The influence of English on the language proficiency of youth who have learned Icelandic as a first or second language

Abstract

As a result of increased use of English in Iceland, many children whose mothertongue (L1) is Icelandic learn it to some extent in a bilingual context, and children for whom Icelandic is their second language (L2) learn it as one of three languages. This environment could lead to opportunity for multilingualism; however, in light of research showing low Icelandic levels among L2 children, the impact of English warrants examination. This article reviews three studies focusing on the Icelandic and English proficiency of L1 and L2 adolescents, their
views towards these languages, and whether they speak them with a foreign accent. The English proficiency of the groups was similar. For the L1 group, English complemented a strong Icelandic proficiency. For the L2 group, however, proficiency was below age expectations in all their languages, with large individual variability. The results suggest that L2 adolescents are very interested in learning Icelandic, but have insufficient opportunity to do so.

Keywords: bilingualism, trilingualism, multilingualism, motivation, foreign accent