While the term “language history” (Norwegian: språkhistorie) is not explicitly mentioned in the current Norwegian curriculum (LK20), historical perspectives on language are present in several competence aims, either explicitly, implicitly, or optionally. This chapter examines the role of language history in the curriculum, with a focus on aims related to the official languages of Norway, as well as aims involving comparison of Norwegian with Old Norse, neighboring languages, and other languages. The chapter argues that both internal and external language history are relevant for the curriculum aims, and that the multilingual turn in the curriculum necessitates a combination of these perspectives. While external language history, such as the history of the written standards bokmål and nynorsk, has been emphasized in the subject of Norwegian, the chapter contends that internal language history, such as phonological and morphological developments, should not be neglected. Lastly, the chapter reflects on the historical linguistic competence of teachers in primary and secondary education in light of the curriculum aims. The chapter concludes that language history plays a balanced role in the school subject Norwegian as long as implicit and optional aims are taken into account, and that the curriculum largely reflects a turn to a multilingual perspective on language history.publishedVersio
