English In Norway Essay

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Recommended: Oil Industry effects on other industries in Norway

English, the language spoken by about 400 million people as their first language, started its spread in the British Isles in the 12th century, grew through about 400 years of colonisation which started in the 16th century and established itself as one of the most used languages during the rapid globalisation of the 19th century (Seargant and Swann, 2012). When it comes to the present status of English, it is described as lingua franca, a global language and even the global language (Graddol, 2006). However, the status of English in different countries around the globe varies considerably. In this assignment, I will elaborate on the role of English in Norway in terms of its …show more content…

However, Norway recognises it as an international language and thus belongs to the countries of the third, expanding circle. The English language has a strong position in Norway: it is a compulsory school subject from the first grade and it is used in international communication as well as in cultural, business and higher education matters. What are the reasons for the spread of English in Norway? Let us have a look on some of the aspects.
• History
The time after World War 2 was characterised by a strong influence of American culture in fields as politics, economy, science, sports, popular culture and lifestyle (Graedler, 2002). However, the relations between Norway and America were established at a much earlier point. Even though some Norwegian settlements appeared in Northern America five centuries before Columbus, the most significant connections established in the 19th century as approximately one-third of the Norwegian population immigrated to America between 1825 and 1925. Consequently, more than 4.5 million people of Norwegian ancestry live in the USA today and many have maintained contact with their overseas families (Norway, …show more content…

The development in oil industry had consequences for other industries as well, leading in several cases to business outsourcing. Since outsourcing is mainly undertaken in English (McKay and Bokhorst-Heng, 2008), it became the working language for several Norwegian IT-companies (Remen and Tomter,

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