Professor warns Icelandic schools are failing bilingual children

It is a disservice to children to lack a clear language policy in Icelandic schools, linguistics professor Elín Þöll Þórðardóttir told mbl.is. She said schools should lengthen the school day, increase Icelandic instruction and ensure that Icelandic remains the main language in the school environment.

Þórðardóttir, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, said the latest PISA results were not surprising. She has spent many years researching the language skills of bilingual children in Iceland.

The gap in educational performance between students of Icelandic origin and those of foreign origin has widened more in Iceland than in any other country, according to the PISA results.

In the science section of the assessment, which was taken by 15-year-old students, those of foreign origin scored an average of 390 points, compared with 455 points among students with Icelandic parents. The OECD average was 497 points.

School day is too short

Þórðardóttir said the school day must be extended so children spend more time in an Icelandic-language environment. She also called for more targeted efforts to put Icelandic first in schools.

About half of children of foreign origin in Iceland gain a good command of the language, while the other half do not, she said. The situation in Iceland is considerably worse than in other countries.

“I am currently conducting research to find out why. Why do some children take one path and others a different path when they attend the same school? I have argued to the authorities, in the media and in various forums in Iceland that this is connected to the school day being too short,” she said.

Research shows that children need to spend a certain amount of time learning a language, she said. More than 40 per cent of their waking hours must be devoted to it during childhood, but the school day in Iceland does not meet that threshold.

More Icelandic needed in lessons

Þórðardóttir said it was not a problem for other languages to be spoken during breaks, describing that as positive. However, she said there must be a stronger emphasis on speaking Icelandic during lessons.

Asked whether extracurricular activities could make up for the short school day, she said some of them in Iceland take place in English.

“There are children who attend football practice in English, and this is allowed to continue,” she said.

“We are too timid about taking control of the language environment in this country, or for some reason we feel that it is not appropriate.”