14 - Who Are the Multilinguals?

Summary

How multilingualism and related concepts are seen, is likely to influence who identifies as multilingual. This chapter examines views of multilingualism in education in Norway. Based on an overview of prevailing definitions of multilingualism and the presentation of Norway as a multilingual country, I discuss the extent to which multilingualism is seen as a resource in the curricula for selected language subjects, white papers on education, the work of scholars researching multilingualism, and Norwegians in general. These understandings are compared to pupils’ own definitions of multilingualism and to what extent they identify as multilingual. The analysis shows that positive attitudes towards multilingualism are widespread in society and in policy papers on education. However, not all types of multilingualism are equally embraced, since migrants’ multilingualism is often discussed in problem-oriented terms. Furthermore, scholars in Norway refer mainly to migrants in multilingualism discourse, thus excluding most people living in Norway from identifying as multilingual. However, secondary school pupils’ own definitions and self-perceptions take a broader and more inclusive approach.