The French Language in Québec : 400 Years of History and Life

The French Language in Québec: 400 Years of History and Life
Addendum to the third edition : French, the Common Language of all Québécois
Inset 103
Reference Works
Since the year 2000, a series of books, articles and dissertations on the language issue in Québec
have been published. The main publications provide assessments of the current situation and
examine the outlook for the future.
First, the excellent special edition of the Revue d’aménagement linguistiquei published by the
Office québécois de la langue française, edited by Pierre Bouchard and Richard Y. Bourhis,
L’aménagement linguistique au Québec: 25 ans d’application de la Charte de la langue
française, takes stock of the 25 years of application of Law 101. The introduction concludes with
a quotation from the Larose Commission report: “There have been a number of achievements but
they remain fragile. Nothing is irreversible. To consolidate and go further requires substantial
changes in the approach of the language policy, in its general orientation and in the efforts and
resources to be allocated to it.”
In the same vein, Le français au Québec, les nouveaux defis, a book published by the Conseil
supérieur de la langue française ii, edited by Alexandre Stefanescu and Pierre Georgeault,
underlines the position of Guy Rocher whereby “the new context calls for the development of a
new language policy more in line with the challenges and constraints of the 21st century”. The
conclusion suggests solutions: take linguistic diversity into account, include an international
section in the language policy, be in control of one’s language.
The book Le français, langue de la diversité québécoiseiii, edited by Pierre Georgeault and
Michel Pagé, continues along the lines of thought developed in the previous publication by
stressing the fact that the necessary consideration of ethnolinguistic diversity invites us to
redefine the socio-political model of the society to be built, the notion of linguistic integration,
the concept of identity and the way in which the language situation is analysed.
In her doctoral dissertation at Université Lavaliv, Christiane Loubier offers a masterly theoretical
contribution to the conceptualisation of language planning. In fact she provides us with a set of
tools to help better define and organize action.
For her part, Astrid Alkistis Fleischer, in her doctoral dissertation which she defended in the
United Statesv, analyses public discourse and reactions and conflicts during the period from 1994
to 2003 and shows how hesitation among decision-makers over choosing between an
ethnocentric approach to the language question (focused exclusively on the language spoken at
home) and a civic approach (which takes into account the language of public usage on which a
community can be built) produced tensions and led to sometimes erratic decisions.
The French Language in Québec: 400 Years of History and Life
Addendum to the third edition : French, the Common Language of all Québécois
Inset 103
Finally, Jean-Claude Corbeil, in the context of the 30th anniversary of the Charter of the French
language, presents to the children of Bill 101 and to all those who want to find out more about the
language issue a book of popular appealvi explaining the origin and development of language
policy in Québec. He draws particular attention to the sociolinguistic and linguistic principlesvii
of the Charter. There are four such principles:
-
there is a clear tendency to standardize technical and scientific languages, while this is
much less the case for everyday language;
the quality of terminological standardization rests entirely on the rigour of the work
methods used in terminology;
official usage of the language has a standardizing influence on the language habits of users;
when naming new realities, borrowing remains the least appropriate means.
As can be seen, the writings of this period call for the creation of a new policy to take into
account the challenges that characterize this start of the century, as well as providing food for
thought and suggestions for action. The scene is set. Will we be able to take this opportunity to
take a step forward?
33
. L’aménagement linguistique au Québec : 25 ans d’application de la Charte de la langue française, edited by Pierre
Bouchard and Richard Y. Bourhis, Québec and Montréal, Office québécois de la langue française and Les
Publications du Québec, Fall 2002, 249 p. (Special issue of Revue d’aménagement linguistique).
ii
. Le français au Québec, les nouveaux défis, edited by Alexandre Stefanescu and Pierre Georgeault, Québec and
Montréal, Conseil supérieur de la langue française and Fides, 2005, 622 p.
iii
. Le français, langue de la diversité québécoise, edited by Pierre Georgeault and Michel Pagé, Montréal, Québec
Amérique, 2006, 347 p.
iv
. Loubier, Christiane, 2006, Contribution à une théorie de l’aménagement linguistique, Dissertation (Ph. D. in
Linguistics), Université Laval, 536 p.
v
. Fleischer, Astrid Alkistis, 2007, The Politics of Language in Quebec: Language Policy and Language Ideologies in a
Pluriethnic Society, Dissertation (Ph. D. in Linguistics), Georgetown University, 391 p.
vi
. Corbeil, Jean-Claude, 2007, L’embarras des langues. Origine, conception et évolution de la politique linguistique
québécoise, Montréal, Québec Amérique, 548 p.
vii
. The author explains these principles in article 41 of this book, “Planning a Language.”