Ingebjørg TonneView profile
Professor
Ingebjørg Tonne is a Professor of Nordic languages/Norwegian as a second language at the Department of Linguistics and Nordic Studies (ILN) at the University of Oslo. She previously served as deputy head of MultiLing, center for multilingualism (a Center for Excellence in Research funded by the Norwegian Research Council) from January 1, 2022 to May 1, 2024. Earlier, from December 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017, she was head of teaching at ILN. Her academic career spans multiple institutions including the University of Oslo, Oslo Metropolitan University (where she taught from 2002-2014), and NTNU. Tonne holds a doctorate in linguistics from the University of Oslo (2001), with a contrastive dissertation on aspect in Norwegian-Spanish-English. Her educational background prepared her for extensive work in linguistics and language education. Professor Tonne's research focuses on the relationship between grammar teaching and writing development in school students, and the interplay between linguistic factors related to reading and writing skills. She is particularly interested in grammatical contrasts between different languages and how contrastive work can contribute to increased metalinguistic awareness in students. Her methodological approaches span corpus studies, ethnographically oriented studies, interview-based research, conceptual discussions about language concepts like "mother tongue," and qualitative studies of teachers' written assessments of student texts. She has made significant contributions to understanding how grammar instruction impacts literacy development among second language learners. Her publication record shows a consistent focus on second language acquisition, particularly Norwegian as a second language, with emphasis on grammar instruction, writing development, and literacy. Over the past decade, her work has increasingly examined teacher responses to student writing, the role of literature in language education, and the conceptual frameworks that shape our understanding of language learning. Her research often bridges theoretical linguistics with practical classroom applications, demonstrating how linguistic insights can improve language teaching methodologies. Professor Tonne has supervised students in the master's program in multicultural and international education at OsloMet, focusing on sociolinguistic topics related to human rights, language rights, and the multicultural school in Norway. She was part of the "Multiplicity Project" at OsloMet, which investigated how increased reading of literature could improve students' reading and writing skills compared to ordinary textbook use. Her teaching responsibilities at the University of Oslo include courses NOAS1100, NOAS2101, NOAS2102, NOAS4101, and NOAS4103, all related to Norwegian language education. She is an active member of MultiLing, the Center for Multilingualism in Society across the lifespan, which was designated as a Center of Excellence by the Norwegian Research Council. This center brings together researchers from multiple disciplines to study multilingualism from various perspectives, including linguistic, cognitive, social, and educational dimensions. Professor Tonne's work contributes significantly to the center's focus on how multilingualism develops and functions in different societal contexts.
