Verónica Adriana Pájaro

Associate Professor Department of Nordic and Media Studies

Email: veronica.pajaro@uia.no
Phone: +47 38 14 13 23
Office: E2058 (Universitetsveien 25, 4630 Kristiansand, Norway)

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Background and experience

I am a critical sociolinguist working with issues of discourse, power and multilingualism and how these are played out in social interaction and institutional contexts. I work with the intersections between language, migration, and work.

I have a PhD in sociolinguistics from the Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan at the University of Oslo (MultiLing, SFF). I have worked as assistant and associate professor in Norwegian language at Innland Norway University (INN), University of South Eastern Norway (USN), and as associate professor at UiA since 2021.

Areas of responsibility

I serve as leader of the Language and Power research group and chair for the Language Policy committee at the University of Agder.

I am also a member of the language and work group, and part of the editorial board of Language Policy and Laboratoria.

Teaching

I teach discourse analysis, writing technologies, multilingualism, Norwegian as a second language, and professional communication at BA, MA and PhD levels in the social communication and Norwegian linguistics programs.

Supervision

I supervise MA and PhD theses in the areas multilingualism, discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, language in the workplace, digital discourse and communication, linguistic anthropology. Send me an email if you ar interested in working with me.

Research

I am actively engaged in several research projects founded by the Norwegian Research Council, the Independent Research Fund Denmark, and Horizon Europe. You can see a complete list of active projects below.

I have an international collaboration with the CELES center at the National University of San Martin (Argentina), and participate actively in the international network Language and work group.

Projects

Research groups

Pájaro, Verónica (2025). Negras villeras y marronas: emerging feminist subjectivities haunting Argentina’s invisibilized racial heritage. In Sardà, Maria Rosa Garrido & Pérez-Milans, Miguel (Ed.), Re-imagining Language and Communication in Collaborative Projects Ethnographic Perspectives on the Future. Routledge. ISSN 9781032481364. p. 157–187. doi: 10.4324/9781003390077-8. Full text in Research Archive
Kinn, Kari; Stokka, Marie Lund & Pajaro, Veronica (2024). Latin-Amerika-norsk: Noen første observasjoner. NLT - Norsk lingvistisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0800-3076. 42(1), p. 177–212. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Norsk som arvespråk i USA og Canada, også kjent som amerikanorsk, er et forskningsfelt med lange tradisjoner. Norsk som arvespråk i andre kontekster er derimot nærmest ukjent terreng. Denne artikkelen presenterer noen første observasjoner av norsk som arvespråk i en hittil uutforsket kontaktsituasjon, nemlig Latin-Amerika.
Barakos, Elisabeth; Bonnin, Juan Eduardo & Pájaro, Verónica (2024). Discourse: A Map in Constant Redrawing. In Percio, Alfonso Del & Flubacher, Mi-Cha (Ed.), Critical Sociolinguistics. Dialogues, Dissonances, Developments. Bloomsbury Academic. ISSN 9781350293526. p. 71–95. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2022). 'Model minorities' in a 'sociolinguistic paradise': How Latin-American migrants talk about job interviews in Norway. In Lane, Pia; Kjelsvik, Bjørghild & Myhr, Annika Bøstein (Ed.), Negotiating Identities in Nordic Migrant Narratives: Crossing Borders and Telling Lives. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030891084. p. 83–110. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2022). Scripts and texts as technologies of refugee governmentality in the Norwegian introduction programme. In Monsen, Marte & Steien, Guri Bordal (Ed.), Language Learning and Forced Migration. Multilingual Matters. ISSN 9781800412255. p. 49–69. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica & Steien, Guri Bordal (2021). Nok norsk til å få jobb? En narrativ tilnærming til jobbintervju og språk. In Monsen, Marte & Pájaro, Verónica (Ed.), Andrespråkslæring hos voksne : Vitenskapelige innsikter og didaktiske refleksjoner. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202687373. p. 237–258. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvordan lærer voksne norsk som andrespråk? Hvordan bør språkopplæringen være? De fleste utgivelsene innen norsk som andrespråk handler om barns læring av norsk i skolen og i barnehagen. Voksne innlærere har ikke fått like stor oppmerksomhet i forskningen. Voksne lærer imidlertid ikke språk helt på samme måte som barn, og voksnes språklæring skjer i andre kontekster og under andre betingelser. Derfor er det viktig med en oppdatert bok om andrespråkslæring hos voksne spesielt, både for forskningens del og for didaktisk refleksjon. Denne boka presenterer ny kunnskap om andrespråkslæring og andrespråksdidaktikk for voksne. Sentrale temaer er morsmålsbegrepet, språklige repertoar, investering, identitet, ordforråd, syntaks, numerasitet, lese- og skriveutvikling, Norskprøven, språkkrav og jobbintervjuer. Forfatterne er forskere innen flerspråklighet og språklæring, og de undersøker temaene fra ulike perspektiver; kritiske, sosiolingvistiske, sosiokulturelle og kognitive. De drøfter også hvilke konsekvenser de nye innsiktene bør få for norskopplæringen. Boka er aktuell for alle som er involvert i andrespråksfeltet og språkopplæringen i norsk, som politikere, forskere, studenter og skolefolk. Den er særlig nyttig for lærere som underviser voksne i norsk som andrespråk.
Pájaro, Verónica & Monsen, Marte (2021). Norskopplæring for voksne: en kritisk sosiolingvistisk tilnærming. In Monsen, Marte & Pájaro, Verónica (Ed.), Andrespråkslæring hos voksne : Vitenskapelige innsikter og didaktiske refleksjoner. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202687373. p. 11–28. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvordan lærer voksne norsk som andrespråk? Hvordan bør språkopplæringen være? De fleste utgivelsene innen norsk som andrespråk handler om barns læring av norsk i skolen og i barnehagen. Voksne innlærere har ikke fått like stor oppmerksomhet i forskningen. Voksne lærer imidlertid ikke språk helt på samme måte som barn, og voksnes språklæring skjer i andre kontekster og under andre betingelser. Derfor er det viktig med en oppdatert bok om andrespråkslæring hos voksne spesielt, både for forskningens del og for didaktisk refleksjon. Denne boka presenterer ny kunnskap om andrespråkslæring og andrespråksdidaktikk for voksne. Sentrale temaer er morsmålsbegrepet, språklige repertoar, investering, identitet, ordforråd, syntaks, numerasitet, lese- og skriveutvikling, Norskprøven, språkkrav og jobbintervjuer. Forfatterne er forskere innen flerspråklighet og språklæring, og de undersøker temaene fra ulike perspektiver; kritiske, sosiolingvistiske, sosiokulturelle og kognitive. De drøfter også hvilke konsekvenser de nye innsiktene bør få for norskopplæringen. Boka er aktuell for alle som er involvert i andrespråksfeltet og språkopplæringen i norsk, som politikere, forskere, studenter og skolefolk. Den er særlig nyttig for lærere som underviser voksne i norsk som andrespråk.

View all works in NVA

Monsen, Marte & Pájaro, Verónica (2021). Andrespråkslæring hos voksne : Vitenskapelige innsikter og didaktiske refleksjoner. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202687373. 268 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Hvordan lærer voksne norsk som andrespråk? Hvordan bør språkopplæringen være? De fleste utgivelsene innen norsk som andrespråk handler om barns læring av norsk i skolen og i barnehagen. Voksne innlærere har ikke fått like stor oppmerksomhet i forskningen. Voksne lærer imidlertid ikke språk helt på samme måte som barn, og voksnes språklæring skjer i andre kontekster og under andre betingelser. Derfor er det viktig med en oppdatert bok om andrespråkslæring hos voksne spesielt, både for forskningens del og for didaktisk refleksjon. Denne boka presenterer ny kunnskap om andrespråkslæring og andrespråksdidaktikk for voksne. Sentrale temaer er morsmålsbegrepet, språklige repertoar, investering, identitet, ordforråd, syntaks, numerasitet, lese- og skriveutvikling, Norskprøven, språkkrav og jobbintervjuer. Forfatterne er forskere innen flerspråklighet og språklæring, og de undersøker temaene fra ulike perspektiver; kritiske, sosiolingvistiske, sosiokulturelle og kognitive. De drøfter også hvilke konsekvenser de nye innsiktene bør få for norskopplæringen. Boka er aktuell for alle som er involvert i andrespråksfeltet og språkopplæringen i norsk, som politikere, forskere, studenter og skolefolk. Den er særlig nyttig for lærere som underviser voksne i norsk som andrespråk.

View all works in NVA

Daryai-Hansen, Petra Gillyard; Gebauer, Mirjam; Kanareva-Dimitrovska, Ana; Kraft, Kamilla; Larsen, Sanne & Lejre, Cecilie [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2026). Special issue: Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in Higher Education - part 1. Nordic Journal of Language Teaching and Learning (NJLTL). 13(2), p. i–viii. doi: 10.46364/njltl.v13i2.1635. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2026). La implementación de requisitos lingüísticos en la academia noruega: tensiones entre internacionalización y políticas de defensa del noruego. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Desde comienzos del siglo XXI, el Estado noruego ha orientado recursos de manera sistemática hacia la internacionalización del sistema de investigación y de la educación superior. Tales iniciativas han incluido, entre otras medidas, la creación de programas de maestría impartidos íntegramente en lengua inglesa y la implementación de políticas destinadas a atraer personal académico internacional altamente calificado. Como resultado, el sector universitario noruego presenta hoy elevados niveles de internacionalización y multilingüismo, en un escenario en el que el inglés se ha consolidado como lengua hegemónica de producción, difusión y transmisión del conocimiento, llegando a desplazar al noruego como lengua de instrucción en diversos campos disciplinares. En respuesta a este proceso de anglicización, el gobierno noruego ha introducido recientemente un conjunto de disposiciones orientadas a reforzar la posición del noruego como lengua de conocimiento. Entre estas medidas se destaca la reforma de la Ley de Educación Superior, mediante la cual se incorporan requisitos explícitos de competencia lingüística en noruego (nivel B2 según el Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas) para la provisión de cargos académicos permanentes y para los procesos de promoción dentro de la carrera universitaria. La ponencia propuesta examina la implementación de esta normativa en tres universidades noruegas, a partir de datos generados en un proyecto de seguimiento etnográfico que combina observación participante, entrevistas semiestructuradas y un análisis discursivo de documentos institucionales, legislación pertinente e informes gubernamentales relativos a la aplicación de dichas medidas. El análisis se inscribe en la sociolingüística crítica y dialoga con los desarrollos contemporáneos de la tradición glotopolítica, con el propósito de delinear o al menos problematizar las potencialidades analíticas que emergen de la articulación entre ambas perspectivas.
Pájaro, Verónica & Mortensen, Janus (2026). Is Norwegian a problem? Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this paper, we report on ongoing work at Fagspråksenteret in which we use Bacchi’s (2026) critical policy analysis framework to engage with recent language policy documents related to Norwegian academia. For the purposes of this presentation, we focus specifically on Frå ord til handling – Handlingsplan for norsk fagspråk i akademia, published jointly by Kunnskapsdepartementet and Kultur- og likestillingsdepartementet in 2023. Inspired by Bacchi, we develop a systematic critical reading of the text, allowing us to identify the ‘problem(s)’ that are discursively generated throughout the document. The analysis shows that English is framed – rather predictably – as a ‘threat’ and therefore as part of the problem. Yet the analysis also highlights – more surprisingly, perhaps – that Norwegian is similarly presented as part of the problem. More precisely, an assumed lack of competence in Norwegian among international employees is represented as a problem in urgent need of a solution, which essentially positions international employees as one of the central nodes in the problem complex represented by the document. We conclude by discussing how a Bacchi-inspired analysis can offer new critical perspectives on well-known language policy debates in Norway and elsewhere in the Nordic region.
Kraft, Kamilla; Pájaro, Verónica & Jensen, Charlotte Sun (2026). Arbejdssprog – konstruktioner af relationer mellem sprog og arbejde. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Gennem studier af sprog og arbejde i forskellige kontekster har sprogforskere påvist skiftende relationer mellem sprog og arbejde (Boutet, 2011). For eksempel hvordan forestillingen om arbejdere har ændret sig fra ”workforce” til ”wordforce”, dvs. fra en arbejdsstyrke til en ordstyrke, i kapitalistiske samfund (Heller, 2011), og hvordan sådanne forestillinger er til gavn for nogle arbejdere, f.eks. ”wordsmiths” (Thurlow, 2020), mens de bliver en kilde til udnyttelse af andre arbejdere, ofte migranter (Duchêne 2011). Ydermere har forskningen også påvist, hvordan individuelle motivationer og handlinger er med til at reproducere og udfordre relationer mellem arbejde og sprog, fx gennem sproglige investeringer (Norton Pierce, 1995). Denne forskning om sprogarbejde sætter rammen for, hvordan krydsfeltet mellem sprog og arbejde samt system og individ skaber social orden. I dette panel vil vi udforske forholdet mellem sprog og arbejde i Norden ved at fokusere på forestillingen om, hvordan arbejdssprog eller fagligt sprog forstås på tværs af forskellige sektorer og på baggrund af en øget internationalisering samt mangel på arbejdskraft. Bidragene undersøger, hvordan begreber som ’fagspråk’ eller ’arbeidsinnretting’ opfattes, organiseres og operationaliseres på/til arbejdspladsen ved at udforske praksisser, ideologier og politikker. Vi vil også diskutere, hvordan arbejdssprog og sprogarbejde hænger sammen med ideologier om demokratisering, flersprogethed, effektivitet, sikkerhed, nordisk exceptionalisme, velfærd osv. Panelet vil således bidrage med ny viden om relationer mellem sprog og arbejde ved at undersøge, hvordan nordiske sprog bruges som andetsprog i forskellige arbejdsmiljøer, og hvordan flersprogede arbejdsrepertoirer sammenvæves med sociale værdisætningsprocesser. For at demonstrere dybden og kompleksiteten af sprogarbejde og arbejdssprog i Norden inkluderer panelet forskellige undersøgelser, metoder og områder. Bidrag til panelet kan f.eks. være diskursanalyer af retningslinjer for sprogbrug i arbejdskontekster, etnografiske undersøgelser af flersprogethed på forskellige arbejdspladser eller anvendt forskning om fx sprogundervisning for arbejdstagere i forskellige brancher.
Pájaro, Verónica (2026). Implementing Language Requirements in Norwegian Academia. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Norwegian universities have long functioned as multilingual workplaces shaped by internationalisation and global academic mobility. This reality challenges monolingual ideologies historically embedded in higher education and raises questions about the language(s) of teaching, research, and knowledge production. These debates intensified in 2024 and 2025, when the Norwegian Parliament approved new regulations under the Universities and University Colleges Act, introducing language requirements for recruitment and promotion of permanent staff with Norwegian as a second language. While intended to protect Norwegian as a language of knowledge and education, the effectiveness and implications of these measures remain unclear. This paper investigates the implications of introducing language requirements for employment and how these reconfigure the relationship between language and work in academia. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation in university settings, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, and discourse analysis of policy documents and institutional strategies, the study explores how the new regulations intersect with competing demands for internationalisation, academic excellence, and linguistic diversity. The analysis foregrounds three dimensions: (1) Norwegian as a language of knowledge; (2) Norwegian as a language of work; and (3) Norwegian as a language of the nation. By situating these developments within broader critical sociolinguistic debates on language and labour, the paper contributes to understanding how policy instruments reshape linguistic hierarchies, professional trajectories, and notions of “fagspråk” in an increasingly nationally oriented academic field.
Pájaro, Verónica (2026). Språkkrav i ansettelse og promosjon i akademia. Hinder eller ressurs? Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2026). Cosplayers and crypto-grifters: The women of the Argentine libertarian right. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
With over 200,000 Instagram followers, @ladylemon is a cosplayer, anti-feminist influencer, and National Deputy for Javier Milei’s libertarian party La Libertad Avanza. In her official accounts, ladylemon shares short video excerpts from her violent outbursts at the National Congress, alongside bikini and AI-generated portraits in costume. The aesthetics and performance of cosplay subcultures have been appropriated and rebranded as central elements of the libertarian political aesthetic. In this talk I wish to examine the gendered and racialized aesthetics of social media cosplay performances by women in Argentina’s far-right, using Lemoine as a central case study. I analyze how cosplay aesthetics and meme culture are strategically appropriated to produce a sexualized political persona aligned with anti-feminist, anti-abortion, and anti-vaccine discourses. While these performances depart from familiar right-wing feminine archetypes such as the “tradwife”, they nonetheless reproduce and exploit discourses of feminine submission and objectification recognizable from global far right movements. Drawing on intersectional feminism and digital ethnography, the lecture invites to explore how postmodern reactionary populism (Tebaldi, 2021) is mobilized by the women of the right in Argentina, while raising questions about researching far-right digital spaces.
Pájaro, Verónica (2026). Making Diaspora. Narrative Tellings by Heritage Speakers of Norwegian in Contemporary Argentina. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2026). Language of work, language of knowledge, and language of the nation: Fagspråk and language-political struggles in Norwegian higher education. Full text in Research Archive
Bukve, Trude; Mortensen, Janus; Pájaro, Verónica; Gujord, Ann-Kristin Helland & Listhaug, Kjersti Faldet (2026). Språket si rolle i læring og praktisering av sjukepleiefaget. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica & Selås, Magnhild (2026). Ja, kven passar eigentleg på nynorsken ved UiA? - fvn.no. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Student Nora Tangen Aarskog spør i Fædrelandsvennen 20. januar kven som passar på nynorsken ved UiA. Som tidlegare og nåverande leiar i det språkpolitiske utvalet ved UiA, vil vi svare: Det gjer vi – og alle ved UiA.
Pájaro, Verónica (2025). How do we talk about race in Argentina? Popular antiracist feminisms. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2025). Negras villeras y marronas. Emerging feminist subjectivities haunting Argentina’s invisibilized racial heritage. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2025). Hvor kommer du egentlig fra? On language, native speakerness, and being a multilingual scholar in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica & Sartori, Florencia (2025). Chinos y negros. Challenging racializing discourses and the making of contemporary Argentina as a White space. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Argentina is often imagined as a White space, an exception in a region otherwise defined by its colonial heritage of indigenous and African oppression, dispossession, enslavement and mestizaje. This fiction of homogenous Whiteness as a constitutive trait of a modern post-colonial nation, has made claiming an Indigenous, Black, African, Asian or even mestizo identity irreconcilable with the idea of the Argentine nation (Alberto & Elena, 2018). The pervasiveness of these systems of racialized oppression is such, that brown Argentine bodies have lost their racial indexicality and become reinterpreted in terms of a continuum of Whiteness, where some forms are more desirable, noble or authentically Argentine than others, and none can exist outside of Whiteness. The category “negro” does not strictly denote an individual with darker skin, but rather a subject of despicable moral or social qualities” (Belvedere et al, 2007, p 59, my translation). Hence race is no longer perceived as a genetic reality, but rather an emotional affiliation (Gordillo, 2018). In this paper, we propose to explore how dispositifs of racialization are at play in contemporary Argentina by focusing on the discursive work of social activists, feminist movements and influencers, and how they interpellate and challenge dominant notions of the nation and belonging. We focus on data from two ongoing ethnographic projects on brown feminist activists, and Chinese speakers/influencers? In Buenos Aires.
Pájaro, Verónica; Whittaker, Sunniva; Kraft, Kamilla; Jensen, Charlotte Sun & Nitzke, Jean (2025). Panelsamtale om språk og arbeid. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2025). Negras y marrones. Pensando y hablando de racialización desde la imposibilidad de la Argentina blanca. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica & Kraft, Kamilla (2024). Language policy in Nordic universities: Conceptualizing language requirements and speakers in the academic workplace. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2024). Language policy in higher education as a social work order? A (very preliminar) case study. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2024). Multilingüismo, migración y Empleo en Noruega. Una perspectiva desde la sociolingüística crítica. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2024). Language policies and employability in higher education. A case from Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2023). Multilingual Repertoires in Norwegian Job Interviews: Assets or Liabilities? Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2023). "Model Minorities" in a "Sociolinguistic Paradise" Latin Amerikanske innvandrere i norske jobbintervjuer. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2023). Performances of «new» racial identities. The case of feminismo villero in Argentina. Full text in Research Archive
Opsahl, Toril; Svennevig, Jan; Urbanik, Pawel Kazimierz; Goncalves, Kellie; Pájaro, Verónica & Arum, Nuranindia Endah (2023). Multilingualism in the workplace. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2022). Technologies of refugee government: Intake interviews and the institutional regulation of newly-arrived refugees to Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2022). Visible and invisible competences. Mapping refugees’ linguistic, educational and work experiences at intake interviews in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2021). Feminismo villero: Language, class, gender and race in Argentina’s feminist movement. Full text in Research Archive
Kinn, Kari; Pájaro, Verónica & Stokka, Marie Lund (2021). A new approach to heritage Norwegian: Norwegian in Latin America. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2019). Performances av flerspråklige ferdigheter på jobbintervjuer. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2019). Leger på jobbintervju følte seg fremmedgjorte. [Journal]. Utrop. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2019). Language ideologies, ethnic and class positionings in the narratives of Spanish speaking Latin American migrants in Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2019). “Negro de alma”: La construcción de clase, raza y etnicidad en “lo blanco” en la Argentina actual. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica & Steien, Guri Bordal (2018). Flerspråklighet i den norske skolen. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2018). Privileged Precarity. The deregulation of the national labor market and its consequences for young Norwegian doctors. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2018). Tilstrekkelige norskkunnskaper” språklige krav i ansettelsesprosesser for turnusleger i Norge. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2018). Governmentality in action? A case for taking an interactional perspective in the study of language ideologies and multilingual competences. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2018). “Tilstrekkelige norskkunnskaper”Operasjonaliseringen av språklige krav i ansettelsesprosesser for turnusleger i Norge. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2018). Who gets to pass? Performances of professional selves and language competences in job interviews in multilingual Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2017). Commodification? Multilingual repertoires in job interviews. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2017). Multilingual competences in a languagized labor market: Naming languages and conveying skills in recruitment processes. Full text in Research Archive
Hansen, Pernille & Pajaro, Veronica (2017). Språkferdighetene dine forteller ikke hvor du kommer fra. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2017). Negotiating professional identities in job interviews. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2016). Multilingual repertoires in job interviews: How are candidates’ multilingual competencies made visible (and invisible) in recruitment processes? Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2016). "Hvor er du egentlig fra?" Getting acquainted with and othering minority background applicants in Norwegian job interviews. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2014). Samkonstruksjonen av profesjonelle identiteter i jobbintervjuer: turnusleger med minoritetsbakgrunn i ett norsk helseforetak. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2014). Epistemic status and the interactional construction of applicants’ background in job interviews. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2014). Context and Interaction. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2013). Categorizations, language ideologies and the construction of professional identities in job interview narratives. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2013). Migrantes Latinoamericanos Noruega. Categorizaciones y construcción de identidad. Full text in Research Archive
Ims, Ingunn Indrebø & Pajaro, Veronica (2013). En komplementerende kvantitativ og kvalitativ tilnærming til folkelingvistiske merkelapper på språkbruk i flerspråklige Oslo – Oslo- testen som språkideologisk filter. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2013). Innvandrere i jobbintervjuer. [Radio]. Radio Migrapolis, NRK. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2013). "Min verste opplevelse?": Høyutdannede innvandrere i norske jobbintervjuer. Full text in Research Archive
Røyneland, Unn; Svennevig, Jan & Pajaro, Veronica (2013). Claiming and resisting a Norwegian Identity in conversation. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2012). "Y como no entras dentro de ninguna de las categorías eres, pues, algo un poco exótico": Categorization and identity construction in the narratives of three Latin American migrants in Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2011). Speaking Norwegian: language proficiency and identity negotiation in migrant's job interview narratives. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2011). Hablar noruego: competencia lingüística y categorización en Buenos narrativas de entrevistas de trabajo de migrantes latinoamericanos en Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2010). "Challenging group-categories: a cognitive linguistic contribution to a sociolinguistic analysis". Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2005). Hilse med hånd eller kinn. In Aambø, Reidun (Eds.), Typisk norsk å være uhøflig? Innvandrere har ordet. Kulturbro Forlag. ISSN 9788291234359. Full text in Research Archive
Randen, Gunhild Tveit; Monsen, Marte; Steien, Guri Bordal; Hagen, Karianne & Pájaro, Verónica (2018). Norskopplæring for voksne innvandrere - en kunnskapsoppsummering. Kompetanse Norge. Full text in Research Archive
Pájaro, Verónica (2018). Who gets to pass? Performances of professional selves and language competences in job interviews in multilingual Norway. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
Pajaro, Veronica (2011). A Norwegian speaks Norwegian : An analysis of categorization and identity construction in narratives of Latin American migrants in Oslo. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This project seeks to trace how Latin American migrants residing in Oslo use group categories for self- and other-identification for the negotiation and construction of identities in interaction. Identity construction is an essential process for migration and resettlement, as the relocation of the self in a new context requires a constant process of redefinition of the self in relation to the new environment and community. I consider group categorization labels such as "foreigner," "Norwegian," etc., to function as discourse strategies by which participants are able to index social relations and situations that exceed the actual interactional situation of the interview, following De Fina‘s (2003; 2006) analytical model of identity construction in interaction. Categories also function as resources for stance-taking (Jaffe 2009), by which the participants position themselves in relation to the implicit meanings of the categories, thus negotiating and constructing individual identities, which are non-reducible to single categorization labels. The goals of this thesis are to study how categorization functions as an identity construction strategy in narratives of personal experience, and to trace the schematic meanings of category labels that are implicit in the narrative sequences that thus function as a resource for the interactional construction of situated individual identities. In order to achieve these goals, I use a discourse analytic approach to categorization in narrative that can account for the functioning of categorization in the narratives and for socially shared, presupposed meanings of categories. I do a qualitative analysis of the narratives elicited in a focus group interview with three highly educated Spanish speaking immigrants from three different countries in Latin America. Keywords: Categorization, identity construction, migration, Linguistics, Interactional Sociolinguistics, MCD, Narrative Analysis, Latin America, Spanish, Oslo

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Tags: Critical Sociolinguistics, multilingualism, Norwegian as a second language, linguistics, language policy, language and work

Published Apr. 16, 2024 10:47 AM - Last modified May 15, 2026 9:34 AM