Language Policy at Nørre Gymnasium

This is the outline of our language policy that aims at helping our students achieve individual and common language goals in this school. The awareness of and conscious use of language is the basis of intercultural understanding and mutual respect.

Diversity.We are aware of and appreciate our students’ respective native languages and the cultural diversity they represent. A part of our student population has Danish as their mother tongue, for others English is their best language, and a small minority are “Language A1 self-taught” students with a variety of first languages.

Language of instruction.The language of instruction is English with the exception of Danish A1 and B classes. All teachers are language teachers in their respective subjects and work towards the common goal of establishing awareness of the target language.

English in the classroom.English is spoken in the classroom and is encouraged as the language of communication outside the classroom. Speaking one’s own mother tongue should be avoided in order not to exclude others who do not speak this language.

First language.All students study their first language – a placement test at the start of the school year secures adequate choices. We offer Danish A and English A; other languages can be studied as A self-taught SL with the help of a supervisor.

Language A1 self-taught.Students opting for their native language self-taught are assisted throughout the 2-year course by an experienced Language A1 teacher who conducts support sessions on a joint and individual basis with the students. The students are offered to participate in the world literature lessons of the Language A1 classes.
The school library has a small unit for languages other than Danish and English; a number of other languages are taught in the Danish section of the school so material and support can be provided.

Second language.All students study at least one language in addition to their mother tongue. The school currently offers English, Danish, French, and Spanish ab initio as Group 2 languages.

Danish as a second language.We offer Danish B SL taught by very qualified teachers who know how to administer variety of levels within the class; plus: there is an extra-Danish class once a week in the schedule to further support students on a lower level of proficiency/ab initio. As the school environment is Danish, there is ample opportunity to practise the language in extra curricular activities, special events, festivals, café arrangements, parties, etc.

Correcting language.Language problems that have an impact on understanding and following the instruction are concurrently corrected in the classroom and in assignments. All teachers are contributing to their students’ improvement as to correctness, clarity, versatility, and appropriateness of the target language used in that particular subject area. We practise a variety of methods to correct/assess language weaknesses, both on an individual, group work, whole class level in all subjects.

Teachers’ language skills.We offer in-service language courses for our IB teachers conducted by English A1 native speakers. All communication about IB on the school’s intranet (Lectio) and in IB staff meetings takes place in English to further train the target language.

Morning assemblies.The major part of our weekly morning assemblies is conducted in Danish (as ¾ of the student population is Danish: we are a Danish school with an IB section). Contributions to the event by IB students and IB teachers are made in English; there is a tradition that name-given IB students translate all Danish messages into English as a part of their CAS programme.

CAS and student tutoring.An established part of our CAS programme is the idea of students helping students with the languages and offer tutoring for individuals or small groups on a regular basis. The tutors are recruited from Danish/English A1 classes.

Library.The school library, the study centre, constantly acquires new books in a variety of modern languages; we also stock a smaller section of rare languages for Language A self-taught students.