Contrasting a university's language policy with its linguistic landscape: a Norwegian case study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Map of HVL Campus Kronstad (Bergen).

Table 1. References to language varieties in HVL's language policy document.

Varieties	Number of mentions
Individual references
norsk (‘Norwegian’)	42
engelsk (‘English’)	33
nynorsk	13
norsk teiknspråk (‘Norwegian sign language’)	9
bokmål	1
Coordinated references
norsk + engelsk (‘Norwegian’ + ‘English’)	6
nynorsk + bokmål (‘Nynorsk’ + ‘Bokmål’)	2
engelsk + norsk (‘English’ + ‘Norwegian’)	1
norsk teiknspråk + engelsk (‘Norwegian sign language’ + ‘English’)	1
nynorsk + engelsk (‘Nynorsk’ + ‘English’)	1
nynorsk + bokmål + teiknspråk (‘Nynorsk’ + ‘Bokmål’ + ‘sign language’)	1
dansk + svensk + teiknspråk (‘Danish’ + ‘Swedish’ + ‘sign language’)	1

Table 2. Usage frequencies of linguistic varieties on HVL campus.

Sign Category	Absolute Frequency	Relative Frequency
Top-down monolingual (105)		86.1%
Nynorsk	48	39.3%
Bokmål	23	18.9%
Nynorsk/Bokmål	13	10.7%
Nynorsk + Bokmål	18	14.8%
English	3	2.5%
Top-down multilingual (17)		13.9%
Nynorsk + English	8	6.6%
Bokmål + English	5	4.1%
Nynorsk/Bokmål + English	1	0.8%
Bokmål + Nynorsk + English	1	0.8%
Other variety combinations	2	1.6%
	Total top-down 122
Bottom-up monolingual (175)		85.0%
Nynorsk	11	5.3%
Bokmål	115	55.8%
Nynorsk/Bokmål	29	14.1%
Nynorsk + Bokmål	8	3.9%
English	12	5.8%
Bottom-up multilingual (31)		15.0%
Nynorsk + English	3	1.5%
Bokmål + English	12	5.8%
Nynorsk/Bokmål + English	3	1.5%
Other combinations involving Norwegian	10	4.9%
Combinations not involving Norwegian	3	1.5%
	Total bottom-up 206
Other monolingual (45)		69.2%
Nynorsk	0
Bokmål	25	38.5%
Nynorsk/Bokmål	5	7.7%
Nynorsk + Bokmål	0
English	15	23.1%
Other multilingual (20)		30.8%
Bokmål + English	11	16.9%
Nynorsk/Bokmål + English	1	1.5%
Many languages	8	12.3%
	Total other 65

Figure 2. Top-down sign in Nynorsk – Example 1.

Figure 3. Top-down sign in Nynorsk – Example 2.

Figure 4. Bottom-up sign in Bokmål – Example 1.

Figure 5. Bottom-up sign in Bokmål – Example 2.

Figure 6. Top-down sign in Bokmål with Nynorsk HVL logo.

Figure 7. Mixing of Bokmål and Nynorsk – Example 1.

Figure 8. Mixing of Bokmål and Nynorsk – Example 2.

Figure 9. (Almost) Parallel use of Nynorsk and English.

Figure 10. Parallel use of Bokmål and English.

Figure 11. Asymmetrical use of Nynorsk and English.

Figure 12. Minimal use of English besides Norwegian.

Figure 13. Polish football sticker on HVL parking lot.

Figure 14. Multilingual coffee bar menu.

Table 3. Language varieties at HVL: Language policy vs. linguistic landscape.

	HVL language policy	HVL linguistic landscape: top-down	HVL linguistic landscape: bottom-up
Predominant varieties	Nynorsk, English	Nynorsk	Bokmål
Less often used varieties	Bokmål	Bokmål, English	Nynorsk, English
Absent varieties	Sami, immigrant languages	Sami, immigrant languages	Sami, immigrant languages