship” as constitutive of their respective national cultures (Anderson, 2006, p. 7).
A relatively new nation state such as Eritrea, which gained independence in 1993,
will typically seek to create a discontinuity with other nations by underlining some
few, clearly contrastive symbols and signs (Barth, 2001, p. 840). This theorisation
of what it means to be a nation sees the writing of history as a struggle about who
has the resources to represent the past (2001, p. 836), and literature is a key site
where this struggle can be played out.

REVIEW OF EARLIER RESEARCH

This review focuses on two areas: studies of how literature has been received in
Eritrea and Norway, and studies that compare how the same text is received in two
or more different nations.

RECEPTION STUDIES IN ERITREA AND NORWAY

I found only one published article that focussed on the reception of Eritrean liter-
ature. It was written in defence of a widely criticised novel (Negash, 2003). The
marginal position of reception studies is not particular to Eritrea. In African Liter-
ature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory (Quayson & Olaniyan, 2007), there
are 97 articles by scholars of African literature; not one of them addresses how
readers respond to literature.
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 319

In Norway there were two doctoral theses of particular importance to the pres-
ent study. Their importance lies both in the questions they ask and answer, and,
not least, in their focus on the diversity of the students in their classes. Both deal
with the reception of Norwegian literary texts in upper secondary schools, and
both follow the pupils over several years. Jon Smidt’s (1989) fascination with and
empathy for his pupils and his interest in the insights they provided into his own
didactic assumptions functioned as a model for my own writing. So too did Rita
Hvistendahl’s (2000) study, which sensitively investigated the socio-cultural
experience and value systems of her immigrant pupils. She argued for the impor-
tance of “where” as a didactic category, defining it as “the cultural context in and
around the individual classroom” (200, p. 364, my translation). Unlike these two
researchers, however, I was interested not in the readers’ development, but in the
national and cultural contexts to which their responses provided access.

COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF READER-RESPONSE

There are only a handful of qualitative comparative studies of reader response, and
this is perhaps because it has been regarded as a challenging research field
(Greaney & Neuman, 1990). Two-nation studies include those by Yousef (1986),
Ibsen & Wiland (2000), Smith (2000) and Brutscher (2007). There are also several
cross-national studies (Kovala & Vainikkala, 2000; Hirsjärvi, 2006; “Devolving
Diasporas”, 2008). The studies suggest significant national and gender differences
between readers. However, inter-researcher variation in cross-national studies
makes it difficult to claim that the findings would be reproduced if the studies
were to be replicated. To improve reliability was therefore a central concern of the
present study, with a parallel design for the collection of both sets of material, and
a stringent reporting of any variations in methodology.

METHODOLOGY
This qualitative study set out to answer the question “How is Eritrean literature in
English read in Norway and Eritrea?” Empirical research in Eritrea must take into
account extensive and largely invisible systems of surveillance. The research
design had therefore a transparent format: Eritrean and Norwegian student teach-
ers completed a questionnaire about their experiences and attitudes to literature,
and then wrote a response to three literary texts, a fable, a short story and a play,
in that order. The research design required
320 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

◗ an understanding of the challenges of comparative qualitative research

◗ an awareness of the project’s ethical dimensions
◗ selecting, finding out about and describing respondents in the two countries
◗ choosing suitable literary texts
◗ eliciting response to these texts
◗ establishing how to analyse and present the material

A challenge in any qualitative, comparative project is that it sets out in the hope
of finding similarities and differences. The researcher must therefore be careful
not to construct difference on flimsy evidence, nor to fall into the trap of what
Edward Said (1978) calls “othering”, taking the culture with which one is most
familiar as the norm against which other cultural behaviour is measured.

RESPONDENTS
The respondents are “Norwegian” or “Eritrean” on the basis of attending colleges
in Norway or Eritrea. They were recruited from classes to which I already had
access (Norway), or to whom I was allowed access (Eritrea). Most of the first
group were born in Norway, and spoke Norwegian as their first language. Most of
the second group were born in Eritrea, and spoke Tigrinya as their first language.
All the same, it is an epistemological, educational and ethical absurdity to con-
struct one group of “ethnic Norwegians” and another of “ethnic Eritreans”. The
students are described as Norwegian or Eritrean by virtue of their being educated
and encultured in Norway or Eritrea.

RESEARCH DESIGN
Only the twenty-two who completed a full data set were included in the analysis.
These student teachers – ten from Norway and twelve from Eritrea – first com-
pleted a questionnaire and then, over the course of three or four lessons, wrote a
response to each of the three literary texts. These sessions were an intervention in
Eritrea negotiated with individual members of the teaching staff. For the Norwe-
gian students, they were an integral part of a course on contemporary African lit-
erature. The same classroom procedures for data collection were used in both
countries, and approved by the respective authorities.
To draw an accurate picture of the contexts in which the material was collected,
an extensive literature review was undertaken, and supplemented by informal and
unrecorded conversations in Eritrea over six visits.
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 321

QUESTIONNAIRES
The protection of participants’ anonymity and the need for a method where a large
amount of data could be collected in a limited amount of time were crucial con-
siderations in the choice of method. Dörnyei (2003) contests that the unprece-
dented efficiency of questionnaires allows the researcher to collect “a huge
amount of information in less than an hour” (p. 9). Questionnaires in a classroom
setting also increase the likelihood of a high response rate (Bernard, 2002, p. 250).
A four-page questionnaire with closed- and open-ended questions was admin-
istered, in slightly different versions, in Norway and in Eritrea. There were three
main areas of enquiry:

◗ educational and language background

◗ experience of literature in and outside formal education
◗ attitudes to literature

Both groups wrote in intelligible English and took time, answering the questions
with apparent care. The answers were anonymised, transcribed and analysed. The
results from Likert scales were represented in simple figures or bar charts.
Answers that are deemed socially or academically desirable are sometimes over-
represented in self-reporting questionnaires, and a certain caution is in order with
regard to the validity of the answers in the present study.

WRITTEN RESPONSES
Table 15.1 provides an overview of how the student texts were elicited.
I made sense of the students’ texts in much the same way as the students made
sense of the literary texts. Like them I put my culture to work, using the literary
repertoire and the interpretive strategies available to me. As Fish (1980) argues,
the presuppositions we bring to every new textual encounter are necessary for
understanding to happen at all. Taking literature as a socially-constructed cate-
gory, I focussed on how ideology encoded in each literary text was decoded in the
student texts; on the extent to which the students were authorial readers; and on
the students’ written relationship to the reader of their own texts.
322 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

TABLE 15.1. The literary texts and the associated writing assignments.

Literary text Genre and Form of presentation Written assignment

date of first
publication

“The Monkey fable written text supplied a) What is the message of this
and the Croco- and read aloud by story? (very short answer)
dile” researcher b) Either your thoughts about the
story; or a different story with the
same message

“Anisino” short story, written text supplied a) Complete three sentence frag-
2005 and read individually ments which begin “This story is
in silence about…”.
b) If there is anything else you
would like to add, please do.

The Other War 5-act play, written text supplied, A four-part response log written
1984 and a recorded amateur immediately after Acts 1, 2, 3 and
dramatisation played, 5, each entry initiated with a short
one act at a time prompt

Since the literary texts in this study were written by Eritrean authors and set in Eri-
trea, assumptions about the authorial reader (Rabinowitz, 1987) provided a pro-
ductive area of analysis and comparison. Also useful was the concept of “the insti-
tutional conditions for the reading of literature” (Westerberg, 1990, p. 91), to
explain how a text introduced in a classroom setting is read under the micro and
macro conditions prevailing at that particular school.
The analysis moved between the microscopic – examining small details of lan-
guage – and the telescopic – making far away things apparent. At the linguistic
level I looked at particular words and phrases and how they functioned in their
immediate co-text. At a discursive level I looked at how textual features were used
to express certainty and ambivalence, and to position the writer in relation to their
reader. I identified the information that they as writers provided to orientate their
readers, and developed the concepts of owning, hosting and visiting literary texts.
At an interpretive level, I categorised and explored the messages, themes and
ideas that the students identified. Descriptive categories were generated by read-
ing and re-reading their texts over a period of many weeks. The process involved
continually revising the identifying features of each category, as well as finding
the most apposite name for them. In this chapter, it is this interpretive level which
receives most attention.
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 323

CHALLENGES TO THE RESEARCH DESIGN

Despite the symmetrical research design at the outset, the realities of working in
Eritrea and Norway led to increasing asymmetry as the data collection progressed.
This was to a large extent due to factors beyond my control such as whether the
students themselves gave informed consent (Norway), or whether it was given on
their behalf (Eritrea), how anonymity was perceived and ensured, the supplemen-
tary explanations required for the written assignments, the amount of interaction
I had with the two groups over and above the data collection sessions, the way the
project was understood, facilitated and valued in the two academic contexts, the
freedom with which the students could express themselves, and the very different
consequences of perceived inappropriate behaviour.

FINDINGS
THE ERITREAN RESPONDENTS AS READERS
The group was made up of ten men and two women, a distribution similar to the
overall gender distribution on the campus, where rather less than 20% of the stu-
dents were women. Eight of the respondents were between twenty-two and
twenty-seven years old; two were younger and two were older. Most of these
twelve Eritrean student teachers came from farming families where the parents
were illiterate. At school their English teachers would not have had textbooks, nor
any English books in their homes (cf. Wright, 2001). The students would probably
have had little reading material in their schools, none in their home environments,
and little opportunity for reading otherwise since decentralised libraries had only
developed since about 2005.
Several of the Eritrean students reported that poetry was their literary world
until they encountered written literature at university. One wrote, “From my early
childhood, I have an interest in literature. In my mother tongue, I compose poems
and try, though not perfect, songs and sings before audience”. In defining “litera-
ture”, the students often used striking metaphors, such as the following:2

Well when I see the word “literature” I feel like it’s the only key to a house full
of words, ideas imaginations … which no other subject can do. With literature
you can go everywhere visit every-body, even the dead, just by sitting in your
house and writing. I think this defines the term.

2. All quotations from student texts are reproduced as originally written.

324 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

When asked to select a favourite from amongst the literary texts that they had stud-
ied, the students referred to canonical British poetry, which they knew, I was told,
in a pedagogical version presented by their teacher. Although a few students men-
tioned that literature provides affective involvement, identification, entertainment
and escape, learning was by far the most frequently given reason for valuing liter-
ature. Strongly disliked were texts where nothing positive could be learnt. The
examples they listed dealt with but did not condemn negative behaviour and anti-
Eritrean values such as betrayal, violence and licentiousness.

THE NORWEGIAN RESPONDENTS AS READERS

The student teachers in Norway came from a wide range of social and economic
backgrounds. Their tertiary level studies in English were voluntary, something
that was probably not the case for all the Eritrean students. The three men and
seven women in the Norwegian group reflected the overall gender distribution on
the campus. Most of them were between twenty-two and twenty-seven years old;
one was younger and two were older. So whilst the gender distribution was very
different to that in the Eritrean group, where the majority of student teachers were
men, the age distribution was very similar.
When asked to give examples of literature that they had read or seen performed, the
Norwegian students mentioned a broad range of works, naming thirty-four different
authors. Novels made up the bulk of their reported reading, and only two mentioned
poetry. When asked what the term “literature” meant to them, the Norwegian students
tended not to use metaphor. Instead, they demonstrated a facility with definition:

Literature to me is a written text, it can be divided into formal and informal cat-
egories, but I automatically think of great novels and poems that have made an
impression on me personally ...

Literature is tradition, it is culture and it is a way to identify with the author and
the context. When it came to works of literature that they had particularly enjoyed,
or not enjoyed, novels were the dominant genre. Fiction, sometimes with the pro-
viso that it must be “good” fiction, was seen as useful, and the main reason was
again because of what one could learn. However it was not the reinforcement of
moral or social wisdom, but learning something new that gave value to reading lit-
erature. One student wrote:
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 325

… it makes us think, sometimes in new and different ways than we normally

do. It makes us think about new themes, personalities and etc. It shows us new
and interesting point of views and storylines. (italics added)

Let us now turn to the three literary texts, and how the student teachers made sense
of them.

“THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE”

This story exemplifies a type of fable, familiar from many cultures, that is termed
a trickster tale. In the tale, a crocodile offers to carry a monkey across a river, with
the intention of stealing its heart, but he is outwitted by the ingenuity of the mon-
key.
In writing about the story, the students assumed various roles, including those
of storyteller, learner of life skills, and literary commentator. The two groups dif-
fered significantly in the discoursal positions and interpretive strategies they
employed. The Eritreans demonstrated a strong degree of ownership. The Norwe-
gian respondents were more inclined to position themselves as interested visitors,
expressing their thoughts and personal associations, or commenting on the story
at a meta-textual level. The students used a range of discoursal strategies to show
either interpretive certainty or ambivalence, with the Eritrean respondents demon-
strating interpretive certainty to a far greater extent. This finds expression in
value-laden language that offers the reader no other position than agreement, as
the following example illustrates:

This shows how the monkey is honest towards the crocodile, but the disloyal
and dishonest crocodile tells the monkey that his heart will be taken. At the end
of the story it is revealed that the honest monkey is very wise and cunning to
cheat the false friend.

The Norwegian students, on the other hand, demonstrated an awareness of com-

peting ways of understanding a text and the world, as when one wrote:

I’ve hear it [the story] different places and every time the message changes a
bit. I might be because I change my opinion all the time, but I also like to
believe stories like this have different messages.

Respondents in both groups identified a message about friendship. They warned,

reminded or taught their reader that friendly behaviour may not be what it seems.
326 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Trust and risk were key concerns when the Norwegian respondents wrote about
friendship; honesty and compatibility were key concerns for the Eritrean respond-
ents. A Norwegian student, for example, writes that “trust is fragile, it can easily be
broken”. The identification of a message about how important it is to react appropri-
ately in threatening situations, on the other hand, showed a significant difference in
distribution. It was a major concern only for the Eritrean respondents, as here:

Both [the monkey and the crocodile] are very cunning, but much more the
monkey is cunning […] So generally from this what we can understand is the
one who think evil or cunning is always at lost.

The dilemma for this student is clear: both the good and the bad animal demon-
strate cunning. He resolves this dilemma by telling his reader that cunning is only
a desirable character trait when in the service of good purposes.

“ANISINO”
The second literary work, “Anisino”, was published in 2005 in a slim volume of
prose and poetry called Some Sweetly Kept Thoughts. The author, Rahel Asghe-
dom, was born in Eritrea in 1976. During the period of this research she was the
only in-country author writing and publishing fiction in English. The very short
story is set in the capital city of Asmara, and describes a carefree but intense
friendship between the Christian narrator, who was then a thirteen-year-old girl,
and a Muslim boy. This friendship, however, was abruptly ended when the boy is
sent away to Yemen. Looking back ten years later the narrator reflects that the loss
of this first friendship may account for her unwillingness as an adult to make com-
mitments that might end in a similar experience of loss.
The responses were more different than they were similar. Firstly, some Eri-
treans referred to specific places in the text. This suggests that for them the setting
served a dramatic purpose, whereas for the Norwegians it was only a somewhere
for a something to happen (cf. Shaw, 1983). Another difference was the way that
the respondents completed the sentence fragment, “The story is about…” . All the
Norwegians completed the sentence with a noun phrase. The Eritreans tended to
write longer sentences that retold part of the story, one of several indicators of dif-
fering genre expectations and school writing traditions. A third difference was that
when invited to write “anything else”, eight of the ten Norwegian students, but
only three of the Eritrean students, did so. This suggests that such invitations were
more familiar in Norwegian academic socialisation.
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 327

The responses to “Anisino” demonstrate that the story is open to the construc-
tion of many meanings. On the basis of how the students completed the opening
sentence fragment, seven thematic categories were identified. These categories
were “friends”, “innocence”, “together despite difference”, “religious equality”,
“occupation”, “disruption” and “loss”. Both Norwegian and Eritrean respondents
contributed to all the thematic categories, with the exception of the Norwegian-
only category about religious equality, and the Eritrean-only category about occu-
pation. The distribution of the categories, however, varied considerably between
the groups. The Eritrean respondents tended to write more about positive themes
from the beginning of the literary text – friendship, innocence, and especially the
way friendship can develop despite differences in religious background. Though
what the Eritrean students wrote may properly reflect their response, it is also a
politically appropriate way of negotiating the texts and acknowledging that reli-
gious differences do exist and that they have significance. The Norwegian
respondents were more concerned with the divisive and damaging uses to which
religion and social convention can be put, and the psychological effects of loss.

THE OTHER WAR

Alemseged Tesfai’s The Other War is probably the most significant work by an
Eritrean author that is available in English. The Norwegian students were told
about the circumstances in which this play was produced and first performed. It
was originally written in the Tigrinya language in 1984, and was commissioned
and performed to promote a nationalist agenda in areas under the control of the
Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF). The government of Ethiopia was at
that time involved in a full military war against the EPLF. The “other war” of the
title refers to the Ethiopian strategy of producing interracial children by marriage
or rape, children who were to become a new generation of mixed Eritrean-Ethio-
pian heritage.
The play has five short acts, each set in the family home of Letiyesus in Asmara.
Her daughter Astier has herself a teenage daughter by a violent marriage. Now
Astier has married again, this time to an Ethiopian who, it transpires, has fathered
her baby son as part of the other war. The fraught cohabitation of the family is
resolved when the grandmother and granddaughter leave to join the community of
fighters in the field, taking with them the baby boy. The Ethiopian husband is out-
witted and rejected, and Astier is left a lonely, abandoned woman. This movement
from community to excommunication consolidates the play’s political message:
the inevitable abandonment of Eritreans who collude with the enemy.
328 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The Other War was created in the expectation of sharing knowledge and values
with its audience. In an interview the author later explained:

Fighters had to be glorified, the enemy’s “invincibility” had to be cut to size,

the equality of women was to be promoted, the inevitability of the final victory
despite the odds had to be inculcated into the psyche of men and women; in
short, art had to serve revolutionary objectives. (Dhar, 2006, p. 7)

The war of independence has been woven into the fabric of Eritrean thought and
language to such an extent that the interpretive strategy most readily available to
the Eritrean students more than twenty years later was still very much in line with
that of its authorial audience. For young Norwegians the war was not only distant
in time, but also in place and context. By their own accounts, the Norwegian stu-
dents had no previous knowledge of Eritrean history. On the other hand, they
brought to the play their extensive exposure to film and television dramas. They
were, therefore, far removed from the authorial audience both in what they did not
know, and in what they did know. The students’ various experience of and expec-
tations of drama, combined with the institutional conditions of reading, the con-
text of the research situation and, most importantly, the cultural and social con-
texts of the two groups, resulted in two very different sets of decodings.
In their responses, the Eritreans took the discoursal position of hosts – providing
contextual information, expressing pride in the author and the play, and using the
discourse of the text in their own construction of meaning. The Norwegians, by
contrast, took the position of visitors by hedging, distancing and occasionally ask-
ing questions. When it comes to ideological assumptions and how the students
judged and allocated motives to the characters, all the Eritrean students made use
of a dominant decoding, namely one that accepts and reinforces the position
offered to the authorial audience (Hall, 2001). They did so despite the playwright
deliberately drawing rounded characters with complex motivations. Here is one
example of such a decoding:

Here in this play the main and foremost theme is to know the plans of the ene-
mies (Amhara) the way the[y] have been using to treat or tame the united peo-
ple of Eritreans whiles they were trying to force them on wars parallelly by
making racial mixing with the Eritrean unarmed people or civilian... (italics
added)
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 329

An oppositional decoding explicitly rejects the position offered to the authorial

audience, but may be more or less defiant. None of the students offered such a
reading. A negotiated decoding neither accepts nor rejects the position offered to
the authorial audience, but presents an alternative interpretation. Typically, the
Norwegian students negotiated the text by focussing on psycho-social relations
between the characters. Thus for the Norwegians, Astier’s behaviour is tentatively
explained in the light of her previous experience, whereas the Eritreans under-
stand Astier’s fate as the inevitable consequence of her mistaken choice of hus-
band and her betrayal of “her own people”.
The play’s resolution is seen by the Eritrean students as morally correct and
uplifting. By joining the EPLF fighters in the field, the grandmother, her grand-
daughter and the little grandson achieve participation in a bigger and greater com-
munity. The prospect of belonging to this community resolves and gives meaning
to the turmoil which the family has lived through. The Eritrean students accept
and reiterate the allocation of the roles of hero, villain and traitor. The Norwegian
students, by contrast, do not to judge any of the characters, but bemoan the break-
up of the two families, and the difficult choices they faced.

DISCUSSION
So far I have presented relatively specific findings of this doctoral thesis. In this
last section I consider the bigger claims that these findings authorise. I suggest
how the thesis can offer methodological and theoretical insights that may be of use
to other researchers, and some research questions that build on the present study.
Perhaps most importantly, I argue that the detailed exploration of what student
teachers in two very different contexts wrote about literary texts can contribute to
teachers’ understanding of the very significant role that culture plays when their
own pupils make sense of texts and the world.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The Eritreans, as a group, valued “The Monkey and the Crocodile” for its educa-
tional import, and showed great facility in identifying a lesson to be learnt from it.
Their response reminded me of the African proverb, “When an old person dies, it
is like a library burning down”. The Eritrean students could perhaps be described
as members of this library of oral literature, and their assertiveness explained by
their familiarity with fable as a genre. However their confidence in reading the
story also reflects patterns of rhetorical uniformity in the country at large, as well
330 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

as an academic socialisation where facts are facts and individualised opinions do

not count for much. Their certainty can be contrasted with the relative uncertainty
of the Norwegian students when they identified the message of the story. The stu-
dents in Norway were more likely to point out the individuality of their responses,
and the possibility of there being other interpretations.
The response to “Anisino”, especially, invites the conjecture that the Eritrean
respondents were more inclined to look for what is positive in a narrative text
about Eritrea, and disinclined to write about problems, whilst the Norwegian
respondents were inclined to find and name problems. An example of these differ-
ent ways of negotiating a text is the concept of Christian-Muslim equality, a cor-
nerstone of Eritrea’s nation-building project and a crucial factor in the fight for
independence. The Eritrean students negotiated the friendship between the Mus-
lim boy and the Christian girl under the theme “together despite difference”,
whereas the Norwegian students explicitly addressed themes of religious intoler-
ance and loss.
The students in Eritrea consistently reproduced an understanding of the Eritrean
nation that was not available to the students in Norway, most clearly in their
response to The Other War. The preferred strategy of the Norwegian students was
to interpret the fable, the short story and the play in terms of the characters’ inten-
tions, emotions and earlier experiences. This strategy required neither insight into
the Eritrean social and political contexts, nor a moral standpoint. As these exam-
ples show, the foremost empirical contribution of this study lies in detailing how
fundamentally learnt are the different ways in which we respond to literature and,
I argue, to the world. Were the student texts to lose their national tags, and quite
aside from idiosyncrasies of English, I dare claim that it would be possible to sort
them correctly into two piles, one Eritrean and the other Norwegian.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Firstly, the study illustrates that student teachers’ texts, also those written in Eng-
lish where student teachers are “making do with a limited amount of someone
else’s words” (Kramsch, 1983, p. 246) can provide rich research material. They
were well suited to a situation where the researcher was herself under observation,
and where it was important to make clear that the respondents were not being
invited to respond to controversial or provocative questions. A second methodo-
logical benefit of analysing student teachers’ texts was that they are in a sense
observable behaviour, making accessible the culture and the codes of the student
teachers’ academic socialisation, as well as their individual voices. Finally, and
 15 PHD REVISITED: HOW STUDENTS IN ERITREA AND NORWAY MAKE SENSE OF LITERATURE 331

perhaps most importantly, this study illustrates that it is feasible and fruitful to
compare cultural repertoires, also across national contexts, and that in so doing
one can achieve insight into the complexities of cultural difference.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The study develops “where” as a didactic category. It does so by exploring the
dominant ideas of two interpretive communities situated in their respective
national, cultural, social and institutional contexts. And it does so while avoiding
the parallel and false allurements of attributing causation to context, and essential
characteristics to respondents.
A second theoretical contribution is the application of concepts derived from
the field of cultural studies to the field of reader response. In particular Hall’s
(2001) concepts of the dominant encoding of ideology, and the dominant and
negotiated decoding of ideology, proved fruitful. A lesser but more innovative
contribution is my identification of the discoursal positions of owning, hosting
and visiting a literary text.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

The study has particular relevance for the teaching of diversity, culture, society
and literature. It demonstrates that what students of English write in response to a
literary text can provide insight into how they put to use national, educational and
political agendas, collective values, interpersonal relationships and gender expec-
tations. It can therefore contribute to an understanding of how different interpre-
tive strategies are constructed, how they are brought into play, and, not least, how
teachers of English can use literature to go about exploring divergent agendas, val-
ues, relationships and expectations. At the same time we must remember that stu-
dents are not only representatives of their respective and many-faceted cultures,
but individuals for whom the process of engagement with unfamiliar texts can
play a part in their own development, as Signe Mari Wiland’s study (2007, see
chapter 12 in this volume) demonstrates.
Literature can provide a relatively safe point of departure for the discussion of
sensitive and ideologically loaded issues in the very diverse classroom contexts in
which English, and indeed all subjects, are now learnt in Norway. The study can
also serve as a reminder that even though English is the language of instruction in
secondary and tertiary education in Eritrea, it “is someone else’s words” to a
greater extent than is English for most Norwegian learners.
332 JULIET MUNDEN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

In the original research design, the two groups of respondents were to comment
on each other’s texts with a view to gaining insight into their own and each others’
perceptions and cultural contexts. These sharing sessions could not be imple-
mented in Eritrea for a variety of practical reasons, and in Norway only three or
four of the more articulate and enthusiastic students entered and posted on the
digital forum in which they were invited to comment on each others’ texts. This
led me to conclude that if student texts are to fulfil their considerable potential for
promoting intercultural understanding, both tertiary and secondary students need
clear guidelines in order to engage effectively with them.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

There was, and still is, very little published research in Eritrean-based humanities,
or indeed in other fields. Tricia Hepner (2009, p. xi) writes that “ethnography is
needed perhaps nowhere so urgently as it is in Eritrea today. As access to informa-
tion and the country itself becomes increasingly restricted, it is vital to record and
reconstruct people’s actual encounters with the past, present, and future”. This
urgent need has to do with the enduring dominance of the state-controlled narra-
tive. Eritrea is an extreme instance of a country where people’s actual encounters
with their past, present and future are not a subject for public discourse, let alone
the object of systematic study.
In a freer setting, the didactic category “where” can provide a rich and relatively
unexplored field for further research. Studies could also usefully continue to
explore the interface between cultural studies and reader response, and the ways
that media practices influence literary interpretation. New comparative studies of
reader response could consider the significance of such factors as gender, linguis-
tic background and genre. Finally, further detailed studies similar to the one
described in this chapter, exploring how readers make sense of texts in the light of
their various cultural, social and institutional contexts, could be of considerable
educational interest, and contribute to a deeper understanding of diversity.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-17

16
PhD revisited: Meaning in
English
L2 attitudes, choices and pronunciation in
Norway 1
ULRIKKE RINDAL
University of Oslo

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a doctoral study (Rindal, 2013) that investigated L2
practices in a English language teaching (ELT) context using a theoretical and methodo-
logical framework at the intersection of linguistics and education. The results suggest
that Norwegian learners can express local and individual identity through English. The
chapter discusses the implications of such L2 social meanings for the teaching of English
in Norway, and presents suggestions for future research.

KEYWORDS pronunciation | language attitudes | social practice | English as a global

language

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Rindal, 2013) from the University of
Oslo. This is an article-based thesis with three published articles (Rindal, 2010, 2014; Rindal &
Piercy, 2013). The doctoral thesis in its entirety – with theoretical, methodological and empirical
details – can be found here: https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/65151

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
336 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
In an increasingly globalised world, English has become the foremost global lan-
guage of communication. English is not only the result of a more economically,
culturally and professionally interconnected world; it also provides the transna-
tional contact language that enables these connections. Because of this function as
a transnational lingua franca, between one and two billion people are learning
English around the world (Crystal, 2003; Graddol, 2006), and the status of English
in the world is increasingly characterised by those who use it as a second or later
language, rather than by its native speakers (Kirkpatrick, 2010a). English is not
merely spread around the world, but appropriated by speakers in different commu-
nities. The global development of English is thus characterised by variation and
diversity, as more and more speakers negotiate English in their local environ-
ments. Speakers enact English to meet communicative and situational demands –
in this way, the globalised English is being constantly localised through its use.
In Norway, as in most other European countries, English has traditionally been
labelled a foreign language, acknowledged for international travel, business and
education, and taught at scheduled hours in the classroom. However, following
increased out-of-school exposure and English language proficiency, English no
longer feels foreign to Norwegians. Young Norwegians are frequent users of
entertainment and social media, from which they are exposed daily to English.
They travel on holiday or to study in countries with both native and non-native
speakers of English. Almost half of the younger population (age 25–34) undertake
higher education (OECD, 2011) where a considerable amount of written material
and lectures are given in English (Ljosland, 2008; Schwach & Dalseng, 2011).
English language competence is increasingly considered a basic skill. And yet,
Norwegians do not qualify as speakers of English as a second language as these
are often described in the literature (e.g. Graddol, 2006); they are neither speakers
of New Englishes in postcolonial countries nor immigrants to a native-English-
speaking country, and English is not an official language in Norway. For young
Norwegians, then, English is neither a first, second or foreign language.
It was in this social reality, where English is characterised by diversity and var-
iability globally, and without any clear status to its L2 speakers locally, that the
participants of the present doctoral study practised English as L2. The primary
research question was:

What are the social meanings of L2 English as used by adolescents in Norwe-

gian ELT?
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 337

In order to access potential social meaning in the English of Norwegian adoles-

cents, the study investigated different aspects of their L2 behaviour: their pronun-
ciation of English, their L2 choices, and their social evaluations of the target lan-
guage.

THEORY
In the sociolinguistics of style (Coupland, 2007; Eckert & Rickford, 2001), lan-
guage is a practice – an activity of creating social meaning. Speakers pick from a
range of linguistic resources to generate new meanings or reorganise old mean-
ings. Stylistic practice concerns “adapting linguistic variables available out in the
larger world to the construction of social meaning on a local level” (Eckert, 2004,
p. 44). In order for language use to be meaningful, speakers must have a shared
idea of the potential meanings that are associated with linguistic forms. Such
meanings can be accessed by investigating language attitudes (Garrett, 2010;
Irvine & Gal, 2000).
A much-used definition of attitude for language attitude research purposes is
taken from Sarnoff (1970, p. 279): “a disposition to react favourably or unfavourably
to a class of objects”. As a “disposition”, attitudes are not directly observable, and
can be difficult to access. They must be inferred from more obvious processes,
such as statements, language behaviour, or reactions to other people’s language
behaviour. Language attitudes are therefore often elicited using a matched-guise
test, which is designed to elicit spontaneous reactions, as was also the case in the
doctoral study reported here.
In the social sciences, there is considerable agreement that language attitudes
are dynamically related to language behaviour, but the link between them is not a
direct one (Garrett, 2010; Kristiansen, Garrett, & Coupland, 2005); a positive dis-
position towards certain speakers does not mean that one necessarily wishes to
behave like them. In order to predict behaviour, attitudes are probably best inves-
tigated at the right level of specificity (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Therefore, in
addition to investigating evaluations of native accents of English, this doctoral
study also accessed language choices related to participants’ own use of English
pronunciation.
338 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

REVIEW
The global spread and local appropriation of English has elicited a growing body
of research that describes and discusses the new and developing Englishes around
the world. Most of this research has been conducted in postcolonial settings where
English has official language status alongside one or more national languages and
bilingualism has led to creole or indigenised Englishes (e.g. Kachru, Kachru, &
Nelson, 2006; Kirkpatrick, 2010b). Furthermore, an emerging research trend has
been the investigation of English used as a lingua franca by non-native speakers
(e.g. Jenkins, 2006; Seidlhofer, 2010). However, very little research has focused
on environments where L2 speakers are proficient enough to use English as part
of their linguistic and identity repertoire, but where English does not have status
as an official second language or is used as a necessary language of communica-
tion. It is this sort of L2 environment that was the context for the study presented
here.
Prior to the doctoral study, an increasing number of studies had investigated
attitudes of non-native speakers towards varieties of English (e.g. Dalton-Puffer,
Kaltenboeck, & Smit, 1997; Evans & Imai, 2011; Ladegaard, 1998; van der Haa-
gen, 1998). Among the non-native speakers in European studies, Standard South-
ern British English (henceforth SSBE) had been considered superior to both Gen-
eral American (henceforth GenAm) and so-called “non-standard” varieties
(Dalton-Puffer et al., 1997; Ladegaard, 1998; van der Haagen, 1998). Learners in
Europe had also considered SSBE the most attractive model of pronunciation
(Ladegaard, 1998; van der Haagen, 1998). However, scholars had suggested
avoiding the so-called “standard” accents such as SSBE or GenAm as models for
learners (e.g. Bex, 2008; Dürmüller, 2008) because these accents are “imbued
with the cultures of their origin” and following these norms might mean “implic-
itly signalling that they wish to convey the values of such native speakers” (Bex,
2008, p. 233).
However, although scholars were questioning native-speaker standards, there
had been little research into alternatives for English language learners. Research
related to social aspects of language learning in the Second Language Acquisition
(SLA) field seemed to focus mostly on how the learner’s identity develops (or
refrains from developing) when taking on another’s language (e.g. Norton & Too-
hey, 2011), not how they create meaning with language. However, following the
developing status of English globally and locally, it became relevant to investigate
the meaningful use of linguistic resources by L2 speakers of English, which was
the endeavour embarked upon by this study. Nonetheless, SLA research had
shown that learning is enhanced when the teacher engages the learners’ identities,
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 339

encouraging educators to take social context into account when developing cur-
ricula and instructional design (Menard-Warwick, 2005). This educational con-
cern from SLA was also central to the doctoral study, giving it an interdisciplinary
nature with a foot in both sociolinguistics and language education.

METHODOLOGY
Although this study was conducted within the field of English didactics and
clearly had educational concerns, sociolinguistic methods seemed the most appro-
priate for the purpose of investigating social meanings of language, and were
therefore predominant in the methodological approach. As what was most likely
the first sociolinguistic investigation into L2 practices in a Norwegian ELT con-
text, the study was exploratory, using both quantitative and qualitative methods
and analyses. The project was a mixed-methods study (as defined in e.g. Johnson
& Onwuegbuzie, 2004), which pragmatically used the methods necessary to meet
its research objectives, and in which the purpose of using mixed methods was
complementarity and expansion.

PARTICIPANTS
Ninety-seven students from four different classes at four different upper second-
ary schools in Oslo participated in the study. Similar data was collected at two dif-
ferent stages, allowing for the methodology to be developed further after the first
stage. Data set 1 comprised 23 students from one school (School S), while Data
set 2 comprised 74 students from three different schools (Schools A, B and C). All
students (58 females and 39 males) were approximately 17 years old and in their
second year of upper secondary school (Vg2). All the students in Data set 1 and
90% of the students in Data set 2 reported having attended Norwegian school from
year 1, which means that most of them would have learnt English in Norwegian
society and would have had English as a school subject for 11 years at the time of
the study.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design consisted of methods which were appropriate for the different
parts of the study; L2 pronunciation, attitudes and reported choices – as well as for
the study as a whole; social meaning in the L2 of this specific context. Table 16.1
gives an overview of the methods and analyses used in the study.
340 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

TABLE 16.1. An overview of the data and analyses used in the doctoral study.

Quantitative data Qualitative data

Data Analysis Data Analysis

Audio recordings of ◗ auditory analysis Questionnaire ◗ thematic analysis

speech in two situa- ◗ pronunciation Data set 1: N=21 of accent aim rea-
tions across situations Data set 2: N=70 sons
(paired sampled
Data set 1: N=23
t-tests)
Data set 2: N=70

Matched-guise test ◗ principal compo- Interviews ◗ discussion of lan-

(MGT) nents analysis Data set 1: 5 guage choices in
Data set 1: 21 ◗ comparison across Data set 2: 7 social context
attitude dimensions
Data set 2: 70
(ANOVA)

Questionnaire ◗ accent aims

Data set 1: N=21 ◗ effects of accent
Data set 2: N=70 aim on pronuncia-
tion (Kruskal-
Wallis test)

Note. Two students were absent when the questionnaire in Data set 1 was administered. Two audio
recordings with a total of four students from Data set 2 could not be analysed because they were inaudible,
and four students (not the same students) were absent when the MGT and questionnaire was administered.
The quantitative and qualitative data come from the same questionnaire.

AUDIO RECORDINGS
The participants were recorded while reading a word list and while having a casual
conversation in English with a classmate of their choice for approximately 10
minutes.
In Data set 1, four different pronunciation variables were chosen for examina-
tion; the quality of the vowels in the lexical sets LOT and GOAT, the presence or
absence of non-prevocalic /r/, and the presence of intervocalic /t/ voicing. In Data
set 2, another three variables were added; the quality of the vowel in the lexical
set BATH, the presence or absence of post-coronal /j/, and the realisation of voice-
less th. The first six variables are salient distinguishing differences between the
reference accents of GenAm and SSBE (e.g. Trudgill, 1986), and the seventh (th)
is pronounced as a dental fricative /θ/ by speakers of both GenAm and SSBE, but
sometimes replaced with /t/ by learners of English, since most of these, Norwe-
gians included, do not have dental fricatives in their L1 (e.g. Cruttenden, 2008).
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 341

The variables were analysed using auditory analysis. The participants’ realisa-
tions of phonological variables were classified with reference to GenAm or SSBE
accents. The analysis in Data set 2 was more detailed than in Data set 1, combining
realisations that defied categorisation into one of the two main variants into an
“Other” category, and adding a fourth category for Intervocalic /t/. In total, 10,864
tokens were analysed. Paired sampled t-tests were performed to investigate differ-
ences in pronunciation across the situations word-list reading and conversation
speech.

MATCHED-GUISE TEST
A matched-guise test (MGT) was used to investigate participants’ reactions to dif-
ferent English varieties. In a matched-guise test (Lambert, Hodgson, Gardner, &
Fillenbaum, 1960) recordings of two or more varieties produced by a single
speaker are evaluated by listeners who are under the impression that they are lis-
tening to different speakers, thus allowing for evaluation of accents when individ-
ual voice attributes are the same. A total of 4 recordings in Data set 1 and 11
recordings in Data set 2 of speakers with four different accents were used as stim-
ulus: the “standard” accents SSBE and GenAm, as well as the “non-standard”
accents Scottish English and Leeds English. The students who participated in the
study were asked to evaluate the stimulus recordings by filling out evaluation
forms with semantically labelled scales. The scales were chosen from those
employed in previous and comparable studies (e.g. Ladegaard, 1998; van der Haa-
gen, 1998), but were moderated and supplemented after pilot tests and conversa-
tions with comparable raters. Students were asked to evaluate a set of person-
related qualities, as well as three language-related qualities (see Table 16.2). Stu-
dents were asked to rate stimulus speakers on scales from 1 (low) to 5 (high),
reporting their first impression.
A principal components analysis (PCA) was performed in order to investigate
whether the evaluations patterned into dimensions as in previous language attitude
research based on the students’ ratings. A PCA with Varimax rotation was there-
fore performed on the ratings given to each individual quality on the evaluation
form. A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA with Bonfer-
roni-adjusted post-hoc comparisons) was then conducted to compare the attitude
dimensions that emerged from the PCA.
342 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

QUESTIONNAIRE AND INTERVIEWS

In a questionnaire administered after the audio recordings and the matched-guise
test, the students were asked to report which pronunciation they aimed towards
when they spoke English. For Data set 1, the students were asked to report either
American English, British English, Other or I don’t care as their “accent aim” in
a closed-end question. The results from this data set called for two additional
accent aims to choose from, and in Data set 2 students were also given the alter-
natives Norwegian and “Neutral”. Norwegian was included as an alternative
because the results from Data set 1 suggested that students had an idea of such an
accent. “Neutral” was given as an alternative following results from Data set 1,
as well as an additional pilot study where students reported that instead of aiming
towards any of the well-known native accents, they preferred a geographically
unrecognisable English accent. In both data sets, in an open-ended question in the
questionnaire students who had chosen British English were asked why they had
not chosen American English, and vice versa, in order to explore the differences
between them.
The students’ reported accent aims were counted, and a Kruskal-Wallis test was
performed in order to investigate the effect of accent aim on pronunciation, i.e.
whether the students were using the pronunciation they reported to target. A the-
matic analysis was conducted on their reported reasons to aim towards either a
British English or an American English accent; 26 answers by American English
aimers (henceforth AmE aimers) and 21 answers by British English aimers
(henceforth BrE aimers) produced a total of 66 reasons, which were grouped and
labelled according to content.
Furthermore, in order to explore and discuss the rationale for the choice of tar-
get accents in social context, focus-group interviews with students were held at
each of the four schools (two interviews at School S, one interview at each of the
Schools A–C). For Data set 2, interviews were held with students who had
reported a “Neutral” accent aim, since the questionnaire did not focus on this
accent choice. A detailed analysis of the interviews is beyond the scope of this
chapter, but quotes are included to illuminate the quantitative data. While ques-
tionnaires were administered and responded to in English, interviews were held in
Norwegian and quotes from these are translated into English by the author.

RESULTS
The results from the matched-guise test showed that SSBE was evaluated as the
accent with highest linguistic quality and the most status and competence qualities
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 343

compared to any other native-speaker accent. However, American English was

more popular than British English as target accent, and some students reported to
avoid native accents as targets altogether. Furthermore, results from the auditory
analysis showed that GenAm phonological variants largely dominated students’
pronunciation.

ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE-SPEAKER ACCENTS OF ENGLISH

The principal components analysis (PCA) generated three categories of attitudinal
dimensions. Two of them are prevalent in language attitude research, namely Sta-
tus and Competence and Social Attractiveness, while Linguistic Quality is a com-
mon category in evaluational research in non-native speaker contexts. Table 16.2
shows how the qualities from the matched-guise test (MGT) were loaded into
these three components.

TABLE 16.2. Attitudinal dimensions generated by the Principal Components Analy-

sis (PCA).

Status and Competence Social Attractiveness Linguistic Quality

Educated Attractive Model of pronunciation

Formal Pleasant Intelligible

Intelligent Modern Aesthetic

Ambitious Cool

Authority Interesting

Reliable

The matched-guise test (MGT) in both data sets gave the same result: SSBE was
rated significantly higher than GenAm for Status and Competence and for Lin-
guistic Quality (p<0.001 with an ANOVA with Bonferroni-adjusted post-hoc
comparisons). This means that the students found speakers of SSBE to be more
educated, formal, ambitious, etc. than speakers of GenAm, and the SSBE accent
more intelligible and aesthetic and a better model of pronunciation than GenAm.
In Data set 2, which included Leeds and Scottish English accents, GenAm was
rated similarly to these. There were no significant differences in the evaluations
between any of the accents for Social Attractiveness, which means that speakers
were found equally attractive, pleasant, etc. regardless of accent.
344 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ACCENT AIMS
Table 16.3 gives an overview of the reported accent aims. 11/21 (52%) students in
Data set 1 and 23/70 (33%) students in Data set 2 chose British as their accent aim.
8/21 (38%) students in Data set 1 and 30/70 (43%) students in Data set 2 reported
American as their English pronunciation target. Nobody chose the option Norwe-
gian. One student from each data set reported an Other aim, and one participant
in Data set 2, here also in the Other category, circled both British and American
and wrote It can be useful to learn both. “Neutral” was only given as an alterna-
tive in Data set 2; 11/70 (16%) students chose this alternative.

TABLE 16.3. Overview of responses to the question “Which accent/pronunciation

are you aiming at when you speak English?”

British American Norwe- Other I don’t “Neutral” Total N

gian care

11+23 8+30 0 1+2 1+4 11 21+70

Note: Norwegian and “Neutral” were only included as alternatives in Data set 2.

Students who had chosen either British English (BrE) or American English (AmE)
as their accent aim were asked why they did not choose the other accent as aim. A
thematic analysis of their answers produced a total of 66 reasons (Table 16.4). Ital-
ics refer to quotes from the questionnaire and interviews.

TABLE 16.4. Motivations for accent choices with examples given by AmE aimers
and BrE aimers.

Reason AmE aim BrE aim Description Example

Access 16 2 Accent feels more natural, Because I find American English eas-
easier, more accessible ier to pronunciate and it's talked more
on TV, so it's the language I hear the
most.

Linguistic 4 12 Accent more aesthetic I think British English sounds better

quality (n=15) or intelligible (n=1)

Status and 6 (neg) 10 Accent associated with/not because British English is more classy,
Competence associated with e.g. forma- and sounds nicer and less vulgar I feel
lity, class, intelligence, that American English is more
education relaxed, and not VERY Formal.
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 345

Reason AmE aim BrE aim Description Example

Validity 0 4 Accent is the real and ori- Well, I do think British English is and
ginal English was the original English while Ameri-
can just “happened”.

Authenticity/ 4 0 Accent sounds right or [British English is harder], and if you

Markedness appropriate and not fake/ don't quite get it right, you would just
Accent is more neutral sound stupid, and people would think
you are trying hard to be something
you are not.

Other 2 3 Audience or social attracti- because I think American english [is]

veness reasons not so boring such as british

Note: Examples are copied verbatim from the questionnaire. (neg) refers to reasons not to choose this
accent as aim.

A few main patterns are identifiable in the reasons given for accent aims. First, the
most common reason to aim towards an American English accent was accessibil-
ity. Two of the AmE aimers who gave Access as reason pointed out that British
English nevertheless sounded better. Another two AmE aimers in this category
explicitly reported TV to be the reason for accessibility. Second, the most com-
mon reason to aim towards a BrE accent was aesthetics. One of the BrE aimers in
this category pointed out that AmE was easier, but a ugly language. Third, another
common reason for aiming towards BrE was that this accent was associated with
status and competence qualities such as education, formality or class. These asso-
ciations to British English were also a common reason not to choose this accent
(cf. “(neg)” in Table 16.4), but rather the less formal American English. Finally,
in addition to reasons related to status and competence and linguistic quality
(mostly in favour of BrE), and accessibility (mostly related to AmE), there was
also a matter of markedness: British English is considered the original English,
but L2 speakers of this accent might easily sound like they are trying too hard, and
American English is the more neutral choice.

L2 PRONUNCIATION
Table 16.5 shows the overall results for the production of the six variables that are
known to distinguish GenAm and SSBE for both data sets. The production results
show that for almost all the variables, the variant also found in GenAm English is
favoured. The speakers are mostly rhotic, they tap or voice Intervocalic /t/, use [æ]
for BATH, [ɑ] for LOT, and have a back onset for GOAT. One exception to this
346 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

pattern is Post-coronal /j/, which is present in the majority of tokens. The most fre-
quent realisation of Voiceless th (as in e.g. thing, thought) was a voiceless fricative
[θ] (76%), but there was a large minority of variants pronounced with a stop [t]
(17%).

TABLE 16.5. The pronunciation results for the six phonological variables that dis-
tinguish GenAm and SSBE.

Phonological Examples GenAm variants SSBE variants Number of

variable tokens

Vari- Data Data Vari- Data Data Data Data

ant set 1 set 2 ant set 1 set 2 set 1 set 2

Rhoticity sister, [ɹ] 72% 83% Ø 28% 16% 1470 2280

farm

Intervocalic /t/ little, [ɾ] 50% 66% [t] 49% 32% 582 396
atom

(GOAT) code, only [oʊ] 82% 82% [əʊ] 18% 12% 869 972

(LOT) job, [ɑ] 52% 55% [ɒ] 48% 34% 565 868
possible

(BATH) dance, [æ] n/a 67% [ɑː] n/a 33% n/a 346
fast

Post-coronal /j/ new, Ø n/a 19% [j] n/a 81% n/a 123
student

Note: Other variants than those found in GenAm or SSBE have been excluded from the table. n/a = not
applicable.

However, although there is a preference for GenAm variants, Table 16.5 also
shows that there is considerable variation in the pronunciation of each variable; no
single variable is pronounced entirely like GenAm or like SSBE. This variation
existed for each individual speaker; all participants used variants found in both
GenAm and SSBE, no one had an entirely native-like pronunciation. Patterns are
found in this variation in the pronunciation across word-list reading and conver-
sation speech; especially related to Non-prevocalic /r/, Intervocalic /t/, LOT, and
GOAT. The word list elicited more rhotic variants, more [t], more [ɒ], and more
[oʊ]. This is not a pattern of specific accents; the variants that are preferred in the
word list compared to in the conversations are both SSBE and GenAm variants.
Rather, these word-list preferences might be accounted for by the effect of ortho-
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 347

graphy; in Norwegian, an orthographic r is always pronounced, t is never voiced,

o is mostly pronounced similarly to [ɒ], and there is no back-closing diphthong
with a mid-central starting position such as [əʊ].
In order to investigate the pronunciation of the phonological variables related to
the participants’ desired pronunciation, production results were calculated for the
three main accent aim groups, namely BrE aimer, AmE aimers and Neutral aim-
ers. For all variables, AmE aimers produced more GenAm variants than BrE aim-
ers and vice-versa. These differences were significant (p<0.05) for all variables
except Post-coronal (j). Voiceless th was included to investigate possible patterns
of L1 influence, but participants seemed to be treating this variable similarly
regardless of accent aim. On average, Neutral aimers’ L2 production was in
between BrE aimers and AmE aimers; they produced more GenAm variants than
BrE aimers, but less than AmE aimers. However, the production results for each
individual participant show that Neutral aimers do not pattern together – some use
many GenAm variants, some use few. This would indicate that they are not trying
to do something in between GenAm and SSBE, but rather that they are not trying
to do either.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

The doctoral study presented here explored three areas of English language prac-
tices among Norwegian 17-year-old students; their attitudes towards native
accents of English (responses to practice), their choices of target accent (reported
practice), and their pronunciation of phonological variables (actual practice). The
results formed a continuum of these three practices, which were paired with the
methods used to investigate them. This continuum of results and methodologies is
shown in Figure 16.1, and will be referred to below in the discussion of empirical,
methodological and theoretical contributions. Quotes from the interviews will be
used throughout the discussion to illustrate some of the claims, and will be pre-
sented with student codes consisting of a letter referring to Schools S and A–C,
and a number referring to a student in this school.
348 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FIGURE 16.1. A continuum of results and methodologies.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: L2 IDENTITY VS. EXPOSURE AND

COMPETENCE
At one end of the continuum in Figure 16.1, there is a discrepancy between the
participants’ responses to practice – the attitudes elicited from the evaluation tests,
and their reported practice – the accent aims given in the questionnaire. While
SSBE was considered the most prestigious accent in the matched-guise test, this
was not the majority’s preferred accent aim. Even though speakers of SSBE were
judged positively by the Norwegian adolescents, this did not necessarily mean that
they wished to behave like speakers of SSBE. Native accents of English, and per-
haps especially SSBE, carry with them social meanings that are transferred to their
speakers. In the case of L2 speakers, the social meanings were perhaps even
strengthened. The formality function assigned to SSBE was attributed to its speak-
ers, and in the case of the L2 speakers, this function was related to school and ELT,
and might signal a student who was trying too hard (cf. Table 16.4 above). GenAm
might therefore have been a more preferred accent aim, seeing as it was not only
more linguistically accessible due to more extensive exposure, but also more
socially accessible because it was not associated with formality and school, as
SSBE was.
The students’ reasoning behind accent choices showed that they could use
GenAm or SSBE to project their desired identities – to show who they are (or who
they are not), based on the meanings attached to these accents, which they shared
with peers and which were elicited in the matched-guise test. Some students also
argued that they wished to draw on the function of both native-speaker accents,
because they were appropriate for different purposes:
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 349

A09 If you’re going to sit in class and impress the teacher a little then you
should maybe try more towards the English – the British

S19 When we hang out with friends […] we don’t want to use the British
English we try to learn at school, we would rather do what we think is cool.

Conversely, even though these L2 speakers might have agreed on the functions
and meanings of SSBE and GenAm, they might still have avoided both accents as
target pronunciation because they were not right for them – a native accent did not
reflect who they are:

C21 If I suddenly should have started speaking British then that would just be
weird because I don’t live in Great Britain, I’m not a Brit, and I’m not influ-
enced by British culture, like, at all, so that would, like, change parts of the
identity

[...]

I think many of us want to be neutral because I want to, like, be thought of as

someone who actually knows the language […] I don’t want to, like, be
thought of as an American or a Brit.

On the other end of the continuum (see Figure 16.1), there was a discrepancy
between reported practice – accent aims, and actual practice – the realisation of
phonological variables. The participants’ L2 speech was considerably influenced
by GenAm pronunciation. Although there was a correlation between the reported
accent aims and actual pronunciation, the extent of GenAm-influenced pronunci-
ation vastly exceeded what would be expected from the reported accent aims. This
discrepancy suggests that language use is not necessarily always an intentional
choice, perhaps particularly in an L2. Other variables that might affect pronunci-
ation are competence and exposure. For instance, some participants reported that
they had “settled” for an American accent because British forms were inaccessi-
ble.
Furthermore, limited competence might in part explain why most of the partic-
ipants used more than one variant per variable; they might not have been able to
imitate a native accent entirely. Conversely, it could be that variation in pronunci-
ation was deliberate: even though the participants reported a native accent as tar-
get, they might not have wished to unconditionally imitate this accent, in an
attempt to avoid putting on another’s identity. This was one reason behind some
350 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

of the participants reporting a “neutral” English accent aim altogether, attempting

to blend some of the available resources into an “undetectable” accent:

B03 A cleaner form of English, that there isn’t anything dialect-distinctive

about it […] you sort of have to find that thing in between

C02 I speak, in a way, what I’ve learnt and what I’ve picked up, a little here
and a little there

Notwithstanding considerable variation for each individual speaker, what many

participants have “picked up”, regardless of accent aim, seems to be mostly
GenAm resources. Although sociolinguists traditionally have been reluctant to
accept that television has any effect on language behaviour (Chambers, 1998), this
could work differently with an L2. The results in this doctoral study strongly sug-
gest that television is a major medium of English language exposure and a signif-
icant source of linguistic resources influencing learners’ pronunciation.
The L2 practices among the Norwegian adolescents – responses to practice,
reported practice and actual practice – echo the transitional ELT community in
which they are members. In a context where the status of English is hybrid, fluid,
in transition from one place to a yet unknown other, speakers’ use of English, too,
is characterised by hybridity, negotiation and variability. The variability is used in
systematic – and meaningful – ways. This social sensibility and linguistic aptitude
can only mean that speaking English is a social practice (Eckert & Rickford,
2001). As participants in social practice, these Norwegian students, regardless of
the ELT context, were not primarily learners of a foreign language; they did not
attempt to access the cultures and opportunities of others (as in SLA research such
as e.g. Norton & Toohey, 2011). The empirical contribution of this thesis suggests
that L2 use of English among these Norwegian students is not an interlanguage or
an “incomplete” learner language, but that they are speakers of English as a sec-
ond language, in line with Graddol’s (1997) description of this as “part of the
speaker’s identity repertoire” (p. 11).

METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS:

SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACH AND MIXED METHODS DESIGN
The main contribution related to methodology and theory was the (successful)
application of sociolinguistic inquiry in an L2 context. This doctoral study shows
that it makes sense to describe and analyse L2 use of English in Norway related to
standard norms of English by finding and distinguishing a set of phonological fea-
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 351

tures used across a group of speakers. By doing so, the study has included Norwe-
gian adolescent L2 speakers of English in English sociolinguistics.
The discussions related to the main objective of this doctoral thesis – the social
meanings of the L2 – arose from the combination of methods and pertaining
results in Figure 16.1. The combination and integration of qualitative and quanti-
tative approaches enhanced the validity of the results, as the different data sources
and analyses both supported and added complexity to the findings. The mixed-
methods approach thus accessed social meanings related to the ways in which
Norwegian adolescents used English in a way that would not have been possible
with qualitative or quantitative methods alone.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

Based on the discussions of the contributions of this doctoral thesis, it seems clear
that presenting native accents of English as “correct” and asking adolescent stu-
dents to imitate these in the English L2 classroom is problematic, as also sug-
gested by scholars within a framework of English as an international language
(Bex, 2008; Dürmüller, 2008; Jenkins, 2006). For some students, imitating a
native speaker implies not just putting on an accent, but also putting on an identity.
Instead, SSBE and GenAm are very useful as reference accents to present as
examples or to which students and teachers can compare own and other people’s
accents, but they should not be presented as targets that students are expected to
reach. Not only is native-like attainment near impossible (Derwing & Munro,
2005), it is also unnecessary. If accent is taught in the English L2 classroom, focus
should be on helping students develop an accent of English that shows who they
are. This would involve listening to and identifying available (native and non-
native) accents of English, reflecting on the functions and meanings they carry
with them, and assessing whether they are appropriate for the students’ purposes
and contexts of communication. Engaging the learners’ identities in this way can
enhance learning, as suggested by SLA scholars (Menard-Warwick, 2005).
As English continues to spread globally and be appropriated locally, the diver-
sity and hybridity of English increases (Mufwene, 2010). This view of English as
L2 (and language in general) as diverse and highly variable can be presented to
students in Norway, rather than presenting only native-speaker cultures. If stu-
dents learn how English is used as a lingua franca, i.e. how linguistic properties
and norms are co-constructed and established in order to achieve a communicative
goal, they will be able to adapt their English language to different purposes,
whether that is appropriating the local accent in a native-speaking country to
352 ULRIKKE RINDAL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

which they move, or making themselves understood when speaking to less com-
petent non-native speakers of English with first languages other than Norwegian.
This is not just relevant in Norway, but also in other contexts where the primary
goal of learning English is to use it to communicate with native and non-native
speakers for a wide variety of purposes.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Part of the rationale for the doctoral study reported here was the lack of research
on the meaningful use of linguistic resources by L2 speakers. As the status of Eng-
lish continues to develop and the diversity of the English language and English-
speaking communities continues to increase, there is still a need for research into
meaningful L2 practices by non-native speakers. This study shows that there is
reason to study L2 English in Norwegian ELT further using theoretical approaches
and methodologies related to language attitudes and stylistic practice.
In relation to responses to practice (cf. Figure 16.1), future research should
focus on attitudes towards non-native speaker pronunciation rather than native-
speaker accents. Considering the deliberate avoidance of native-speaker accents
among Norwegian adolescents and the patterned variation in their pronunciation
that mirrors the transitional status of English in Norway, it is relevant to treat this
pronunciation in itself as the object of investigation. There is some research
emerging on this topic (see e.g. Beinhoff, 2013; Hendriks, van Meurs, & de Groot,
2015; Nejjari, Gerritsen, van der Haagen, & Korzilius, 2012), but in Norway this
has mainly received attention in MA theses (Haukland, 2016; Hordnes, 2013).
The students in this doctoral study explained the variability in their L2 production
with a desire to use a neutral accent of English. Of course, there is no such thing
as a neutral accent. Further research is needed into how these local English lan-
guage practices are perceived by Norwegians themselves as well as by native and
non-native speakers of English. What functions and meanings are associated with
Norwegian-accented English?
Related to reported practice, there is a need for more research into the nuances
of L2 choices. This doctoral study asked participants to report their target accent
in a closed-ended question in a questionnaire, taking for granted that it would be
possible to anticipate participants’ full range of potential answers. Although alter-
natives to this questionnaire item were developed through two data sets and an
additional pilot study, the discussion has shown that accent choice is more com-
plex than circling one of six accent alternatives. Language choices are probably
best explored through more open-ended questions and preferably in interviews,
 16 PHD REVISITED: MEANING IN ENGLISH 353

with or without stimulated recall (Calderhead, 1981), so that participants’ reflec-

tions can be discussed. What kind of pronunciation do Norwegian students want
to use if they do not need to conform to variety labels?
Related to actual practice, further research is needed into L2 production across
situations with different audiences in order to investigate whether Norwegians
actually do adapt their pronunciation to different contexts and purposes, or if this
is only an intention. Furthermore, what happens to their pronunciation when they
use English to interact with speakers of other first languages, i.e. when they use
English as a lingua franca? Such research should consider the range of language
components, not just phonological variables. In particular, the discussions in the
present study call for investigations into the individual’s L2 strategies and styles.
In addition to investigations into intra-individual variation (how individual speak-
ers pronounce the same variables with different variants), there is also a need for
further research on intra-variant variation (how different variants are pronounced
differently) in L2 production, in order to describe the local appropriation of Eng-
lish in more detail. In short, what does it sound like when Norwegians speak Eng-
lish?
Through the application of sociolinguistic inquiry in an ELT context, this doc-
toral study has accessed a vast field at the intersection between sociolinguistics
and English language education in dire need of investigation. Hopefully, the infer-
ences and discussions presented here will encourage scholars and students to take
on the challenge.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-18

17
PhD Revisited: Young language
learners
The acquisition of English in Norwegian
first-grade classrooms 1
ANNE DAHL
NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology

ABSTRACT This chapter reports a PhD study (Dahl, 2014) on the effects of English
target language input in Norwegian first-grade classrooms, comparing three learner
groups with different volumes of input. The results highlight the role of input for acqu-
isition, showing that with sufficient exposure, development in a foreign language can be
rapid and similar to other forms of second language acquisition. Overall contributions
and practical implications of the study to the field of English teaching are presented.

KEYWORDS second language acquisition | foreign language learning | early start |

age of acquisition | target language input

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a PhD study (Dahl, 2014) from NTNU Norwegian
University of Science and Technology. This is an article-based thesis with two published articles
(Dahl, 2015; Dahl & Vulchanova, 2014). The PhD thesis in its entirety can be found here:
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/244422.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 357

INTRODUCTION
An apparent contradiction in language acquisition research is between findings
indicating that an early age of acquisition (AoA) for language is normally benefi-
cial for ultimate attainment, and those indicating that an early start with a foreign
language in school does not necessarily entail better end results than a later start.
The explanation for these conflicting results may be a lack of input in many such
classrooms. Since the main benefit of a young starting age has been found in the
ability to acquire language implicitly from the input, not from explicit instruction,
the observed lack of effects of an early start in a new language at school may be a
result of the learning situation being more suitable for older learners. This was the
overall hypothesis of the present PhD study.
The main research questions can be summed up as follows:

To what extent and in what ways do different volumes of target language expo-
sure lead to increased language competence in an early-start L2 classroom?

THEORY
An important theoretical question in language acquisition research is the role of
age. Research findings imply that there are differences in how young children
acquire language compared to older children and adults. With exposure to multi-
ple languages from early childhood, native competence in each language is typi-
cal. On the other hand, such competence is extremely rare, if at all possible, in a
language acquired after early childhood (e.g., Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003).
What constitutes early childhood here is not clear. Original proposals of a critical
period for language acquisition placed the age limit for native-like acquisition at
puberty (cf. Lenneberg, 1967; Penfield & Roberts, 1959). However, later propos-
als outline a more complex picture. Changes in our language-learning capacities
seem to start much earlier, and no clear cut-off point for these capacities has been
found; there may in fact be multiple smaller periods in which humans are more
sensitive to various aspects of language input, or the decline in language learning
abilities may even be linear and start at or soon after birth (see for example Hylten-
stam & Abrahamsson, 2003, for overview and discussion).
The causes of our decline in language acquisition abilities with age are also not
clear. Suggestions include lateralization or loss of brain plasticity (cf. de Bot,
2006; Lenneberg, 1967; Penfield & Roberts, 1959; Pulvermuller & Schumann,
1994), or social factors such as inherently better motivation in children, or the
358 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

input being more substantial and more appropriate for children (e.g., Bialystok &
Hakuta, 1999; Piske & Young-Scholten, 2009). Others argue that adults’ use of
cognitive problem-solving mechanisms during the learning process inhibit acqui-
sition, or that acquisition is hindered by affective factors in older learners
(Krashen, Long, & Scarcella, 1982; Rosansky, 1975). N.C. Ellis (2006) argues
that factors shaped by the L1 hinder L2 acquisition. “Entrenchment” of the L1 sys-
tem with use in such an account would also result in age effects.

REVIEW
Evidence for the advantage of an early AoA of a new language has been abundant
in studies within the field of second language acquisition (SLA) (see for example
Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003; Muñoz & Singleton, 2011). However, the
advantage has been found mainly in the end result; ultimate attainment is more
likely to be successful for younger learners, but younger learners are not generally
faster than older learners (e.g., Krashen, Long, & Scarcella, 1979; Snow & Hoef-
nagel-Höhle, 1977). Still, with the knowledge that younger learners normally end
up with higher levels of L2 competence than older learners, it has seemed intui-
tively wise to lower starting ages for foreign languages in school.
However, at the time of the PhD study revisited in this chapter, a general finding
in studies of the effect of early foreign-language instruction in formal settings was
that there is no benefit of an early start, at least in the long run. This was the case
in early studies of early-start English in Japan (Oller & Nagato, 1974), French in
Britain (Burstall, 1975), and English in Sweden (Holmstrand, 1982). A number of
later studies pointed in the same direction, finding no advantage for younger learn-
ers, and in some cases even that instructed settings favored later starters (see for
example contributions in García Mayo & García Lecumberri, 2003; and in
Muñoz, 2006).
On the other hand, in addition to differences in ultimate attainment, younger
learners had been found to acquire language differently than older learners and to
depend more on substantial input in the target language (see for example Murphy,
2010, for an overview of research). Specifically, findings implied that young chil-
dren learn implicitly from exposure while explicit instruction and formal learning
may be more useful for older learners. Thus, the lack of advantage found for an
early start with foreign languages may have been a result of a lack of target lan-
guage input in such contexts. The question was thus whether foreign language
learning could be said to constitute a qualitatively different process such that the
advantages of a young AoA would hold for naturalistic second language acquisi-
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 359

tion only, or whether foreign language learning might in essence be seen as a type
of SLA, where increased exposure to the target language could be effective.

METHODOLOGY
This PhD study investigated English acquisition in first-grade students in different
learning contexts in Norwegian schools, where volume of input in English was the
main difference.

PARTICIPANTS
Participants in the study were a total of 82 students in four groups:
A group of monolingual Norwegian students (n = 29, mean age at pre-test 6;1)
in a Norwegian state school, receiving regular English instruction as mandated by
the curriculum (Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2006). The students all attended the same
school, but different classes, and a number of teachers were involved in English
teaching throughout the school year. Since English teaching in this group mainly
relied on Norwegian as the language of instruction, this group is referred to as the
“L1-based group” in this chapter.
A group of monolingual Norwegian students (n = 31, mean age at pre-test 6;1)
in a Norwegian state school, receiving normal English instruction as mandated by
the curriculum, but, crucially, where teachers focused heavily on providing Eng-
lish input both inside and outside English class throughout the school day. These
students all attended different classes in the same school, which was not the same
school as that of the L1-based group. This school was selected because teachers
were willing to provide more substantial input in English than what is common.
Again, a number of teachers were involved in English teaching; one was a native
speaker of English, but she also spoke and taught other subjects in Norwegian. L1
Norwegian was not excluded in English classes in this school, and this group is
thus referred to as the “bilingually based group” in this chapter. The two state
schools were situated in similar neighborhoods in terms of socio-economic fac-
tors, and had previously scored similarly on national tests of English.
A group of students (n = 7; mean age at pre-test 6;0) in international schools in
Norway, where English is the language of instruction, starting school without
competence in English. They were selected based on reports from parents and
teachers that they did not know English upon starting school. One of these stu-
dents was a monolingual speaker of Norwegian, five were bilingual speakers of
360 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Norwegian and another European language, while the third was trilingual before
learning English in school. This group is referred to as the “immersion group”.
A group of students (n = 15; mean age 6;6) in international schools in Norway
who were native speakers of English and served as a control group in the study.
Most of these students also had competence in one or more other languages, usu-
ally Norwegian, but their parents classified English as a native language for all of
them. These students only completed the tests of English proficiency for which no
norming existed; see table 17.1 below. This group is referred to as the “control
group”.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design consisted of quantitative comparison of the three learner
groups (excluding the control group) in a pre-test upon starting school and then
again after the first year on a number of measures of English competence. Data
collection consisted of a pre- and a post-test session with each participant, each
lasting approximately one hour. A number of background and outcome measures
of verbal and non-verbal ability and comprehension of English were used to meas-
ure English development from the beginning of the school year, approximately in
September, to the end of the school year, approximately in May. The English
native speakers in the control group were tested once, approximately halfway
through the school year, and only on English measures, excluding English vocab-
ulary, since the test used for this measure has been normed for native speakers, i.e.
its scores can be systematically compared to what has been found in a large, rep-
resentative group of English speakers in the USA. Table 17.1 gives an overview
of the tests used in the study.
Teaching methods in the classrooms were not carefully controlled, and no les-
son analysis was performed, but teachers reported on classroom practices, mate-
rials, and time spent on English throughout the year, in particular for the two state-
school groups that were otherwise very similar. In the international school immer-
sion group, information about factors such as whether students had attended Eng-
lish as an Additional Language (EAL) classes was collected, but teaching methods
were not analyzed.
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 361

TABLE 17.1. An overview of tests used in the PhD study.

Background measures Outcome measures

Test data Analysis Data Analysis

PPVT-IV ◗ Growth Scale Values PPVT-IV ◗ Growth Scale Values

form B (GSVs) form A (GSVs)
◗ Age equivalents ◗ Age equivalents
◗ Within-group and bet- PPVT-IV ◗ Between-group compari-
ween group comparisons sons of differences in
form B
of differences in means means
◗ Multivariate analysis of ◗ Within-group comparisons
co-variance (MAN- of differences in means
COVA) comparing with pre-test English voca-
groups bulary (form B only)
◗ Correlation analysis with ◗ Correlation analysis with
other measures other measures

Sentence ◗ Between group compari- Sentence ◗ Chronbach's Alpha

comprehen- sons of differences in comprehen- ◗ Between group compari-
sion test means sion test sons of differences in
◗ Correlation analysis with means
outcome measures ◗ Multiple regression for
Norwegian
influence of independent
vocabulary variables
◗ Correlation analysis with
K-Bit 2 Ridd- other measures
les section
Sentence ◗ Chronbach's Alpha
repetition test ◗ Between group compari-
K-Bit 2 sons of differences in
Matrices means
section ◗ Correlation analysis with
other measures, and bet-
Memo game ween short and long sen-
tences in the test
◗ Comparisons of differen-
Background
ces in means for individual
questionnaire words in the test
◗ Comparisons of differen-
ces in means for long and
short sentences

Delay condi- ◗ Chronbach's Alpha

tion yes/no
decision task
362 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

BACKGROUND MEASURES
A background questionnaire was administered to all parents in each student group
asking for information about factors such as students’ exposure to English-lan-
guage media, time spent in an English-speaking country, number of siblings, and
potential diagnoses which might influence L2 English acquisition. These data
were used both to ensure that the two state-school groups were comparable on
such factors, and for correlation analysis to check their influence on L2 English
development.
Norwegian vocabulary was tested through a test produced specifically for the
PhD study, based on form A of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test IV, which is
described in more detail below. This test was administered in the pre-test session.
Verbal and non-verbal ability was tested with the Matrices and the Riddles sec-
tions2, respectively, of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition (K-
Bit 2) (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004). Visio-spatial working memory was tested
using a memo game task where participants were asked to find pairs of pictures,
where number of attempts and time used to complete the task were recorded.
These measures were administered to check that groups were similar on these fac-
tors, and for use in correlation analysis in order to investigate their influence on
English acquisition.
English vocabulary knowledge at the start of the school year was measured
through the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test IV, form B, which is further
described below, and sentence comprehension through the English Listening Les-
son Library Online game (Elllo, 2013a, 2013b) where pictures of pets and fruits,
respectively, were described by a male native speaker of American English, and
participants were asked to pick the picture matching this stimuli out of a set of
three pictures. Since no norming exists for scores on this game, it was also admin-
istered to the control group.

THE PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST

The PPVT-IV is a standardized test of receptive vocabulary normed for native
speakers of American English aged 2:6–90. Stimuli consist of individual words,
and for each word, the participant selects the matching picture from a set of four.
The number of words administered in the test depends on individual participants,
as there is a discontinuation rule after a certain number of incorrect responses. The

2. The K-Bit 2 is a test of verbal and non-verbal intelligence. The Riddles section measures expres-
sive (productive) vocabulary, while the Matrices section is a non-verbal pattern-recognition
task.
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 363

test comes with detailed instructions for administration, as well as for points of
reference for comparison with the reference group norms. Notably, raw scores on
the test can be compared to both Growth Scale Values (GSV) and age equivalents
for the reference group. Since such norming exists for the test, it was not admin-
istered to the control group in the PhD study.

THE SENTENCE COMPREHENSION TESTS

The post-test sentence comprehension test was designed specifically by the
researcher and the supervisor for the PhD study. It was administered via a com-
puter like the pre-test comprehension test, and consisted of 30 simple sentences
read alternately by a female native speaker of British English and one of American
English, both using standard varieties. For each sentence, the participant was
asked to pick a picture that corresponded to the sentence out of a set of four pic-
tures. Only one of these pictures corresponded completely to the sentence, while
two others corresponded to parts of the sentence. The fourth picture was a distrac-
tor that did not correspond to any part of the stimulus. The test was designed to
measure comprehension of vocabulary in context, and was also administered to
the control group. Internal consistency was found to be good through Cronbach’s
alpha (α=.906).

THE SENTENCE REPETITION TEST

The second test developed specifically for the study was a sentence repetition test.
Its aim was to test grammatical processing, which proved difficult through a com-
prehension test with the language pair Norwegian/English, since both languages
generally mark syntactic roles through (similar) word order. The repetition test
consisted of 17 sentences of various lengths, which were read by the researcher
and which each participant was asked to repeat one by one. The test session was
audio-recorded, and performance was evaluated by two independent raters based
on the number of morphemes correctly repeated. Pronunciation was not evaluated
as long as it was comprehensible. The repetition test was also administered to the
control group. Internal consistency was found to be good (α=896), as was inter-
rater reliability as checked with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC =.953).
364 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

THE DELAY CONDITION YES/NO DECISION TASK

The delay condition yes/no decision task asked participants to respond to a total
of 14 simple yes/no questions based on pictures that they saw three seconds after
hearing the question. The intention was to force language processing by requiring
participants to hold the question in working memory before responding. This test
was also administered to the control group. However, internal consistency was
low (α=.553), and since other problems were also identified in this test, its results
were not analyzed further.

DATA ANALYSIS
All three learner groups were compared through statistical analysis of variance
(ANOVA) with planned comparison on post-test English vocabulary as measured
by combined scores on both forms of the PPVT-IV. Scores on the sentence compre-
hension and sentence repetition tests were compared using the same methods for
all four groups, including the control group. The two state-school groups’ scores
on vocabulary (PPVT-IV forms A and B combined), sentence comprehension, and
sentence repetition were compared using t-tests, and for these two groups, multiple
regression analysis was used to investigate the impact of group (i.e., volume of
input) on sentence comprehension. For scores on the PPVT-IV form B in the two
state-school groups, within-group comparison was performed using Wilcoxon
signed ranks test, and between-groups comparison using Mann-Whitney U.
Results from the repetition test were analyzed to investigate whether it was a
valid measure of language competence, and if so, what subskills it tested. ANOVA
with pairwise comparisons compared the success with which participants repeated
sentence initial, medial, and final words, respectively, since if repetition only
entailed parroting, participants would be expected to repeat sentence final words
more successfully. Furthermore, factorial analysis with group as the between-sub-
jects factor and sentence length as the within-subjects factor looked for effects for
sentence length, to see whether there was evidence that short sentences could be
repeated as acoustic images without any language processing. In order to investi-
gate which specific language ability was tested, ANOVA was performed on the
two state-school groups’ scores comparing words categorized into three groups.
Functional words such as determiners and auxiliaries constituted the first group;
the second group consisted of lexical words such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives
which were overtly inflected, e.g., for number or tense, and the final category con-
sisted of lexical words which were not overtly inflected, i.e. whose form was iden-
tical to their base form.
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 365

FINDINGS
On non-English background measures and pre-test English, statistical comparison
found no significant differences between the two state-school groups. Thus, any dif-
ferences in outcome measures between these groups were not likely to stem from
differences in background. Between the two state-school groups on the one hand
and the immersion group on the other, there was a significant difference for Norwe-
gian vocabulary; pre-test English was not compared for the immersion group.
The overall results on post-test English measures are summed up in Table 17.2
showing the mean scores per group. They imply a relationship between input and
performance in the post-test, as the immersion group outperforms the bilingually
based group, which in turn outperforms the L1-based group on every measure of
English competence in this study after one year of school. Results from the pre-
test of vocabulary (PPVT-IV form B) are also provided as a point of reference, as
this was the only test that was administered in both test sessions.

TABLE 17.2. Results for all groups on pre-test English vocabulary and post-test
measures of English.

L1- Bilingually Immersion Control Maximal

based based group group possible score
group group

PPVT-IV form 23.7 25.4 47.4 – –

B pre-test

PPVT-IV form 29.1 44.1 83.3 – –

B post-test

PPVT-IV form 33.9 40.2 77 – –

A post-test

Sentence 14.4 18.7 28.1 29.3 30

comprehension

Sentence 85.1 93.9 132.6 138.2 142

repetition

Note: For the PPVT-IV, age equivalents and Growth Scale Values as given in the test manual provide more
useful points of reference than maximum scores, and these are discussed below.

The ANOVA for combined scores on both forms of the PPVT-IV found significant
differences both between the immersion group and the bilingually based group,
and between the bilingually based group and the L1-based group. When scores on
366 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

the sentence comprehension and sentence repetition tests were compared using
the same methods for all four groups, including the control group, significant dif-
ferences were found between the control group and the immersion group, between
the immersion group and the bilingually based group, and between the bilingually
based group and the L1-based group. An overall finding is thus that which group
participants belonged to, and thus presumably volume of input, significantly
impacted their performance in English after one year.
The two state-school groups were compared further, leaving out the immersion
group since it was small and heterogeneous, and since this group’s performance in
English in the pre-test was notably higher than the two state-school groups. T-tests
found significant differences between the two groups’ performance on all English
measures in the post-test sessions, i.e. vocabulary (PPVT-IV forms A and B com-
bined), sentence comprehension, and sentence repetition. An important finding
was that for the state-school groups, sentence comprehension showed the largest
between-group difference. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate
the impact of English input in school inside and outside of English classes on this
measure compared to the impact of pre-test scores on English vocabulary and on
Norwegian vocabulary. Volume of input, i.e. which group students belonged to,
was found to account for 24% of variance on the students’ test scores, while their
scores on the Norwegian vocabulary test and the pre-test for English vocabulary
combined only accounted for 14% of variance.
Comparison of student scores on the English vocabulary test (PPVT-IV form B)
using Mann-Whitney U confirmed that there was no significant difference
between the two state-school groups on the pre-test, while on the post-test, there
was. Repeated-measure Wilcoxon signed ranks tests within each of these groups
found no significant difference in the L1-based group between performance on the
English vocabulary pre-test and the post-test, indicating that no measurable devel-
opment had taken place in the eight months between the two test sessions. The dif-
ference in the bilingually based group, on the other hand, was significant. As
already mentioned, the PPVT-IV comes with a test manual with normed score ref-
erence points, making it possible to compare any individual or group score to the
age at which this would be the average score in the test’s native-speaker reference
group. Such comparison confirmed that the difference in scores between the pre-
and the post-test for the L1-based group was very small: The (non-significant)
increase in the L1-based group in the course of eight months is equivalent to three
months’ vocabulary development as normed for English native speakers. Further-
more, differences in scores can be translated into Growth Scale Values (GSV)
using the PPVT-IV test manual, where a difference in GSV of 8 is considered sig-
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 367

nificant. In the L1-based group, the GSV difference was only 5, again indicating
non-significant difference between the pre- and the post-test. Development in the
bilingually based group over the course of the same time span, however, was
equivalent to a GSV of 12, and to 10 months’ development in age equivalents as
normed for the test manual for children who are native speakers of English. This
means that the L2 English learners in the bilingually based group in fact developed
more rapidly than what is typical for younger native speakers at the same level of
vocabulary development in English.
For the immersion group, development on the English vocabulary test (PPVT-
IV form B) was found to range from an age equivalent of 11 months to 37 months
for individual participants in the course of the eight-month period between test
sessions. Measured in GSVs, however, there was still a significant difference in
the post-test between this group and the reference group for the test on both form
A (GSV difference of 22 points) and form B (GSV difference of 21 points). Since
a GSV of 8 is considered a significant difference, this clearly indicates that the
immersion group had not reached native averages in English vocabulary compre-
hension.
Results on the sentence repetition test were analyzed for all groups in the dis-
cussion of whether this test constitutes a valid measure of language competence.
With Pearson’s r, scores on the test were found to be correlated with the other
measures of English, and with Norwegian verbal ability, i.e., vocabulary and K-
bit 2 Riddles. However, results on the sentence repetition test were not correlated
with non-verbal measures, i.e., non-verbal ability as measured by K-Bit 2 Matri-
ces, nor with working memory as measured by the memo game task.
The comparison between scores on initial and final words in the repetition test
found no significant differences. Furthermore, the analysis of performance on
short and long sentences indicated that performance on short sentences also dif-
fered between groups. Together, these findings indicate that participants were not
merely parroting an acoustic image, and that the test was indeed a valid measure
of language competence. The analysis of how well participants repeated func-
tional, uninflected lexical, and inflected lexical words showed that the bilingually
based group was significantly better at repeating lexical words with no overt
inflection compared to lexical words with overt inflection and functional words,
while in the L1-based group no such significant difference was found. The con-
clusion was the ability to perceive lexical words was the main advantage of the
bilingually based group in this test.
368 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

The contribution of the PhD study lies mainly in exploring the role of input in
early-start L2 classrooms, and in new insights into how language acquisition takes
place in such a context. Furthermore, the study contributed to developing methods
for testing overall L2 proficiency in young, pre-literate learners at low proficiency
levels, where receptive competence may be more advanced than productive skills.
Finally, although the actual activities that took place in the classrooms in the three
groups investigated were not controlled, the findings have some clear implications
for teaching.

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Empirically, the main contribution of the PhD study is found in the different
results in the post-tests in the three groups of early English learners. The within-
group analysis of vocabulary comprehension between the pre-and the post-test for
the L1-based group demonstrated that in the setting of standard English classes in
Norwegian grade 1, acquisition is not guaranteed, revealing a possible problem
with such early-start programs. This was evident in the lack of vocabulary devel-
opment in this group shown in the small, non-significant change in PPVT-IV form
B scores between the pre- and the post-test.
In the bilingually based group, the modest increase in language exposure com-
pared to a typical classroom had a significant effect on vocabulary development,
which was found to be slightly faster than for competence-matched, younger
native speakers of English. This finding is important since it may have conse-
quences for the ambitions of early-start foreign language learning programs. Input
in such settings will always be limited, but it seems that there can still be signifi-
cant benefits from an early start if sufficiently substantial input is provided. The
increased input appeared to have a particularly strong effect on sentence compre-
hension, which means that it is likely in turn to be beneficial for further acquisition
from naturalistic exposure.
For the seven children in the immersion group, attending school for a year in a
new language led to rapid acquisition, with scores on vocabulary, sentence com-
prehension and sentence repetition approaching native-speaker means indicating
acquisition across the board. Although there was great variation between partici-
pants, we see that L2 immersion at such a young age can lead to very fast devel-
opment. In this group, individual differences are particularly crucial, and impor-
tant findings include how development on the PPVT-IV form B between the pre-
and the post-test ranged from an age equivalent of 11 months to 37 months. There
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 369

was no clear pattern to what caused fast development; both the fastest-developing
child and the child with the least development were bilingual upon starting school
in English, and neither the child with the lowest nor the child with the highest Eng-
lish vocabulary scores in the pre-test showed the fastest development in terms of
age-equivalence in months. Although the number of participants in this group is
too small to draw firm conclusions, there is no indication here that previous lan-
guage background is a strong predictor for development in a new language.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The results of the PhD study are also relevant for theoretical questions about the
nature of L2 acquisition. In particular, they support the assumption that foreign
language learning is essentially a form of SLA. Thus, it depends on the same fac-
tors and follows the same trajectories as naturalistic SLA, input plays a crucial
role, and a young AoA should in principle be beneficial. The findings are also rel-
evant for the question of exactly what constitutes language competence in an L2.
While pedagogical perspectives often focus on the four skills of listening, speak-
ing, reading, and writing, these describe overt language behavior, not underlying
competence. The PhD study is mainly relevant to what would typically be catego-
rized as the listening skill, and emphasizes that this in itself is a multifaceted lan-
guage ability.
One finding was the speed of vocabulary acquisition displayed by some of the
young L2 learners compared to L1 acquisition. This rapid L2 vocabulary develop-
ment compared to native speaker norms may indicate that L2 lexical acquisition
is supported by L1 knowledge. Importantly, the PPVT-IV only tests receptive
vocabulary, and vocabulary breadth rather then depth. Jiang (2004), for example,
suggests that in early adult SLA, entries for new words initially consist of infor-
mation about form (phonology and morphology) only, with a pointer to the L1
translation equivalent for meaning and syntax. It is possible that what had been
acquired by the bilingually based group in the present study was such a pointer to
the L1 lexicon, and this process may be beneficial for early comprehension of new
vocabulary in an L2. The rapid lexical acquisition may also reflect that mecha-
nisms that support L1 lexical acquisition in young children, such as fast mapping
(Shintani, 2011), are still available to learners in this age group. In combination
with support from the already well-developed L1 lexicon, such mechanisms may
facilitate L2 receptive vocabulary in young learners in a way that allows very
rapid development. Although the use of the L1 in the classroom was not studied
here, it is possible that strategic L1 use in teaching may facilitate such processes.
370 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

However, the results also highlight how acquisition does not simply entail
learning vocabulary items as translation equivalents from the L1, or as isolated
items. The results of the sentence comprehension and the repetition test suggest
that the main benefit of increased exposure is comprehension of words in context,
not isolated lexical knowledge, and thus that processes such as phoneme discrim-
ination, lexical retrieval, and building “good enoughˮ representations for compre-
hension (cf. Carroll, 2004; Clahsen & Felser, 2006; VanPatten, 2012) are impor-
tant competencies which constitute early steps in L2 development. The study
indicates that these skills develop as a result of exposure.
The results of the PhD study also shed light on the exact role of input in SLA.
For example, while it is common to assume a distinction between input and intake,
studies have found that acquisition of various aspects of language can take place
in the absence of attention to the input in both children and adults (Saffran, New-
port, Aslin, Tunick, & Barrueco, 1997; Schachter, 1998; Truscott, 1998). The chil-
dren both in the bilingually based group and in the immersion group in the present
study had acquired both receptive vocabulary and sentence processing and com-
prehension skills from naturalistic input, with no systematic effort on the part of
the teachers to draw students’ attention to form in this input. Input may certainly
have been simplified, but such adapted input is still naturalistic and resembles the
child-directed speech that is common in L1 acquisition. There was little evidence
in the PhD study to answer the question of whether also more detailed grammar
competence can be achieved through naturalistic input without focus on form.
However, the fact that some children in the immersion group scored within the
native speaker range on the sentence repetition test, which required correct repro-
duction on functional morphemes, may indicate that also grammatical accuracy
can in principle be acquired from naturalistic input in young L2 learners.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The PhD study contributed methodologically in developing tests that may be use-
ful for investigating early stages of acquisition in very young, pre-literate learners.
With the exception of the PPVT-IV, test materials in the study were developed spe-
cifically for the study. In particular, three methods were developed and tested,
namely the sentence comprehension test, the sentence repetition test, and the
delay-condition yes/no question task.
Although the ELLLO game (Elllo, 2013a, 2013b) used in the pre-test session
probably succeeded in checking that the two main groups had comparable linguis-
tic competence at the outset, there were problems both in difficulty level and in
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 371

the odds of guessing correctly in this game, with only three alternative responses
per picture. Thus, for the post-test session, a sentence comprehension test was cre-
ated specifically for the study. This test was found to distinguish well between
competence levels, although there was some evidence of ceiling effects in the
immersion group.
As reported above, the sentence repetition test also showed good internal con-
sistency and distinguished between the competence levels of the participant
groups. The detailed analyses of scores on different items in the test also supported
the conclusion that it was a valid measure of language competence, and did not
just test parroting abilities. The final test developed for the study was the yes/no
question task with a delay condition. This test had low internal consistency, did
not distinguish well between competence levels, and allowed some children in all
groups to achieve very high scores either by chance or because the test was too
easy. Thus, results of this test were not analyzed in the study and the conclusion is
that it was not a successful measure of language competence.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

In the study, the researcher did not carefully control methods used in the class-
rooms, and results therefore cannot be used to directly recommend teaching meth-
ods. Still, the study has implications for English teaching. First, it is clear that
although English was abundant in Norwegian society, at the time of the study
young children could not be expected to encounter enough English outside of
school for any significant acquisition to take place. Secondly, attending English
class from age 6 does not guarantee acquisition unless those classes provide suf-
ficient input, and English classes as mandated by the current curriculum, still in
place at the time of writing this chapter with only minor revisions, apparently do
not necessarily provide such input. However, third, the study also demonstrates
that input need not be unrealistically massive, and that rapid acquisition is possible
if teachers focus on providing English input whenever possible both during class
and throughout the school day within the existing curriculum.
Thus, those who teach English to young children in Norway should plan activ-
ities where they speak English to the students whenever possible. Activities suc-
cessfully used in the bilingually based group in this study included conducting
morning meetings and classroom management throughout the school day in Eng-
lish, with translations into Norwegian when necessary. Importantly, no effort was
made to exclude the use of Norwegian, and as speculated above, it is possible that
strategic translation and explanation in L1 may have facilitated L2 vocabulary
372 ANNE DAHL | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

learning. There was also no specific effort to increase students’ productive use of
English, although increased production on their part may have been a natural
result of the increased input. During English class, frequent activities providing
English input included teachers reading aloud or talking about pictures or objects
that they had brought into the classroom. An implication of the study is that these
kinds of activities are well suited to young foreign language learners, and may be
a better choice than some activities included in typical workbooks for first grade.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

The results of this PhD study indicated that volume of exposure is a crucial factor
in early L2 acquisition. The curriculum under which the study was conducted is
still in place at the time of writing this chapter; it is currently being revised and the
details of the new curriculum are still unknown, but it is clear that numbers of
hours for English teaching will remain low. The challenge of providing enough
input for acquisition to take place is thus still highly relevant. The international
debate about the interplay between AoA and input in foreign language learning is
still ongoing (cf. DeKeyser, 2017), and further studies in the Norwegian context
are needed.
Future research would benefit from including more participant groups and dif-
ferent teachers. A larger immersion group would also be beneficial in order to
obtain generalizable knowledge about this setting. Future similar studies may also
control more closely methods and activities in the different classrooms in order to
gain a more detailed picture of exactly what practices lead to successful acquisi-
tion, and longitudinal studies may provide knowledge of the long-term effects of
the different conditions. The increased input in English in the bilingually based
group in this study was maintained through grade 2, and two master studies
(Sivertzen, 2013; Strand, 2014) followed up the findings in the years after data
collection in the PhD study, finding no advantage of the bilingually based group
on the PPVT-IV in grade 4 compared to students who had received regular English
teaching from grade 1, but still finding an advantage for sentence comprehension
in grade 5.
The study highlights the importance of English Grade 1 teachers having the
English proficiency and confidence to use English extensively in the classroom,
and it is a step in the right direction that requirements have been introduced since
this study was concluded for English teachers at primary level to have formal
qualifications in English. However, as an added source of L2 exposure, further
research may look into whether input from film and similar media can have simi-
 17 PHD REVISITED: YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS 373

lar beneficial effects for early L2 learners in classroom settings. Interestingly, a

recent survey found that young Norwegian children watch English-language
media at very young ages (TNS Kantar, 2017), and investigating whether such
exposure can be used to promote acquisition in an instructed setting for the young-
est learners might be useful. Finding ways to ensure that the early start with Eng-
lish in Norwegian schools is effective is still important.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-19

18
PhD revisited: What is to be
assessed?
Teachers’ understanding of constructs in
an oral English examination in Norway 1
HENRIK BØHN
University of South-Eastern Norway

ABSTRACT In this chapter, the research design of and main findings from Bøhn’s
(2016) doctoral study are presented. The study used educational and psychological
measurement theory and a mainly qualitative methodological approach to investigate
teachers’ understanding of what should be assessed in an oral exam in English in Norway.
The findings indicated that the teachers generally agreed on the main aspects of student
performance to be assessed, but disagree more on the more narrowly defined aspects.
On the basis of the results the chapter discusses implications for oral assessment in
English language teaching and possible avenues for further research.

KEYWORDS language assessment | spoken English | English language teaching |

validity

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Bøhn, 2016), focussing on summa-
tive oral assessment practices in Norway. This is an article-based thesis, with three published
articles (Bøhn, 2015; 2017; 2018), and the thesis in its entirety – with theoretical, methodologi-
cal and empirical details – can be found here: https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/53229.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 377

INTRODUCTION
Assessment2 holds a prominent place in education. It can be defined as “the
planned and systematic process of gathering and interpreting evidence about
learning in order to make a judgement about that learning” (Isaacs, Zara, Herbert,
Coombs & Smith, 2013, p. 1). In the last 20 years or so, assessment has received
increasing attention from educational authorities, researchers, teaching practition-
ers and the general public in many countries. This includes English language
teaching (ELT) in Norway, where there has been focus on assessment criteria,
teachers’ scoring consistency, and the relationship between the subject curriculum
and final assessment, among other things (Directorate for Education and Training,
2010a; Yildiz, 2011).
Assessment is a complex matter, however, and the practice is wrought with a
number of philosophical, political, social, ethical and technical issues. Very gen-
erally, these issues revolve around broad questions such as why a particular assess-
ment is used, what is being assessed, and how the assessment is designed and used.
In the doctoral dissertation reported in this chapter, which investigated the assess-
ment of student performance in an oral English exam, the emphasis was mainly
on “what”. This is an important question in the sense that good quality assessment
depends on a clear understanding of which aspects of a performance or a learning
process that should be evaluated. Research has shown, however, that raters often
find it difficult to agree on exactly what should be in focus (Eckes, 2009).
In international language testing, this problem has long since been recognized,
and a lot of resources have thus been spent on developing high-quality language
assessment (e.g. the Cambridge Assessment English tests or the TOEFL test). In
such assessment contexts, raters are always provided with fairly detailed rating
scales, or “scoring rubrics” (Ginther, 2013). Such scales specify both which per-
formance aspects (i.e. criteria) should be attended to, and descriptions of how
these aspects should be rated at each level of performance. Furthermore, in such
testing situations raters are trained in order to help them know what to look for
and how to score performance.
In the Norwegian educational context, however, the situation has traditionally
been somewhat different in terms of English oral exams. In these exams there are
no national rating scales or rater training. Rather, the authorities have left it to the
local level (i.e. the county governors) to administer oral exams. This has led to dif-

2. The terms “assessment”, “testing”, and “evaluation” are frequently used with different mea-
nings. In this chapter, however, I follow Bachman and Palmer (2010), who use them more or
less interchangeably.
378 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ferent practices across counties. In some counties teachers have had access to a
common rating scale, and have had some rater training. In other counties there
have been no common scales and no training. Such differences are potentially
problematic for dependable and valid assessment results (see e.g. Nusche, Earl,
Maxwell, & Shewbridge, 2012).
Against this background, the doctoral study reported in this chapter explored
the following broad research question: How do teachers in Norway understand the
“what” to be tested in an oral English exam at the upper secondary level? The
focus was on the oral English exam taken by students in their first year of the gen-
eral studies programme (GSP), and in the second year at the vocational studies
programmes (VSP).

THEORY
In test theory, the “what” to be evaluated in language assessment is commonly
referred to as “attributes”, “constructs” or “traits”. According to Weir (2005, p. 1),
constructs can be defined as the “underlying […] abilities we wish to measure in
students’. This means, for example, that when a student gives a performance in an
oral exam, it is not the actual words being spoken that we are primarily interested
in. Rather, we are interested in the student’s underlying competences or skills,
such as vocabulary, fluency, accuracy or pronunciation. These, then, are unobserv-
able entities that cannot be assessed directly. In order to be assessed, they need to
be operationalized, i.e. made concrete, before they can be evaluated. Fluency, for
instance, can be operationalized by the observable features “pauses”, “fillers”,
“false starts” etc. (Brown et al., 2005, p. 23).
According to Bachman & Palmer (2010), constructs are identified on the basis
of a “frame of reference”, such as a theory of language, a needs analysis or a syl-
labus (pp. 212–213). In English language teaching in Norway, it is first of all the
latter category which defines the constructs, as teaching and assessment are sup-
posed to be grounded in the English subject curriculum.
As for the operationalization of the constructs to be assessed, this is commonly
done with the help of rating scales, as mentioned above. The use of rating scales
in language testing is generally believed to enhance the validity of the assessment
(Fulcher, 2012). There are different definitions of “validity”, but today most lan-
guage assessment specialists agree that it concerns the quality of the inferences
that can be made from the assessment results (see e.g. Newton & Shaw, 2014). In
this sense, validity has to do with score meaning. For example, if a student in Nor-
way is awarded a “4” on the oral exam, one may ask what this mark means.
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 379

According to the Regulations to the Education Act, a “4” means that the student
has “good competence in the English subject” (Norwegian Ministry of Education
and Research, 2009, § 3–4, my translation). But then one could go on to ask:
“What kind of competence has been assessed?” Here, the Regulations of the Edu-
cation Act specify that it is the competence aims of the subject curriculum that
decide which competence(s) that are to be focused on. This, however, leads us
back to the question of constructs and how these constructs have been operation-
alized.
Good validity, then, requires that raters only attend to those aspects that are
meant to be assessed. Whenever raters fail to take into account performance fea-
tures that should be tested, this will be a “threat” to the validity of the scores. In
such cases the results will be affected by construct underrepresentation. Con-
versely, if raters start attending to performance features that should not be tested,
this will create construct-irrelevant variance in the assessment results (Messick,
1989). Construct underrepresentation and construct-irrelevant variance are there-
fore something that should be avoided.
A related question is the issue of reliability, or dependability. Simply put, relia-
bility can be said to indicate the extent to which the same raters would award the
same score, or mark, to the same performance. For instance, if one rater gives a
performance a “4”, and another gives the same performance a “2”, this would be
an example of poor reliability. Differently put, such assessment discrepancy
means that the mark “4” does not mean the same thing. In this respect, reliability
affects validity since it impinges on the quality of the inferences that can be made
from the marks, or assessment scores.

REVIEW
As the main focus of the present investigation is on rater cognition, or raters’ ori-
entations in foreign or second language (L2) speaking assessment, it is relevant to
consider studies that have looked into this phenomenon. In the assessment
research literature there is ample evidence that scoring outcomes (i.e. marks) are
often affected by raters’ subjective understanding of how performance is to be
judged (Bejar, 2012). This phenomenon is commonly referred to as rater variabil-
ity (McNamara, 1996).
Rater orientation research in L2 language assessment has shown that raters pay
attention to both construct-relevant and construct-irrelevant features when judg-
ing performance (Hsieh, 2011; Orr, 2002; Pollitt & Murray, 1996). For example,
raters have been shown to heed construct-irrelevant performance aspects such as
380 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

age and gender (Orr, 2002), effort (Brown, 1995), interest and personality (Ang-
Aw & Goh, 2011), physical attractiveness (Pollitt & Murray, 1996) and voice
quality (Hsieh, 2011). There is also evidence of construct underrepresentation in
a number of tests, as examiners fail to pay attention to criteria that should be con-
sidered, such as content-related performance aspects (Cai, 2015).
Although there is a rich body of research on language assessment generally,
very few studies have examined English speaking tests in contexts where rating
scales have not been provided. Only two international studies (Brown, Iwashita &
McNamara, 2005; Pollitt & Murray, 1996) and one Norwegian study (Yildiz,
2011) have been identified. Brown et al. (2005) and Pollitt & Murray (1996) found
that raters were attending to performance features such as linguistic resources
(vocabulary, grammar, phonology), fluency, and content, whereas Yildiz (2011)
discovered that the raters were focusing on “Language competence”, “Commu-
nicative competence”, “Subject competence”, “Ability to reflect and discuss inde-
pendently” and “Ability to speak freely and independent of manuscript”. Yildiz’s
study is particularly interesting in this discussion since she investigated an assess-
ment context which is almost identical to the present one, i.e. an oral English exam
at the upper secondary level. However, the study was quite small, being an MA
study including only 16 teacher informants.
Beyond these studies, there is research indicating that raters may have more or
less common perceptions of how performance should be assessed. Some studies,
for example, have demonstrated relatively good correspondence between raters’
orientations (Brown et al., 2005), whereas others have recorded substantial rater
variability (Orr, 2002). An important question in this respect is how such differ-
ences can be explained. Some studies have suggested that the differences may be
a matter of rater background characteristics, such as rating experience or first lan-
guage background (Kim, 2009). Others have indicated that there has not been suf-
ficient rater training (Brown, 2012). Relatedly, there may be problems with how
the rating scales are to be interpreted (Eckes, 2009).

METHODOLOGY
In order to investigate the teachers’ understanding of constructs, this study used a
predominantly qualitative, exploratory research design with an inductive theoret-
ical drive (Morse & Niehaus, 2009). This means that the overall direction of the
investigation was guided by the inductive analysis of data, which were collected
through the use of qualitative methods in the first stage of the project. Two of these
constructs, pronunciation and content, were analysed is some more detail, and a
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 381

quantitative instrument, i.e. a questionnaire, was used as a part of the study to

investigate specific questions related to the pronunciation construct.

DATA COLLECTION
The investigation was carried out in three phases, each representing a separate
study. In Phase 1, a student in the Health and Social Care vocational study pro-
gramme was filmed as she was taking her oral exam. The video-clip was then dis-
tributed to a group of teachers who were asked to score the performance and jus-
tify their decisions. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit the teachers’
understanding of constructs when rating oral performance. On the basis of the
results from the analysis in Phase 1, it was decided to look further into the pronun-
ciation3 and content constructs in Phase 2 and Phase 3 as there turned out to be
noticeable rater variability regarding these two constructs. In Phase 2 another
group of teachers were therefore recruited to watch the same video-clip and to
answer a questionnaire regarding the assessment of pronunciation and intonation.
In addition, semi-structured interviews were used to complement the data collec-
tion. Finally, in Phase 3 verbal protocol analysis (VPA) was used to examine a
third group of teachers’ understanding of the content construct. VPA is a method
in which participants are asked to verbalize their thoughts, or “speak their mind”,
when carrying out a task (Green, 1998). Again, the video-sequence recorded in
Phase 1 was used. In addition to the VPA, semi-structured interviews were used
to collect data about the teachers’ understanding of content. Table 18.1 gives an
overview of the studies in each of the three phases.

3. Here the term pronunciation covers both segmental (i.e. the pronunciation of individual sounds)
and suprasegmental features (such as intonation, stress and rhythm).
382 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

TABLE 18.1. An overview of the three phases of the investigation.

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Research Teachers’ understan- Teachers’ orientations Teachers’ understan-

focus ding of constructs towards aspects of the ding of the content
generally pronunciation and construct
intonation constructs

Data Semi-structured inter- ◗ Semi-structured ◗ Verbal protocols

collection views interviews ◗ Semi-structured inter-
◗ Questionnaire views

Number of 24 interviewees (also ◗ 24 interviewees (also 10 verbal protocol and

participants interviewed in Phase 2) interviewed in Phase 1) interview informants
◗ 46 questionnaire
respondents

Data Qualitative and quanti- Qualitative, using magni- Qualitative, using provi-
analysis tative content analysis tude and provisional sional coding (Miles et
(Galaczi, 2014) coding (Miles et al., al., 2014)
2014), and quantitative,
calculating descriptive
statistics

PARTICIPANTS
The teacher participants in all the three studies (n=80) were fully qualified upper
secondary school teachers of English. They were recruited by means of purposeful
sampling (Creswell, 2013), in order to obtain variation in the samples with regard
to age, gender, first language, teaching experience, county and study programme
affiliation. There were 25 male and 55 female teachers. Some were involved in the
vocational studies programmes only (n=19), some were involved in the general
studies programme only (n=14), and the majority were involved in both pro-
grammes. Most participants had Norwegian as their L1 (n=64). The rest were L1
speakers of English (n=6), Swedish (n=4), Danish (n=1), Finnish (n=1), Manda-
rin (n=1), Romanian (n=1) and Russian (n=1). Their rater experience in the oral
English exam ranged from none to more than six exams.

DATA ANALYSES
The interviews and the verbal protocols were investigated using the computer pro-
gramme QSR NVivo10. Both interview and verbal protocol data were transcribed,
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 383

checked and returned to the participants for respondent validation (Bryman,

2012). The questionnaire data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics.
The data gathered in Phase 1 were analysed using qualitative and quantitative
content analysis (Krippendorf, 2013). Analytical categories were developed from
the teachers’ statements, by means of coding, without any explicit theoretical
framework to support the analysis. In this sense, the analysis was predominantly
inductive. For example, a statement like “And if they can’t [find the word], they
should try to circumvent it, rather than switching into Norwegian” was coded as
“Compensatory strategies”. The qualitative analysis involved an in-depth scrutiny
of teacher statements, and a comparison between different categories and state-
ments, in order to capture the participants’ understanding of the constructs and
their interrelationships. The quantitative analysis meant that the different catego-
ries were subsequently counted in order to give an indication of how prominent
the different constructs were.
In Phase 2 both the questionnaire and the interview data were analysed deduc-
tively in the light of the theoretical framework centred on the concepts of native-
ness and intelligibility. The starting point for the analysis was the question of
whether students need to have a (near-) native accent in order to obtain a top score.
In the research literature the idea of learners trying to approximate native speakers
is sometimes referred to as the “nativeness principle” (Levis, 2005). Historically,
this principle has had a strong position in English language teaching and assess-
ment. However, a competing principle, the “intelligibility principle”, has gained
ground in later years. This principle holds that the aim of pronunciation teaching
and assessment should not be for learners to speak like natives, but rather to make
themselves understood, i.e. to be intelligible.
In order to explore the teachers’ orientations towards nativeness and intelligi-
bility, these concepts were operationalized in different ways in the interviews and
in the questionnaire. In the interviews the following question was asked: “Some
teachers say that a near-native speaker accent is important in order to get a top
score. What is your comment on that?” In the questionnaire, nativeness was oper-
ationalized in three different items and intelligibility was measured with the use
of two items. An example of the former was: “Good ‘native speaker’ accent is
important in order to achieve a top score”, and an example of the latter was: “If it
is difficult to understand what the student says, I will automatically mark him/her
down from a 6 [i.e. the top score]”. In addition, a set of items relating to four spe-
cific pronunciation features which have been found to relate to intelligibility were
also included in the questionnaire. These features were segmentals, i.e. the pro-
nunciation of individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, and intonation. An
384 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

example of an item measuring segmentals was: “The correct pronunciation of

individual sounds is important in order to achieve a top score (for example /
hedeɪk/ and not /hedeɪtʃ/ for ‘headache’; /wɒtʃɪŋ/ and not /wɒʃɪŋ/ for ‘watching’)”.
The responses to all items were given on a five-point Likert scale going from
“Completely disagree” to “Completely agree”.
The questionnaire responses were investigated by using descriptive statistics
such as means and standard deviations in order to find out how the teachers rated
the importance the different pronunciation and intonation constructs. The inter-
view data regarding nativeness were explored through the use of magnitude cod-
ing (Miles, Huberman & Saldãna, 2014). It involved the assignment of coded
teacher statements along a four-point scale going from “not at all” in agreement
with the nativeness principle to “to a large extent” in agreement. The issue of intel-
ligibility in the interview responses were analysed by using provisional coding
(Miles, Huberman & Saldãna, 2014). This entailed the initial establishment of cat-
egories denoting intelligibility, such as “comprehensible speech” and “under-
standing”, followed by a search for teacher statements that matched these catego-
ries.
In Phase 3, conceptualizations from Bloom’s revised taxonomy of educational
objectives (Anderson et al, 2001) were mainly used to analyse the data. In this tax-
onomy content is understood as a two-dimensional construct. It involves a cogni-
tive process dimension and a knowledge dimension. The former refer to students’
cognitive skills or abilities and include the following cognitive aspects: “remem-
ber”, “understand”, “apply”, “analyse”, “evaluate”, and “create”. The latter con-
cerns subject matter and involves “factual”, “conceptual”, “procedural”, and
“metacognitive” knowledge (Kratwohl, 2002). The taxonomy was also found
suitable as the competence aims of the English subject curriculum in Norway to a
large extent reflect this type of thinking. The competence aims typically consist of
verbs denoting the cognitive process dimension and noun phrases representing the
knowledge dimension. The following competence aim at the upper secondary
level (year 1 or 2) illustrates this: “[The student should be able to] discuss and
elaborate on the growth of English as a universal language”. In this competence
aim the cognitive process dimension is realized by the verb phrase “discuss”, and
the knowledge dimension is denoted by the noun phrase “the growth of English as
a universal language”.
Bloom’s revised taxonomy was also found relevant in the sense that the differ-
ent aspects of the cognitive process dimension to some extent reflect a scale of
increasing complexity. In this view, “understand” is a more complex cognitive
process than “remember”, “apply” is more complex than “understand”, and so on.
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 385

Thus seen, the cognitive process dimension can represent an assessment scale
going from lower to higher levels.
The data obtained from the VPAs and the interviews in Phase 3 were then ana-
lysed in two cycles with the use of provisional coding (Miles et al., 2014). In the
first cycle, the statements were coded on the basis of the construct categories
developed in Phase 1, such as “Fluency”, “Grammar”, and “Vocabulary”, as well
as the analytical framework largely built on Bloom’s revised taxonomy. This
framework was used for classifying statements relating to content, where verb
phrases represented the cognitive process dimension and noun phrases denoted
knowledge, or subject matter. An example is the following statement: She didn’t
get the chance to, sort of, talk about the English language as a world language
and an international language. Here the verb phrase “talk about” was classified
as a cognitive process category (cognitive ability), and “English as a world lan-
guage and an international language” was coded as a subject matter aspect. In the
second cycle, all the phrases relating to subject matter were sifted out in order to
examine what kind of knowledge the teachers were concerned with, as this was a
major focus of the third study.

RESULTS
The analyses of interview transcripts in Phase 1 concerning constructs generally
showed that the informants paid attention to a large number of different aspects
when assessing student performance. 38 categories were identified in the analyses
presented in the doctoral thesis, including both main constructs, sub-constructs
and sub-subconstructs. Overall, the results showed that the teachers focused on
two main constructs, namely Communication and Content. Linguistic competence
(belonging to Communication) and Application, analysis, reflection (belonging to
Content) turned out to be the two most significant sub-constructs.
Linguistic competence involved aspects such as grammar, vocabulary and pro-
nunciation, whereas Application, analysis, reflection referred to the ability to
apply knowledge, as well as to be able to analyse and reflect on various issues.
Table 18.2 shows the results from the quantitative content analysis, where the
counts indicate the number of times each category was mentioned. (It is worth
mentioning that many of the sub-constructs listed in the table, such as Linguistic
competence, comprise different sub-subcategories, like for example Vocabulary,
Grammar and Phonology, which are not included in this table.)
386 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

TABLE 18.2. Number of reference counts for the different statements pertaining to
constructs and sub-constructs.

Constructs Criteria Reference

counts

Communica- (General reference to communication) 28

tion
Linguistic competence 240

Compensatory strategies 24

Listening comprehension 21

Take initiative 15

Communicative structure 2

Adapt communication to situation and audience 6

Cohesion 2

Ability to repair 2

Social competence 2

Sum Communication 342

Content (General reference to content) 43

Application, analysis, reflection 44

Comprehension (explain using own words) 30

Knowledge (reproduction) 27

Addressing task or problem statement 26

Elaborated response 15

Content structure 4

Sum Content 189

(Other) Disruptive features 17

Preparation 14

Effort 7

Sum Other 38
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 387

As can be seen in Table 18.2, the teachers mentioned categories related to Com-
munication nearly twice as often as they did categories related to Content (342 as
against 189). Within these two constructs there were 240 teacher statements relat-
ing to the sub-construct Linguistic competence, and 44 statements relating to the
category Application, analysis, reflection. It should be pointed out, however, that
the number of counts does not directly express the strength of correlation between
statements and the significance of a category. Still, it gives an indication of how
important the teachers found the different constructs to be.
Both the quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that there was good cor-
respondence between the individual teachers’ understanding of the main con-
structs, but that there was some more discrepancy regarding the sub-subcon-
structs, particularly pronunciation. In addition, there were indications that the
teachers weighted the content construct differently. The teachers mainly involved
in the general studies programme tended to put more emphasis on content,
whereas the teachers mainly working at the vocational studies programmes were
less concerned with this construct. Beyond this, there was evidence that some
teachers heeded construct-irrelevant performance features. For example, there
were teachers who listed effort and level of preparedness as relevant assessment
criteria. Additionally, it was found that some teachers agreed on which criteria
were to be applied, but disagreed on how performance was to be assessed regard-
ing these criteria. For example, two teachers agreed that fluency was a relevant
criterion. However, one teacher thought that the performance of the student in the
video-clip was “fluent”, whereas another found it to be “fairly choppy”.
The results from the analyses in Phase 2, which looked more closely at the
teachers’ assessment of pronunciation and intonation, indicated that there was
strong agreement on the question of intelligibility, i.e. the students’ ability to make
themselves understood. For instance, 37 of the 46 questionnaire respondents
strongly or completely agreed that students should be graded down from a top
score if it was difficult to understand what they were saying. The analysis of the
interview transcripts supported this finding, as 11 out of 24 informants stressed the
importance of “clear pronunciation” and “comprehensible speech” in their discus-
sion of general criteria.
As for nativeness, or the importance of speaking with a near-native accent, there
was much more variation among the teacher participants. Of the 46 questionnaire
respondents six strongly disagreed that it did matter, seven strongly agreed that it
did, eight moderately disagreed, and 11 moderately agreed. The largest group of
respondents, 13 teachers, neither agreed nor disagreed. Figure 18.1 visualizes the
responses to this item.
388 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

FIGURE 18.1. The distribution of responses to the item: “A strong Norwegian accent
will mark the student down from a top score” (n = 46).

The interview analysis corroborated the findings from the questionnaires. Five
respondents did not at all see nativeness as important, six found it to be of consid-
erable importance, five thought it was of little importance, and five believed it was
of some importance. A statement from a teacher who strongly opposed to using
nativeness as a criterion said:

I don’t kind of expect Norwegian students to be native speakers. I don’t think

it is ethical for the teachers to give a lower grade just because the student hasn’t
got a proper British accent, or an American accent. It is my personal opinion.

However, there were also statements from some of the teachers that displayed an
ambivalent attitude towards nativeness. The following exchange between the
researcher and an informants serves as an example:

Informant: Anyway, I think it is quite o.k. that [the students] don’t speak per-
fect British English or American English, since English has become sort of a
global language. This means that we must accept that pronunciation has been
localized in different parts of the world.
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 389

Researcher: But [...] would you say that it would be important to have a native
speaker accent in order to obtain a 6?

Informant: If you do, that’s the best thing, but if you don’t ... I don’t think it’s
a must.

Here the informant starts by downplaying the relevance of the nativeness princi-
ple. However, when asked specifically about this issue, she admits that native
speaker approximation is preferable, although it is not a “must”.
Finally, in terms of the four phonology features that were included in the ques-
tionnaire, the results revealed that the respondents moderately to strongly agreed
that segmentals, word stress and sentence stress were important. As regards into-
nation, however, the teachers either found this performance aspect less important,
or they were uncertain about whether to assess it. On the five-point Likert scale
measuring responses to this construct in the questionnaire, the results yielded the
average score of M = 3.07.
In Phase 3 the VPA and interview analyses supported the findings from Phase
1 that teachers largely view content as a matter of responding well to the task ques-
tions, as well as to analyse and reflect on subject matter. Thus, they also confirmed
the assumption that Bloom’s revised taxonomy (Anderson et. al., 2001) is a rele-
vant way of understanding content when assessing performance. Regarding what
type of subject matter they viewed as important, the analyses showed that the
teachers had a very general understanding of this issue. This may reflect the fact
that the English subject curriculum does not specify a lot of factual knowledge to
be learnt. Rather, it points to a number of wide-ranging subject matter aspects,
such as “discuss and elaborate on culture and social conditions in several English-
speaking countries”. As one informant put it:

Well, if you look at the English subject curriculum, there is no list of facts that
you have to remember; absolutely not. You don’t have to know that Sydney is
the capital of Australia (sic) in order to pass in English […]. But if you get that
task, you are expected to find some information about Australia.

The analysis furthermore indicated that a consequence of this type of thinking is

that the cognitive process elements, such as to apply, analyse, and evaluate,
become more important than specific subject matter knowledge, since it is unre-
alistic to expect students to remember details from all kinds of potential topics. A
quote from another informant supports this claim:
390 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

I had a student in an oral exam once who didn’t know anything about the Tea
Party [Movement]… and there is nothing [in the curriculum] about the Tea
Party in the U.S. But he had to know something. Exactly what that “some-
thing” is […] isn’t so important. But it has to be something. And what he or
she shows... has to be thoroughly done… and be at a certain level… not just
surface level knowledge.

Another interesting point concerning this quote is the formulation “at a certain
level… and not just surface level knowledge”. This statement supports the
hypothesis that the teachers tend to think in terms of a taxonomy, since the goal is
for students to reach the higher levels in the taxonomy. In other words, a high
score in the exam requires higher-order thinking skills, not just “surface level
knowledge”.
Two final points are worth making concerning Phase 3. First of all, the study to
some extent supported the finding from Phase 1 that teachers at the general studies
programmes place more emphasis on content than do teachers at the vocational
studies programmes. Secondly, the teachers’ understanding of content was fairly
consistent with the content constructs identified in the subject curriculum. How-
ever, one instance of construct-underrepresentation was found. The informants
were hesitant about the assessment of learning strategies, which is clearly defined
as a competence aim in the curriculum. As one informant put it: “No, that is not
to be tested… It is a meta-science”.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTION TO THE DIDACTICS FIELD

Most importantly, the findings in this doctoral dissertation should be discussed
against the backdrop of the study, i.e. the Norwegian assessment context, where
no common rating scales or common rater training existed at the time of the data
collection. In the language testing literature the lack of such assessment aids is
generally thought to be problematic for the validity and reliability of the scores
(Brown, 2012; Fulcher, 2012). However, as I will return to below, there may also
be arguments against the use of too “standardized” assessment procedures, espe-
cially in educational settings where assessment is closely linked to learning.
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 391

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTION: ASPECTS OF SCORE VALIDITY

Overall, the investigation found that the teachers generally understood the main
constructs in the same way. However, there were also examples of construct
underrepresentation and construct-irrelevant variance, which threatened the valid-
ity of the scores. Four areas turned out to be particularly problematic. Firstly, there
was evidence that the teachers in the vocational studies programmes downplayed
the content construct, and in doing so, underrepresented it. This may be due to the
fact that students in these programmes are, on average, at a lower proficiency level
than students in general studies programmes. Therefore, many teachers seem to
prioritize language over content aspects, both when teaching and assessing perfor-
mance, as one teacher in the interview made clear. This suggests that teachers in
the vocational programmes see the English subject as more “language driven”,
whereas teachers in the general studies programmes see it as somewhat more
“content driven” (Met, 1998). Secondly, there were indications that some teachers
paid attention to construct-irrelevant features, such as effort and level of prepar-
edness. According to a government circular, these aspects are not to be considered
in final assessment, such as in oral exams (Norwegian Directorate for Education
and Training, 2010b). Thirdly, there was variability regarding the assessment of
pronunciation, especially related to the question of whether students need to
approximate native speakers in order to achieve a top score. This finding supports
Levis’ (2005) claim that teachers either tend to focus on nativeness or intelligibil-
ity in pronunciation pedagogy (cf. above). Fourthly, there was the problem of
teachers agreeing on the constructs to be assessed, but disagreeing on how perfor-
mance should be scored with regard to these constructs. Whenever teachers say
that, for example, fluency is important, but then fail to agree on what kind of per-
formance is indicative of good fluency, this threatens the validity of the scores.
Finally, the fact that teachers in the general studies programme put more emphasis
on content than do the teachers in the vocational studies programmes is problem-
atic for validity.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION
The main theoretical contribution of this doctoral dissertation relates to its concep-
tualization of the content construct in language assessment. Largely based on
Bloom’s revised taxonomy of educational objectives (Anderson et al., 2001), this
conceptualization first of all sees content as a construct comprising a subject mat-
ter (or what) dimension and a skills (or how) dimension. Due to the nature of the
assessment context, where the subject curriculum for the most part describes sub-
392 HENRIK BØHN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ject matter in very general terms, it was found that teachers end up emphasizing
the cognitive skills dimension since it seems to matter less to the teachers which
topic the student has knowledge of, as long as he or she is able to reflect on that
knowledge. This relates to the theoretical notion of higher-order thinking skills,
which becomes important for students who aim for the highest marks in the exam.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND ASSESSING ENGLISH

The findings from this doctoral study are relevant in the discussion of both how to
teach and how to assess student performance in ELT. Three aspects are particu-
larly salient and were brought to the fore by the author at the time of the publica-
tion of the thesis. Firstly, it was recommended that national rating scale guidelines
and better, more systematic rater training are introduced. As mentioned above,
there are indications that this will allow for improved validity and reliability in
assessment generally. More specifically, it was suggested that rating scale guide-
lines, rather than fixed rating scales, are provided. The reason for this is that fixed
scales may make the teachers focus too strongly on the criteria for assessment
rather than on the competence aims of the subject curriculum when teaching Eng-
lish (see e.g. Throndsen et al., 2009). As for national rater training, the Directorate
for Education and Training could, for example, provide benchmark samples in the
form of videotaped student performances in mock exam situations. Such samples
could then help teacher raters get a common perception of what characterizes per-
formance at the different grade levels.
Secondly, it was recommended that the pronunciation construct needed to be
better defined, both for teaching and assessment purposes. The current subject
curriculum is not clear on this score, referring for example to “patterns of pronun-
ciation” (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2006/2013). Hence, it
needs to be decided whether or not the nativeness principle should have relevance
in assessment. Research suggests that nativeness is of less importance for commu-
nication (Derwing & Munro, 2009), but more research on which features are
important for intelligibility is needed before clear recommendations in this area
can be given.
Thirdly, since many raters in the study were concerned with the assessment of
higher-order thinking skills, such as analysis and reflection, teachers were advised
to allow for the practice of such skills in the classroom. For example, it would
seem efficacious to provide students with tasks that allow for scrutiny, synthesis,
contemplation and evaluation, and working on understanding concepts and the
relation between them (see e.g. Chamot, 2009).
 18 PHD REVISITED: WHAT IS TO BE ASSESSED? 393

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

The starting point for this investigation was the assumption that the lack of rater
training and rating scales in the Norwegian educational system can pose validity
problems in oral English exams. However, validity and the process of validation,
i.e. efforts to make assessment processes and outcomes more valid, continue to be
challenging in all assessment contexts, since there are so many different aspects
that impact the scoring outcomes (O’Sullivan, 2014).
One such challenge concerns the assessment of pronunciation and how, for
example, one can understand the relationship between nativeness and intelligibil-
ity, and related concepts such as “correctness” and “error”. As has been pointed
out in this chapter, teachers struggle to operationalize the pronunciation construct,
which is quite understandable given that the curriculum is so vague on this score.
One obvious topic for further research would therefore be the assessment of into-
nation. Another could be the attitudes towards nativeness and intelligibility at the
lower secondary school level.
Another underresearched area is the relationship between language and content,
and how raters distinguish between these two constructs (cf. Snow & Katz, 2014).
In addition, in the Norwegian context, it would be relevant to look further into how
Norwegian teachers assess English when giving overall achievement marks.
These are also issues related to the validity of assessment outcomes and the quality
of assessment practices in schools.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-20

19
PhD revisited: The professional
development of English
language teachers
Investigating the design and impact of a
national in-service EFL teacher education
course 1
JAMES COBURN
University of South-Eastern Norway

ABSTRACT The PhD study reported here examined the design of a part-time, one-
year, blended-mode in-service English teacher education course and its impact on the
development of thirty-three experienced primary school teachers. While the teachers
became more confident and competent, insufficient opportunities for oral English
practice and teacher collaboration were design weaknesses. The chapter includes a dis-
cussion of implications for English teaching and design of comparable courses, providing
suggestions for future research.

KEYWORDS In-service EFL | young language learners | continuing professional

development (CPD) | primary school teachers

1. The chapter presents the overall results of a doctoral study (Coburn, 2016), focusing specifically
on its practical implications for the teaching of English in Norway. The thesis in its entirety –
with theoretical, methodological and empirical details – can be found here: https://
brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2420139/FINAL%20James%20Coburn%20dis-
sertation.pdf?sequence=4

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
398 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

INTRODUCTION
Different studies (Enever, Moon & Raman, 2009; Garton, Copland, & Burns,
2011) show that steadily increasing numbers of children are introduced to English
at younger ages, and that EFL instruction is often compulsory in today’s primary
education as in Norway. However, in a worldwide study of primary EFL teachers’
qualifications, training and career development, Emery (2012, p. 18) observes that
“[m]any teachers have not been specifically trained to teach English, or to teach
the level that they currently teach. This will impact on children’s learning and may
also lead to teachers feeling stressed in their jobs”. Emery concludes that these
teachers “need specific training to teach this age group”. The PhD project reported
here investigated the professional development of English teachers at primary
school level, and how such development can best be promoted through an in-ser-
vice course. The results are therefore relevant both on the national and interna-
tional level.
In Norway, there has been a shortage of teachers with EFL education in primary
schools for decades. A recent survey by Statistics Norway (Lagerstrøm, Moafi, &
Revold, 2014), showed that approximately 66% of those teaching English at the
1–4 grade level, and 49% of those teaching at the 5–7 grade level, had not been
educated as English teachers. The Norwegian authorities have therefore tried to
increase the formal competence of those teaching English in primary schools
through an in-service teacher education program called “Competence for Quality”
(henceforth: CQ).
The teaching of English at primary school level requires specific skills. Teach-
ers without English teacher education therefore face a number of subject-specific
challenges: The use of English has become far more widespread in Norway since
these teachers studied English at school. Furthermore, since the introduction of the
national communicative curriculum in 2006, English teachers have been expected
to teach English in a different way to that in which the language was taught to the
middle-aged generalist primary school teachers who comprise the majority of the
participants on the CQ courses; there are greater expectations of oral fluency and
a broader grasp of active vocabulary. In addition, the ability to adjust language use
to various contexts and situations has become a cornerstone of communicative
competence.
Teachers who have been accepted for CQ courses have normally continued
working three days a week in their own schools while taking the program, with
paid study two days a week. The teachers have usually had their own English
classes during the year so that they could try out new methods and ideas and
reflect on the results during the year. The objectives of the one-year, two-semester
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 399

courses have been to develop the teachers’ English language knowledge and
skills, and their English teaching competence in relation to the goals of the Nor-
wegian curriculum.
This study investigated the impact of one specific CQ course. On this focus
course, the first semester was mostly theoretical, concentrating on knowledge of
grammar and pronunciation. The second semester focused more on practical
methodological knowledge and skills. Each semester there were three two-day
face-to-face seminars filled with lectures and group work. The online components
consisted of reading through self-study with individual and group tasks, but no
synchronous learning activities. Assessment was through an oral exam at the end
of the first semester and a two-day home written exam at the end of the second
semester.
The objective of the study was to assess the teachers’ development, as indicated
by changes in their cognitions (beliefs, knowledge, thoughts and emotions), con-
fidence, classroom language use, and the changes in the methodological
approaches they employ in their classrooms. The goal was also to investigate the
relationship between the design of the course and its diverse impact on the teach-
ers. In other words, the intention was to try to establish to what extent and in what
ways aspects of the course design were associated with learning outcomes. The
overall research question was therefore:

How does the impact of a Competence for Quality in-service EFL teacher edu-
cation course on teachers’ professional development compare with an analysis
of the design of the course?

THEORY
Opfer and Pedder’s complexity theory model (2011) proposes that any evaluation
of teacher change should take into account the social, cultural and political con-
texts of school organization. According to this model, the effects of professional
development depend on “the individual and school orientations to learning sys-
tems that mediate teacher learning and teacher change”, where “the myriad of ele-
ments within and between these systems poses significant challenges for conduct-
ing causal studies of teacher professional learning” (Opfer & Pedder, 2011, p.
393). Thus, the theoretical approach in this study not only considered the course
design and the impact of the Competence for Quality (CQ) course in relation to
the subject matter content and developmental processes, but also in relation to the
broader educational context.
400 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

The impact of a Competence for Quality (CQ) EFL teacher education course
will depend greatly on how receptive participant teachers are to the ideas and pro-
cesses they encounter on the course. In order for a CQ course for EFL teachers to
have a strong impact, it would need to place emphasis on awakening and develop-
ing teachers’ thoughts and beliefs (cognitions) about teaching by helping partici-
pants to reflect both individually and collectively. Borg (2006a) emphasizes the
pivotal role that cognitions play in influencing change in teachers’ practices (or
the lack thereof).
In addition to managing cognitive change, theory suggests that there is a need
for an increased focus on improving oral fluency and confidence in oral abilities
in EFL education for generalist teachers, in order to meet the demands of modern
communicative curricula. Thus, while the subject-matter content of EFL teacher
education for less specialized teachers “has typically focused on the development
of teachers’ methodological skills, it is increasingly the case (…) that improving
teachers’ language proficiency is the predominant focus” (Borg (2015, p. 548).
Freeman, Katz, Gomez and Burns’ (2015) recently reconceptualized the notion
of subject-matter knowledge for less specialized EFL teachers, with particular ref-
erence to the needs of the increasing numbers of generalist teachers who are being
required to teach English. These authors focused on improving generalist English
teachers’ classroom language, combined with developing their methodological
skills, as the most effective solution to improving their language proficiency,
while simultaneously exposing them to a wide range of activities and methods for
teaching a foreign language.

REVIEW
A number of meta-studies of cross-disciplinary research of professional develop-
ment and in-service training (e.g. Timperley et al,, 2008; Broad & Evans 2006),
as well as smaller-scale overviews of comparable studies within the EFL field
(e.g. Hayes & Chang 2012; Waters & Vilches 2010), had concluded that certain
key factors influence the degree of teacher development resulting from different
professional development activities. These factors can be grouped under three
main headings: First, Contextual and Systemic parameters, second, Ways of Work-
ing and third, EFL Subject-Matter Content. These factors headings are shown in
Table 19.1 where each sub-point is briefly summarized.
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 401

TABLE 19.1. Critical factors in professional development courses impacting teacher

development.

1. CONTEXTUAL and SYSTEMIC PARAMETERS Examples of studies

a. Coherence of course with broader educational initiatives Waters & Vilches, 2010

b. Time frame and number of hours on course Desimone, 2009

c. Motivation among participant teachers Timperley et al., 2008

d. Appropriately qualified teacher educators Hayes & Chang, 2012

2. WAYS of WORKING

a. Credible ways of working with new ideas and practices Postholm, 2012

b. Working at both collective and individual levels Broad & Evans, 2006

c. Ensuring classroom experimental opportunities and feed- Hayes & Chang, 2012
back

d. Active learning, a variety of activities, modelling of Timperley et al. 2008

teaching

3. SUBJECT-MATTER CONTENT

a Development of teachers’ overall English proficiency skills Graves, 2009

b Development of teachers’ methodological repertoire Timperley et al., 2008

Within the third group of factors, subject-matter content, EFL research had sug-
gested that a focus on improving teachers’ overall English language proficiency
(skills and knowledge), together with the development of teachers’ methodologi-
cal repertoire and pedagogical content knowledge, are critical course components
(Graves, 2009; Freeman et al., 2015).
In a wide-ranging review of research into the introduction of communicative
language teaching (CLT) in primary and secondary school contexts generally
involving non-native EFL teachers such as those in Norway, Littlewood (2013,
pp. 7–8) identified a number of challenges for teachers, summarized under two
main headings: First, “excessive demands on teachers’ own language skills”; sec-
ond, challenges related to the need to adapt traditional teacher-fronted approaches
amid “common conceptions that formal learning must involve item-by-item pro-
gression through a syllabus rather than the less observable holistic learning that
occurs in communication” (Littlewood, 2013, p. 7). Other contextual influences
such as resistance from parents or even other teachers may also hinder the success-
ful implementation of a communicative approach (see also Lundberg 2007).
402 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Research into specific challenges connected to in-service foreign language

teacher education for primary school teachers showed that a lack of teacher con-
fidence and oral language proficiency is an obstacle to effective foreign language
teaching (Chambless, 2012). Other researchers had suggested that teachers who
limit instruction mainly to the textbook, relying heavily on translation and cram-
ming, and neglecting the development of oral communicative competence, usu-
ally do so because their own lack of fluency prevents them from “orchestrating
mastery experiences that foster real life communication” (Chacon, 2005, p. 13).
At the time of the PhD, few studies had previously investigated the design and
impact of longer-term in-service EFL training for generalist primary school teach-
ers. An exception was Lundberg’s work (2007) in Sweden. She had documented
that for primary school EFL teachers, the English (L2) input they produce is
important for the development of learners’ oral production. She had also shown
that teachers’ code-switching (between L1 and L2) and overuse of translation
seemed to affect learners’ oral production negatively since they became less
inclined to try to understand spoken English when expecting a translation, and less
able or willing to speak themselves. Lundberg (2007) also noted how the teachers’
lack of language confidence may “rub off” on learners.

METHODOLOGY
The study used various methods in a mixed-methods design in order to investigate
the design of in-service teacher education courses and their impact on partici-
pants’ beliefs and teaching practices. The role of the researcher throughout the
study was solely as an observer, with no teaching responsibilities on the course.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The mixed-methods research design consisted of both parallel (concurrent) and
sequential phases (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009) over a period of two and a half
years. The accumulation of knowledge during the progression of the research con-
tributed to a gradual expansion and development of perspectives (Greene et al.,
1989). Figure 19.1 illustrates the three-phrase progression, with Phase 1 finishing
while the two other phases were still in progress, and Phase 2 finishing while
Phase 3 continued.
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 403

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Å-------------- Phase 1 …………………Æ (Comparison of course designs)

Å--------------------- Phase 2 -------------------Æ (Evaluation of course impact on group cohort)

Å----------------------------------- Phase 3 ……….…………………………..Æ (Case studies)

FIGURE 19.1. Overlapping of Research Phases over Time.

The three phases of the project all concentrated on different aspects of the same
overall theme; that is, a central concern with the design and impact of the selected
CQ course. Phase 1 was qualitative; Phase 2 was mainly quantitative, with sup-
porting complementary qualitative material; Phase 3 was pre-dominantly qualita-
tive, with supporting quantitative data. An overview of the three research phases
is provided in Table 19.2, followed by an explanation and then more detailed
descriptions of the samples, methods, and analyses used in the individual phases.

TABLE 19.2. Overview of the three research phases.

Phase 1: Comparison Phase 2: Evaluation of Phase 3: Case studies

of different course impact on group
designs cohort

Type of Qualitative Quantitative and Quali- Qualitative and Quanti-

method tative tative

Main rese- What characterises the To what extent does the 1. How did the course
arch questi- differences in organisa- in-service training have impact four teachers’
ons tion, pedagogical impact on the beliefs classroom language,
design, evaluation and and knowledge, confi- teaching practices, be-
liefs and confidence?
perceived outcomes of dence, self-reported
2. What was the longer-
two different Compe- classroom language and term impact on the te-
tence for Quality course practices of the achers within their
models vis-à-vis an teachers? school contexts?
independent local-regi-
onal course model?

Sample and Teacher educators, 33 participant teachers Four volunteers from the
participants school and course admi- on a CQ course sample of 33 course par-
nistrators, teachers ticipants
404 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Phase 1: Comparison Phase 2: Evaluation of Phase 3: Case studies

of different course impact on group
designs cohort

Methods 1. Document analysis: 1. Identical pre and 1. Early and late course
of course designs, post-course Likert- classroom observati-
evaluation reports scale questionnaires, ons and recordings
2. Semi-structured in- with four open qu- 2. Sequence of intervi-
terviews with course estions only in the ews during three
designers pre-course question- school visits
3. Field study of local- naire 3. Analysis of teachers’
regional course: in- 2. Teachers’ written re- questionnaire reflecti-
terviews with teacher flections on changes ons and written course
educators, adminis- in their answers to the tasks
trators, teachers questionnaire items

Analysis 1. Analysis of course 1. SPSS analysis of 1. Analysis of transcrip-

design documents changes in teachers’ tions of classroom
and CQ evaluation answers to Likert- language
reports, and of the in- scale items 2. Analysis of transcrip-
terviews with teacher 2. Qualitative analysis tions of interviews,
educators. and content analysis debriefings
2. Theoretical fra- of teachers’ reflecti- 3. Analysis of teachers’
meworks for course ons on their changes reflections and other
design data

Credibility Triangulation of data Validity of quantitative Prolonged engagement,

of methods, sources, member che- data measured through triangulation of diffe-
methodo- cking, open narrative SPSS. Credibility rent data sources, mem-
logy clarifies researcher’s strengthened through ber checking, rich
bias qualitative data in the description
teachers’ reflections

Phase 1 compared the design of the focus course both with another comparable
Competence for Quality (CQ) course’s design within the same national pro-
gramme; and also with the design of an entirely separate, locally organized in-ser-
vice EFL course, organized for the same target group of teachers, but not within
the CQ programme. The methods included document analysis, interviews with
course designers, teachers and educators, and pilot questionnaires.
In Phase 2, statistical analysis was used to assess the significance of changes in
the focus course teachers’ responses to identical pre-course and post-course ques-
tionnaires concerning their beliefs and self-reported practices. The teachers’ own
reflections on changes in their responses formed the qualitative material support-
ing the statistical data.
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 405

Phase 3 consisted of case studies of four teachers, each with early-course, late-
course, and post-course school visits, classroom observations, and recordings of
teachers’ classroom language and interviews. The recordings and interviews were
transcribed, analyzed, and compared with the teachers’ written reflections, result-
ing in both qualitative and quantitative data.

SAMPLES
In Phase 1, three course samples were selected with the aim of comparing the
design of the CQ focus course with the design of another CQ course and with that
of a non-CQ course. The purpose was to compare the design of another CQ course
with the focus CQ course, and then to compare these with a third point of compar-
ison, a local in-service course outside the CQ framework.
In Phase 2, the sample consisted of the 33 teachers who completed the selected
focus CQ course. Of these, 18 taught grade 5–7, while 15 taught grade 1–4. On
average, the teachers had five years of English teaching experience and taught in
mostly rural schools. Phase 3 of the study consisted of case studies of four of the
focus course teachers, who had also participated in the questionnaires and reflec-
tions in Phase 2. These teachers had volunteered and were observed and recorded
teaching in their classrooms. There were two teachers from each grade level (1–4
and 5–7). Three of these teachers had 10–20 years of experience teaching English,
while the fourth had only one year.

METHODS
In Phase 1, the course designs were studied using document analysis, semi-struc-
tured interviews with individual teacher educators (course designers) and with
small focus groups of teacher educators at each of the three institutions where
courses were compared.
Phase 2 of the research investigated changes in the cognitions, confidence, self-
reported language, and teaching practices of the group of primary school teachers
taking the focus CQ course. These were measured quantitatively through changes
in their responses to identical Likert-scale items in pre-course and post-course
questionnaires, and qualitatively through the teachers’ written reflections on the
changes in their responses to the same questionnaire items, and through their
reflections on their answers to open questions, which were also included in the
pre-course questionnaire.
406 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Phase 3 included three visits to each of the teachers’ schools, one early on in the
course, one late in the course, with a final visit 16 months after the course. During
the early-course and late-course visits, the researcher observed and recorded dif-
ferent lessons that were subsequently transcribed. Conversations with the teachers
were recorded before and after lessons, and semi-structured interviews were
recorded when the teachers had more time on each visit.

ANALYSIS
In Phase 1, document analysis started with the evaluation reports (Rasmussen and
Klewe 2012; Gjerustad and Kårstein 2013) of the national CQ courses commis-
sioned by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (NDET). In addi-
tion, unpublished historical documentation providing background for EFL in-ser-
vice education initiatives in Norway before the CQ program started was analyzed.
Finally, interviews with the teacher educators at the three focus institutions were
analyzed. The semi-structured interviews with the different teacher educators
(who were also the course designers) were organized using a template with pre-
pared thematically based questions as a point of departure.
In Phase 2, the statistical material comprising the changes in the teachers’
responses to the 81 Likert-scale questions in the different sections of the question-
naire was analyzed using SPSS (Pallant, 2013). A significance level of 95% was
set. The qualitative material provided by the teachers through their answers to
open questions in the first questionnaire and in their reflections on the changes in
their responses to individual questionnaire items was researched using content
analysis (Dörnyei, 2007).
In Phase 3, notes were taken during class observation using semi-structured
observation forms with categories of activities on one axis and 5-minute time units
on the other. Walsh’s (2011) theoretical classroom model was used to analyze the
classroom interaction patterns. The quantitative data resulting from analysis of the
language in the transcriptions of the recordings was compared with qualitative
analysis of the teachers’ language in the context of the specific lessons. The quan-
titative data was in the form of comparative analysis of the classroom language
used by the teachers in different lessons, early on and late on in the course. Four
methods were used to analyze this language: First, the number of English and Nor-
wegian words in each lesson were counted and compared. Second, lexical varia-
tion was measured using the Giraud Index (the square root of the number of words
divided by the number of word types) to counterbalance the fact that a simple
word token/type division would otherwise give a skewed result because it declines
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 407

with increases in total word use. Third, the average word speed of spoken English
per minute was compared. Fourth, the number of grammatical errors teachers
made, as agreed by two independent expert raters, was compared. The resulting
quantitative material was used to complement analysis of the qualitative observa-
tions and recordings showing how teaching practices and patterns of interaction
changed.

RESULTS
The overall research question was:

How does the impact of a Competence for Quality in-service EFL education
course on participant teachers’ professional development compare with an
analysis of the design of the course?

In answer to this question, the following section presents an integrated analysis of

the results from the three phases of the research, divided under three headings:
Course design, Course impact: changes in beliefs and reported practices, and
Longer-term professional development.

COURSE DESIGN
In the analysis of the different types of course designs (Phase 1), one of the main
strengths of the organizational design of the CQ courses was found to be the pro-
vision of two days a week paid study time over one whole school year, compared
with the almost total lack of such a provision on the local non-CQ course. This
allowed teachers to study English in depth while continuing to teach English in
their own classrooms. These generous conditions meant that teachers could read,
try out ideas, and then reflect over new theoretical conceptions linked to a com-
municative teaching approach.
The three courses compared in Phase 1 all provided school-based learning
opportunities through classroom-based tasks as recommended in the research
field (Hayes & Chang, 2012). The choice of subject matter content for the three
courses differed most in relation to the amount of knowledge about language that
was included. On the local course, the linguistics component was limited and not
well received by the teachers, who much preferred the presentation of new teach-
ing ideas and methods that could be tried out immediately. In contrast, both CQ
courses – especially the focus course – devoted considerable time to teaching
408 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

knowledge about language. However, none of the courses gave teachers the
opportunity for structured practice of their oral English between the course semi-
nars. There were also very limited opportunities for teachers to collaborate on the
CQ courses between seminars.
In the broader educational context, weaknesses in the CQ organizational design
were identified as the individualized course delivery, lack of knowledge-sharing
in home schools, and the lack of contact between the institutions delivering the
courses, the teachers’ home schools, and local municipalities, as well as the lack
of post-course follow-up. The consequences of these weaknesses became clearer
in Phase 3, which focused on the four case study teachers’ home school contexts
– when the course participants returned to their own schools and local teaching
contexts, they faced different challenges since many of their colleagues lacked
EFL teacher education and had not shared the ideas and approaches offered on the
course.

COURSE IMPACT: CHANGES IN BELIEFS AND REPORTED PRACTICES

On the focus CQ course, the SPSS analysis (in Phase 2) showed that the teachers’
feelings of competence in relation to their abilities to help their pupils attain cur-
riculum goals changed significantly in relation to most of the goals for oral com-
munication. The exceptions were for those relating to teaching pronunciation, and
for the teachers of pupils in grades 5–7, the goal of helping their pupils to learn to
“start, maintain and terminate conversations”.
Further evidence of the teachers’ development is implicit in the reported signif-
icant increase in the teachers’ use of pair work for the grades 5–7 group, with the
teachers’ qualitative reflections emphasizing their growing realization of the
importance of activating pupils orally. These changes were connected with the
significant increases in both the teachers’ and pupils’ use of English in the class-
room as reported by the teachers. In addition, the teachers’ feelings of efficacy in
relation to all but one of the written communication goals also changed signifi-
cantly. The exception was the curriculum goal “to use digital tools to find infor-
mation and experiment with creating texts”.
The statistically significant positive changes in the participant teachers’ beliefs
in their abilities to help pupils achieve curriculum goals for oral and written com-
munication (Phase 2) can be linked to a number of factors in the course design and
delivery (Phase 1). As indicated, the generous study provisions and the integration
of course tasks linked to classroom practice are conducive to teacher develop-
ment. In addition, the role of the experienced teacher educator responsible for
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 409

methodology must be especially credited. Her systematic efforts to raise teachers’

awareness of their own beliefs helped to deepen their understanding as they tried
out a wide range of new ideas, practices and resources. This integration of practi-
cal ideas backed by simple but powerful explanation (i.e. theory) helped to grad-
ually convince teachers of the increased effectiveness of a more varied and com-
municative approach to teaching.
There were some differences in the results between the 1–4 and 5–7 grade
teachers (phase 2). The 1–4 grade teachers beliefs about their ability to help their
pupils achieve curriculum goals for language learning strategies and for develop-
ing knowledge about English speaking countries’ literature and culture changed
significantly, while the 5–7 grade teachers did not experience significant change
in these areas. However, both the 1–4 and 5–7 grade teachers reported using sig-
nificantly less correction.
With regard to the teachers’ self-reported classroom language use, both the 1–
4 and 5–7 grade groups reported that significantly more English was used in all
areas, but especially when explaining vocabulary and grammar, for creating a
good class atmosphere, and for assessing learners. In the qualitative feedback con-
sisting of the teachers’ reflections about changes in their answers to the identical
pre-course and early course questionnaire, it was clear that teachers were using
less translation and becoming more confident in their oral language abilities. The
results for the questionnaire section concerning teachers’ confidence in their oral
proficiency also showed a positive significant change, except for some hesitation
due to uncertainty about grammar. Furthermore, the move towards less textbook
dependence, more varied activities, more active pupils, and the use of a wider
range of teaching materials all provide evidence of significant development.

LONGER-TERM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

These findings were corroborated by the case study evidence and analysis (Phase
3), which showed that all of the four case study teachers began to use a more var-
ied repertoire of methods and materials. In developing a more communicative
approach, these four teachers spoke more English and their classroom language
became less controlled and more spontaneous and interactive. Their word varia-
tion increased a little, while their frequency of errors remained the same or
increased, probably as a result of the faster and more spontaneous teacher talk and
more interactive teaching methods. The significant increases in the amount of
English that teachers reported using in their classrooms (Phase 2), together with
the reduction in the use of translation, backed by the weight of evidence from the
410 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

observation and measurement in the case studies (Phase 3), are also clear signs of
the effectiveness of the course.
Nonetheless, the longer-term evidence from the case studies (Phase 3) also sug-
gested that there were a number of factors working against the sustainability of
some of these gains in professional development. While three of the four teachers’
confidence as English teachers increased, the confidence of three teachers as oral
role models was judged to have decreased or remained the same. Therefore, the
longitudinal case study evidence from the four teachers’ home contexts indicated
that even though teachers’ confidence in their oral proficiency and methodologi-
cal competence had developed during the course, there were signs that the
momentum provided by the course input was slowing down. For example, the lack
of regular opportunities outside English lessons to practice speaking English
seemed to erode three of the four case study teachers’ oral confidence over time.
In fact, as shown in Phase 1, the lack of emphasis on practicing oral English
between course seminars was identified as a serious weakness of the course
design, implying the need for a more targeted concentration on the development
of oral proficiency in the design of future courses. In Phase 2, the lack of signif-
icant change in the entire cohort of teachers’ feelings of competence with regard
to teaching pronunciation, as well as the lack of significant change in relation to
hesitancy and grammatical errors, can both be related to low confidence in their
oral proficiency. Furthermore, in the case studies in Phase 3, both the teachers’
fears of making mistakes, as well as their actual mistakes, undermined their con-
fidence.

DISCUSSION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENGLISH DIDACTICS FIELD

This mixed-methods study examined the professional development of a group of
experienced primary school teachers who had previously taught English without
any EFL teacher education. The study compared the course design and course
impact on the teachers. Although the results were generally positive, the research
findings raise questions as to what the subject-matter content of in-service EFL
teacher education courses for generalist primary school teachers should com-
prise, how such course programs should be organized and implemented, and to
what extent the impact of the courses are sustainable. The results gave clear indi-
cations of the areas in which participants faced the greatest challenges. The fol-
lowing discussion therefore focuses on these areas and related challenges for
course design.
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 411

EMPIRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: THE SUSTAINABILITY OF GAINS IN ORAL

FLUENCY AND CONFIDENCE
In the long-term, maintaining language proficiency is a challenge for generalist
language teachers (Valmori & De Costa, 2014; Richards, Conway, Roskvist, &
Harvey, 2013). This is important because increased fluency can have benefits for
increasing the flexibility of the language teacher’s classroom practices (Richards
2007). Problems with fluency and oral confidence in the classroom can therefore
also affect teaching in other ways, leading, for example, to less experimentation
and creativity and greater dependence on textbooks.
While the course generally strengthened teachers’ language awareness and con-
fidence in their oral proficiency, and helped them to try out new, more commu-
nicative teaching approaches, the longitudinal case study results in Phase 3 cast
considerable doubt on the sustainability of the teachers’ gains in oral confidence.
In the post-course interviews 16 months after the end of the course, three of the
four teachers mentioned having difficulties in maintaining their proficiency due to
lack of opportunities to practice speaking English.
While the first part of the focus course concentrated on raising the teachers’ lan-
guage awareness (Language in Use), and Module 2 concentrated on teaching
methodology (Teaching and Learning English), neither module included interac-
tive oral language practice outside of the seminars. The research results indicated
that there was no significant change in teachers’ confidence in their ability to
speak without hesitation due to grammatical errors, while the case study results in
Phase 3 showed no decrease in teachers’ grammatical errors. Furthermore, ques-
tionnaire results showed that the teaching of pronunciation was the one area where
both the 1–4 and 5–7 grade teachers’ beliefs in their own competence to help their
pupils achieve curriculum goals did not change significantly. These results may
also indicate that there is a need for a greater concentration on how to teach gram-
mar and pronunciation (pedagogical content knowledge) as opposed to the more
theoretical linguistic component that comprised the first part of the course. A more
concentrated focus on the development of teachers’ language proficiency should
help to strengthen teachers’ confidence in exemplifying and modeling the lan-
guage when, for example, teaching pronunciation and grammar.
Although the longitudinal results were based on a small number of observations
and case studies, the research raised questions about how sustainable the gains in
oral proficiency and confidence were; it also showed that the course design and
CQ program lack measures which can contribute to sustaining professional devel-
opment in the long run. The research overview by Timperley et al. (2008, p.219)
shows that sustainability resulting from professional development courses
412 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

depends on a number of factors including “ongoing opportunities for teachers to

deepen relevant knowledge and skills and to work and learn collaboratively with
colleagues”. The research results in this study showed that teachers on the CQ
course had very few opportunities for systematic collaboration on the course, with
no synchronous online communication course-based components between semi-
nars. Neither was there any systematic cooperation with home school or home
area English teachers.
The individualized course design and lack of planned collaboration on the CQ
courses mitigate against sustainability, especially given the lack of post-course
follow-up. Indeed, in Phase 2, one of the questionnaire results showed that only
one of the 33 course participants was part of an English teacher network. This is
a problem threatening the long-term credibility of the course program since teach-
ers cannot develop in isolation. Indeed, Broad (2015) argues in a recent study of
teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) that:

[t]he most significant barrier to engagement with beneficial and meaningful

CPD is the result of teachers operating in impoverished and limited teacher/
CPD networks. These impoverished networks do not offer teachers the oppor-
tunity to forge links with similar subject-specialist teachers, leaving them to
develop subject and occupational expertise in isolation (Broad, 2015, p. 16)

Despite the lack of follow-up or participation in English teacher networks, most

of the teachers on the CQ course may still have learned sufficient skills for inquiry
and gained sufficient knowledge, skills and momentum to be able to continue
developing, albeit sometimes in relative isolation, if they can find sufficient time
to seek out new impulses and resources.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The study started with a broad comparison of course designs focusing on the con-
textual dimension, before the focus was narrowed down to one course group as a
whole, finally culminating in a longitudinal study assessing aspects of the impact
of the course on individual teachers in their local contexts. By combining the use
of mixed methods and a longitudinal design, the three-phase design succeeded in
covering a wide field in depth. As such, the study design and research progression
can be considered as a contribution to knowledge – the model showing how a sin-
gle researcher can shed light on a broad research area while taking into account
context, before focusing on a course cohort group and then individual participants.
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 413

The overall mixed-methods approach, especially in the second phase, allowed

insights to emerge that would otherwise have remained hidden. For example, the
quantitative data indicated that the amount of translation used by the teachers had
reduced significantly. One of the reasons given for this by a teacher was that she
was now able to justify not translating when confronted by parents who expected
that teachers should always translate words in class in case one pupil did not
understand. This is an important finding in relation to, for example, the problems
that Lundberg’s (2007) research showed that teachers face in conservative local
cultures. In the case of the PhD study reported here, the mix of data allowed a
greater depth of understanding. Nonetheless, the study had methodological limi-
tations which meant that direct causal claims of the impact of different aspects of
course design on teacher development must be treated with caution.

THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Simon Borg (2015), who has been in the forefront of the research development in
teacher cognition within language teacher education, argues that much of the
increasing amount of research into teacher cognition (e.g. Fives & Gill, 2014) has
unnaturally separated teachers’ beliefs and their classroom practices. In the
research project discussed here, however, there was a deliberate focus on integrat-
ing the study of teachers’ professional development with the analysis of changes
in teachers’ classroom language, practices, confidence, and cognitions. In other
words, teachers’ beliefs were not isolated from their language use and teaching
practices. This holistic focus resulted in the combined breadth and depth of the
overall findings in this study.
The study also provides examples of the complexity of theorizing teacher devel-
opment since some cognitive and affective processes do not necessarily progress
in a coherent fashion. For example, one case study teacher reflected that her con-
fidence in her own oral English did not increase during the course due to her
becoming more aware of her own limitations. Yet, the same teacher answered that
she now found it easier to help her pupils achieve curriculum goals because, as she
said (original language): “I become more certain about myself”. In the same sen-
tence, she reflected: “that surprise me really because I feel more unsure now than
I did in the beginning, but when I think about it I become happy”. This illustrates
how the research sometimes resulted in the emergence of a fuller picture of the
complexity of developmental processes.
414 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGLISH TEACHING

As documented in the introduction, a high proportion of those who teach English
to children in Norway have no specific EFL teacher education. The research in this
study indicates that many of these teachers are likely to be strongly lacking in con-
fidence in their oral proficiency and in the range of their teaching methods. The
implications are therefore that there is a specific need for the CQ courses to focus
on developing these teachers’ oral language skills while broadening their method-
ological repertoire. The results suggest that future CQ courses should more fully
utilize the spaces between face-to-face seminars by organizing regular (weekly)
conversations between teachers in English, with the support of teacher educators,
in order to discuss the implementation of classroom-based tasks as new input and
theory is tested out in class, in line with research recommendations (e.g. Hayes &
Chang 2012). In this way, not only will course participants practice oral English,
but this form of teacher collaboration, supported by teacher educators, will also
allow teachers to regularly reflect on and learn from others’ experiences as well
as to pick up new ideas and resources, as recommended by theory and research
into teacher development (Broad and Evans, 2006, Timperley et al.2008).
In terms of classroom changes and improvements, the results suggest that CQ
course participants will solidify their English subject knowledge base and expand
their English language teaching repertoire. Nonetheless, the study also implies
that many teachers will remain lacking in confidence in their own oral English.
This is likely to hamper their ability to teach oral fluency, including pronunciation
and intonation, in a sufficiently playful or creative manner to ensure that they are
able to instill a lasting love of English language learning in their pupils during the
vital early years. This is a serious limitation because the nurturing of such an
enthusiastic appreciation of the language can help to create a strong longer-term
motivational foundation in young learners. Such an affective development can in
turn function as an effective buffer when pupils grow older and face the more
stringent demands and cognitive challenges of more complex language learning.
If pupils have learned to love English, they may, for example, be more receptive
to the teaching of language accuracy and grammar in secondary school.
In terms of the overall organizational design of the CQ courses, the implications
of the research results are that there is a need to re-organize the CQ courses, turn-
ing “the development of competence into a collective responsibility rather than
simply a private privilege for individual teachers” (Hagen & Nyen, p. 168). The
national program could be substantially devolved to the regional and local levels
so that schools and municipalities can assume co-responsibility for collective
development, including the creation of English subject teacher networks, in col-
 19 PHD REVISITED: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS 415

laboration with the universities and colleges delivering the CQ courses. This could
potentially lead to the kind of ideal solution identified by the Early Language
Learning in English (ELLiE) research project: “When a top-down process is com-
bined with a supportive bottom-up school and home environment, the ideal con-
ditions for sustainability are much more likely to be encountered” (Enever, 2011,
p. 25).

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

The results suggest the need for two main areas of research focus, first in relation
to changes in subject matter content, course organization, and implementation;
and second, but equally important, in relation to longer-term impact and follow-
up. Given the expense and dimensions that the CQ in-service EFL (1–7) teacher
education programme is now assuming in Norway, it is essential to evaluate how
it can become more effective. Such research needs to adopt a multi-dimensional
perspective, including using a longitudinal approach, and different research meth-
ods, both qualitative and quantitative.
The effect of the introduction of a sustained focus on oral proficiency as the
main course subject matter integrated with English teaching methodology should
be investigated. Such research would depend on the implementation of obligatory
participation in regular online English conversation between seminars. These
classes would consist of discussion and reflection on classroom-based tasks, sup-
ported by teacher educators. The research would attempt to measure the impact of
the course on oral proficiency and confidence. The former would require the con-
ception and use of a specific research tool to measure the development of teachers’
oral proficiency at different points in time. Another important aspect of this
research would be to try to establish more clearly how and in what ways the devel-
opment of oral proficiency and English teachers’ methodological repertoire are
connected.
Second, a longer-term research project is needed to assess the effectiveness of
developing English subject teacher networks to improve the post-course impact of
the CQ courses. This could take the form of action research, designed to find opti-
mal solutions for developing thriving local or regional communities of English
primary school teachers.
416 JAMES COBURN | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-21

20
State of the art: English
didactics in Norway
ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK
University of Oslo

INTRODUCTION
This chapter is our effort to synthesise the status of knowledge within what we will
call “the field of English didactics in Norway”. We have examined 30 years of
doctoral work in Norway, building our synthesis on accumulated analyses of pol-
icies related to the English subject since 1885 and practices of teaching and learn-
ing English since 1988, thus capturing the major trends related to English in Nor-
wegian school. This body of doctoral research includes analyses of teachers,
student teachers, students, and documents – mostly in the Norwegian context of
teaching and learning English in school and in teacher education, but also compar-
ative analyses with users of English outside Norway.
By presenting accumulated knowledge developed from this doctoral work and
discussing how this research has formed the distinctiveness of English didactics
as a separate research field in Norway, we bring to light issues that traverse indi-
vidual studies and that can inform English teaching practices and curriculum
development. Finally, by presenting a synthesis of what we now know from the
past 30 years of doctoral research related to the teaching and learning of English
in the Norwegian educational context, we are also in a position to discuss what we
do not know, and suggest directions for a research agenda for the coming decades
of English didactics research.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
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 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 419

DEMARCATING THE FIELD OF ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

English didactics has existed as a component of teacher education programmes in
Norway from the 1970s (Gundem, 2008), and developed as an academic disci-
pline in higher education institutions from the 1980s – the same decade as the first
doctoral theses in the field. Since then, English didactics has developed as an
autonomous field of research, with doctoral work, MA theses, and a vast number
of studies conducted by researchers within the field every year. We use the term
“English didactics” in the same sense as the Norwegian term “Engelsk fagdidak-
tikk”, i.e. referring to the field of study related to the teaching (and learning) of
English, including theory and practical applications (Gundem, 2008; Simensen,
2018). English didactics is an applied discipline, and as such it is relevant for both
research and practice (Gundem, 2008). The main characteristic of English didactic
research in Norway is thus that it contributes knowledge that is useful for the
teaching of English in Norway.
In English-speaking countries, the term “didactics” has traditionally been asso-
ciated with an authoritative teaching style and moral education, and has thus been
less widely used (Hamilton, 1999; Gundem, 2008). However, the negative associ-
ations to the term “didactics” seem to have receded somewhat, and irrespective of
such associations, the term has long been widely used in the Nordic countries as
well as in continental Europe. Although few authors in this edited volume have
used the term English didactics in their discussions of their own research – per-
haps due to previous negative associations or in order to associate with existing
discourses – we choose to use the term here and elsewhere. We believe a common
denomination will strengthen the impression of English didactics as that of an
autonomous field of research. Furthermore, English didactics is already common-
place in higher education, particularly in teacher education, and defining our
research as precisely that demonstrates its relevance in this context.
The theory of what is relevant for English teaching is often related to beliefs
about what language is and, consequently, how languages are best learnt (Jaspers,
2010; Rindal, 2014; Simensen, 2018). Such beliefs are often developed in other
academic disciplines such as linguistics, sociolinguistics, psychology and psycho-
linguistics (what Simensen, 1988, refers to as parent disciplines). Since such
beliefs develop over time, so does the theory and research that informs English
teaching practices, which makes it interesting to see how the thematic focus and
perspectives have developed over the course of 30 years of doctoral research.
While this chapter attempts to synthesise the knowledge that we have gained access
to throughout these 30 years in order to position the state of the art of English didac-
tics today, the field will naturally continue to develop in the years to come.
420 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

English didactic research in Norway continues to draw on theory related to lan-

guage learning, language development and language use from various academic
disciplines, applying these in investigations related to English as a school subject.
Several of the authors who have revisited their doctoral research in this edited vol-
ume emphasise that their study is interdisciplinary – that they combine theory and
perspectives from different academic fields in order to handle their objects of
inquiry. Interdisciplinarity, it seems, is a characteristic of English didactic
research. Still, in 30 years of doctoral research an understanding of English didac-
tics in Norway has developed as an academic field in its own right, which we
believe becomes apparent in this edited volume.

THE SCOPE OF INQUIRY IN ENGLISH DIDACTICS RESEARCH

Providing an overview of the English didactics field in Norway, Figure 20.1 illus-
trates how the doctoral research in this field has grown steadily over the past 30
years. Whereas there were only three studies in the first decade (1988–1997), four
were written in the second (1998–2007), and twelve in the third (2008–2017),
with 2016 as the peak year.

FIGURE 20.1. Doctoral research in English didactics over 30 years (totalling the 19
doctoral theses revisited in this volume).

In these 30 years, three participant groups – teachers, students, and student teach-
ers – have each had their turn as the leading scope of inquiry within English didac-
tics. Since the late 1990s, students have been the primary object of this research,
both as the sole object of analysis (Dahl, 2014; Hellekjær, 2005; Larsen, 2009;
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 421

Rindal, 2013; Wold, 2017), in the interface between students and teachers (Brevik,
2015; Burner, 2016; Horverak, 2016; A. Lund, 2003; Stuvland, 2016), and
between students and student teachers (Wiland, 2007). These doctoral studies
have developed knowledge about how primary and secondary school students
develop as English speakers, listeners, readers, and writers, both individually and
collaboratively. Furthermore, addressing a dual object of inquiry, the latter groups
of studies have produced knowledge about students’ and student teachers’ com-
parative experiences in English, as well as students’ and teachers’ comparative
views on processes of teaching and learning in the English classroom.
A second scope of inquiry in English didactics research is, of course, the teacher,
who somewhat surprisingly did not occur as an object of this research until the
2000s (A. Lund, 2003). Then, it took almost ten years until what seems to have been
a more general shift within the English didactics field towards studying the teaching
of English, both inside the English classroom, and in the context of English teachers’
professional development (Brevik, 2015; Burner, 2016; Bøhn, 2016; Coburn, 2016;
Horverak, 2016). Together, these doctoral studies have addressed the perspectives
of teachers and teaching in primary and secondary school.
A third, and less frequently chosen scope of inquiry concerns student teachers,
who appeared on the English didactics scene in Norway in the late 1990s (Drew,
1997), then reappeared ten years later (Wiland, 2007), followed by Munden
(2010), and most recently Røkenes (2016). Given that student teachers generally
have limited experiences with teaching, it follows that researching student teach-
ers’ learning is of relevance, both in and outside the teacher education context and
teaching practices. These four doctoral studies offer insights into student teachers’
competencies relevant to the teaching and learning of English, including compar-
ison of their learning with that of other student teachers and students of English as
a first and second language.
This triad of student, teacher, and student teacher illustrates three of the primary
objects of inquiry in English didactics research. Nonetheless, some researchers (R.
Lund, 2007; Simensen, 1988; Skulstad, 1997) have added a fourth object of
inquiry – documents (i.e. national English curricula, textbooks, and corporate
reports) – that were prominent in shaping the English didactics field in the 1980s,
1990s and 2000s. These studies showed that it matters, for example, whether one
is teaching English as prescribed in the audio-lingually inspired curriculum of
1974 (M74; Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 1974) or as sug-
gested in the communicative competence-based curriculum of 1997 (L97; Norwe-
gian Ministry of Education and Research, 1996), and argued the importance of
developing English learners’ awareness of genre and context.
422 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Among the revisited doctoral studies in this volume, several study more than
one educational context. Most educational levels are studied equally often,
although upper secondary school (n = 8) slightly more often, followed by primary
school (n = 6), lower secondary school (n = 5), and higher and teacher education
(n = 5). However, few of these studies (n = 3) include vocational study pro-
grammes. Skulstad (2019) showed how English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
courses were often referred to as vocationally oriented courses, and in chapter 2
she emphasises how students may benefit from reading and producing material in
English in “genres within a central professional domain related to their vocational
studies” (p. 54). In line with this view, Brevik (2015) showed how vocational stu-
dents emphasised the importance of personal interest in texts to develop reading
comprehension. In contrast, however, Bøhn (2016) revealed that in the assessment
of oral competence, teachers in vocational studies programmes put less emphasis
on content in the oral exam situation than teachers in the general studies pro-
grammes did.
With the research that has been done over the past 30 years in mind, the revis-
ited doctoral research has suggested that we need to do more research on all these
objects of inquiry – students, teachers, student teachers, and documents – prefer-
ably on the interaction between these perspectives, participants or elements.
Moreover, the comparatively few studies on vocational students indicate a par-
ticular need to study this level and educational context.

RESEARCH DESIGN IN ENGLISH DIDACTICS

Internationally, most research uses a quantitative research design. A seminal
review by Alise and Teddlie (2010) documents that among 600 publications in 20
renowned international journals; the clear majority was quantitative (70%), with
qualitative used second most frequently (19%), followed by mixed methods
(11%). The review showed the same to be true within the field of education, with
the majority of studies being quantitative (42%), followed by qualitative (34%),
and mixed methods (24%). This situation is, however, not the case among the doc-
toral studies in English didactics covered in this volume, in which mixed methods
is the dominant research design, and on which we elaborate below.
Experts have defined mixed-methods research in many different ways (John-
son, Onwuegbuzie, & Turner, 2007). There is agreement, however, that mixed-
methods research involves an integration of qualitative and quantitative methods:
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 423

The investigator gathers both quantitative (closed-ended) and qualitative

(open-ended) data, integrates the two, and then draws interpretations based on
the combined strengths of both sets of data to understand research problems.
(Creswell, 2015, p. 2, our emphasis)

Reviews further show that mixed-methods research is more likely to be used in

applied disciplines, such as education, that value multiple perceptions (for exam-
ple, from teachers, student teachers, and students), compared to more theoretically
driven fields of research (Creamer, 2016). It might, therefore, not be all that sur-
prising to find several mixed methods studies among the doctoral studies in Eng-
lish didactics in Norway. It is however, surprising to see the distribution, with a
clear majority (74%) being labelled either as mixed-methods research (Brevik,
2015; Burner, 2016; Coburn, 2016; Horverak, 2016; Larsen, 2009; A. Lund, 2003;
Rindal, 2013; Røkenes, 2016; Stuvland, 2016) or as a combination of qualitative
and quantitative methods (Bøhn, 2016; Drew, 1997; R. Lund, 2007; Simensen,
1988; Wold, 2017). An additional few (16%) are framed as qualitative (Munden,
2010; Skulstad, 1997; Wiland, 2007), with fewest (10%) described as quantitative
(Dahl, 2014; Hellekjær, 2005). The field of English didactics thus emerges as an
applied field of research that mainly comprises mixed-methods research. This pat-
tern emerges not only on the basis of the frequency of mixed-methods designs, but
also on the chronological development, as all doctoral studies in English didactics
since 2013 used mixed methods, except one.
Greene (2007) coined the expression “mixed methods way of thinking”, empha-
sising how the qualitative and quantitative components are brought together spe-
cifically to represent multiple perspectives:

A mixed methods way of thinking aspires to better understand complex social

phenomenon by intentionally including multiple ways of knowing and valuing
and by respectfully valuing differences. (Greene, 2007, p. 17)

The doctoral studies in this volume have reflected the multiple ways of knowing
in Greene’s (2007) way of thinking. They all combined more than one type of data,
data from more than one set of documents, data from more than one group of par-
ticipants, or from different contexts. Indeed, the most common forms of data were
self-reports, capturing the voices, opinions, and experiences of students, teachers,
and student teachers through interviews, focus groups, surveys, narratives, and
written responses to literature. In addition, more objective data sources were col-
lected, such as documents, test results, and researcher field notes from in situ
observations; contributing to the contextualisation of the participant voices.
424 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

We now turn from general scope and design to discuss various thematic trends
in the field. By reviewing the 19 doctoral studies revisited in this volume, we have
carefully examined the main themes of these contributions, as reflected in the top-
ical sections. In addition to these main themes, each chapter has contributed with
insights into other English didactic themes that run across several chapters. While
we first present the main themes as presented in this volume, we then raise two of
the cross-sectional themes towards the end of the chapter, based on their signifi-
cance for the English school subject; specifically, assessment in English, and the
status of English for students in Norwegian classrooms.

READING IN ENGLISH
Throughout the 30 years of doctoral research covered in this volume, encounters
with texts in English have been highlighted across genres and contexts and with
readers of all ages. One study examined the policies of graded readers in the 1980s
(Simensen, 1988), another addressed students’ reading proficiency (Hellekjær,
2005), and two quite recent ones observed students and teachers in the English
classroom; including their perspectives on reading comprehension instruction and
strategy use (Brevik, 2015; Stuvland, 2016). Two additional studies related to cul-
ture and literature also dealt with reading to a considerable extent (Munden, 2010;
Wiland, 2007). They examined students’ and student teachers’ cultural and aes-
thetic experiences with literature, providing valuable information about different
ways of approaching texts. Together, these six studies emphasised the importance
of carefully considering which texts to offer to students, and the activities and
strategies inherent in textual encounters in English.
Two studies analysed reading material, with Simensen (1988) analysing criteria
for publishing adapted readers, and Stuvland (2016) observing such material in
use in the primary classroom. Both questioned the rationale for using adapted
readers for differentiation purposes, and both found these to offer students lan-
guage on their levels. In chapter 1, Simensen argues that it should be the teacher’s
responsibility to choose reading material based on student needs. However, Stuv-
land (2016) found that teachers did not often use the differentiated texts based on
students’ reading proficiency and comprehension. In chapter 11, Stuvland argues
that reading materials should be selected to meet two functions: graded readers
appropriate to students’ reading level can be used for practising reading skills and
reading comprehension strategies, and other types of texts characterised by the
communicative value of content can be used to foster a love of reading and liter-
ature.
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 425

Hellekjær (2005) and Brevik (2015) used standardised reading tests to identify
English reading proficiency among students in Norwegian upper secondary
school. Hellekjær (2005) used an international English reading test, and expressed
concern since only a third of the students in regular English classes seemed to have
the required English reading proficiency to be accepted into universities abroad.
A decade later, Brevik (2015) used a national mapping test and compared stu-
dents’ reading proficiency in Norwegian and English. She found that a small
group of students read significantly better in English than in Norwegian, and that
most students read almost equally well in English as they did in Norwegian. A
final pattern arose in the two classroom observation studies (Brevik, 2015; Stuv-
land, 2016). Both observed the importance of offering a variety of authentic texts
to students, capturing their experiences of the literature. In chapter 11, Stuvland
states that primary school extensive reading, where students read for pleasure and
for longer periods of time, is a strength for developing reading comprehension,
while both Brevik (chapter 10) and Hellekjær (chapter 9) argue for the importance
of allowing upper secondary students to choose challenging texts that they are
interested in, and relating these to personal purposes for reading in English.
The studies suggest a need to distinguish clearly between reading proficiency
(as measured in reading tests), reading comprehension (extracting and construct-
ing meaning from text), and reading experience (affective involvement in texts) as
different facets of reading in English. When readers fail to demonstrate reading
proficiency, it is important to recognise this as one aspect of students’ reading
skills only, not necessarily a lack of reading skills as such. Answering questions
about a text, paraphrasing or summarizing key content, using textual information
to apply to a new situation, or just enjoying the flow of a narrative, are very dif-
ferent reading activities. These studies showed that when readers failed to com-
prehend, using reading comprehension strategies might allow them to make the
connections required to extract and construct meaning (Brevik, 2015; Stuvland,
2016). These are relevant issues to include in English didactics courses related to
the teaching and assessment of reading English.

ENGLISH WRITING
The five doctoral studies on English writing were written almost 20 years apart,
with two studies in the late 1990s (Drew, 1997; Skulstad, 1997) and three in recent
years (Burner, 2016; Horverak, 2016; Wold, 2017). The studies represented
aspects of rhetorical organisation (Skulstad, 1997) and analyses of written-lan-
guage form (Drew, 1997; Wold, 2017). Furthermore, the studies addressed stu-
426 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

dents’ writing development in the English classroom as supported by the teacher’s

instruction and formative assessment of writing (Burner, 2016; Horverak, 2016).
In addition to these five studies, another study related mainly to culture and liter-
ature also concerned English writing (Larsen, 2009) because the author examined
the content of students’ written narratives and offered insights into the narrative
preferences of lower secondary school students. Overall, the studies demonstrated
the importance of giving students opportunities to write frequently, in different
genres, and over several drafts.
The two earliest studies focused on characteristics of various written text gen-
res; Skulstad (1997) analysed business reports, specifically in terms of their mul-
timodal and textual aspects, and found these of special relevance for vocational
students and ESP courses. In chapter 2, she suggests that genres be taught explic-
itly, particularly those relevant for vocational studies, at the same time warning
against teaching genres mechanistically or instrumentally. Drew (1997) analysed
student teachers’ perceived ability to teach various genres, and found that they
considered themselves most competent to teach written descriptions, letters, notes
and narratives. Both authors argue in this volume (chs. 2 and 3, respectively) for
the importance of providing opportunities for students and student teachers of
English to practise reading and writing numerous genres.
A second focus in Drew’s (1997) study concerned the analysis of student texts
using a text corpus, similar to what Wold (2017) did 20 years later. Both analysed
language forms in narratives, while Drew (1997) also analysed forms in literary
appreciation texts. The texts were written by learners at various educational lev-
els: primary and secondary school (Wold, 2017) as well as college and university
(Drew, 1997). In chapter 6, Wold argues that students overuse the progressive –
ing, and that –ing forms are used as tense forms, which she suggests should be
investigated in further research.
In contrast to these studies on texts as finished products of English writing,
two studies focused on the process of writing over time in the English class-
room, in lower secondary (Burner, 2016) and in upper secondary school (Hor-
verak, 2016). Both studies examined various voices and perspectives, combin-
ing student and/or teacher interviews and questionnaires with classroom
observation over time. Furthermore, both studies observed how students’ texts
developed on the basis of feedback from the English teacher or from peers.
While Burner (2016) studied the use of portfolios as a tool for formative assess-
ment during the writing process, Horverak (2016) placed such formative assess-
ment within a linguistic and genre-pedagogic framing. Both conclude in this
volume (chs. 5 and 6) by advocating the need for a more frequent and transpar-
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 427

ent focus on the writing process, including formative assessment procedures, in

the English classroom.
Based on these studies, it seems future research could benefit from an enhanced
focus on the content of writing and the link between students’ reading and writing,
and particularly on how their preferences for texts and genres influence their own
writing. This would be of interest not only to assess their writing competence as
such, but also their development as English writers.

CULTURE AND LITERATURE

The doctoral theses that have studied culture and literature clearly reflect how cul-
ture is intertwined with language and literature, which is also why they are com-
bined in the same section in this volume, as well as often treated together in the Eng-
lish compulsory school subject. Munden (2010) showed how students’ cultural
backgrounds affected their reading experiences of literary texts, and Larsen (2009)
demonstrated how cultural references were visible in written student narratives, and
that students’ cultural formation (cf. Bildung, Norw. danning) was part of their lit-
erary competence. Furthermore, R. Lund (2007) found that cultural content in text-
books was often used to develop students’ language competence instead of offering
opportunities to reflect on the actual content. On a related note, Wiland (2007) dis-
cussed the difference between reading literature in order to carry away information
from it and experiencing literature as an aesthetic expression of a work of art.
The English compulsory school subject encompasses both a language compo-
nent, i.e. developing pupils’ L2 proficiency, and a content component, including
cultural content and literary analysis, and it is only natural that these are treated
simultaneously in the classroom. However, the discussions in these studies com-
bined suggest that it might be wise to reflect on the balance between language and
content. What the following four studies have in common is that they have chosen
to focus on content or meanings in texts, rather than on linguistic aspects. Wiland
(2007) argued that students can become engaged in a poem even though they
might not understand all the aspects related to lexis and grammar. Larsen (2009)
investigated thematic content in student narratives, arguing that most research in
the field prior to hers had focused on linguistic aspects of students’ writing. R.
Lund (2007) found that although the English textbook series she analysed con-
tained a lot of cultural content (e.g. information about other countries and cultural
encounters with people from other cultural backgrounds), most of the follow-up
tasks presented to students related to the development of their linguistic compe-
tence rather than competence to remember and reflect on cultural material.
428 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Related to the authors’ focus on content and meanings in texts is an encourage-

ment to take seriously not only students’ experiences of authentic texts, but also
their own texts. It is valuable to allow students to encounter literature without
teacher expectations or peer pressure, and practising creative writing in the Eng-
lish subject can contribute towards developing students’ literary competence.
Interestingly, the four doctoral studies related to culture and literature were com-
pleted within the short time span of four years, and they were all analyses of writ-
ten texts. One was an analysis of textbooks (and the policy documents that
informed their development), while the remaining three were all analyses of stu-
dent texts, either student narratives or student teachers’ written reported experi-
ences and understanding of literature. As such, there has yet to be a doctoral study
within English didactics that has investigated the teaching of culture and litera-
ture, or teachers’ and students’ perceptions related to such teaching.

ORAL PROFICIENCY
The four quite recent doctoral studies related to oral proficiency, also completed within
the short time span of four years, seem at first glance to be very different. While Rindal
(2013) explored adolescent (age 17) learners’ spoken English, Dahl (2014) studied the
effect of spoken input for young (age 6) learners’ development of oral English com-
petence, primarily listening skills. Moving from students to teachers, Coburn (2016)
looked at the effect of an in-service teacher education course on English teachers’ pro-
fessional competence with a specific focus on oral proficiency, while Bøhn (2016)
investigated what English teachers assessed in an oral exam. However, despite their
apparent differences in topic and scope, these studies nevertheless bring to the table a
set of transcending English didactic issues related to oral proficiency.
There seems to be a gap between teachers and learners of English in Norway
reflecting the growth and availability of the English language in Norwegian soci-
ety. The teachers in Coburn (2016) experienced low confidence in their own oral
proficiency and consequently in their role as oral role models to their students.
Bøhn (2016), however, did not thematise teachers’ proficiency, but his partici-
pants showed considerable variation in how they assessed their students’ oral pro-
ficiency, especially related to the importance of nativeness, suggesting discrepan-
cies in teachers’ perceptions of the status of English to Norwegian learners. Some
of the learners in Rindal (2013), on the other hand, deliberately avoided targeting
nativeness and showed patterned variation in their spoken English, suggesting that
they have grown up in a society with more exposure and more ownership of Eng-
lish than their teachers’ generation.
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 429

Dahl (2014), however, argued that exposure out of school is not enough for the
development of English proficiency among young learners, showing the effect of
the amount of English language input offered by teachers. This finding reflects the
importance of language use for language learning; the young learners in Dahl
(2014) did not score better on tests after one year of English teaching in class-
rooms where there was little actual English language used for communication. In
the same vein, Coburn (2016) revisited the teachers who had participated in an in-
service teacher education course 16 months later, finding that the lack of regular
opportunities to practise speaking English had led to decrease in their oral confi-
dence over time. In Rindal (2013), too, some of the adolescent learners seemed to
lack a command of their L2 behaviour in that their pronunciation was clearly
influenced by American English, even among the students who targeted a British
English or a neutral variety, suggesting that their oral proficiency did not match
what they wanted to do with their spoken English.
The results of these studies thus thematise the difference between English sub-
ject competence and English didactic competence. It is not enough for teachers to
know the theoretical linguistic components of English (e.g. pronunciation, gram-
mar and vocabulary) or even to have the skills to practise these themselves – they
need didactic competence in order to teach English pronunciation, such as knowl-
edge about nativeness and intelligibility principles and the functions of oral role
models. The research presented in these studies – the knowledge and application
of the role of input in Dahl (2014), of global English and negotiation of English
accents in Rindal (2013), of the consequences of construct understanding for
assessment practices in Bøhn (2016), and of the effect of teacher sentiments
related to their own competence in Coburn (2016) – can contribute significantly
to the development of English teachers’ professional practice. These issues are
thus obvious topics to include in English didactics courses.

DIGITAL ENGLISH COMPETENCE

Although 13 years separate the two doctoral studies dealing mainly with digital
competence in English, A. Lund (2003) and Røkenes (2016) have several aspects
in common. They both investigated how teachers or student teachers used infor-
mation and communications technology (ICT) didactically to support students’
learning in English. They both drew on sociocultural perspectives of learning,
stressing the importance of appropriation. They both used a mixed-methods
design in their investigations, including quantitative surveys, classroom observa-
430 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

tions and interviews with participants, which thus seems to be a preferred meth-
odological approach for the study of teachers’ digital competence.
Teachers’ digital competence is crucial because teachers need to critically pre-
pare students for life and work in a globalised and digitalised world. The central
role of English as lingua franca on the Internet suggests that the English school
subject is particularly relevant for the development of students’ digital compe-
tence. English didactics might, therefore, be especially relevant for research on
language use and language learning in digital environments. A. Lund (ch. 7)
argues that digital environments provide a link between language learning and
identity; the digital practices that young people engage in today (e.g. virtual real-
ity, imagined communities, online gaming, blogs, etc.) offer not only opportuni-
ties for language learning, but also for enacting identities. This link to identity for-
mation can provide a powerful incentive for language learning, suggesting that it
can be beneficial for the students’ language learning if teachers draw on students’
digital English-language practices in their teaching.
Knowledge of this link between identity formation and language learning, and
consequently connecting school and out-of-school practices, is part of teachers’ pro-
fessional digital competence (PDC), a competence or construct which received con-
siderable attention in both A. Lund (2003) and Røkenes (2016). In the latter study,
student teachers mastered basic digital skills, but did not necessarily know how to
use them in their teaching to develop their students’ digital competence, i.e. there
were weaknesses in their PDC. PDC is didactical ICT competence that enables
teachers to design learning environments and learning trajectories for their students
in a specific subject. This is strongly linked to a sociocultural perspective and its fun-
damental assumption that learning is a social and cultural phenomenon. A central
element of sociocultural perspectives, and a central element in the development of
teachers’ PDC, is that of appropriation, which involves teachers making ICT com-
petence their own, integrating technologies in their teaching practices. While A.
Lund (2003) in his study showed how teachers appropriated ICTs in their English
classrooms in different ways and explored their beliefs about such appropriations,
Røkenes (2016) showed that student teachers were not given ample opportunity for
such appropriation in their teacher education. This suggests that teachers and student
teachers need support from institutions such as teacher education programmes and
the school in which they teach in order to develop their PDC.
A. Lund argues in his suggestions for future research (ch. 7) that PDC is not yet
an established concept or practice, and encourages more research in order to con-
ceptualise this competence. With his focus on the development of English teacher
professionalism, Røkenes (2016) might be taking a step in the direction of discuss-
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 431

ing the role of PDC in teacher professional development. While both of these doc-
toral theses focused on teachers and student teachers, we still do not know much
about students’ digital competence related to the English subject, which therefore
would be a potential direction for future research.

ASSESSMENT IN ENGLISH
Assessment practices in the English subject in Norway have changed considerably
over the years (Simensen, ch. 1), and assessment in English comes across as the
most frequently studied topic in the 30 years of doctoral research covered in this
volume. Assessment in English has been studied in nine of the doctoral studies,
with several other studies indicating implications for assessment in English. The
studies involved students and teachers in primary and secondary school, as well
as student teachers in teacher education.
Simensen (1988) was the first one to place assessment research in English on
the agenda, with only two more adding to her seminal research in the next 25
years.1 The three studies provided a solid foundation for later assessment research
through analysis of oral and written national exams from 1964 to 1986 for primary
and lower secondary school (Simensen, 1988), the reading module of an interna-
tional admission test conducted in 2001–2002 for upper secondary and higher
education students (Hellekjær, 2005), and self-assessment among student teachers
concerning English writing competence (Drew, 1997). Together, these studies
covered research on both formative and summative assessment (e.g. Black & Wil-
iam, 1998), here operationalised in a recent article by Black and Wiliam (2018),
as “assessment for learning” and “assessment of learning”, respectively:

The term “assessment for learning” is then used to describe the process by
which teachers use assessment evidence to inform their teaching, and “assess-
ment of learning” refers to the use of assessment to determine the extent to
which students have achieved intended learning outcomes. (Black & Wiliam,
2018, p. 3)

1. In addition, Hasselgreen (1998) studied assessment in her doctoral thesis. Hers is one of the four
doctoral studies in English didactics not revisited in this volume. However, we mention her
doctoral study briefly here due to its unique role within oral English assessment, being the only
one to study the assessment of oral communication among student pairs. For further information
we recommend reading the book published on her doctoral work (see reference in the introdu-
ctory chapter in this volume).
432 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

In relation to this definition, Simensen (1988) and Hellekjær (2005) have both
provided examples of research on assessment of learning (summative assess-
ment), such as final exams and an admission test, to determine whether primary
and secondary students had achieved the intended English proficiency. In contrast,
Drew (1997) offered research on assessment for learning (formative assessment),
such as self-assessment, to inform English teaching in teacher education, for
instance “to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be
better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have taken in the absence
of the evidence that was elicited” (Black & Wiliam, 2009, p. 7). Together, they
covered the four main English language skills: writing, reading, listening and
speaking.
There was a relative explosion in English assessment research in Norway in
2015 and 2016, with six doctoral studies during these two years. One study
assessed upper secondary students’ reading proficiency across English and Norwe-
gian (Brevik, 2015), one examined teachers’ assessment of the oral English exam
in upper secondary school (Bøhn, 2016), and two examined assessment practices
of English writing in lower and upper secondary school (Burner, 2016; Horverak,
2016). The remaining two studied self-assessment: one among student teachers
concerning their professional digital competence in English (Røkenes, 2016), and
another among teachers concerning their own oral skills (Coburn, 2016). Of these
most recent doctoral studies on assessment in English, two can be conceptualised
as research on summative assessment, i.e. a reading test and a final oral exam (Bre-
vik, 2015; Bøhn, 2016), aiming to describe teachers’ assessment of students’ pro-
ficiency. The remaining four examined formative assessment practices in terms of
adapting their teaching to the students’ needs, e.g. teacher and peer feedback and
self-assessment (Burner, 2016; Coburn, 2016; Horverak, 2016; Røkenes, 2016).
Exploring teacher and student perceptions and practices of formative assessment,
both Burner (2016) and Horverak (2016) identified significant differences in how
the teachers perceived and acted on formative assessment of writing.
The distinction between summative and formative assessment in separate stud-
ies is particularly interesting in light of Black and Wiliam’s (2018) recent empha-
sis on what they claim is highly relevant not to separate, specifically concerning
assessment practices in the classroom:

As a result of our work with teachers, we have become convinced that any
approach to the improvement of classroom practice that is focused on assess-
ment must deal with all aspects of assessment in an integrated way. For exam-
ple, while it is possible for researchers to make clear theoretical distinctions
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 433

between formative and summative aspects of assessment, for teachers such

distinctions are at best unhelpful, and may even be counterproductive. (Black
& Wiliam, 2018, p. 2)

The argument here is twofold; one is that summative purposes of assessment can
also be supportive of students’ learning and needs for further development, and
the other is that there ought to be synergy between the two forms of assessment
(Black & Wiliam, 2018). Based on this line of argumentation, future assessment
research in the English subject in Norway might study assessment in an integrated
way. Such integration could simply concern the teacher’s use of summative and
formative assessment for formative purposes and would hold implications not
only for research designs, but also for assessment practices in the English class-
room, which such studies could then observe and follow over time.
An alternative is to build on signals in the recent Common European Frame-
work of Reference (CEFR) Companion Volume with New Descriptors (Council of
Europe, 2001, 2018). For example, examining the strands of communicative lan-
guage competence in an assessment perspective (i.e. linguistic competence, soci-
olinguistic competence, and pragmatic competence) would be most relevant, as
“teacher- or self-assessments are made on the basis of a detailed picture of the
learner’s language ability built up during the course concerned” Council of
Europe, 2018 (p. 43). The CEFR companion emphasises that, “these aspects, or
parameters of description, are always intertwined in any language use; they are not
separate ‘components’ and cannot be isolated from each other” (Council of
Europe, 2018, p. 130).
Further, in this volume, several authors have explicitly commented on implica-
tions of their doctoral research for the future assessment in English. Of particular
relevance are assessment practices not studied during the past 30 years of doctoral
research in English in Norway; of which one concerns global and digital English
competence and another concerns the assessment of literary experiences. Turning
first to the assessment of literature, Larsen (ch. 14) argues that “there is a need for
more research into the form that literary feedback might take” (p. 311), suggesting
the study of criteria that might be relevant for the assessment of literary experi-
ence. In line with this view, Wold (ch. 6) states that in assessing learner narratives,
teachers should also assess the role of the learner context, suggesting the integra-
tion of summative and formative assessment situations. Related to global and dig-
ital competence, A. Lund (ch. 7) suggests that the development of global and
online Englishes “has consequences for what we consider ‘acceptable’ or ‘func-
tional’ practices and how we assess such practices” (p. 152). In line with this com-
434 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

ment, Rindal (2013) has studied learner language in English that deviates in one
way or other from standard norms, influenced by varieties of English. With refer-
ence to this study, Simensen (ch. 1) argues that “in order to ensure equal assess-
ment practice nationwide, this will be one particularly important area for future
research and development work” (p. 31). Building further on the status of English
in Norway, several authors in this volume suggest including information about
learners’ access to and use of English outside the classroom to inform their assess-
ment of English skills and competence observed at school (Brevik, ch. 10; A.
Lund, ch. 7; Rindal, ch. 16; Wold, ch. 6). Finally, Dahl (ch. 17) has studied what
English competence in the early years entails, and this research points to an area
in need of further research that might inform oral assessment of young learners of
English.

THE STATUS OF ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS IN NORWEGIAN

CLASSROOMS
Similarly to how the English didactics field is referred to with varying terms
across the contributions in this volume, there is also variation in the terminology
use related to the context of learning English in Norway. The majority of the
authors in this volume use the term “EFL” – English as a foreign language. How-
ever, this is definitely not without exceptions. While one author uses “ESL” –
English as a second language, many use the more generic term “L2”, and one
author opts for simply “English”. One explanation for the majority use of “EFL”
could be that authors use the same term to reference the context of their studies as
they did in their doctoral theses at the time these were written. In the first doctoral
thesis presented in this volume, Simensen (1988) used “EFL” about the context of
her own research, but argues in her section on recent developments (ch. 1) that
there have been “observations that show that English in Norway has moved from
functioning as a foreign language towards gradually functioning as a second lan-
guage” (p. 30). Still, there is no chronological development of terminology use
throughout these 30 years of doctoral research; “EFL” is used in the first study as
well as in some of the most recent studies reported in this volume. This variation
in terminology use is worth some attention, because it reflects the dynamic status
of English for Norwegians.
Due to globalisation processes and the concomitant development of English
towards becoming a global language, the traditional labels of EFL and ESL and
their definitions might no longer be fully applicable to the current users of English
in the world. Many scholars, both internationally (Graddol, 1997; Phillipson,
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 435

1992; Wang, 2013) and nationally (Rindal, 2014; Simensen, 2014), have argued
that English today has functions for its speakers in nations that traditionally are
labelled EFL countries, including Norway, that exceed those of a foreign lan-
guage. Norwegians learn English from their first year in school, developing Eng-
lish literacy alongside Norwegian literacy, and English is a mandatory subject for
11 years, with its own curriculum separate from the foreign languages also taught
in school. There is also considerable exposure to English outside of school, and
the revisiting of the doctoral theses in this volume shows that Norwegian adoles-
cents read English, listen to English, and interact in English, especially through
digital media (cf. for instance Brevik, ch. 10; A. Lund, ch. 7; Rindal, ch. 16;
Røkenes, ch. 8). To some extent, English seems to be “used within the speaker’s
community (country, family) and thus forms part of the speaker’s identity reper-
toire”, which according to Graddol (1997, p. 11) is a characteristic of ESL speak-
ers that distinguishes them from fluent EFL speakers.
At the same time, the status of English in Norway is still different from that in
postcolonial countries such as India and Nigeria, where inhabitants are labelled
ESL speakers. English is not an official language in Norway, and we do not have
a history of colonialism that has led to English and one or more local languages
being associated with different social classes and societal functions. Conse-
quently, English in Norway is not a second language either, at least not if we
choose to use the label as it is traditionally defined in the literature. It is this
hybridity of English – no longer EFL, but not qualified as ESL – that has led to
Rindal’s (2019) description of the status of English in Norway as in transition,
“from one place to a yet unknown other” (p. 350). Due to the inconsistency of ter-
minology usage referring to the same context of learning English in Norway, and
the suggested imprecision of the EFL-ESL dichotomy, we use the more generic
label “L2 English” here and elsewhere, emphasising that this refers to English as
a second or later language. This description does not specify the order in which a
student learns a language, but rather reflects that language proficiency is often
developed in more than one language simultaneously.
The transitional status of English in Norway seems to be reflected in some of
the doctoral research represented in this volume. For instance, one of the main dif-
ferences between EFL and ESL learners is that while the latter develop their own
English language norms, at least in postcolonial countries, EFL learners have tra-
ditionally been presented with native-speaker varieties as models of pronuncia-
tion. Although this is not official practice in Norway today, Bøhn (2016) showed
how some English teachers could not seem to rid themselves of nativeness as a cri-
terion in the assessment of oral competence. Some of the adolescent learners in
436 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Rindal (2013), however, reported a desire to avoid targeting native-speaker

accents because these might be associated with the cultures of their origin. This
discrepancy between how teachers and students relate to nativeness might cause
challenges in expectations and assessment of spoken English, which in turn might
have considerable consequences for students, for instance in high stakes assess-
ment situations.
However, avoiding native accents as targets that students are expected to
reach is not the same as comparing the development of L2 English proficiency
among students in Norwegian school with L1 English users, as is done in some
of the doctoral studies revisited in this volume. Drew (1997) compared the writ-
ing of Norwegian student teachers to that of a reference group consisting of
younger students in England. He found that the writing of the L1 English users
was more sophisticated in several areas of lexis and syntax compared to the Nor-
wegian student teachers, and that their writing was generally more fluent, but
that linguistic differences were less than expected. Furthermore, Dahl (2014)
compared the results of tests of English receptive proficiency among Norwegian
6-year-olds with those of same-age native speakers of English attending inter-
national school in Norway. She found that scores among immersion school stu-
dents were relatively close to native-speaker means, suggesting that considera-
ble exposure to L2 at a young age can lead to rapid L2 development. Finally, on
the basis of written assessment of students’ texts in the narrative genre, Wold
(2017) found that the L2 learners (6th grade and 10th grade) in Norway overused
the progressive -ing form considerably compared to the same-age L1 users
(native speakers of American English). However, when Norwegian learners
reached CEFR proficiency level B1 or higher (B2, C1, C2), their use of the pro-
gressive was similar to that of native speakers and seemed to be connected with
overall good writing skills.
All of these comparisons with L1 English reference groups tell us something
about the development of L2 English proficiency as compared to L1 English pro-
ficiency, related to both the speed and linguistic details of development. This is
relevant because it can help us describe English proficiency among L2 English
learners in Norway, and provide knowledge about whether L2 proficiency devel-
ops similarly to L1 proficiency (which these studies indicate). Such comparisons
will also be interesting to conduct between Norwegian learners and other L2
speaker groups, for the same reasons. Furthermore, comparisons could be useful
to conduct between L2 English proficiency and L1 Norwegian proficiency, as sug-
gested by Brevik (ch. 10), in order to give the teacher a broader picture of the stu-
dents’ language proficiency. Another relevant comparison is between L2 English
 20 STATE OF THE ART: ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY 437

proficiency and students’ first languages other than Norwegian, a focus that could
potentially increase our understanding of possible transfer between strategies and
skills between languages in students’ language repertoire, and which has not been
addressed in this collection of doctoral work.
Importantly, comparisons with native speaker reference groups such as those
referred to above do not imply that native-speaker language use is the norm for L2
use. As Bøhn (ch. 18) argues, nativeness is of less importance for communication
than intelligibility, and Rindal (ch. 16) problematises that this is used as a criterion
for L2 proficiency. To communicate in a world where English is a lingua franca,
the target model of English is not a native speaker, but a fluent L2 speaker.
Acknowledging that English is more than a “foreign” language for most Norwe-
gian students also reflects that English is a language that they use, also outside the
classroom, and that English can have other functions than Norwegian (cf. Grad-
dol, 1997). Munden (ch. 15), for instance, argues that there is a difference between
students of English in Norway and in Eritrea, stating that for her Eritrean partici-
pants English is “‘someone else’s words” to a greater extent than is English for
most Norwegian learners” (p. 331). Larsen (ch. 14) argues that English was given
another function than Norwegian in the student narratives she analysed, in which
expressions of identity moved towards “global popular culture and the personal
sphere” (p. 310), reflecting English as an international, global language. The view
of English as a language that is used outside of the classroom and attributed dif-
ferent functions for Norwegian students aligns with those expressed by several
authors in this volume, especially in these authors’ reflections on recent develop-
ments related to their topic or in suggestions for future research (e.g., Brevik, ch.
10; Hellekjær, ch. 9; A. Lund, ch. 7; Rindal, ch. 16; Skulstad, ch. 2). Importantly,
the teacher’s beliefs about the status of English for their students might lead to
teaching practices that do or do not draw on students’ use of English outside of
school.

CONCLUSION
In this chapter, we have synthesised the research and ideas from the past 30 years
of doctoral research in Norway in order to discuss the state of the art of English
didactics in Norway today. Importantly, though, there is a considerable amount of
English didactic research that is not conducted in doctoral projects, and most of
this research is not mentioned in our volume. Furthermore, we acknowledge that
the field of English didactics in Norway will undoubtedly develop in the years to
come. There are a number of challenging topics that emerge from the issues dis-
438 ULRIKKE RINDAL AND LISBETH M BREVIK | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

cussed in this volume, as well as from international research and national

demands, that require attention from English didactic research. Such topics
include the English subject in the increasing number of multilingual and multicul-
tural classrooms in Norway, English as a lingua franca (ELF) research with focus
on the Norwegian context, the global and local attributes of the English language
and school subject, the use of challenging multimodal texts in L2 English instruc-
tion, and the bridging of adolescents’ use of English in and outside school, to men-
tion a few. One of the aims of this volume is that the accumulated doctoral
research discussed here, and the challenging topics that emerge from this research,
can serve as a baseline for future research in the field of English didactics.
In the sense of being research within the field of English didactics, all the stud-
ies revisited in this volume are important to the development of English teacher
professionalism. As an applied discipline, English didactics is relevant for both
research and practice, and it is key for English didactic research to be useful for
the teaching of English. We believe the contributions and implications of the doc-
toral research discussed here deserve a place in teacher education, and in this state-
of-the-art chapter we have aimed to show their role and significance for the devel-
opment of teaching practices and curriculum content.

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 DOI: 10.18261/978-82-15-03074-6-2019-22

About the Authors

Lisbeth M Brevik is Associate Professor of English didactics at the Department
of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. Her research
interests relate mainly to sociocultural aspects of learning and teaching English in
secondary school and teacher education. Her current research is concerned with
quality English teaching using video-observation data, and scaffolding reading
comprehension in and outside school.

Tony Burner is Professor of English at the Department of Languages and Litera-

ture Studies at the University of South-Eastern Norway, and Professor II at Oslo
Metropolitan University. His research interests are classroom assessment, multi-
lingualism and diversity, teacher professional development, and mentoring. His
current research is concerned with formative feedback in teacher education and
English instruction in classes for newly arrived migrants.

Henrik Bøhn is Associate Professor of English Didactics in the Department of

Languages and Literature Studies at the University of South-Eastern Norway. He
has more than 10 years’ experience as a teacher educator. He has also worked as
an English teacher in upper secondary school. His research interests include lan-
guage assessment, language learning and intercultural communication.

James Coburn is Associate Professor of English didactics at the University of

South-Eastern Norway. His research interests are English language teacher educa-
tion, especially in-service teacher education and continuing professional develop-
ment (CPD) for English teachers, online learning communities and online English
language teacher education, and video and audio feedback as formative assess-
ment.

Anne Dahl is Associate Professor of English linguistics at the Department of Lan-

guage and Literature at NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technol-
ogy. Her research interests include various aspects of second- and third-language
acquisition from both theoretical and applied perspectives. Current research pro-
jects deal with second- and third-language syntax as well as with issues of multi-
lingualism in society and in schools.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode.
442 ABOUT THE AUTHORS | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Ion Drew is Professor Emeritus of English language didactics at the Department

of Cultural Studies and Languages at the University of Stavanger. His research
interests and publications have related mainly to reading and writing in English as
a second language, teacher education of English language teachers, and young
language learners.

Glenn Ole Hellekjær is Professor of English didactics at the Department of

Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. His main
research interests relate to the teaching, learning and use of English in secondary
and higher education. He has primarily published quantitative studies on the read-
ing of academic English, language needs analysis, and English-medium instruc-
tion in higher education.

May Olaug Horverak is currently headmaster of Birkenes Learning Centre. With

a background as a teacher, her research interests are mainly within didactics, more
specifically genre pedagogy and motivation. Her current research concerns how
to support students to feel motivated for learning.

Annelise Brox Larsen is Associate Professor of English and foreign language

didactics at the Department of Education at the University of Tromsø – The Arctic
University of Norway. Her research interests relate mainly to narrative theory and
theatre methods in teaching. Her current research is concerned with literature
didactics and student-centred learning.

Andreas Lund is Professor of English didactics at the Department of Teacher

Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. His research interests
include learning and teaching in technology-rich environments, collaborative
learning and work, and cultural-historical perspectives on education. His current
research is concerned with digitalization connected to agency, transformation, and
epistemology.

Ragnhild Elisabeth Lund is Professor of English didactics at the Department of

languages and literature studies at the University of South-Eastern Norway. She
has published primarily on issues related to ELT teaching materials. Her current
research focuses on web-based in-service training of English teachers.
 ABOUT THE AUTHORS 443

Juliet Munden is Professor of English didactics at the Faculty of Education at the

Inland University of Applied Sciences in Norway. Her teaching interests relate
first and foremost to the communication of good and theoretically informed prac-
tice. Her research interests relate to the many roles available to literature and the
fascinating complexities of understanding culture.

Ulrikke Rindal is Associate Professor of English didactics at the Department of

Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. Her research
interests relate mainly to sociolinguistic aspects of learning and teaching English,
focusing specifically on oral communication. Her current research is concerned
with attitudes towards non-native spoken English, and quality English teaching
using video-observation data.

Fredrik Mørk Røkenes is Associate Professor of English Didactics at the

Department of Teacher Education at NTNU – Norwegian University of Science
and Technology. His research interests relate mainly to the use of educational
technology in English didactics and exploring the potential of emerging digital
technologies for language teaching. His current research is on the development of
student teachers and teacher educators’ professional digital competence.

Aud Marit Simensen is Professor Emerita of English didactics at the Department

of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. Her research
interests apply mainly to the shifts over the years in the theoretical bases of the
teaching of English in Norway. Among her more recent research interests are the
influence on learner language of exposure to a variety of global or international
“Englishes” and indigenized “Englishes”, and the implications this question has
for an assessment of English as a compulsory school subject in Norway.

Aud Solbjørg Skulstad is Professor of English didactics in the Department of

Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen. She has been engaged in pre-ser-
vice education of teachers of English since 1996. Her research interests include
genre analysis, English for specific purposes, the development of genre aware-
ness, the teaching and learning of writing, multimodality and a range of other
aspects related to the teaching and learning of English.
444 ABOUT THE AUTHORS | ENGLISH DIDACTICS IN NORWAY

Rebecca Charboneau Stuvland is Associate Professor of English didactics at the

Department of Education and Sports Science at the University of Stavanger. Her
research interests include English reading instruction, young learners’ interlan-
guage pragmatic development, and using Lesson study to improve teacher and
student learning. Her current research focuses on young EFL learners’ speech act
development, and data collection through drama techniques.

Signe Mari Wiland is Professor Emerita of English/English Didactics and has

taught English and American literature, culture and didactics for many years at the
University of Agder. She has developed courses in teacher education based on
extensive reader-response research among students and learners of English at var-
ious levels. She has also been editor of the online journal Nordic Journal of Mod-
ern Language Methodology.

Stephanie Hazel Wold is Associate Professor of English language and didactics

at the Department of Language, Literature, Mathematics and Interpreting at West-
ern Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her research interests include gram-
mar in learner language, multilingualism, usage-based language learning, and
varieties of English. Her current research mainly deals with the development of
grammatical structures in learner texts.