Pupils’ beliefs about Norwegian Nynorsk: ‘I don’t believe we need to learn a second Norwegian language’

Abstract

According to the national curriculum, Norwegian pupils are supposed to learn both official written Norwegian languages, Bokmål and Nynorsk, in school (1-13); one of the written languages as their so-called main written language and the other one as the alternative written language. At the end of lower secondary school (10th grade) and the end of upper secondary school (13th grade), most pupils get three individual grades in Norwegian as a school subject: written Bokmål, written Nynorsk and oral skills. The majority of pupils (more than 85%) have Bokmål as their main written language and Nynorsk as their alternative written language, and many pupils struggle with motivational issues when it comes to learning Nynorsk. In the present study, lower secondary pupils (10th graders) have been asked about their thoughts and beliefs before and after an intervention in the form of a language-history lecture by an external Nynorsk teacher and user (a researcher). The pupils wrote down their opinions and thoughts in class under the supervision of their teacher. These (anonymous) reflection notes were handed to the researcher who categorized and analysed them by trying to extract the overall ‘beliefs’ about Nynorsk from each text. Even though most pupils admit having learned a little from the intervention, the result is clear: a one-time intervention – even with a clear purpose and good arguments – is not enough to change the pupils’ opinion, attitudes or beliefs when it comes to Nynorsk as a second Norwegian language in school, and more fundamental changes in the educational system are needed. /Keywords: attitudes, beliefs, emotions, language learning, language policy, language teaching