English in the Nordic Countries

Elizabeth Peterson is a senior university lecturer in the Department of Languages at the University of Helsinki. She is a sociolinguist who specializes in variation, language contact, language attitudes, and ideologies. An American migrant to Finland, she is especially interested in the dynamics of multilingualism, language rights, and language change.Kristy Beers Fägersten is Professor of English Linguistics at the School of Culture and Education at Södertörn University, Sweden. Her research disciplines include pragmatics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, and conversation analysis. Her publications feature analyses of the language of media and popular culture, with a special focus on language play, humor, and swearing.

• Chapter 1. English in the Nordic countries: An introductionElizabeth Peterson and Kristy Beers FägerstenPart I: Background and critical perspectivesChapter 2. The role of English in the Nordic language system Johan StrangChapter 3. Shifting connections between English and the languages of the Nordic regionElizabeth PetersonChapter 4. Anglicization of the languages of the Nordic countries: Popular culture and everyday discourseKristy Beers FägerstenChapter 5. Language contact and language change: Impact on the languages of the Nordic countriesHelga Hilmisdóttir and Elizabeth PetersonChapter 6. Beyond threat or opportunity: English and language ideological tensions in the Nordic countriesJanus MortensenPart II: English in different settings Chapter 7. Parallelingualism, translanguaging, and English-medium instruction in Nordic higher educationBethAnne Paulsrud and Una CunninghamChapter 8. English in the Nordic workplace: Practices, policies, and ideologiesDorte LønsmannChapter 9. English in Norway’s multilingual North: A rhizomatic view on encounters with historical and transnational diversityFlorian HissChapter 10. Metapragmatics of "bad" English in Finnish social mediaSamu KytöläChapter 11. English in Nordic multilingual families: Couple and family language practicesKaisa S. Pietikäinen and Louisa GührChapter 12. English in the Nordic countries: ConclusionsElizabeth Peterson and Kristy Beers Fägersten

The Nordic languages have a millennium of spatial co-existence, but it is only through a view from outside, from the perspective of the influence of English for less than a century that it has gained social, cultural, and linguistic unity as a coherent place. This volume is an exciting and innovative take on the Nordic languages, with each chapter showcasing the latest research in its respective subfield and forming an indispensable set of readings for a deeper understanding of the Nordic mentality. The editors' final chapter not only successfully brings the findings by the respective authors together, but also in a creative fashion presents the views of ten eminent Nordic scholars on the relation between English and the Nordic languages.Jan-Ola Östman, prof. em. University of Helsinki, Finland