Language Lessons Learned? NATO Requirements and Norwegian Officer Cadets

This study establishes the extent to which Norwegian officer cadets have reached NATO English-language capability targets (NCT) on their graduation with a bachelor’s degree in Military Studies. It further investigates their opinions about the role of English language in the context of the officer profession. Cadets (n = 104) from the three military academies (Army, Navy, Air Force) filled in a Likert-scale questionnaire and afterwards tested on their language in accordance with NATO Standardization Agreement 6001. Analyses of test results showed that while very few cadets reached the NCT for officers working on international staffs; a larger number, however, reached the NCT for officer deployments to NATO operations, exercises, or training. While questionnaire respondents considered the English language instruction offered during their studies relevant to the military profession, the absence of a summative assessment of language proficiency would appear to influence motivation for language training efforts. We conclude that, in order to reach NCT, military educational institutions would do well to increase their focus on the NATO language standard and consider their future assessment practices.