In Norway’s increasingly diverse multilingual classrooms, English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers play an important role in shaping students’ language learning experiences (Burner & Carlsen, 2023). While research encourages enacting the multilingual turn in education and challenging the dominance of monolingual instructional models, the implementation of multilingual pedagogies in Norwegian EAL classrooms remains inconsistent and proves arduous for most instructors (Burner & Carlsen, 2023; Neokleous et al., 2022). This presentation investigates Norwegian EAL teachers’ attitudes towards the use of students’ home languages (HLs) in the English language classroom, exploring both the theoretical support for multilingual approaches and their practical applications within a sociocultural paradigm that perceives a language as a social and cognitive resource. The presentation sought to answer the following research questions: a) How do Norwegian EAL teachers perceive the role of HLs in the EAL development of their students? and b) When and for what purposes do EAL teachers think students’ HLs should be used in teaching?

The current body of literature on the issue of additional language acquisition highlights the value of leveraging students’ entire linguistic repertoire to facilitate language learning (e.g., Cummins, 2007; Hall & Cook, 2012; Krulatz et al., 2022), yet this remains a point of contention among many educators (Ibrahim, 2022).  The recent version of the curriculum for the subject of English in primary education (Norwegian Directorate for Education & Training, 2020) acknowledges for the first time the presence of languages other than the majority in the classroom and their use should assist in pinpointing differences and similarities between the target and the students’ home languages. Because the curriculum does not provide concrete guidelines as to the practices, strategies, but also purposes the HLs should serve, Neokleous and Krulatz (2018) stated that the lack of such a detailed provision might prompt teachers to adopt an all-English approach. The lack of research in Norwegian settings on the topic that brings classroom and interview data together to explore in-service teachers’ challenges, queries, interpretations, and practices perpetuates the monolingual teaching ideologies that restrict the active use of the students’ full linguistic repertoire (Burner & Carlsen, 2023; Haukas et al., 2021; Neokleous et al., 2023). This research highlights the need not only for a paradigm shift in EAL education, moving beyond monolingual norms towards legitimizing and strategically incorporating students’ entire linguistic repertoire into EAL teaching and clearer curricular directives and increased institutional support, but also for targeted teacher training to assist them in acquiring essential skills to operationalize multilingual strategies in their classrooms (Krulatz & Dahl, 2016; Neokleous & Ofte, 2020; Surkalovic, 2014). In this way, such studies contribute towards bridging the gap between multilingual pedagogies and classroom practices and charting the way forward, thus ultimately fostering a more efficient and inclusive learning environment.

The objective of the study was to investigate the attitudes, perceptions, and perspectives of EAL teachers in Norway concerning the role of HL(s), challenges encountered in fostering HL(s) use in the classroom, characterized by increasing linguistic and cultural diversity. To explore teachers’ attitudes towards and experiences with HL(s) use in the Norwegian EAL classroom a qualitative research approach was employed. To minimize the influence of preconceived notions stemming from existing theoretical frameworks, a grounded theory methodology was adopted to ensure natural emergence of patterns and themes from the data. The research design involved semi-structured interviews with five EAL teachers working in Norwegian primary schools, representing a range of educational backgrounds and experiences, which contributed to eliciting diverse perspectives on HL(s) integration in EAL instruction. Semi-structured interviews were chosen to provide flexibility while maintaining focus on the research questions. The interviews, conducted in Norwegian to secure authentic responses and encourage nuanced discussions, were transcribed, and analyzed using thematic coding techniques (Saldana, 2009) to unveil emerging themes and key patterns in teacher beliefs, attitudes, challenges, and instructional strategies to answer the two research questions. Ethical guidelines such as informed consent, participant anonymity, and data confidentiality, were adhered to throughout the research process.

The research identifies a significant gap between educational policy promoting multilingualism and its practical execution in Norwegian EAL classrooms. The study reveals a disconnect between policy aspirations and classroom realities, with teachers feeling unsupported in applying multilingual pedagogies. The findings indicate that Norwegian EAL teachers express persistent preference for predominantly adhering to an English-only approach. Despite the increasing recognition of the educational benefits of multilingualism such as identity affirmation, linguistic development, increased student engagement, inclusivity and intercultural competence, teachers report being constrained by the monolingual norm due to the lack of knowledge of their students’ HL(s). Norwegian, the majority HL, is the prioritized and most used supplementary language, integrated strategically to support and aid students in grasping difficult concepts or instructional language. In addition, the employment of the Norwegian language in EAL instruction is seen by the study’s participants to create a supportive learning environment. Despite giving priority to maximizing English language use, the teachers acknowledged the effectiveness of such strategies as translating instructions, assessing comprehension, and fostering informal interactions in Norwegian in stimulating students’ language acquisition and alleviating intimidation. Reliance on Norwegian as a bridge language suggests an awareness of the need for scaffolding, yet the exclusion of other HLs signals a systematic shortfall in embracing linguistic diversity.

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