It’s an entirely new concept in Norway to be asked for proof of having completed a course in Norwegian, or proficiency to a certain level, before you can apply for permanent residence and Norwegian citizenship.

Norwegian language learning for adult immigrants from 1975 to 2010

Obligation of Norwegian language learning

The system involving a right and obligation in respect of Norwegian language learning and citizenship studies was introduced on 1^st September 2005. Participation in Norwegian language learning was for the first time linked to legal rights for individual immigrants. It was an entirely new concept in Norway to be asked for proof of having completed a course in Norwegian, or proficiency to a certain level, before you can apply for permanent residence and Norwegian citizenship. What have been the effects of this on Norwegian language learning as regards the curriculum, Norwegian examinations, participation in courses and the taking of Norwegian tests? In this article we shall look more closely at this issue from a historical perspective. Finally we shall highlight some of the challenges we have already identified for the years to come.

Three phases - three systems

 An hour-based system

From 1975 to 1987, local authorities were obliged to ensure that teaching in Norwegian and citizenship were offered free of charge for up to 240 hours. This number of hours was gradually extended to 500 for refugees and asylum-seekers, while immigrants were still only offered 240 hours. In 1994, the number of hours was expanded to 500 hours for immigrants as well. For refugees with special needs, the total hours could be expanded to 750. The Framework plan in Norwegian with citizenship studies for non-Norwegian speaking adults (1991) was in use till 1998. The plan was technically unsatisfactory and not comprehensive.

The immigrants had no individual rights to Norwegian language learning, and some local authorities didn’t have any facilities. However, the funding for education was designed to ensure that many local authorities did have resources to offer learning, even above a minimum level.

A level-based system

The Teaching plan in Norwegian with citizenship studies for adult immigrants came in 1998.  The pivotal idea was that all course participants, whatever their background, could reach a level in Norwegian which would enable them to sit the Language Examination in Norwegian for adult immigrants. The examination was designed to measure language proficiency up to an intermediate level in Norwegian. Level-based teaching was intended to replace the hour-based system. However, there were also limits on hours in the level-based system. Immigrants who had received little or no education in their home country were now offered up to 3000 hours’ teaching (course B), whereas those with a level of education corresponding to Norwegian compulsory schooling or higher could get up to 850 hours (course A) (1.). What was meant by the term “corresponding to Norwegian compulsory schooling” fuelled an intense debate all over Norway. This lack of clarity resulted in different practices in terms of allocation to courses.

It also proved that the upper limit of 850 hours for participants on course A was in many cases insufficient in order to go on to achieve the intermediate level. This resulted in many participants with a good educational background, but who for various reasons needed more than 850 hours, being placed on course B. In this way, more hours could be made available, and participants were given the opportunity to take the final exam.

 
A system based on right and obligation

On 1^st September 2005, the system involving a right and/or obligation to 300 hours’ learning in Norwegian and citizenship studies was introduced. The system was inserted into the Introduction Act and the new curriculum became a requirement under the law.

The participants must apply for the teaching hours themselves and the local authority is obliged to offer a course within 3 months. Immigrants have three years to claim the 300 compulsory hours. Depending on requirements, the individual may apply for up to 2700 hours. All courses, if hours in excess of 300 are granted, must be completed in the course of five years. This gives a clear signal from the authorities that the flow and continuity in each individual’s learning is important. It was a common feature of the earlier practice that the participants drifted in and out of Norwegian courses over several years.

 Norwegian teaching has therefore gone from being a facility which was basically open to everyone, but where no-one had formal rights, to become a system in which the right to free Norwegian learning is linked to residence rights. The establishment of the right and obligation to learning under the law has also involved a change in administrative procedures. A decision must be taken about learning and teaching hours and test results must be registered so that they are available to the immigration authorities (2.). 

Introduction of a result requirement

Since 2007, the results of the Norwegian language examinations have been the benchmark for quality in teaching (3.). There may be professional debates about this type of benchmark, but the fact that for the first time the authorities have expressed professional expectations of Norwegian language teaching is emphasised as being extremely important by both leaders and teachers in the field.

In 2005, a new financial system was introduced for Norwegian teaching. The teaching would now be financed by a per capita grant (4.) and a result-based grant. Because individual local authorities were now worse off than before, the system was adjusted so that local authorities with few participants in learning now also receive a basic grant. The local authorities receive grants for immigrants who have a right and obligation or merely a right to teaching in the Norwegian language and citizenship studies, and who obtained their first residence and work permits after 1^st September 2005. Until this year, the grant was distributed over five years for those who were included in the system prior to 2010. For those coming into the system in 2010, the grant will be paid out over three years.

The results in the Norwegian examinations in the first years since the new tests were introduced showed that a professional upgrading of the whole system was needed. During the 2008 – 2010 period (5.), the focus was on raising the skills of leaders and teachers of Norwegian language learning. Good continued learning and further education grants for leaders and teachers are central tools in the effort towards accomplishing the challenges facing us in the years to come.

[1] All of them, however, had the opportunity to claim the minimum 500 hours, irrespective of the level achieved. This led to a number of them taking learning up to the level of the “Bergen Test”.

[2] The National Introduction Register, NIR, was introduced to meet the need for registration.

[3] For 2009, the result requirement was that 60 % should pass the Norwegian tests and 85 % should pass the oral tests.

[4] The grant has two rates: a high rate for individuals from Africa, Asia, Oceania (not including Australia and New Zealand), Eastern Europe, South America and Central America. The low rate applies to individuals from Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

[5] In 2008 and 2009, more than 2000 teachers took part in the continued education course arranged by Vox (Norwegian Institute of Adult Learning) and IMDi (Directorate of Integration and Diversity).