Bilingualism among Young Canadians
- "Today, the proportion of bilingual Francophones and Anglophones in the 15-to-19 age group is around 24 percent. The objective of the Action Plan is to raise this proportion to 50 percent by 2013. The federal government will provide assistance to the provinces and territories to achieve this objective, which is quite realistic."
Government of Canada’s Action Plan for Official Languages, 2003
- Generally, Canadians between the ages of 18 and 29 are more supportive of bilingualism than other age groups; in particular, they are the most likely to believe that:
- learning to speak French can help unite the country;
- living in a country with two official languages is one of the things that really defines what it means to be Canadian; and
- having two official languages has made Canada a more welcoming place for immigrants.
Survey on Bilingualism, Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC), 2004
- It is Canadian youth who are changing the language landscape in Canada, blurring the lines between Anglophone and Francophone, and they are the ones who will help us as a society to better understand each other.
- Young people are increasingly aware that French and English are spoken around the world and that these languages convey an image of a progressive society. Learning our two official languages creates more social, cultural, educational and economic opportunities for our youth and makes them more competitive in an increasingly global market.
Learning a Second Official Language
- A number of figures show the importance of bilingualism in our schools. Statistics Canada reports that in the 2002-03 school year, nearly 2 million students took courses in French as a second language:
French immersion programs 357,000 students Core French programs 1,570,000 students
- That same year, there were 560,000 students taking courses in English as a second language (Quebec and New Brunswick). Nearly 50 percent of students in the English-language system take French as a second language. Nearly 60 percent of students in the French-language system take English as a second language.
Language Learning Outside School
- A second language is not only learned in school. For example, in 2003 in the Exchanges Canada Program alone, some 4,300 young students participated in linguistic exchanges that helped them improve their knowledge of their second language.
- Thousands of Canadian students take advantage each year of numerous government-sponsored exchange programs to improve their second-language skills. For example, throughout its 65-year history, the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada (SEVEC) has brought together some 275,000 young Canadians to participate in home-stay group exchanges.
- The Summer Language Bursary Program, funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, enables more than 7,000 students per year to study in their second official language through intensive summer courses offered at universities and colleges across the country.
What Parents, Youth and Teachers Say
- When asked, “If your children were to learn to speak another language, which language other than English would be most important for them to learn?” 74 percent of Anglophones outside Quebec say French. When asked about learning a language other than French, 93 percent of Quebec Francophones say that it should be English.
Survey on Bilingualism, CRIC, 2004
- “Knowing a second language adds a second layer to every encounter with society that one could possibly have… It was after high school, however, that I began to realize the deeper benefits of being bilingual. I am currently attending the University of King’s College in Halifax… It adds a whole new level when you can read people like Voltaire and Montaigne in their original language.”
Immersion graduate Stephanie Dick, CPF Calgary Newsletter, February 2003
- “French immersion is a program of quality that moulds minds and hearts. The students in the immersion program become more tolerant and accepting of other cultures and languages. They are a more worldly and cultured people. The students in French immersion are challenged because they are using more areas of their brains by learning a second language. This allows them to be able to stretch their minds and take in more information. This is a program that produces a different kind of learner, a different kind of person.”
Alison McDonald, Immersion Teacher
- Research shows that there are clear intellectual benefits associated with learning a second language. Students who receive quality second language instruction tend to show greater mental flexibility, enhanced abstract thinking skills, the ability to think independently of words, and superiority in concept formation. Bilingual children also show enhanced problem-solving skills and better-developed creative processes compared to their monolingual counterparts.
Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, by Colin Baker and Sylvia Prys Jones, 1998 and Cognitive consequences of bilinguality, by Josiane F. Hamers and Michel H.A. Blanc, 2000
To learn more about bilingualism opportunities and youth, visit the Office of the Commissioner of Official languages Web site.
