This study investigates how Norwegian adolescents with different literacy profiles perceive and distinguish standard and dialectal varieties of written Norwegian. Using a variety classification task, we analyzed response accuracy and reaction times (RTs) among 398 lower secondary school pupils across three regions: Eastern Norway (primarily Bokmål-literate), Northern Norway (exposed to Bokmål and dialect writing), and Western Norway (familiar with Nynorsk, Bokmål, and dialect writing). Participants with broader literacy profiles (Western Norway) achieved higher accuracy and showed longer RTs, indicating more thorough processing, while those with more limited exposure (Eastern Norway) employed more reductive or guessing-based strategies. However, even for Western participants, distinguishing the lesser-used standard, Nynorsk, from dialect writing was more challenging than distinguishing Bokmål. A supplementary analysis revealed that frequent use of dialect writing in private digital communication did not undermine standard literacy overall, although in the Western group it was associated with slightly lower accuracy, highlighting the vulnerable status of Nynorsk. These findings suggest that exposure to multiple written varieties enhances metalinguistic awareness and processing depth, while revealing regional asymmetries in the attainment of the two written standards. The study underscores the importance of explicitly addressing both standard varieties and dialect writing in education, with broader relevance for contexts where minoritized or non-standard varieties coexist alongside a dominant written language. • Norwegian adolescents show regional differences in literacy and dialect recognition • Broader literacy profiles linked to higher accuracy and more thorough processing • Distinguishing Nynorsk from dialect writing is harder than distinguishing Bokmål • Frequent dialect writing may challenge Nynorsk accuracy but not Bokmål • Exposure to multiple written varieties enhances metalinguistic awareness
Vinichenko et al. (Sun,) studied this question.