Multilingualism and intercultural competence in language learning

Multilingualism means having knowledge of several languages, and all people in Norway can be considered multilingual. Some speak multiple languages at home or with friends, some master several dialects, while others become multilingual through learning several languages at school. All these and other forms of multilingualism co-exist in many societies, including Norway.

The present PhD study is part of the Ungspråk project (2018-2022) and explores the complexity of students’ multilingualism in Norwegian secondary schools. It focuses in particular on how various factors related to multilingualism are connected to the students' intercultural competence. Intercultural competence refers to open-mindedness, curiosity and understanding of other people’s values and ways of thinking and an ability to communicate appropriately with others.

The thesis is article-based and consists of five articles that discuss the theoretical and methodological issues, and empirical findings of the study. The main quantitative finding indicated that, among other factors, learning an additional foreign language at school, for example French, Spanish, or German, can be important for developing students’ intercultural competence. The further qualitative exploration of foreign language teachers’ perspectives showed how multilingual and intercultural components can be linked together in language education and strengthen each other. However, the data revealed that teachers may have different understandings of what multilingualism and intercultural competence are. This can have an impact on what they emphasize in teaching and thus also the student's development.

Personal Information

Irina Tiurikova holds a master's degree in pedagogy and linguistics with specialization in teaching French and English languages and cultures from the Northern-Arctic Federal University, Russia. Her doctoral project has been carried out at the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen as part of the research project "Ungspråk," led by Åsta Haukås. Her supervisors are Professor Åsta Haukås (UiB) and Associate Professor Hild Hoff (UiB).