The Decline Of The French Language In Montreal, Canada: Analysis And Discussion

You will prepare a paper, that examines issues relating to a French?speaking population in any region of Canada.

Language issues in Montreal, Canada

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/montreal-area-mayor-says-she-s-received-threats-over-language-spat-1.2439907

A news article “Montreal-area mayor says she’s received threats over language spat” that was published on 25^th June 2015 by Sidhartha Benerjee of The Canadian Press sought opinions on whether it was ideal for people to use the English language while in Quebec (Banerjee, 2015). This was after Caroline St-Hilaire wrote in a Facebook post complaining that she had been exposed to bullying and hateful insults over an online comment that she had made about a politician from the opposition party who had used English during council meetings in the city.

The mayor who happens to be the former Bloc Quebecois MP explained on her post that was published on Tuesday that she was not amused by Robert Myle's insistence on translating everything that he said in French into English. The mayor seems to be protecting the French language in her post, but from what was gathered by this newspaper, it is clear that the French language is not under any serious threat.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ignore-the-alarmists-there-is-no-language-crisis-in-quebec-economists-say

The article “Ignore the alarmists, there is no language crisis in Quebec economists say”by Graeme Hamilton which was published on 24^th June 2018 argues that the French knowledge has increased even though the share of French mother-tongue speakers has gone down (Hamilton, 2018). The percentage of Quebec population that can speak in French has increased from 88.5% to 94.5% between the years 1971 to 2016 respectively. This is a clear show that the French language is not under any serious threat.

https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/our-home-and-native-tongue/

The article "Will immigrants save the French language in Quebec, or hasten its demise?" that was published on 30 September 2011 by Martin Patriquin seeks to reveal what immigrants will do to the French language in Montreal (Patriquin, 2011). The article argues that the residents in the Quebec state are the one who will save and hasten the French language but not immigrants. The future of the French language in Quebec is not the responsibility of immigrants.

Montreal just like any other part of the globe has various groups of people. Even though most of the people in the region use French as their language, there are, still people who are not French speakers. It is therefore ideal to use a word that caters for anybody when conducting most of the public affairs in the state.

The opposition leader Robert Myles was very right to have translated all his French spoken speeches to English (Banerjee, 2015). This showed inclusivity to the non-French speakers. However, everybody is entitled to his or her view of an issue. People could not have criticized the mayor since she was only expressing her opinions. The opposition leader upholds on speaking the French language first then English later. This shows that he respects the French language. Providing comments using both the English and the French language is a good idea. People should also learn two words. It helps in easy mingling with other people. For the French language to remain without any threats, the French speakers must respect other languages. The mayor was not fair on criticizing the opposition leader. Using words that everybody understands enhances national cohesion.

French language is not under threat

It is complicated to imagine that language issues can be a thing of the past in Quebec but if the findings by the author of the new economic study is anything to go by, then the French language is not facing any challenges in Montreal even with the decline of people with French as their mother tongue (Hamilton, 2018). The French speakers dominate the Quebec economy. Most of the immigrants to Quebec are able to express themselves in French fluently. This shows that the language is well taken care of. Thus, it is ideally contradicting that the French language might be facing serious challenges in Quebec.

Immigrants cannot resolve the problem of languages in the places they settle (Patriquin, 2011). It is not the responsibility of the immigrants to save the decline of French language rather the responsibility of the native occupants of Montreal. In as much as the government forces these immigrants to learn the French language, they already have their mother tongue, which they efficiently use while at home. Nobody does a follow up activity to make sure that each person uses the French language at home. These immigrants have their children whom they speak to while at home using their mother tongue. These children will grow with their parent's first language hence with time the French language will extinct.

Montreal stands out to be the second largest city after Paris with the highest number of French-speaking people. However, one cannot blindly ignore all the opinions by different people that a threat of extinction faces the language. For instance, immigrants view it beneficial to be bilingual. In my own experience, because their children go to French schools and as well, many immigrants originate from French colonies, it is quite easy for them to adopt French as a language or even assimilate the Montreal natives (Bimbam, 2014). In the recent past, things have started changing. These changes can lead to the death of the French language if not taken care of.

Languages do gradually die (Jordan, 2015). Most people in Quebec have started using English is a medium of communication in working places. The community is becoming progressively bilingual. They might not have discarded their first language, but soon with time, many people will start using the new style more. Language shifts in most cases happen naturally (Nordquist, 2018). For instance, the government of Quebec allows people to speak in French then translate what they have said to the English language. This can make people shift their communication to English in a bid to reduce the strenuous act of translating everything they say.

Through the interaction of the immigrants with the natives of Montreal, the French language can be assimilated with time (Timalsina, 2011). It has been witnessed in other parts of the globe where upon arrival of an individual community, then the native language becomes assimilated. Urbanization is also another factor that may or might have endangered the French language (Heiber, 2012). Quebec is a city where people meet in search of greener pastures. These people do not speak the same language. They will possibly use English as a medium of communication. Out of this, it is clear that the French language is actually at the verge of extinction.

Migration also plays a critical role in language death and language change (Foltz, 2015). Montreal is appealing for people to come to their land. This could bring in many diverse languages, which with time will lead to the death of the French language. Additionally, the Internet has become the source of knowledge for many people in the recent past (Chauvot, 2016). Montreal natives are not to an exception. Since English is the dominant language on the internet, there is a need to worry about the upcoming opinions concerning the extinction of the French language (Temperton, 2015). Lastly, socioeconomic drivers create and geographically distribute the extinction risk of the French language across Montreal (Amano, et al., 2014). There are a large number of words currently being spoken in Montreal as people from diverse places interact during trade in the city. This can result to the extinction of the French language.

Conclusion

The French language is on the verge of extinction from the analysis of opinions from different individuals. Only the natives in Montreal can save the language from these threats. A law is required to restrict everybody in the city from using any other language apart from French whether at home or the workplaces. This will increase the usage of the literature thus the young generation will grow to have French as their first language.

References

Amano, T., Sandel, B., Eager, H., Bulteaul, E., Svenning, J.-C., Dalsgaard, B., . . . Sutherland, W. J. (2014). Global Distribution and Drivers of Language Extinction Risk. The Royal Society Publishing, Online. Retrieved from https://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1793/20141574

Banerjee, S. (2015). Montreal-Area Mayor Says She's Received Threats Over Language Spat. CTV News, Online. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/montreal-area-mayor-says-she-s-received-threats-over-language-spat-1.2439907

Bimbam. (2014). Is French in danger of decline in Montreal? (home, private school). City-Data Forum, Online. Retrieved from https://www.city-data.com/forum/montreal/2171377-french-danger-decline-montreal.html

Chauvot, P. (2016). Endangered Languages: Why are so Many Languages Becoming Extinct. Communicaid, Online. Retrieved from https://www.communicaid.com/business-language-courses/blog/why-are-languages-dying/

Foltz, A. (2015). How Languages Die. The New Republic, Online. Retrieved from https://newrepublic.com/article/125501/languages-die

Hamilton, G. (2018). Ignore the Alarmists, There is no Language Crisis in Quebec, Economists Say. National Post, Online. Retrieved from https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ignore-the-alarmists-there-is-no-language-crisis-in-quebec-economists-say

Heiber, D. (2012). Why Do Languages Die? Mises Daily Articles, Online. Retrieved from https://mises.org/library/why-do-languages-die

Jordan, S.-C. (2015). What Causes the Death of a Language? Alpha Omega Translations, Online. Retrieved from https://alphaomegatranslations.com/foreign-language/what-causes-the-death-of-a-language/

Nordquist, R. (2018). Language Change. Thoughtco., Online. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-language-change-1691096

Patriquin, M. (2011). Will Immigrants Save the French Language in Quebec, or Hasten Its Demise? Maclean's, Online. Retrieved from https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/our-home-and-native-tongue/

Temperton, J. (2015). Languages are Dying, but is the Internet to Blame? Wired, Online. Retrieved from https://www.wired.co.uk/article/linguistic-diversity-online

Timalsina, M. P. (2011). Causes and Consequences of the Loss of Native Language Among Paharis at Khopasi:Sociocultural and Linguistic Perspectives. Nelta Choutari, Online. Retrieved from https://neltachoutari.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/causes-and-consequences-of-the-loss-of-native-language-among-paharis-at-khopasisociocultural-and-linguistic-perspectives/