The research group FLUENT approaches multilingualism from a variety of perspectives by investigating child and adult first, second and third language acquisition and development. FLUENT means "FLerspråklig Utvikling og Endring i Nyere Tid" (multilingual development and change in society today).
FLUENT focuses on multilingual and intercultural communities in Norway and will investigate language development in all languages involved. We collaborate with national and international researchers as well as with local communities including schools and adult education centers.
Research team
Gølin Kaurin Nilsen
Gølin Kaurin Nilsen (Associate Professor of Norwegian / Norwegian didactics) investigates second language development, construction grammar and metalinguistic awareness in teacher students of Norwegian.
Nadine Kolb
Nadine Kolb (Associate Professor of English linguistics) investigates heritage language bilingualism, child second and third language acquisition and multilingual education.
David Natvig
David Natvig (Associate Professor of Nordic linguistics) researches grammatical and social aspects of multilingual individuals and communities.
Yvonne van Baal
Yvonne van Baal (Associate Professor of Nordic linguistics) researches grammatical properties of heritage languages, including Norwegian in America.
Ingri Dommersnes Jølbo
Ingri Dommersnes Jølbo (Associate Professor of Norwegian and Norwegian didactics) researches writing from a second language perspective, sociolinguistics, and multilingualism.
Ove Bergersen
Ove Bergersen (Associate Professor of Norwegian) researches kindergarden as a language environment, multilingual communities, and kindergardeners' interactions in multilingual acquisition.
Anne-Sophie Hufer
Anne-Sophie Hufer (PhD fellow in multilingualism) researches multilingual language acquisition in individuals who speak a heritage language.
Research School
The FLUENT research school will focus on themes central for FLUENT.
The research school will facilitate and support the development of a community of students and researchers engaged in multilingualism.
Research Projects
Recent achievements:
- Yvonne van Baal has been awarded a NOK 750 000 Young CAS grant for her project "A cross-linguistic perspective of definiteness marking in heritage languages" (2025-2027).
- David Natvig has been awarded a NOK 8 000 000 Forskerprosjekt for tidlig karriere (FRIPRO) grant for his project "North American Norwegian Tonal Accents in Contact" (2025-2029).
We are currently involved in the following projects:
- A cross-linguistic perspective of definiteness marking in heritage languages (Yvonne van Baal)
- American Norwegian Sound Systems in Contact (David Natvig)
- Bilingual morphotactics (David Natvig & Michael T. Putnam)
- Cross-linguistic influence from English as a heritage language in L3 acquisition (Merete Anderssen, Nadine Kolb, Alicia Luque, Rosalinde Stadt, Brechje van Osch & Marit Westergaard)
- Cross-linguistic influence in L2 and L3 English acquisition: L1 Norwegian and 2L1 Norwegian-Heritage Language Children (Eliane Lorenz, Nadine Kolb, Helene Jensberg, Brechje van Osch & Anne-Sophie Hufer)
- Individual Differences: How Heritage Speakers of German in Norway Juggle Multilingualism (PhD project Anne-Sophie Hufer)
- Individual Differences in Polish as a Heritage Language in Norway (David Natvig, Nadine Kolb, Anne-Sophie Hufer, Yvonne van Baal, Dominika Gabriela Zieba)
- INPUT: Investigating Proxies for Understanding Trajectories: Heritage Language Maintenance and Child Second Language Acquisition in Refugee Contexts (Nadine Kolb, Merete Anderssen & Jason Rothman)
- L3 development: A longitudinal study on L3 German in Norway (Nadine Kolb, Gustavo Guajardo & Marit Westergaard)
- North American Norwegian Tonal Accents in Contact (David Natvig)
- NOP-korpuset (Norskprøvene-korpuset) (Gølin Kaurin Nilsen & Torbjørn Olseth)
- VAMS-prosjekt (Vi arbeider med språket) – metalingvistisk arbeid med og for lærerstudenter i norsk (Gølin Kaurin Nilsen)
Events
Regular events:
FLUENT Lunch Talks (get in touch with nadine.kolb@uis.no for more information)
- 24.01.2025, 12-13 Hege Rangnes, Olaug Strand & Åse Kari Hansen Wagner (UiS)
- 07.03.2025, 12-13 Michael Daves
- 28.03.2025 12-13 Åse Kari Hansen Wagner (UiS)
- 04.04.2025, 12-13 Ingrid Lene Aasen (UiS)
- 16.05.2025, 12-13 TBA
- 06.06.2025, 12-13 Amy Lee Wei Quing, Marcus Lim Peng Hee, Ian Tan Theng Yang, Yu Tan Wee & Zomin Low Chok Min (National Institute of Education, Singapore)
- 03.10.2025 12-13 Roberta d’Alessandro (Utrecht University)
FLUENT Reading Group (get in touch with anne-sophie.hufer@uis.no for more information)
We present and discuss research articles related to Multilingualism (online & in person)
- 14.03.2025, 11-12
- 28.03.2025, 11-12
- 11.04.2025, 11-12
- 09.05.2025, 11-12
- 23.05.2025, 11-12
Workshops:
February 13th-14th 2025
Research Collaboration Workshop
Invited researchers:
Prof. Anne Dahl, NTNU
Prodekan Kjersti F. Listhaug, NTNU
Prof. Merete Anderssen, UiT
Postdoc Brechje van Osch, UiT
Postdoc Isabel Jensen, UiO
PhD Augusto Espindola, UiO
PhD Michela Iacorossi, UiO
PhD Laura N. Sanchez, NTNU
PhD Mari K. Wilhelmsen, NTNU
September 12th-13th 2024
Research Collaboration Workshop
Invited speakers:
Prof. Terje Lohndahl, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Prof. Ingebjørg Tonne, University of Oslo (UiO)
Assoc. Prof. Alicia Luque, Nebrija University, Spain
Assoc. Prof. Hanne Næss Hjetland, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet)
Assoc. Prof. Søren Wind Eskildsen, University of Soutern Denmark (SDU)
October 27th 2023
Community Collaboration Workshop
Sølvberget Bibliotek og Kulturhus
Frivilligsentralen
Flyktningeseksjonen
Sola Kommune
Sandnes voksenopplæring