Vår 2025

ENG-3060 Multilingualism - 10 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for språk og kultur

Type of course

This course is mandatory for students in the MA programme in English Acquisition and Multilingualism and elective for students in the MA programme in teacher education year 8-13 (lektorutdanninga, studieretning engelsk, jf. progresjonskrav for år 4) and students in the MA programme in Theoretical Linguistics.

Course contents

The acquisition and maintenance of more than one language can open doors to many personal, academic, social, and economic opportunities. How do bilingual children acquire more than one language? And how do bilingual speakers maintain and use multiple languages in personal communication and professional cooperation among people? The course examines key aspects from research into multilingualism combining teaching of many linguistic, cognitive, educational, societal, or cultural aspects of multilingualism. Topics will include multilingual language competence across the lifespan, heritage language maintenance and transmission, advantages and challenges of multilingualism to the personal, academic or professional development. The course uses a research-driven approach. The students will be engaged in a variety of tasks including project work and writing an academic paper.

Admission requirements

Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS), or equivalent qualification, in English language, or a degree combining English language and literature, with a minimum of 80 ECTS in English. An average grade equivalent to C or better (in the English coursework, 80 ECTS) is required.

For students taking the course from outside the MA programmes in Theoretical Linguistics, Teacher Education, or English Acquisition and Multilingualism, exceptions can be made to the above requirements for English credits.

Application code: 9371 - Enkeltemner på masternivå (Nordic applicants).

Objective of the course

The students have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student has knowledge of:

approaches and methods in the study of multilingualism
central aspects of individual and/or societal multilingualism
advantages and challenges of multilingualism

Skills

The student is able to/can:

evaluate and reflect on existing approaches, theories and methods
critically evaluate the benefits of multilingualism
analyze and interpret empirical data

The course will also help students develop their skills in oral presentation and argumentation, as well as their ability to cooperate with fellow students and carry out independent project work.

Language of instruction

English.

Teaching methods

The course is taught 2 hours per week for 13 weeks. Teaching will be a combination of lectures and group work.

Quality assurance: All courses undergo a halfway evaluation once in a 2-year period at the master´s level. The Programme Board determines which programme options will be evaluated per year, and which courses will be evaluated by the students and the teacher per year.