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Language Teaching and Learning in Multilingual Contexts 

Our research on language teaching and learning in multilingual contexts concerns how those growing up or settle in Norway learn and use Norwegian as part of their multilingual practices in and outside kindergarten, schools and adult education.

Established:: 2017
Affiliation:: Faculty of Education

The research group's purpose is to build an inspiring environment of high international quality around research on language teaching and learning as well as language use in multilingual contexts. We do this through collaboration within the group between established researchers and researchers who are early in their careers, and through collaboration with relevant colleagues in and outside Norway. Particular attention is paid to building a good, active research environment around the fellows on the faculty's doctoral program: PhD in Educational Sciences (UTVIT).

What we research

Our projects address current challenges for language, education and inclusion. We work across the teacher education subjects Norwegian, Pedagogy, and Natural Sciences. Our profile is research close to practice combining theories and methodology from applied linguistics and educational sciences.

More about the research group

The research group’s projects explore topics concerning inclusion, linguistic diversity and Norwegian as a second language. The projects are partly about the teaching profession and the role of teacher education and partly about different situations of language use and language learning in which multilingual children, young people and adults participate. Educational context is understood broadly: from kindergarten to higher education and also includes working life. Although the main emphasis is on the Norwegian situation and on learning and/or using Norwegian as a second language in multilingual contexts, comparative studies of similar situations in other countries are of importance to the group. Currently, this includes the Nordic countries and multilingual educational situations in southern Africa. We are represented in the MultiTrans project, and in the IMPECT project https://www.hvl.no/forsking/prosjekt/impect/

Our research supports the development of knowledge for the UN's sustainable development goal 4: Quality Education. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The group contributes to the goal both nationally and globally; Nationally through an ambition to develop knowledge about education in multilingual contexts that has the potential to improve learning conditions and learning outcomes for children, young people and adults with an immigrant background. Globally through an ambition to contribute new knowledge about using English and regional languages as a second language in education in Zambia and Namibia. These projects take place in collaboration with colleagues in the two countries in particular through the DIALOGUES project.

In 2023 and 2024 Professor Andrea Young, University of Strasbourg is a member of the research group and engaged as a Guest Professor at the Faculty of Education at INN.

We are members of European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism

Publications

Recent publications in English

Tagg, C., Giaxoglou, K. & Lexander, K.V. (eds.) (2026) The Routledge Handbook of Language and Social Media around the World

Røed, D. F., & Lexander, K. V. (2025). Pedagogical translanguaging in digital environments. Teaching and learning with tablets in a multilingual Norwegian classroom. Educational Linguistics, 4(2), 196-215. https://doi.org/10.1515/eduling-2025-0019

Nordanger, M. & Bugge, E. (2025). Language learning in liminal spaces: Low literate migrant narratives of formal requirements for legal integration. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 46(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2025.2482061

Horbowicz, P. & Nordanger, M. (2025). Managing the flow of talk: A longitudinal case study of the multiword expression “det er sant” in L2 Norwegian interactions. Applied Linguistics, 46(1), 16–34. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amae006

Bugge, E., Goodman, S. W., & Nordanger, M. (2025). How introduction programs help and hinder integration: Evidence from Norway. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2025.2536702

Sevinç, Y., & Lexander, K. V. (2025). Diaspora, Digital Media, and Multilingualism. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 1-6.

Lexander, K. V., & Gonçalves, K. (2025). Language ideologies in digitally mediated interaction at the workplace: Resistance and acceptance of migrant workers in Norway. Journal of Modern Languages, 35(2), 27-61.

2024

Alstad, G. T. (2024). Language ideologies at play in early childhood teacher education: A study of syllabi and textbooks. I C. Leslie & S. Mourão (Red.), Researching educational practises, teacher education and professional development for early language learning: Examples from Europe. Routledge.

Alstad, G. T. (2024). Conceptualisations of multilingualism in early childhood teacher education: Ideological and implementational spaces in policy texts. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research (JECER), 13(1), 13–41.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2024). Culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies: Theoretical underpinnings, practical value and implications for teacher education. In N. Hammarén, B. Ivemark, & L. Stretmo (Eds.), Migrant youth, schooling and identity. Perspectives and experiences from Northern Europe (pp. 251–263). Springer.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2024). Intercultural family-school cooperation and the dilemma of involving child language brokers versus professional interpreters. Educational Review, Latest articles, 1–18.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2024). Sustaining the ethos of togetherness in multicultural schools in Denmark: Student teachers’ reflections and experiences. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Latest articles, 1–15.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2024). Teacher educators’ endeavours to enhance students’ cultural competence: A qualitative study within Danish teacher education. In Education, 29(2), 78–97.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2024). “We have three common enemies”: Student teachers’ perspectives on existing prejudice in Danish multicultural schools. In V. Tavares & T.-A. Skrefsrud (Eds.), Critical and Creative Engagements with Diversity in Nordic Education (pp. 25–44). Lexington Books.

Benediktsson, A. I., & Tavares, V. (2024). Family-school cooperation in multicultural schools: A missing piece in teacher education in Norway. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, Latest articles, 1-16.

Tavares, V., & Benediktsson, A. I. (2024). But life goes on: Drama classes, Ukrainian refugees, and Icelandic language learning. Literacy, 58(2), 240–249.

Tavares, V., & Benediktsson, A. I. (2024). Ukrainian refugees learning Icelandic through drama plays: A multiliteracies perspective. In V. Tavares (Ed.), Empowering language learners in a changing world through pedagogies of multiliteracies (pp. 251–269). Palgrave Macmillan.

Gonçalves, K. & Lexander, K. V. (2024) Tensions of place and the commodification of authenticity in Grünerløkka, Oslo, spesialutgave av Language and Communication 96,67-80.

Hansell, K., Alstad, G. T. & Bergroth, M. (2024). Nordic perspectives on linguistic diversity and multilingualism in early childhood education and care: Guest editorial. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 13(1), 1–12.

Lexander, K. V. & Thyness, H. (2024) Innovative methods in collaborative research: Mediagrams in the study of digital multilingual workplace interaction and school-home interaction, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-16.

Lexander, K. V. (2024) Relational work in digital employer-employee interaction at the multilingual workplace, i Tanskanen, S-K., Lehti, L., Lexander, K. V., Virtanen, M. T. & Xie, Chaoqun (red.) Explorations in Internet Pragmatics. Identity, intentionality and interpersonal interaction, 271-290. Brill Academic Publishers, Studies in Pragmatics.

Tanskanen, S-K., Lehti, L., Lexander, K. V., Virtanen, M. T. & Xie, Chaoqun (red.) (2024) Exploring intentionality, identity and interpersonal interaction on the Internet, i Tanskanen, S-K., Lehti, L., Lexander, K. V., Virtanen, M. T. & Xie, Chaoqun (red.) Explorations in Internet Pragmatics. Identity, intentionality and interpersonal interaction, 1-20, Brill Academic Publishers, Studies in Pragmatics.

Said, F. S. & Lexander, K. V. (2024) Introduction. Learning, re-learning, and un-learning language(s) in the home during Covid-19, Multilingua, 43(2), 151-161.

Moraczewska, A. & Randen, G. (2024). “To make the student exist” – Bilingual Subject Teachers’ Narratives about Multilingualism in Language Support Classes in Norway. Bilingual Research Journal, 1-15.

Nordanger, M. & Ljung Egeland, B. (2024). Between a rock and a hard place: Introduction program teachers’ narrated experiences of residency and citizenship language requirements in Scandinavia. Linguistics and Education,(83)

Pesch, A. M. & Sundelin, M. (2024). The significance of multilingual children’s voices in research. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research 13(1), 274-295.

Thyness, H. (2024). Inclusion in parent-teacher relationships: A sociolinguistic approach to language and media practices in multilingual contexts. PHD thesis. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.

2023

Benediktsson, A. I. (2023). Navigating the complexity of theory: Exploring Icelandic student teachers’ perspectives on supporting cultural and linguistic diversity in compulsory schooling. International Journal of Educational Research, 120, 1–13.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2023). Culturally responsive assessment in compulsory schooling in Denmark and Iceland: An illusion or a reality? A comparative study of student teachers’ experiences and perspectives. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), 7(2), 1-20.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2023). Reception of newly arrived immigrant schoolchildren in Iceland: Exploring challenges and dilemmas concerning teaching and assessment practices. Education Inquiry, Latest articles, 1-19.

Danbolt, A. M. V. (2023.) Communication in Times of Uncertainty and Loss. Refugee Parents in Interaction with Kindergartens and Schools. I T. C. Silva (Ed.), Parenting in Modern Societies. IntechOpen.

Eek, M. (2023) Multilingual language assistants, investment and social justice in second language learning for adult newcomers, Studies in the Education of Adults,

Lexander, K. V. & Androutsopoulos, J. (2023). Multilingual Families in a Digital Age: Mediational Repertoires and Transnational Practices. Routledge.

Sollid, H., Hiss, F. & Pesch, A. M. (2023). Learnings from/about diversity in space and time: discursive constructions in the semiotic landscape of a teacher education building in Norway. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1–17.

Ragnarsdóttir, H., Benediktsson, A. I., & Emilsson Peskova, R. (2023). Language policies and multilingual practices in Icelandic preschools. Multicultural Education Review, 15(2), 81-98.

Thyness, H. (2023). Teachers’ construction of their roles and responsibilities for inclusive language practices with multilingual parents. A case from Norway. Language and Education, 1–18.

Thyness, H. & Lexander, K.V. (2023). Indexing the ‘included’ migrant? Social categorization and interpersonal digital interaction between labor migrants, teachers and employers in Norway. Language and Communication, 88, 27-40.

2022

Benediktsson, A. I. (2022). The place of multicultural education in legal acts concerning teacher education in Norway. Multicultural Education Review, 14(4), 228-242.

Monsen, M. & Eek, M. (2022), ‘Because I Was the Only One Who Dared’: Approaches to Multilingual Repertoires in Adult Language Training. In M. Monsen & G. B. Steien (Eds.), Language learning and forced migration. Multilingual Matters.

Kulbrandstad, L. I. & Kulbrandstad, L. A. (2022). Reinventing subject teaching in integrated teacher education programmes for primary school in Norway. In B. Hudson , N. Gericke, C. Olin-Scheller & M. Stolare (Eds.), International Perspectives on Knowledge and Quality. Implications for Innovation in Teacher Education Policy and Practice, (pp. 23–43). Bloomsbury Academics.

Ljung Egeland, B. & Kulbrandstad, L. I. (2022). Powerful Knowledge of Language and Migration in Norwegian and Swedish Textbooks. In B. Hudson, N. Gericke, C. Olin-Scheller & M. Stolare. (Eds), International Perspectives on Knowledge and Curriculum. Epistemic Quality Across School Subjects, (pp. 79–97). Bloomsbury Academics.

Lexander, K.V. & Watson, R. (2022). Things you cannot do in Norway - Multilingual transnational action and interaction in digital communication. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 31(1).

Nordanger, M. (2022). A year goes by: A longitudinal study of verb-locative constructions in AL Norwegian. In M. Monsen & G. B. Steien (Eds.), Language learning and forced migration (pp. 190–209), Multilingual Matters.

Norton, B., Doherty, L., & Stranger-Johannessen, E. (2022). The Global Storybooks project and Storybooks Deutschland: Identity, early literacy, and open technology. In Standortbestimmungen in der Fremdsprachenforschung (pp. 22–38). Schneider bei wbv

Doherty, L., Norton, B., & Stranger-Johannessen, E. (2022). Translation, identity and translanguaging: Perspectives from a global literacy initiative. I L. Fisher & W. Ayres-Bennett (Red.), Multilingualism and Identity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (s. 201–220). Cambridge University Press.

2021

Alstad, G. T. (2021). Bilingualism and multilingualism in Early Childhood Education (Norway). I K. Hognestad (Ed.), Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies. Bloomsbury.

Alstad, G. T., & Mourão, S. (2021). «Research into multilingual issues in ECEC contexts: proposing a transdisciplinary research field». European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 29:3, s. 319–35.

Benediktsson, A. I. (2021). Establishing a multicultural learning environment based on active knowledge exchange and mutual trust between teachers and students. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), 5(2), 79-85.

Golden, A. & Kulbrandstad, L.A (2021). Crossing Borders. In A. Golden, L.A. Kulbrandstad & L. J. Zhang (Eds.), Crossing Borders, Writing Texts, Being Evaluated. Cultural and Disciplinary Norms in Academic Writing (pp. 1-17). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Golden, A. & Kulbrandstad, L.A. (2021). When Errors Are Corrected. In A. Golden, L.A. Kulbrandstad & L. J. Zhang (Eds.), Crossing Borders, Writing Texts, Being Evaluated. Cultural and Disciplinary Norms in Academic Writing (pp. 18-37). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Lexander, K.V. & J. Androutsopoulos (2021). Working with mediagrams. A methodology for collaborative research on mediational repertoires in multilingual families. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 42(1), 1-18.

Androutsopoulos, J., & K. V. Lexander (2021). Digital polycentricity and disaporic connectivity. A Norwegian-Senegalese case study. Journal of Sociolinguistics. 25, 720–736.

Lexander, K.V. (2021). Polymedia and family multilingualism. Linguistic repertoires and relationships in digitally mediated interaction. Pragmatics & Society, 12(5) 783-806.

Horbowicz, P. & Nordanger, M. (2021) Epistemic constructions in L2 Norwegian: A longitudinal study of formulaic and productive patterns. Language & Cognition, 13(3), 438–66.

Pesch, A. M. (2021). Studying families’ and teachers’ multilingual practices and ideologies in kindergartens – A nexus analytic approach. In E. E. Ødegaard & J. S. Borgen (Eds.), Childhood Cultures in Transformation. 30 Years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Action towards Sustainability. Brill Sense.

Pesch, A. M., Dardanou, M. & Sollid, H. (2021). Kindergartens in Northern Norway as semiotic landscapes. Linguistic Landscape, 7(3), 314-343.

Pesch, A. M. (2021). “They call me anneanne!” Translanguaging as theoretical and pedagogical challenge and opportunity in the kindergarten context of Norway. Acta Borealia, 38(1), 23-42

Hiss, F., Pesch, A. M. & Sollid, H. (2021). Multilingual Encounters in Northern Norway. Acta Borealia, 38(1), 1-4.

Pesch, A. M. (2021). Semiotic landscapes as constructions of multilingualism – a case study of two kindergartens. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 29(3), 363-380.

Stranger-Johannessen, E. (2021). Stories as innovation in English language teaching in Uganda. I Stories as Innovation in English Language Teaching in Uganda (s. 145–156). Routledge.

Mælan, E. N., Gustavsen, A. M., Stranger-Johannessen, E., & Nordahl, T. (2021). Norwegian students’ experiences of homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 36(1), 5-19.

Miller, L. Lea, G., Irwin, R., Nashon, S., Jordan, E., Baker, K., & Stranger-Johannessen, E. (2021). Academic Philanthropy and Pedagogies of Resilience. I W. Giles, & L. Miller (Red.), Borderless Higher Education for Refugees: Lessons from the Dadaab Refugee Camps. Bloomsbury.

Conferences and events

No upcoming events

Go to events

2025

17.11.2025 Doctoral defence Agnieszka Moraczewska

«Bridging Language and Culture: Bilingual Subject Instruction for Polish students in Norway»

21.10.2025 Project proposal with Toril Opsahl (UiO, Senter for norsk fagspråk i bruk)

September 15. Digitalization and practices of inclusion. Seminar organized in collaboration with Jessica B. Hansen, Østfold University College.

Program:

10.15-10.45 – Ida Jahr: «Artificial» «intelligence»: Exploring the language we use to describe the language machine

10.45-11.15 Vander Tavares: Bodyless Generative AI texts: Implications for Minorities in Educational Contexts

11.30-12.30 – Joke Dewilde: Human and AI Translation in Multilingual Contexts: Lessons for Developing Inclusive Teaching Materials

13.15 – 14.15 Juhar Yasin Abamosa: Epistemic injustice and its implication for exclusion of certain groups from knowledge production

14.30-15.00 Marianne Eek: The linguagram - a tool in adult refugees' language learning outside the classroom

15.00-15.30 Siri Klausen: How can use of VR simulations prepare student teachers to deal with racism in everyday school life?

2024

May 24. Hilde Thyness is defending her PhD: Inclusion in parent-teacher relationships. A sociolinguistic approach to language and media practices in multilingual contexts

May 29. Seminar om Migration and Multilingualism

Program:

Language learning and language practices outside the classroom for adult newcomers, Marianne Eek, associate professor INN
You have to knock on the door": The challenges of inclusion for refugees in Norway and volunteerism as a way to seize agency and linguistic apprenticeship, Valerie Borey, master student UiO
Scalar misunderstandings’ and temporary devaluations of English, Ida Syvertsen, assistant professor, Østfold University College
Multilingualism and language learning at the home-school intersection: A case study from Northern Norway, Rafael Lomeu Gomes, postdoctoral research fellow, University of Tromsø
Collaborative research in context, zooming in and out of the classroom, Andrea Young, professor, UNISTRA & INN
Collaborative research practices in the study of diasporisation, Gergely Szabó, postdoctoral research fellow, ELTE, Budapest
Parents' intuitions as a source to information on multilingual children's language development: A study of Polish-Norwegian preschoolers, associate professor Pernille Bonnevie Hansen, INN, research assistant Karolina Krupa-Gaweł, OsloMet/UiO, mfl.
Final discussion and conclusion of the seminar

January 19.

19.1.2024 kl. 9-12: Multilingualism and Inclusion: Shaping Educational Practices for Newly Arrived Migrant Students.

Responsible: Post.doc Artëm I. Benediktsson

9:00 – 9:10 Round of introductions

9:10 – 9:50 Professor Nihad Bunar, Stockholm University: Research-based tenets of educational ideology, policy and practices providing an educational structure of opportunity for newly arrived migrant students.

10:00 – 10:20 Marianne Eek, Kristin Vold Lexander and Hilde Thyness: – Adult newcomers' language learning and language practices outside the classroom”.

10:20 – 10:40 Lana Amro: Translinguistic practices and identities in community-based digital Arabic heritage language education

10:40 – 11:00 Shahrzad Nouri Kritiske perspektiver på inkludering i grunnskoleopplæring for voksne. Læreres forståelse og utvikling av egen praksis

11:10 – 11:30 Kjersti Ree Skrefsrud : Talerom og taletid for nyankomne elever”

11:30 – 11:50 Olena Iamroz A study of barriers and opportunities for educational careers of newly arrived students with limited school background in Norway”

11:50 – 12:00 Summary of the day

2023

September 26: Migration, Multilingualism and Inclusive education. A seminar with Professor Jim Cummins.

9.00 – 12.00 Ongoing PhD projects. Presentations and discussions.

Agnieszka Moraczewska: Cross-linguistic awareness in bilingual subject instruction
Lana Amro: Community-based digital Arabic heritage language education as a transnational space
Kjersti Ree Skrefsrud: Creating spaces for newly arrived students
Dag Freddy Røed: Multilingual teaching practices in technology-rich classrooms in Norway. Exploring tablets as a pedagogical resource

12.45 – 13.15 Four PhD projects starting up

14.15.-15.15 Open guest lecture: Jim Cummins: Multilingual development and literacy socialization: Creating a foundation for educational success in the preschool and primary school years

June 8: Teaching and learning in multilingual contexts. Seminar with Professor Andrea Young. Program:

Andrea Young: Empowering students and raising critical language awareness through a collaborative multidisciplinary project.
Kristin Vold Lexander: Multilingual families in a digital age
Agnieszka Moraczewska: Metalinguistic awareness in bilingual subject education – categorisation and presentation of data
Kjersti Ree Skrefsrud: Creating spaces for newly arrived immigrant learners
Hilde Thyness: Exploring the mediagram as a visual tool to encourage critical multilingual awareness in the parent-school interaction in Norway
Pauline Book: Encouraging multilingual students in science. Exploring dimensions of meaning and approaches to the science content
Anne Marit Vesteraas Danbolt and Espen Stranger-Johannessen: Initiatives in early literacy education through South-North collaboration. The development of Storybooks Namibia and Storybooks Zambia

June 1. Seminar om inclusion with presentations from PhD students

2022

December 1 Literacy and education in mulitlingual settings. Closing conference of the Norpart-project at University of Zambia. Keynotes by Professor Bonny Norton, University of Vancouver and researcher Kristin Vold Lexander. Responsible: Professor Anne Marit Vesteraas Danbolt.

November 2 Guest lecturer PhD Sue Sing, Boston University, London, UK. presents the research report: Grammar and Writing in England’s National Curriculum (2022). Responsible: Professor Lise Iversen Kulbrandstad.

October 19 Digitalization and practices of inclusion. Research conference with invited key notes and accepted papers. Arranged by the project DigiMulti (researcher Kristin Vold Lexander) in collaboration with Østfold University College (associate professor Jessica B. P. Hansen). Hybrid conference.

September 29 Multilingualism in family-school contexts and early childhood education contexts – theoretical and analytical challenges. Open seminar with presentations from the research group and from a visiting PhD fellow from University of Iceland. Responsible; Associate professors Gunhild Tomter Alstad and Anja Pesch.

June 16 Home and Away for 40 years. Interviews with three generations of Vietnamese refugees in Iceland. Guest lecture researcher Anh Dao Tran, University of Iceland. Responsible: Professor Lise Iversen Kulbrandstad

April 26 Nexus-analysis guest lecture by Professor Åsa Palviainen, University of Jyväskylä, presentations from DigiMulti, comments by Professor Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, University of Bath. Responsible: researcher Kristin Vold Lexander.

2021

September 23: Digital languaging in the family – a seminar about online language practices in family contexts. Digital seminar aimed at PhD fellows. Around 70 participants from around the world. Key notes with emphasis on methodological questions from Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, University of Bath, Sabine Little, Sheffield University, Maria Obojska, University of Luxembourg, Åsa Palviainen, University of Jyväskylä, Fatma Said, Zayed University, Andreas C. Stæhr, University of Copenhagen. Panel dicussion: Digital communication in family contexts in light of sociolinguistic perspectives on (family) multilingualism, transnationalism, mobility and online interaction: Jannis Androutsopoulos, University of Hamburg, Ana Deumert, University of Cape Town, Elizabeth Lanza, University of Oslo, and Li Wei, University College London. Responsible: researcher Kristin Vold Lexander.

May 26. Digital guest lecture Dr. Karen Roehr-Brackin from Essex university: Finding the tipping point: Factors influencing language development. A follow-up seminar the same day with presentations of ditterent ongoing projects. Comments by Roehr-Brackin. Around 20 participants. Responsible: Associate professor, post.doc Marte Nordanger.

January 19. Digital guest lecture Anh Dao Tran (University of Iceland): Home and Away after Forty Years: The integration of three Vietnameese generations in Iceland, A new research project financed by RANNÍS Icelandic Centre for Research

Networks

Through our projects the group collaborates with colleagues both in Norway and in other countries. In Norway our main partners are MultiLing at the University of Oslo, UIT The Arctic University of Norway, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Østfold University College and Volda University College. Within the Nordic countries, we collaborate with colleagues at Karlstad University, University of Iceland, DPU Aarhus University, Jyväskylä University and University of Helsinki. Our research partners also work at Hamburg University, Zayed University, Károli Gáspár University, University of Zambia, Chalimbana University, Kitwe College of Education, and University of Namibia.

We are members of European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism