Norwegian in academia

The Commission discusses why academic free-dom of expression is important in section 3.2.

Valid knowledge is a prerequisite for understand-ing, arguing and exerting an influence in a demo-cratic society. It is important for society and aca-demia to communicate basic knowledge to the population, and to make people realise that this knowledge is the result of research conducted over a long period of time and investments in the knowledge society. The dissemination of this knowledge must also take place in the language that is the common language in Norway. Free, knowledge-based discussion and criticism are pre-requisites for scientific advances – and for these to be able to be exploited for the common good.

The review in section 5.5 shows that Norwe-gian is being increasingly less used in higher edu-cation in Norway. Debate on the use of Norwe-gian vs. English in NorweNorwe-gian academia is dis-cussed in section 6.4.6.

The Universities and University Colleges Act Commission³⁷ explained why Norwegian aca-demic and technical language is important:

Having functional Norwegian terminology and technical expressions is very important in most areas of society, including for the ability to discuss research in the public debate in Nor-way. The Commission agrees that knowledge acquired in an educational institution will also be spread and used in other sectors. In order for graduates to be able to communicate well with pupils, users, clients, patients, etc., they

37 Official Norwegian Report (NOU) 2020: 3, chapter 14

need a good, comprehensive vocabulary that anyone who uses Norwegian in their everyday speech can understand. If the people who do research and teach at universities and univer-sity colleges largely switch to, say, English words and phrases in medical and nursing edu-cation, this may affect how health professionals communicate with patients, which may in turn lead to greater distance and alienation between health professionals and their patients. This also applies in other disciplines. Without a well-developed and functional Norwegian academic and technical language, parts of the public debate are also in danger of deteriorating. It is therefore important that all institutions that offer higher education enable and actively par-ticipate in the development of Norwegian technical terminology that in turn can be used in other parts of society.

International collaboration is important for the quality of the knowledge produced in academia.

English is and must be used at institutions and among academic staff, and academic publication must and should often be in English. In this con-text, the Commission would point out that the use of English and the safeguarding of Norwegian academic and technical language are not mutually exclusive. The challenges that internationalisation presents for Norwegian academic and technical language can and must be addressed using tar-geted measures. This means that the institutions must bear these factors in mind in connection with their internationalisation work.

In its consultative statement to the Commis-sion, the Language Council of Norway identifies three factors that are important for ensuring that research is communicated to and rooted in a Nor-wegian-speaking society. The first is development of Norwegian academic and technical language in line with developments in research in the various fields. The second is making provisions to ensure that employees have the time and resources to disseminate their research in Norwegian. The third factor is related to non-Norwegian-speaking employees: Steps must be taken to enable them to communicate their research in Norwegian, prefer-ably by them learning Norwegian, but also through the provision of translation, language editing and proof-reading services. The Commis-sion agrees that this is important.

Academic and technical language

In the letters of allocation and letters of grant com-mitment to the universities and university col-leges for 2022, the Ministry of Education and Research has taken important steps to strengthen Norwegian as an academic and technical lan-guage. Requirements have been included regard-ing Norwegian classes for foreign researchers and teachers, the responsibility for maintaining and further developing Norwegian academic and technical language has been clarified, and there is a reminder that all the institutions must have a language strategy rooted in their overarching strategies. The Commission assumes that these will be followed up by the institutions. The institu-tional language strategies must incorporate the Language Council of Norway’s recommendations.

The new Terminology Portal (discussed in section 6.4.6) will play a key role in making Nor-wegian terminology (both Bokmål and Nynorsk) available in one place. The goal is for the portal to become the first place students, professionals and others go when they need Norwegian academic terminology and expressions. This may strengthen Norwegian academic and technical language in several ways:

– It will be easier to develop textbooks in Norwe-gian with good, coordinated terminology.

– It will be easier for students to talk and write about their subject in Norwegian.

– It will be easier for employees with an interna-tional background to acquire the skills they need to teach in Norwegian.

– Experts in a particular field will have greater control over how the subject is presented in Norwegian in that journalists and others out-side the discipline will not have to try to trans-late technical terminology into Norwegian themselves.

The Terminology Portal is currently a long way from covering all disciplines. The Commission would therefore draw attention to the need for the higher education sector, as an important bearer of the statutory responsibility for Norwegian aca-demic language, to work on terminology in a sys-tematic, long-term manner. The Language Council of Norway is a natural partner in this work.

The Commission holds that the institutions must make arrangements that enable employees to contribute to lexical reference works like ency-clopaedias. Trust in knowledge production at Nor-wegian research and educational institutions will increase as the average Norwegian internet user

becomes accustomed to seeing understandable texts on areas of expertise written and signed by Norwegian academics. This will in turn strengthen the basis for Norwegian academics being able to actively participate in the public debate, thereby also promoting the freedom of expression of academics. The Commission also proposes that contributions to encyclopaedias and other reference works should be included in the proposed dissemination indicator (see section 7.3.2).

Norwegian abstract in doctoral theses

The Commission holds that it is important to introduce a requirement for public universities and university colleges that all doctoral theses and master’s and bachelor’s dissertations written in a foreign language must have an abstract in Norwe-gian. This will help ensure the development of Norwegian technical terminology and thus strengthen the work on Norwegian academic and technical language as a basis for dissemination of research findings. This requirement should also apply to private institutions.

The Commission therefore requests that the Ministry establish a regulatory requirement for a Norwegian abstract in all doctoral theses. The requirement needs to be prescribed by regulation in order for it also to apply to private universities and university colleges, as well as to ensure a more permanent arrangement. For international PhD candidates and students who are not suffi-ciently proficient in Norwegian, the institutions should provide translation assistance or offer additional language editing and proofreading. We would also encourage the institutions to work to ensure that these abstracts are made publicly available, so that they are easier for the media and other interested parties to access.

Training in Norwegian language, culture and society Norwegian language training for international employees is and must remain an institutional responsibility. Most international academic employees at Norwegian universities and univer-sity colleges have a clause in their employment contracts stipulating that they must learn Norwe-gian within a specified period of time. Media reports suggest that the speed and ease with which international academic employees acquire Norwegian language skills is highly individual

and varies widely. There is also wide variation in the degree to which it is prioritised by the employer. There is much to indicate that the pro-visions from the employer in this respect are often not good enough, both in terms of the courses offered and with regard to the time allocated to learn Norwegian. The Commission urges the institutions to take greater responsibility for pro-viding Norwegian language training. This training must be part of a planned, coordinated strategy for international recruitment (see also the discus-sion in section 7.4.2). The training should include both Norwegian language teaching and an intro-duction to relevant cultural aspects of Norwegian society.

Textbooks

In its submission, the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association (NFF) stressed that the higher education sector must take steps to ensure that academic staff can con-tribute to the production of textbooks. The Com-mission supports this, as textbooks are a very important source of accessible, understandable knowledge.

Textbooks can be regarded as a special form of dissemination and cannot really be compared with the types of activities that are envisaged for inclusion in the proposed dissemination indicator.

The Commission has therefore not included text-books into the proposed dissemination indicator (see section 7.3.2).

It is nevertheless important for many reasons – and in this context for the development of Nor-wegian academic and technical language – that textbooks are written. Students also need expo-sure to Norwegian academic and technical lan-guage, partly in order to be fully inducted into the subject they are studying, but not least to be able to transfer knowledge and terminology to working life. The majority of the students will go on to work in a Norwegian-language working environ-ment. The government’s support scheme for text-books to ensure there is syllabus literature availa-ble in Norwegian and Sami must be continued at a level that is adequate to fulfil the purpose of the scheme.³⁸

38 The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), formerly Diku, administers the textbook scheme for higher education. https://diku.no/programmer/laerebokordnin-gen-for-hoeyere-utdanning

7.5 Academics’ responsibilities: Advice