“English is a language that everyone learns”: Anglonormativity, Bildung, and invisibilized linguistic inequalities in vocational education

The use of English is extensive and normalized in many areas of Norwegian society. This article examines its role in Norwegian vocational education and training (VET), exploring how teachers and students view the use of English and English-language materials, and how their language environment impacts students’ learning opportunities. In this case study, I analyze linguistic-ethnographic data gathered in a Norwegian upper secondary school in 2020–2021, in a linguistically heterogenous class attending a Norwegian-language hairdressing program that works with an English-language vocational learning platform. My findings show that – in keeping with Anglonormative language ideology – English proficiency is largely naturalized, leading to students’ English-related challenges being indirectly invisibilized. The importance, expectation, and invisibility of English skills tie Anglonormativity to the idea of Bildung [Norwegian: danning] as reflected in the National Curriculum’s aim of promoting social, professional, and democratic participation and citizenship – a foundational concept of the Norwegian educational system.