Language Policy
at Nørre Gymnasium

This is a general 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 A: Lit, school-supported self-taught (SSST)” students with their variety of native/first languages.

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

English in the classroom
English is spoken in the classroom and is strongly 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: Group1, Language A Literature
All students study their first (best, native) language – a placement test at the start of the school year secures adequate choices. We offer Danish A and English A, both as literature courses on HL/SL; other languages can be studied as A school-supported self-taught SL (SSST) with the regular support of a supervisor (= English A Lit teacher):

Language A Lit: self-taught (SSST)
Students whose best language is neither Danish or English must opt for their native language self-taught (Literature; A SL) and are assisted throughout the 2-year course by an experienced Language A Lit teacher who conducts support sessions on a joint and individual basis with the students. The students are offered to participate in the world literature part of the English A classes. Students opting for this course must provide a tutor supporting them in their study of their native language.

The school library has a small unit for languages other than Danish and English.

Second language: Group 2, Language B
All students study at least one language in addition to their mother tongue. The school currently offers English B HL, Danish B HL/SL/ab initio (beginners), and Spanish ab initio SL (beginners) as Group 2 languages.

Danish as a second language
We offer Danish B HL/SL taught by very qualified teachers who know how to administer variety of levels of the target language. For Danish B SL students, we strongly recommend an additional language course outside of school to support the learning effect. 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
Not all IB teachers are native speakers in English, but all are fluent in the target language. All communication about IB on the school’s intranet (Lectio), IB staff meetings etc. is conducted in English.

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 IB students help translate Danish messages into English as a part of their CAS programme - or as good comradeship. There are specific assemblies (FaceTime) in English for the IB cohorts.

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 A classes.

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