Do French-Canadian (FC) minorities in New Brunswick and Ontario remain as committed as majority Francophone Quebecers in developing their vitality within Canada's bilingual belt? FCs constitute host communities for interprovincial migrants of FC and English-Canadian (EC) background who can bolster or weaken the vitality of FCs. How FCs and ECs…

Language policies in any country exist within socio-historical contexts--embedded in history and influenced by socio-political factors. In Canada, such factors were the impetus to the formation of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which was grounded in an English/French partnership and recommended that Canada become an…

Discusses the changing status of Quebec French, as witnessed by laws governing its use and official nature, its actual usage as a communication tool, and attitudes of Anglophones and Francophones toward it. (AM)

Portions of the law designed to ensure the pre-eminence of French in Quebec are presented. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/CLK)

Analyzes the issues at stake in the debate over official language legislation in the United States, focusing on the agenda of U.S. ENGLISH, an organization promoting the legislation of English as the official language of the United States. The article argues that restricting language rights can lead to social segregation and that people speak…

A theoretical framework for conceptualizing different kinds of language rights and for construing the nature of the tension between them is discussed. Differences between individual and communal language rights are examined, and the latter are suggested to have sound moral foundations. Examples are drawn from Canada. (19 references) (Author/LB)

A discussion of the history, development and present state of translation, both official and non-official, in Canada. It is shown that translation has become an omnipresent public institution and is at present a linguistic reflection of sociopolitical relations existing between the two linguistic communities. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

This study concerns the problems posed by modes of interlinguistic communication, translation, and individual bilingualism, on which depend the quality of relationships between two ethnic communities belonging to a single political entity. It also addresses a frequent question about the need for translation in a bilingual country like Canada. The…

The English and French languages have been in everyday use in some part of what is now Canada for almost 400 years. The constitution of Canada states that they have equal status in the Parliament and courts of Canada and in the legislature and courts of the province of Quebec. In 1969 Parliament passed the Official Languages Act, which declared…

This study of contact between the French and English language groups in Canada is based on an ecological approach, emphasizing factors such as population composition, residential patterns, occupational pressures and age and sex differences rather than cultural or psychological ones. Part 1 begins with a general discussion of the problems of…

This examination of the sociology of language in Canada focuses on the social or societal aspects of the relationship between languages and society rather than on linguistic aspects. The study is developed in seven sections: (1) an introductory discussion of language and communication systems, language acquisition, messages, and language…

In assessing the Canadian government's performance in 1976 in carrying out the spirit of the Official Languages Act, at least 80% of Ottawa's initiatives seem to have been successful, but many problems remain. This report surveys the progress made in varying sectors of government structure. The report is divided into two chapters. Chapter one,…

A discussion of language policy formation and planning in Canada covers the following: bilingualism and multiculturalism; Quebec, French, and the constitution; and aboriginal language issues. Language legislation is emphasized. (Contains 52 references.) (LB)

A study looks at the economic, social, cultural, and political factors involved in conflicts between New Brunswick language communities in the last two decades. The demographic, economic, cultural, and political relationships between the French and English language communities are presented and discussed in terms of political matters and principal…

A study looks at the economic, social, cultural, and political factors at work in conflicts between Quebec language communities in recent years. The historical and current demographic, economic, cultural, and political relationships between the French and English speaking communities are presented and discussed in terms of political issues and…