Málfríður - 15.03.2010, Blaðsíða 15

Reading at university “is one of the most impor-
tant activities in which students have to engage”
(Fairbairn and Fairbairn, 2001). Moreover, reading
ability is especially critical when the reading is
done not in the student’s first language, but rather
in English, for “the ability to read academic texts
is considered one of the most important skills” for
students whose first language is not English (Levine
et al, 2000; Grabe, 1991). However, there is a percep-
tion at the University of Iceland that many students’
lack of proficiency in academic English is a factor in
the drop-out rate of 50% after the first year of study
(Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir, 2007).
One has heard the argument for many years that
English in Iceland is not just another foreign language,
like German or French, but is closer to a second lan-
guage, exemplified for example by the prevalence
of English on the reading lists of most university
courses. I noted in 1995 that English held “a status
more closely associated with — though not match-
ing — a second language, in terms of its commer-
cial, professional and social value” (Berman, 1995,
p. 20). Interestingly, nobody has been prepared to
claim that English has become an actual second lan-
guage in Iceland. For example, Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir
(2007) reiterates the point that English is somewhere
between a foreign and second language here.
Perhaps we have been lulled into behaving as if
English is virtually a second language in Iceland, by
doing things like assigning academic English read-
ings in university courses, based on the prevalence
of English in the environment and on Icelanders’
obvious ability to chat in English. Here it is useful
to look at the place of English in two of Iceland’s
neighbouring countries. In Denmark almost twenty
years ago Phillipson (1992) did go further than any-
one in Iceland has been prepared to go, declaring
that in his country, “English can be regarded as a
second language rather than a foreign language”
(p.25). However, Phillipson seems to be alone. For
example, Preisler insists that “English must still be
considered a foreign rather than a second language
in Denmark (2005, p. 238). Moreover, Graddol (2000)
lists 19 countries (including Denmark, Norway and
Sweden, but curiously not Iceland nor Finland)
which “can be regarded as in the process of shift-
ing towards L2 status” (p. 11). In other words, in
Graddol’s estimation, Denmark is not there yet.
It is interesting that Phillipson has gone on to argue
that Danes “suffer from the delusion inherent in the
common myth that ‘Danes are good at English’”
(Phillipson, 2001, p. 22). So, in Phillipson’s mind,
the high status of English does not necessarily mean
that Danes have become especially proficient in the
language. Similarly, in Norway, Hellekjær (2009)
discusses a number of recent studies that have “chal-
lenged Norwegian complacency about its citizens’
English proficiency”, leading to his assertion that
while most Norwegians may seem orally profi-
cient in everyday situations, in the sense of pos-
sessing basic interpersonal communication skills
(BICS; Cummins, 2000), this does not mean that
they have developed the cognitive academic lan-
guage proficiency (CALP) English needed for
higher education or for occupational purposes.
(Hellekjær, 2009, p. 198),
Hellekjær proceeds to show in his study of students
from three faculties at the University of Oslo that
“at least 32% of the 578 respondents in this study
may have considerable difficulties reading academic
English texts” (Hellekjær, 2009, p. 206).
In light of: (1) the perception that poor English
Róbert Berman er dósent í
ensku á menntavísindasviði
Háskóla Íslands.
MÁLFRÍÐUR 1
Robert Berman.
Icelandic university students’
English reading skills