This text is part of the special Francophonie notebook
Under the guise of francization, immigrants are often asked to leave their linguistic baggage at home. As if French could not coexist with other languages. This diversity that we would like to bury nevertheless has a role to play in supporting the vitality of a French-speaking society with multiple identities.
Nearly 35 years ago, the policy statement on immigration and integration In Quebec to build together relied heavily on new arrivals to contribute to demographic recovery and the sustainability of French. Today, we unfortunately tend to forget it a little. Some have even gone so far as to present non-French-speaking immigrants as a danger to “national cohesion” by relying on studies highlighting the decline of French in the province.
“Immigration was first thought of on a political level as a tool to maintain a certain rate of French speakers in Quebec and Canada,” recalls Corina Borri-Anadon, professor of educational sciences at the University of Quebec. in Trois-Rivières. “We have the impression today, in political discourse, that we do not often remember this. We will rather see immigration as a threat, without necessarily thinking about how it can be a vector of contribution to the French fact. »
Competing languages
The first thing to do would be to review the very notion of francization, which tends to put aside the linguistic baggage of immigrants. “Behind francization, there is this idea that we are going to replace existing languages with French. Which testifies to a certain aim of assimilation”, indicates Mme Borri-Anadon, who works on these issues of francization as co-director of the Regional Education and Diversity Laboratory (LEDIR).
Words sometimes tend to have more meaning than one might imagine. Especially when we touch on an eminently political subject. Rather than talking about francization, it would be more appropriate to talk about learning in French or developing skills in French. “This would allow us to rely on what is already there, the linguistic background of learners, from a perspective of interdependence of languages, rather than in a spirit of competition and competition between languages,” explains Corina Borri-Anadon.
A persistent myth
In Quebec, French coexists with English, First Nations languages and immigrant languages. But multilingual people find themselves living in an environment that continues to operate on the myth of a monolingual society. “It’s a very difficult myth to deconstruct,” notes M.me Borri-Anadon. This has many consequences in the journey of people who arrive in Quebec and who do not master French. »
As part of her research, the co-director of LEDIR reflected in particular on how schools could recognize the linguistic background of allophones to support their learning in French. “We must allow school stakeholders to fully understand who these students are and how they have developed in languages other than French, in order to have a fairer vision of their abilities and to avoid too rapid over-identification of students. struggling,” she said.
A social project
Parents must also be involved in this very important process, in order to establish a partnership based more on reciprocity. “The school transmits information to parents, but we must also allow these parents to communicate with the school based on their linguistic background, for example by encouraging the use of interpreters,” says Corina Borri-Anadon, who has drawn up , with LEDIR, the portrait of linguistic diversity in schools.
Some may have been surprised, on this occasion, to learn that no less than 44 different mother tongues had been declared by students in Mauricie. “This data, which dates from 2016-2017, is being updated. And it is clear that the number will increase further, indicates Mme Borri-Anadon. Often, these are languages that remain confined to the home space, and we are not necessarily aware that they coexist with French. »
The recognition of these linguistic resources which make up the wealth of Quebec today appears essential to support the vitality of a Francophonie with multiple faces and to put an end to the myth of monolingualism. “It’s a question of a social project. These are elements that allow you to participate and contribute to society. A French-speaking society, of course, but also a pluralist society which recognizes the linguistic baggage of the people who compose it,” concludes Corina Borri-Anadon.
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