Back in September, my group and I presented an article (Allen, 2006) on the integration of immigrants into Québec high schools via the ‘Classe d’Accueil’ program. The article stood out as it highlighted many issues facing how our province handles linguistic diversity and language integration in an ever-changing, multicultural city. It also allowed me to reach out to a friend who teaches ‘Classe d’Accueil’ and get some much needed insight into how difficult it can be for students and teachers alike.
Tag: language identity
Are you just an -ophone?
Post 2 – Maxime Lavallee
Why do we use the words Francophone, Anglophone, and Allophone in Canada? I hear these used all the time and even tend to use them myself without really thinking about the impact of such words. I’ve employed them quite often in my writing as a student and have used these words to discuss a variety of education-related topics. After some reflection, I realized that in Canada and Quebec these words have developed a variety of connotations, positive and negative, and have essentially become restrictive labels.
My Language Biography of Two Identities
By Wai In Chan
Hello everyone! This is a bit late in the semester, but I still wanted to share my language biography with all of you and hear your thoughts about how I identify myself. I am of Asian descent, born in Hong Kong, China. I speak Cantonese, English, and French (very basic!).
My family immigrated to Canada in order to start a better life when I was two years old, and we have lived here ever since. My mother had gone abroad to Canada as an international student prior to her marriage and my birth. Therefore, she had some knowledge of the English language and completed some education here. Due to these circumstances, I was able to complete my studies here in Canada in English.
Luxury Bilingualism
Dean Garlick
I would like to write my first blog post in response to Rydenvald’s (2015) article: Elite bilingualism? Language Use Among Multilingual Teenagers of Swedish Background in European Schools and International Schools of Europe.
In regards to the concept of ‘elite bilingualism’, it is exactly that. These children, both in European and International schools, have the luxury of keeping their Swedish identity while living in foreign countries. They speak Swedish with their Swedish-speaking friends and relatives, have classes in Swedish, and up to 86% of the students in European schools spend three weeks or more in Sweden in the summer, thereby maintaining a connection with their home culture (Rydenvald, 2015). Because English—the language of global economic power—is a significant language of instruction, it also becomes a common language amongst the students of different backgrounds, along with other languages which aren’t specified. Most significantly to me is the fact that these students exhibit “marginal use of the local majority language” (Rydenvald, 2015, p. 225). They are more-or-less cut off from the community surrounding their school. Their status protects them from the challenges of being a true immigrant wherein the individual has no choice but to conform to the local culture in order to survive. They stay comfortably within the elite culture-bubble and prosperous futures are all but guaranteed for them.
