"Ouh que c'est laid!" "Oh this is ugly!" is one of the comments among the 11,800 hits on Google for the sequence "la fille que je sors avec" [the girl I go out with]. Often the comments include the idea that the whole expression has been taken from English as a direct calque. The authors of the present keynote…

Poplack, Zentz and Dion (PZD; Poplack, Zentz & Dion, 2011, this issue) examine the often unquestioned assumption that the existence of preposition stranding (PS) in Canadian French is linked to the presence of a contact situation with English in the North American context. Although this issue has been the topic of previous research from a…

In their keynote contribution, Poplack, Zentz & Dion (henceforth PZD; Poplack, Zentz & Dion, 2011, this issue) propose an interesting "scientific test of convergence" (under section heading: "Introduction") which contains criteria to check whether a particular feature in a given language in contact with another one is…

The authors of "Phrase-final prepositions in Quebec French: An empirical study of contact, code-switching and resistance to convergence", Poplack, Zentz & Dion (2011, this issue), henceforth cited as PZD, make a strong case for showing that, in spite of surface similarities, preposition stranding in Canadian French relative clauses…

Scottish education was, until quite recently, the conscious product of liberal tradition, of the belief by influential elites that the nation's educational history was strong, coherent, and progressive, a source of economic flexibility, of modernising ideas, and of liberal opportunity. In recent decades, however, it has become fashionable to decry…

Using Belgium as an example, argues that a linguistic ecological viewpoint is important for the description of linguistic/ethnic contact areas in which one or more languages are in danger of dying without any apparent political decisions. It is not as important for the description of stable, diglossic, or multilingual areas or for open bilingual…

This paper demonstrates that French language maintenance in Ontario does not depend only on French language schooling. Other contributing factors include francophone concentration and institutional support for French in the public and private sector. Difficulties related to French language schooling and suggestions for improving the status of…

The three following myths are discussed: 1) language is culture, 2) a "Francophony" exists, and 3) there is a dialogue between cultures. The concept of "interculture" is then examined. (MSE)

Examines "pseudoborrowing" of some English words into the French vocabulary. Considered the prestige language of Western Europe, English is viewed as a social hallmark of higher education; thus, even a modest knowledge and use of English reinforces this attitude. However, also suggests a modification of this concept, noting a reciprocal prestige…

Discusses the centuries-old dispute in Quebec about whether the French spoken there is good or bad. The issue has a stake in public discourse between socially-valued and socially-stigmatized varieties of language. (Author/VWL)

Concerns current transformation in the relationship between political and linguistic ideologies of la francophonie based on a sociolinguistic ethnographic study in a French-language minority school in Canada. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on the new French judicial certificate as a historic undertaking emphasizing the capability of the French language to take into account and highlight important points of contact between the business world and legal language. The article emphasizes that there is no true business career without legal horizons. (Author/CK)

The effects of differing and often opposing language policies on the sociolinguistic position of the Alsatian language are discussed. An attempt is made to show how the function and scope of Alsatian have been reduced, and how borrowings from French have created a dialect with unique characteristics. It has survived despite its lack of official…

Discusses the usage of French in Gabon. As in other nations of francophone Africa, French is the language of upward social mobility in Gabon, and it offers access to the international community. However, one factor peculiar to Gabon is the virtual absence of a Gabonese national language, which promotes a greater dependency upon a mastery of the…

The common assumption that the terms "standard French" and "popular French" are based in objective reality is challenged by looking at the variety of French usage around the world and the need for true communicative competence. (MSE)