During the 2021 population census, 93.7% of the Quebec population said they could conduct a conversation in French. This is a slight drop compared to the previous census, that of 2016 (94.5%), which also hides the fact that, since 1951, the number of people declaring they can express themselves in French has not stopped growing in Quebec. Like all the questions asked in the Canadian census, those on language, and particularly on the ability to carry on a conversation in French or English, are left to the discretion of the respondents and are subjective in nature. . In addition, very often, one member of the household completes the questionnaire for all members of their household.
Some observers and analysts question the relevance and reliability of this indicator to help monitor the evolution of the linguistic situation in Quebec. On the one hand, due to the fact that it is a self-assessment and the wording of the question can be interpreted differently from one person to another, it would therefore be impossible to know the true degree of knowledge of the language, in this case French.
To the question “Does this person know French or English well enough to carry on a conversation?” “, the respondent must check one of the following boxes: “French only”, “English only”, “French and English” or “Neither French nor English”. Although the instructions associated with this question specify that one should check one of the categories “only if the person can carry on a fairly long conversation on various topics in either of these languages”, it is true that not everyone necessarily reads these instructions.
On the other hand, critics of the use of this indicator point out that the ability to carry on a conversation in French does not necessarily mean that this language is used. Thus, to the extent that we are interested in the presence and use of French in Quebec, the simple fact of being able to carry on a conversation in this language would not be a sufficiently relevant indicator.
Faced with such criticisms, we can fortunately provide some elements of response. First of all, an analysis based on matching census data and theNational household survey of 2011 on the ability to sustain a conversation in French and those of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) of 2011 on the same theme helps guide us in the interpretation to be given to census statistics relating to self-assessment of skills in French and English during the census. […]
In Quebec, 82% of the English-speaking population (first language spoken) who declared being able to carry on a conversation in French during the census declared having a good or very good ability to speak French during the PIAAC survey while 16% rated their competence as fair. Among the French-speaking population (first language spoken), these two proportions relative to English were 80% and 18%, respectively. These results therefore provide a level of confidence which appears to us to be high regarding the interpretation of the census results on knowledge of French.
As for the criticism that believing that you have the ability to carry on a conversation in French does not necessarily mean that you use this language on a daily basis, certain statistics from the latest census are enlightening in this regard. Thus, among the 95% of Quebec workers declaring they can speak French, nearly 96% of them declared using this language at least regularly at work (83.7% predominantly, 5.5% tied with English, 6.5% regularly as a second language, in addition to the one used most often). Among the approximately 85% of immigrant workers declaring they could speak French, 93% said they used it at least regularly at work (71.3% most often, 11.1% tied with English and 10.4% % regularly as a second language).
All in all, we therefore consider that information on the ability to maintain a conversation in French is very useful, because it is a condition sine qua non to be able to use it, particularly in public spaces. The objective of making French the common public language of Quebec society is only possible if we start from the principle that it is the only language spoken by almost the entire Quebec population. Given the results presented here, it is clear that the indicator of the ability to speak French is extremely useful for monitoring the evolution of the linguistic situation in Quebec.
Although, like other linguistic variables in the census, knowing a language may in itself be an insufficient criterion for designating membership in a linguistic group, it nonetheless constitutes an elementary condition capable of favoring identification. to the French language. It is also a characteristic conducive to full citizen participation in the development of a democratic society in which French is the common public language.