In Ontario, the perfect French speaker does not exist, according to teachers. The recurring comparison with an “ideal” of France rather causes “linguistic insecurity”, which sometimes pushes students and teachers to leave the French-speaking system.
“Talking about mastering the language is a fad […] which has contaminated the concept of Francophonie,” says Emmanuelle Le Pichon-Vorstman. In the book Voices and faces of French in Ontariopublished last November, the director of the Center for Research in Franco-Ontarian Education tries to understand why some Ontarians “reject this idea of feeling French-speaking.”
Through the testimonies of 19 teachers, collected during a seminar, the work makes it clear that a feeling of “illegitimacy” is omnipresent. There is a “hierarchy in the Ontario Francophonie,” explains M.me Le Pichon-Vorstman, based on affiliation with Franco-Ontarians who fought for their rights, on accent and on “mastery of the language”, and having, at its summit, an “idealized, ultimately fictitious native speaker », adds teacher Charles Gabriel.
Indeed, according to the associate professor of educational linguistics at the University of Toronto, “language mastery is a concept that does not exist.” “If you put me in a garage, and you start talking to me about car parts, I won’t understand anything, […] because it’s not my expertise. Does that mean I don’t know French? » We should rather speak of “progression in the language”, assessed by the breadth of the vocabulary or the quality of understanding.
A Quebecer by birth, Annie Bourdeau grew up in an “almost monolingual” environment. [francophone] ”, on the border of the United States. But after failing a pronunciation exam, the aspiring teacher had to take a “linguistic remediation course to learn “good French””. “Do you realize the insult? » indicates Mme The Pichon-Vorstman.
Gloria Charles-Pierre, for her part, received comments that undermined her “confidence”. Some parents “like [les cours que je donne à leurs enfants]but [ils] do not want to continue with me, because I do not have the French accent, that is to say the accent of France,” she laments. If several of the participants in the work became teachers so that “none of [leurs] students do not [sentent] as [eux] “, this kind of remark can discourage some, who think they are “illegitimate”, from getting into the practice, believes Mme The Pichon-Vorstman.
In French classes, “linguistic insecurity” extends to students, adds teacher Doug Falcão, of Brazilian origin. “Never feeling good enough”, they cannot “establish a feeling of belonging to the French-speaking community”. Result ? Their “frustration with French” and their “great linguistic insecurity” push them to “leave the program” and “prevent them from pursuing post-secondary studies in French,” adds M.me Charles-Pierre.
“Creating bridges” between cultures
“School is truly a critical place for the formation of this identity [francophone] », argues Mme The Pichon-Vorstman. However, “in a class, we reject one language to favor another. The student is told: “Leave half of yourself at the classroom door.” » A natural “reflex” to “protect” French in a minority context. “The problem is that it has the opposite effect. By doing that, we reject,” she laments. And Canada “needs these new French speakers” to “ensure the sustainability of French”.
She explains that “teenagers build themselves by opposition. […] If you’re going to ban it, the first thing they’re going to do is switch to the other language.” The book thus advocates more “inclusive” “multilingual pedagogies”. “We should not suddenly think that we are going to start teaching in Punjabi or Arabic,” explains M.me The Pichon-Vorstman. “It remains teaching in French, but which takes into account the language heritage of the students. »
The method consists of making comparisons between languages to “better remember the rule in French”. She hopes that a song and a poem, presented in the work, can serve as material for reflection in French classes.
According to the speakers, “most teachers” are themselves “from different cultures and speak a language other than French at home”. Krysta Cook, who is one of the authors of the book, goes so far as to find a “beauty” in “Franglais”. “I didn’t understand why everyone criticized him so harshly. In my eyes, it encouraged a fluency, confidence and a kind of self-translation in the students. »
Symbol of institutionalization, the Ontario Ministry of Education funded in 2021 the writing of the Initiation guide to multilingual approaches. The new French framework program, unveiled in 2023, directly evokes multilingual approaches and recognizes their benefits.
“It’s immense progress,” according to M.me Le Pichon-Vorstman, who participated in these ministerial reflections. She invites teachers to self-reflect on their practices, to “change ideologies, first individually, and then collectively”. “Franco-Ontarian heritage must be built on, but bridges must be created. »
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.