Teacher qualifications, perceptions and practices concerning multilingualism at a school for newly arrived students in Norway

Research shows that having a multilingual background has many advantages. However, several studies indicate that students’ multilingual backgrounds are not used as resources in the classroom. Most classroom studies on multilingualism have been conducted at mainstream schools, and a few in classes for newly arrived students at mainstream schools. This study investigates teachers’ qualifications, perceptions and practices concerning multilingualism at a secondary school in Norway devoted entirely to newly arrived students. Using mixed methods, the findings reveal that teachers possess some basic knowledge of multilingualism, but fail to apply the knowledge in classroom settings. They focus primarily on the development of students’ second language, in this case Norwegian, even in third language classes such as English, indicating that they believe language learning occurs stepwise rather than simultaneously. The study calls for more classroom research on how newly arrived students’ language proficiencies are recognised, assessed, seen as resources and utilised in their education.