Towards a parallel language reality
When Sunniva Whittaker held an open lecture about the use of Norwegian and English in the workplace at the Saturday University earlier this year, the auditorium was completely full.
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“It is obvious that the theme captures the imagination. What do you do when the workplace becomes more international and increasing numbers of your colleagues are more comfortable with English than they are with Norwegian? This is something that a lot of people wonder about,” says Sunniva Whittaker, the newly-elected Rector of UiA, and the current Dean at the Faculty of Humanities and Education.
An international reality
The point of departure for the lecture was the Faculty of Humanities and Education Dean’s previous work at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). In 2016, she was central here in the extensive language work that the institution had implemented in order to see how it could, in practice, meet communication challenges in an increasingly international reality. In addition, she has carried out research into this theme within the framework of a larger research programme. The data were gathered from organisations both in Norway and internationally.
The work also forms important parts of the background for the Language Council of Norway’s guide to good language choices at universities and university colleges, which came out in 2018. This focuses on Norwegian universities and university colleges, but is also useful for all international public and private enterprises in Norway that are concerned with good communication in an international workplace.
CHALLENGING: Employers must ensure that all relevant information and communication reaches recipients in an effective manner – both those who are Norwegian and those who are not, believes Sunniva Whittaker.
Has come to stay
“Parallel language use, that is to say how one can use both English and Norwegian in written and oral forms alongside one another without one language supplanting the other, is a situation that has come for good. I think we can say that with certainty. Now, we must ensure that we handle this situation in a good way – for all employees,” says Sunniva Whittaker.
The Dean does not attempt to hide the fact that this will be challenging – both for the organisation and the staff. But she does not believe there is any way around this today.
“International enterprises are completely dependent on attracting and keeping hold of good staff, regardless of what their mother tongues might be. Therefore, each organisation will have to find its own way. But some things are common to all, and it is important to take that understanding with you when working with this issue”.
Situational dependency in speech
The Dean points out, amongst other things, that most Norwegian enterprises use Norwegian as the working language, both in writing and orally. This means that for most people the choice of oral language is dependent on situation – in other words oral communication takes place in Norwegian when everybody can speak Norwegian.
“It is really self-evident. If someone in a given situation does not understand Norwegian, you have to speak English as long as everybody is able to. If not, it will be very difficult to communicate,” she says.
She explains that oral communication is not only about meetings and other purely work-related communication. In the many smaller situations of the workplace and in internal places of meeting, it is important to safeguard this principle if one wishes to emerge as an international workplace with a global view.
“It is in many ways here that you can see how international you are. Do Norwegian-speaking staff include non-Norwegian-speaking colleagues in more informal settings and get-togethers at work, or not?”
Parallel languages in writing
In written communication the same principle applies; that the employer must ensure that all relevant information and communication reaches the recipients in an effective manner. It is here that parallel languages are important.
“Non-Norwegian speaking staff who stay in Norway for a while will learn Norwegian in time. But before they do, or if they are employed for shorter periods, companies with Norwegian as their working language must offer them satisfactory communication in English. For many, parallel languages in written communication will be the general rule for large parts of the organisation,” she says.
Bilingual webpages
At NHH this led to, amongst other things, the institution stipulating this as a basis for a fundamental principle in the formation of the institution’s new webpages, which arrived in 2018. This was deemed to be necessary in order to ensure that all relevant information reaches out to all students and staff. NHH has webpages in Norwegian and English today – the pages mirror one another.
“Private companies have more freedom in their choices of working language. But public enterprises have a responsibility to safeguard the Norwegian language, whilst it is also natural enough to have Norwegian as a working language. A reality that involves parallel languages therefore looks to be the way forward in Norway today if we wish to both safeguard our distinctive linguistic character and our international side in an increasingly global reality,” she says.