You do you: English-language media influence in the everyday linguistic repertoires of young Norwegians
Abstract
Abstract Young people in Norway experience a considerable presence of English through media, creating new affordances for language use. This study explores such affordances by investigating language practices and reflections about language among five pre-teens (aged 11–12) and six teens (aged 15–16) in Norway. Through analyses of participants’ metalinguistic commentary as well as their language use during interviews, the article describes the ways in which a changing media landscape influences the everyday linguistic repertoires of young Norwegians. The findings show that English-language features are integrated as part of a contextually relevant identity for some of the participants, while ideological links to perceptions of language proficiency persist. The data suggest a widely shared indexicality of English features, in particular accent features, and the study shows how this indexicality can be drawn on in creative performances, including styling and mocking practices. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the sheer amount of American English media content accessed by young Norwegians has rendered standardised American English an unmarked standard. The role of English in identity work and complex communicative repertoires suggests that the status of English surpasses that of a “foreign” language, having become an everyday language for young Norwegians.