Projektitaotlus

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EEA AND NORWAY GRANTS FUND FOR BILATERAL RELATIONS

INITIATIVE PROPOSAL

Title of the initiative: Norwegian for foreigners

Implementing entity (beneficiary state entity):

University of Tartu (Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Department of Scandinavian Studies)

Estonian registry code 74001073

Partner(s) (minimum one donor state entity):

University of Bergen (Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies)

Norwegian organisation number 874789542.

Bilateral priority area identified by the JCBF beyond the programmes:

competitive business environment, sustainable and adaptive governance (based on “Competitiveness Plan for 2020” approved by the Government of Estonia)

Allocation (total sum):

(A more detailed project budget description in the activity plan)

51 515 €

Short description of the initiative:

(background, aim, participants, activity plan, budget outline, communication and dissemination)

Background

Since 1992, the University of Tartu has offered Norwegian language and culture as a major. Estonia is culturally close to the Nordic countries and knowledge of the Scandinavian languages is therefore of vital importance for the development of the entire region. It is therefore also very important to continue and improve the current unique learning environment offered. This also has and important competitiveness aspect, as a deeper understanding of each others sociolinguistic environment is necessary to bring business cooperation to the “next level”. Referring to the “Competitiveness Plan for 2020”, the development of academic human resource and top specialists is a priority in order to create and sustain a competitive business environment.

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The Department of Scandinavian Studies is one of the nine departments of the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures at the University of Tartu. The department offers full BA programs in three Scandinavian languages: Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. At the BA level, students in the curricula of Scandinavian languages and cultures can specialise in Norwegian as their major. Norwegian is also available as a minor for students majoring in other languages at the College or other specialities across the university. At the MA level, students have the opportunity to continue their major in Norwegian under the curricula of European languages and cultures, and at the PhD level, under the curricula of Germanic and Romance Languages and Literatures. With the support of different cooperation partners, Scandinavian embassies and other institutions, the department has developed a long tradition of hosting visiting lecturers. This has created a unique opportunity for the students to learn from native speakers, which has also highly supported students’ motivation regarding participating in and organising different cultural or social events at the department. Since the beginning, the students majoring in a Scandinavian language have written their thesis in their chosen main language. During some of this time, prior knowledge of a Scandinavian language has been required. Currently, the students start “from scratch” without any prior required knowledge of Norwegian, and following the implementation of the Bologna process, this means that they have three years to bring their language skills to a level where they can write and defend their thesis in Norwegian This practice has given a very intensive and developing learning environment, but also offers dilemmas pertaining to the balance between the academic level of the students' independent research and the level of their language skills. While the University has participated in multiple forms of international cooperation and exchange, this rarely pertains to the core strategies and underlying assumptions in the development of the curriculum for Norwegian. For the University of Tartu, it is of great importance to further the teaching of Norwegian and other Scandinavian languages in a way that is not isolated from the competence on Norwegian as a second language in Norway, and that also takes into account the experiences of other Universities outside of Norway offering Norwegian in their curricula The University of Bergen is a major academic centre both within the academic study of Norwegian as a second language and practical Norwegian language courses for foreigners. Each semester more than 600 UiB employees, partners, immigrants, refugees and international students are enrolled in a Norwegian language course at the University of Bergen, offering a total of 7 different courses on 4 different levels. Bergen also offers a bachelor’s program in Norwegian as a Second language and integrated master’s/profession program in Teacher Education in Norwegian Language and Literature. Together with their general programs of Nordic languages and literature, this makes Bergen a very relevant partner in getting and sharing new perspectives on the teaching of Norwegian.

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Aim

The main aim of the project is, within the framework of an already existing cooperation, both to deepen the bilateral ties and to get new knowledge and experience on ways of organising and developing studies in Norwegian for foreigners. The project will serve as a seed project to continue specific cooperation projects within its specific areas. For the Estonian partner, it will offer necessary input in order to make the Norwegian studies as relevant, appealing and efficient as possible. For the Norwegian partner, it will be a case study and new perspectives on the practice of Norwegian teaching in an academic context outside of Norway. The comparison between foreigners studying Norwegian in Norway and in Estonia will give interesting perspectives. Additionally, a forum for lecturers of Norwegian abroad has recently been formed and expressed a wish for more cooperation between lecturers. By facilitating that cooperation and hosting a symposium for Norwegian lecturers, we will be able to get new perspectives that are currently unavailable due to the lack of first hand knowledge of the reality at the different universities offering Norwegian. In order to get real insights, we will also need to involve the students actively in the development, utilising their experiences during their studies so far and the fact that they have completed most of the current bachelors curriculum. In this way, we will get “both sides of the table” and keep the project student centred. The project will consist of three main activities. The first part will take place in Norway and will involve a study trip to Bergen and Western Norway. In Bergen, Tartu staff and students will meet the partner staff and gain insights into the structure, methods and organisation of Norwegian as a second language and Norwegian courses for foreigners in Norway. The (3d year bachelor) students will function as a focus group, reflecting on their experiences during their Norwegian studies in Tartu and contrasting this with the insights gained during the visit and the trip. For this purpose, the students will keep diaries and answer questionnaires. The trip will also involve visits at other places relevant for Norwegian culture, language and literature. The second part will be a symposium and will take place in Tartu. In addition to project partners from Bergen, we will invite lecturers of Norwegian from universities across Europe to present how they teach Norwegian, how their curricula are structured and how it works in practice. In addition to giving an overview of the formal aspects of their situation, they will be asked to reflect on what works well and what poses challenges in their work and programmes. To incentivise useful input, we have included a fee for their presentation and forming it into a text that can be included in a final publication. The third part will be the preparation of a publication both in printed and digital form that will summarise the insights gained during the former parts and include the presentations from the symposium.

Participants / core team

Antonina Kostina (born 1984) is the current programme director for Scandinavian languages and cultures at the university. In addition, she teaches Norwegian intensive courses for beginners and up to B1 level. Between 2016 and 2019, she had the sole responsibility for the Norwegian teaching. Herself, she graduated in 2009 from the same Department, majoring in Norwegian. In the project, she will serve as the project manager and main contact at the University of Tartu.

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Øyvind Rangøy (born 1979) is the visiting lecturer of Norwegian language and literature. Being both a Norwegian and Estonian poet and author, he graduated from Tartu University with a BA of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics in 2007 and Volda University College with a MA of New-Norwegian Written Culture in 2012. Else Berit Molde (born 1980) is assistant professor at the University of Bergen (since 2009 and specialises in Norwegian as a second language). In 2008/2009, she was the visiting lecturer of Norwegian language and literature in Tartu. From 2008 until 2016, she was responsible for a group of foreign students as the Bergen summer courses, receiving students of Norwegian from universities abroad. She is also a member of the programme committee for Norwegian Studies abroad. In addition to the core team from the project partners, the project will receive input from advisory partners and use external colleagues to assist in the practical arrangements for the visits. A number of colleagues will be involved in the symposium planned for February or March.

cation and dissemination

During all of the activities, the communication specialist at the institute will be included in order to make the project visible. The symposium will be open to colleagues to attend and will be promoted within the University. The attendance of students at the symposium will be encouraged. The publication will be circulated among all participants in the project, with copies available for interested parties. It will be circulated in the forum for Norwegian lecturers abroad and in other relevant fora. It will also be available on the project web page.

Activity plan:

Activity Time Location Cost Participants

1 Study trip to Norway

September - October

Norway (Bergen and western Norway)

23360 € Staff and students at the Department of Scandinavian Studies, Tartu, staff in Bergen (hosts)

2 Symposium in Tartu

February- March

Tartu 22210€ Staff from Bergen, visiting lecturers of Norwegian at multiple universities, staff in Tartu (hosts)

3 Preparation of publication based on study

March- April

Tartu 3980 € Staff in Tartu, contributions from partners

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trip and symposium

and symposium participants

4 Indirect costs, 15% of total direct staff costs

Project period

Tartu 1965 € University of Tartu

Budget plan:

Budget category Description UT NO partner

TOTAL (EUR)

Requested Requested Requested

Personnel costs

Project management and related work hours and editing

of publication for UT employees. Project related work in the

University of Bergen

10600 2500 13100

Travel costs

Travel costs to and in Norway for UT employees and students

(focus group), including transport, accomodation and

meals. Travel costs for guests at symposium in Tartu.

33650 33650

Other costs Publications, consumables,

hosting of symposium 2800 2800

Overhead (max 15% of personnel costs)

1590 375 1965

TOTAL (EUR) 48640 2875 51515

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Planned results1

1 Please refer to the Results Guideline

OUTPUT INDICATOR TARGET

Study trip to Norway Participants from Estonia

Days

14

7

Symposium Participants from abroad

Number of days

Number of presentations

15

2

15

Publication Number of copies 100