This column is the opinion of Eric Deguire, a writer and French teacher in Montreal. For more information on the CBC Comments section, please see the FAQ.
As we follow the debate on Bill 96 in English and French circles in Quebec over the past few weeks, we seem to see the Two Loneliness reappear. Again, there is a gap between the most vocal members on each side.
Many Francophones wanted a more aggressive approach to the protection of the French language at the CEGEP level, the colleges that Quebec students attend after 11th grade. Anglophone groups wanted assurances that their right to study in English would be protected.
The government of Coalition Avenir Québec has chosen a policy that is somewhat complicated – requiring CEGEP students to take three of their core French courses or take additional French courses – angering people on both sides of the issue.
This change will not have a significant impact on the protection of the French language. At the same time, the anger observed in the CEGEP Anglophone community seems unjustified, as this is by no means an attempt at assimilation.
Many English-speaking CEGEP students fear that their grades will suffer if they have to take more French lessons. This shows that not enough is being done at primary and secondary levels, and teachers need to be open-minded as students adapt to this change. But in the end, it remains a great opportunity for students to improve their French skills, as business and other professional experience in Quebec are often mostly in French.
This debate over a minute of change in the CEGEP language program looks like a kettle storm. If we really want to improve the French skills of Quebecers, the effort must start much earlier than college.
It seems to me that English primary schools – accessible to students whose parents received an English education in Canada – are now only English by name. Educators and parents are proud of the quality of their immersion programs in French, where students study entirely in French until the third grade or even later, depending on the school. It is believed that these intensive programs should give the young people of Quebec the best chance to master French at an early age in order to function and thrive in our society.
On the French side, there is a similar phenomenon – often at the high school level, in private schools and international programs. These schools promote the time they devote to teaching English, emphasizing that it is the language of business and the international community.
It seems to me that these supposed French and English schools pursue the same goal: bilingualism and perhaps even greater multilingualism for the young people of Quebec.
Achieving this goal should give them the best possible chance in the future. This will open doors – professionally, but also socially and even on a personal level. Appreciating literature and film in many languages is a beautiful experience that enriches our humanity.
If this is the goal we are looking for, we miss the best way to achieve it. Keeping Anglophones and other Quebec students in separate learning systems does not create the social mixing that is needed to achieve true second language proficiency.
Students who go to a French school often end up improving their English through experiences that are meaningful to them: television, movies, music and video games. This is due to the global power and influence of American culture – which is probably today the most important reason for the protection of the French language in Quebec.
Speaking French in the classroom alone will never be enough. Making friends who speak the language will do everything differently – and children make most of their friends at school.
I offer a learning system that can be 80 percent in French and 20 percent in English from elementary school to high school. The main classes can be conducted in English and French, and adjustments can be made depending on the skills of the students, by creating enriched and other programs to support students with special needs.
But the goal should be to be fluent in French for everyone.
I believe that this will lead to real integration, better harmony between social groups and, I sincerely hope, a strong French language in Quebec society for decades to come – while embracing the possibility of mastering English and as many other languages as possible.
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