Abstract #1651

Abstract: The research field of L1 education – or L1 didactics – is young in the Nordic countries. Since the turn of the century, we have however, seen the emergence of national and Nordic research networks, conference and publication series, research programs, and the designation of positions as professors and associate professors (Ongstad, 2012). Studies of Nordic L1 research have taken stock of the disciplinary sub fields (see chapters in Ongstad, 2012 for salient contributions), but empirical studies of L1 didactics as a unitary field are in demand. The present study is part of a Nordic project, aiming at investigating the emergence of Nordic L1 research and its present profile(s) through PhD research within the field. Taking its point of departure in the design and findings of Holmberg & Nordenstam (2016), the present study examines the abstracts of Danish L1 didactic PhD dissertations defended between 2000 and 2016. Drawing on Bernstein’s (2003) distinctions, Holmberg & Nordenstam discuss whether in Sweden the disciplinary singularities of e.g. literature science, linguistics and didactics, have transformed into a region, catering for the needs of a knowledge base for the education and practices of the L1 teaching profession. On a backdrop of comparison with the Swedish study, the presentation will map the history of changing disciplinary focuses in Danish PhD research, and discuss the degree of transformation into a new territory or a region.
References
Bernstein, B. (2003). Education, symbolic control, and social practices. In Bernstein, B., Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity, 2nd ed. (pp 133-164). Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Holmberg, P. & Nordenstam, A. (2016). Svenska med didaktisk inriktning. Ett forskningsområde i rörelse [Swedish as L1 didactics. A research field on the move]. In: Höglund, H. & Heilä-Ylikallio, R. (eds.) (2016). Framtida berättelser [Future narratives] (pp 47-62). Vasa: Åbo Akademi.
Ongstad, S. (2012) (ed.). Nordisk modersmålsdidaktik. Forskning, felt og fag [Nordic L1 didactics. Research, field and subject]. Oslo: Novus.

The research field of L1 didactics