Practical and relevant? Vocationally Oriented English Instruction in Norwegian Upper Secondary School

This paper examines vocationally oriented English instruction (No.: yrkesretting, Swe.: infärgning) in common core subjects taught in Norwegian upper secondary school. Vocational students are required to study a certain number of common core subjects (e.g., English, maths), which are usually viewed as academic, rather than vocational, in nature (Repstad, 2013). The role of these subjects has been the issue of significant debate, as they have commonly been perceived as demotivating and irrelevant in a vocational perspective. In Norway, common core teachers are required by law to adapt their instruction to the study programmes of their students (Ministry of Education and Research, 2008, p.80), as a measure to increase student motivation and sense of relevance.

The paper uses research from the initial stages of a doctoral research project on vocationally oriented English instruction. It presents preliminary findings from classroom observations of English instruction in vocational study programmes to address the following research question: "How is vocationally oriented instruction enacted by teachers of English in Norwegian upper secondary school?". Findings will be discussed in light of previous research and the idea that vocationally oriented English instruction should be perceived by students as motivating and relevant.

References

Ministry of Education and Research. (2008). Fagopplæring for framtida. (NOU 2008:18). Oslo: Lobo Media.

Repstad, K. (2013). Yrkesretting av fellesfagene i videregående skole. Oslo: Pedlex.