New Norwegian minister urged to review controversial language law

An ongoing debate over the use of the English language in Norwegian academia has become “more heated” than necessary, according to sector leaders, as hopes rise that a new minister in charge of higher education could result in a change in direction.

Under the Universities and Colleges Act, which came into force last August, international PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows must study Norwegian, while research and teaching staff from overseas must reach a specified level of proficiency in the language within three years in the role.

The act also mandates that universities must “use, develop and strengthen” Norwegian as an academic language and deliver teaching in Norwegian or Sami unless “professionally justified”.

It was introduced by former minister of research and higher education, Oddmund Hoel, whose Eurosceptic Centre Party has now quit the government amid a dispute over the adoption of European Union energy laws. He has been replaced by Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland of the centre-left Labour Party.

Speaking to Times Higher Education, University of Oslo rector Svein Stølen said the broader debate around the use of English was “more heated than it needed to be” given the continued prevalence of Norwegian-language instruction. “Some of the challenges we are discussing are not based on a reality that I agree on,” he said. “I think that we are educating people in Norwegian.”

“Norwegian is the main language in almost all study programmes at the University of Oslo at bachelor level,” Stølen said.

The institution is considering the introduction of English-language undergraduate degrees in areas such as mathematics and natural sciences, however, in an effort to remain attractive to international students after the recent introduction of tuition fees for non-EU students. “You could manage with the Norwegian teaching when everything was free, but now, [without English-language instruction], I think our ability to compete is difficult,” he said.

Aksel Mjøs, head of the department of finance at NHH Norwegian School of Economics, said the new language requirements for international researchers were based on populist politics, noting that the policies were introduced against the advice of the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. Requiring researchers to study Norwegian, or restricting the academic use of English, could dissuade international talent, he said.

As a taxpayer-funded institution, Mjøs said, “We need to recruit the best possible people both for PhD students and for faculty, and we need to make sure that our research stands the quality test after proper international peer reviews. We are paid to move the research frontier.”

Marita Kristiansen, associate professor in terminology and professional language at the University of Bergen, told THE: “It’s important to remember that language is a tool for communication.”

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“We want to attract students that are not Norwegian, and we want to attract researchers from other countries, and naturally then English is the most used lingua franca in that setting,” she said.

Nevertheless, Kristiansen added, “It’s important to remember that universities also have a social responsibility. So whatever we are working on, we have a social responsibility to share that knowledge that we develop.” Defaulting to English, she said, could hinder the development of Norwegian terminology, and exclude those who do not speak the language.

Similarly, Stølen said, “You need words in your own language. When you go into quantum technology or AI, for instance, it’s very easy to just continue to use the English words. So to develop a vocabulary for the specific discipline [in Norwegian], I think it’s important.”

Ideally, government policy would allow for “flexibility”, the Oslo rector added, with the differing needs of disciplines and academic roles considered. “It’s the compulsory requirement that’s the challenge,” he said.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com