... Faultline between English and French For many years, hostility has existed between the two largest ethnic denominations in Canada, the French and the English. To understand the cause of this continuing bitter saga, one must take a journey back in time. Throughout the Canadian history, the issue of separation of the nation between two big dominate groups have never been suppressed due the deprive of sovereignty. As the British successfully defeat the French and took control of the New France, there was still a continual threat of separation from the French, which naturally developed the fault line between English and French. There were many occasions where French and English Canadians clashed. Though the British adopted different acts and laws to grant the fairness between two cultures include founding factors such as religion, language and values, the crack between the two groups were still there. In recent crisis, the conflict of “sovereign’s independence” even sharpen after the newly elected Quebec Premier, Pauline Marios taking the office. On March 7,2013 the National Post published an article stating the Quebec Premier Pauline Maoris and Education Minister Marie Malabo has ordered an outside research body, the Cole national d’administration publique, to “define the problems” raised by intensive English instruction and examine its impact on students’ success in other subjects (“Quebec puts brakes on intensive English language program” 2013). This article...
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...Bilingualism can be defined as "the ability to speak two languages, the frequent use (as by a community) of two languages or the political or institutional recognition of two languages" (merriam-webster dictonary). In Canada, the recognition of two languages, namely English and French, came in 1969 under the Official Languages Act, which was later revised in 1988. While the federal and provincial governments’ attempts to provide support for English and French in Canada, bilingualism is a failure because based on the most recent statistics, it is on a decline and many Canadian citizens believe it no longer plays a significant role in today's society. The Official Languages Act in Canada is passed at the federal level. The purpose of the Act is to ensure respect for English and French languages, to give both languages an equal status and to support its development. All across Canada, in federal institutions, Canadians are able to receive services in either English or French. Even in communities where French and English linguistics is a minority. This strategically resulted in increasing employment opportunities for bilingual Canadians in all federal institutions (The History of Bilingualism in Canada). Also, the federal government put in place the Official Languages in Education Program, where provinces and territories will get funding by the government for providing instruction in a second language, for example French immersion education (The History....). In addition, in...
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...Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (HC) is a language that is derived from French and West African. It is one of the two national languages of Haiti; however, it was not recognized as such until 1987 (Etienne, 2005). Prior to 1987, the only national language of Haiti was French even though only about 10-15% of the Haitian population speaks French while 90-95% speak HC. This late acceptance date of HC as a national language is possibly due to the attitudes and feelings towards HC. Etienne (2005) studied the attitudes and feelings towards the two languages. Her research supports that Haitians felt it was a privilege to speak French and, if a person can speak French they have a higher status than a person who cannot. HC is taught in the home...
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...California English: * Almost 50% of the population is made up of Latino/African Americans with separate accents. * Caucasian people pronounce the vowels in hawk and hock the same as well as cot and caught. * Moving vowels forward in the mouth is resulting in changes of vowel sound Cajun: * This dialect is a mixture of French, Canary Island Spanish, German, and English. * Some characteristics include fast talking, clipped vowels and an abundance of French terms. * The /th/ sound is usually replaced with /t/ or /d/. New York: * “on line” instead of “in line” * “dungarees” instead of “jeans” * The /o/ can make an /aw/ and /th/ can make a /t/ sound. California English: * Almost 50% of the population is made up of Latino/African Americans with separate accents. * Caucasian people pronounce the vowels in hawk and hock the same as well as cot and caught. * Moving vowels forward in the mouth is resulting in changes of vowel sound Cajun: * This dialect is a mixture of French, Canary Island Spanish, German, and English. * Some characteristics include fast talking, clipped vowels and an abundance of French terms. * The /th/ sound is usually replaced with /t/ or /d/. New York: * “on line” instead of “in line” * “dungarees” instead of “jeans” * The /o/ can make an /aw/ and /th/ can make a /t/ sound. American Varieties of English American Varieties of English Linguistic Terms Linguistic Terms - Standard...
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...Historiography: Louisiana Purchase In the beginning of the 17th century, the United States and France have been negotiating over a piece of land approximately 828,000,000 square miles that stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian Border in the north. It wasn’t until 1803 when the United States was given an opportunity to purchase this piece of land, this historical event is known as the Louisiana Purchase. Although history can only be told in one way-by facts, many historians have different views and arguments towards the impact the Louisiana Purchase had on North America. One author that had a different view of this historical event...
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...Max Muller Bilingualism is the ability to speak or write more fluently in 2 languages. In Canada this term has particular meaning it means the ability to communicate in both Canada’s official language i.e. English and French. Official language act it declares the equality of status, for English and French, for all government and federal departments. According to linguistic census there were almost five million Canadians who speak their mother tongue other than English and the number has risen since then. There are almost 338000 students who study in school based French immersion program and almost 1.5 million students are taking core courses in other languages. Each province has increased their enrollment in immersion program by 1 to 5 percent since 2000 but eastern Canada has shown the maximum progress, British Columbia has their policy of first come served signup, which delayed their growth in bilingualism. Status of bilingualism showed a decline growth over past few years due to rise of other multicultural groups in Canada. Given the rise of different language group over the last years there is growing movement toward creating Canada as a multilingual nation. I totally support bilingualism, English and French school in Canada but I feel that there should be more options for other language as second language education. Metropolitan cities school has more options of second language courses. Courses like Spanish, Mandarin or Punjabi, for example – have been multiplying...
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...Five Factors or Historical Events which Influenced the English Language English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages as well as most of the European languages spoken today. Latin and the modern Romance languages, Greek, the Germanic languages, Indo-Iranian languages, Slavic, Baltic, and Celtic languages are a part of the Indo-European family. English is in the Germanic group of languages; West Germanic is the ancestor of modern Dutch, German, Flemish, Frisian and English. The Gaelic-speaking Celts were one of the earliest people to migrate westward and they were natives of the British Isles long before the English (McCrum 48). “The Celtic Britons had the misfortune to inhabit an island that was highly desirable for both its agriculture and for its minerals.”(p.52) The Angles, Saxons and the Jutes were the first invaders of the British Isles and they caused the Britons to flee to the west. The Angles, Saxons and the jutes mixed their different Germanic dialects and formed what linguists now refer to as Old English or Anglo-Saxon. “Englisc’ was Old English for English, and it comes from the name of the Angles. “The basic building blocks of an English sentence- the, is, you and- are Anglo-Saxon. It is impossible to write a modern sentence without using a feast of Anglo-Saxon words.”(p.58) The Anglo-Saxons were the first speakers of English, but the English they spoke is very much different from what we speak today and it is unintelligible to modern ears. This is an...
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...HUMA215 – Vernacular Language Jennifer James American Intercontinental University Abstract You will see the spread and research of the vernacular language. You will see the cultural impact that vernacular language had during this period. Vernacular Language The ways of the medieval was impacted by Latin. The rise of the Roman Empire became well known for the Latin until 1200 A.D. when the Empire fell. For several years it was ruling the western world. The spread of the Latin language was due to where the Roman Empire ruled. The empire began to fall around 1200 A.D. and the Latin language began to disappear. The changes and the ethical renewal began with the people farthest way. The vernacular languages of others were used instead of the Latin language. Returning to old English Alfred the Great was an influence. He had written many old English books while in power. A few books that were written in old English but consisted of Latin characteristics were Beowulf and Angelo Saxton Chronicles. During this time there were several vernaculars in English. You vernacular language was determined by what social class you were in; the English language was spoken language in the lower class. The entertainers that traveled used the vernacular language. In some situations in judicial the vernacular language in the France form was used. Romance was a huge percent of the vernacular in France. These came from musicians who told stories when they were passing through and individuals...
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...History of English (Source: A History of English by Barbara A. Fennell) The English language is spoken by 750 million people in the world as either the official language of a nation, a second language, or in a mixture with other languages (such as pidgins and creoles.) English is the (or an) official language in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; however, the United States has no official language. Indo-European language and people English is classified genetically as a Low West Germanic language of the Indo-European family of languages. The early history of the Germanic languages is based on reconstruction of a Proto-Germanic language that evolved into German, English, Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish, and the Scandinavian languages. In 1786, Sir William Jones discovered that Sanskrit contained many cognates to Greek and Latin. He conjectured a Proto-Indo-European language had existed many years before. Although there is no concrete proof to support this one language had existed, it is believed that many languages spoken in Europe and Western Asia are all derived from a common language. A few languages that are not included in the Indo-European branch of languages include Basque, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian; of which the last three belong to the Finno-Ugric language family. Speakers of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) lived in Southwest Russia around 4,000 to 5,000 BCE. They had words for animals such as bear or wolf (as evidenced in the similarity of the words for these animals...
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...Canada’s Homefront During WW1 In August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany, which meant that Canada was going to war as well. Canada’s young men were going to war to serve their country as well as demonstrating their patriotic duty to Britain as they left behind their loved ones on the Canadian homefront. The First World War had a profound impact on life in Canada during the war. As our Canadian soldiers faced conflicts and huge challenges on foreign battlefields, there were many changes coming for those left behind on the Canadian homefront as they faced many social challenges and a shift in life, as they knew it. During WW1, the Canadian homefront saw a great transformation in the role of women in Canadian society, reforms in the labour movement and an increase in tension between French and English Canadians due to the conscription crisis. At the turn of the century, the role of women in Canadian society began to change drastically as their roles expanded beyond the home. Many Canadians viewed the woman’s role as the mother and homemaker but Canada’s participation in WW1 dramatically altered how women were viewed. So many Canadian men enlisted in the war that Canadian labour force was hugely diminished because if men were at war, they could not be working in the factories so Canada was forced to turn to women to join the workforce. “As the number of volunteers increased it was becoming clear that a new source of labour would have to be found. Women...
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...It’s obvious that Quebec culture is very different form Canadian culture. Quebec is a unique culture due to its primary language being French and their history of language and religion. In my essay I’m going to explain the impact of language and religion on the Quebec culture. The differences language has made in the Quebec culture is enormous. Language differentiated the Anglophone and American owners to not unionized French workers. In the reading Canadian Studies in the New Millennium, they show an example of the French/English divide in Canada. Two Solitudes, is a novel about contemporary Montreal and Quebec. It shows how the literacy and pop culture of both languages are the parallel, yet rarely expressed as together in film, literature...
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...History of English (Source: A History of English by Barbara A. Fennell) The English language is spoken by 750 million people in the world as either the official language of a nation, a second language, or in a mixture with other languages (such as pidgins and creoles.) English is the (or an) official language in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; however, the United States has no official language. Indo-European language and people English is classified genetically as a Low West Germanic language of the Indo-European family of languages. The early history of the Germanic languages is based on reconstruction of a Proto-Germanic language that evolved into German, English, Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish, and the Scandinavian languages. In 1786, Sir William Jones discovered that Sanskrit contained many cognates to Greek and Latin. He conjectured a Proto-Indo-European language had existed many years before. Although there is no concrete proof to support this one language had existed, it is believed that many languages spoken in Europe and Western Asia are all derived from a common language. A few languages that are not included in the Indo-European branch of languages include Basque, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian; of which the last three belong to the Finno-Ugric language family. Speakers of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) lived in Southwest Russia around 4,000 to 5,000 BCE. They had words for animals such as bear or wolf (as evidenced in the similarity of the words for these...
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...Abstract Language is a tool used to interact with others and express ideas, emotions, knowledge, memories and values. Language is also a vital tool for cultural expression it helps define each culture and identify them selves. Before vernacular language, people used Latin to communicate now each country uses a different language. In many places of the world knowing multiple languages is a virtue. “Language is the light of the mind.” (John Stuart Mill) The Impact of Vernacular Languages Latin was the common language used by different people and cultures to communicate. It was the written language of the courts, commerce and the Christian church. Latin had more than one form which changed over time due to the different people using the language, the educational level of the person speaking or writing it and the social status/class it was used around. The development of Latin literacy was greatly promoted in the late 8th century during the Carolingian Renaissance, which was the period of intellectual art, religion, and cultural revival in Europe. Although literacy had been previously introduced to people of the upper class and clergy during the period of the 8th and 9th century was when it became more widely spread. During the 780’s-790’s Charlemagne also known as Charles the Great or in Latin Carolus Magnus, invited Alcuin of York to become a leading scholar, teacher and his own personal tutor at the Carolingian court school. Alcuin was also asked by Charlemagne to be in...
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...Language Latin became the prominent language during the Reign of the Roman Empire. Wherever the Roman Empire was ahead the Latin language was spoken. When the Empire fell is when Latin was switched over to Vernacular. Many people chose to speak this language other than Latin. It became a way of life and how the culture would develop in later years. Religion played a huge role in this. Charlemagne believed that in order for one to practice Christianity they needed to be able to read and write it. He began to crusade for the introduction of Literacy at this point. The English would speak The Old English type of language and the Anglo Saxons would start using Vernacular. The type of Vernacular Language often depended on the social class of that individual. Lower classes spoke what we know as English and the upper classes spoke the vernacular dialect ("End of Europe's," 1997) . Most of the vernacular language was introduced by entertainers and poets who would travel to the area carrying out stories that they had heard. Most of these writings were romantic and spoke of loss and tragedy. This was of course the Dark ages. They spoke of longing and whoa in love. Vernacular was adapted so they could understand these writings. Language was originally used in religion, and therefore became part of the culture that one existed in. It was thought that in order to practice a religion one needed to be able to speak that language and write it as well, which is where Charlemagne...
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...The text is title Does Your Language Shape How You Think? by Guy Deutscher was published in The New York Times online on August 26th 2010. This online newspaper article is about how language impacts the way an individual’s mind functions. First of all, Deutscher takes a claim made by Benjamin Lee Whorf, a chemical engineer, who essentially stated that our native language constrains our mind and we are unable to grasp concepts that are not given words to, in our language. He said that when a language does not have a particular word for a concept, the concept itself cannot be understood by the speaker. Deutscher argues that Whorf did not have any evidence to substantiate this theory and that his claim is wrong on so many levels. He gives an...
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