Danish and learning Danish in Iceland, Greenland, and Faro Islands

Abstract

Danish is taught as a foreign language in schools in Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. The instructional goal is general competence in Danish and ability to use it in communication with Danes and other Nordic citizens. However, Danish holds different positions in the students’ countries, which shapes their learning contexts. This article describes a research project that focuses on young learners of Danish in the West Nordic region. It is a collaboration between
Icelandic, Faroese and Greenlandic scholars and teachers of Danish and their students. The objective is to gain insight into the status and function of Danish in the three countries, examine the effect on students’ Danish acquisition and seek ways to utilize new knowledge to better meet the needs of students for learning material. The results of a survey among primary and secondary school students about their connections with Denmark and attitudes towards Danish and learning Danish is presented. Finally, there is a section on computerassisted
learning material developed on the basis of the survey and in collaboration with teachers of Danish and their students. This includes www.taleboblen and the interactive computer game www.talerum.is.

Keywords: Danish as a foreign language, Motivation in learning Danish, Learner autonomy, Computer-assisted language learning.