Bilingual education in Ontario: Issues and perspectives influencing development
Year:
1998
Authors and Collaborators :
Publishing Company:
, Wayne State University, Michigan
Abstract
Bilingual education is defined as education taught or received in the two official languages of Canada, French and English.
In Ontario, the issue of bilingual education is almost as old as the province itself. This issue has escalated during the past 150 years into a national issue involving Church and State.
The French, also called Francophones, were the first settlers in Canada, and particularly in Ontario. These people possess an almost biological fact which ties them to other Francophones. This link is called the French Fact. It involves the right of language, religion, and education based on the factors of first settlement and various laws.
It is an historical fact that the Francophones often have been denied their basic rights by the English-speaking people who won Canada on the Plains of Abraham. These 'others' called Anglophones (regardless of actual native language) have formed the majority in the nation. A long struggle between the two language groups has led to the present situation in which Canada has two official languages, thus creating problems which may appear trivial to other nations but which are of the utmost power in Canada.
Today, Anglophones may still be the majority, but the Francophones wield unbelievable power as they have lobbied for their rights to a Monde Français. In Canada, you are Canadian or Canadien!
A variety of perspectives have been developed in the dissertation to explain how a conquered people have, through language, religion and an unbelievable oneness, managed to become the victors despite overwhelming opposition.
In Ontario, the issue of bilingual education is almost as old as the province itself. This issue has escalated during the past 150 years into a national issue involving Church and State.
The French, also called Francophones, were the first settlers in Canada, and particularly in Ontario. These people possess an almost biological fact which ties them to other Francophones. This link is called the French Fact. It involves the right of language, religion, and education based on the factors of first settlement and various laws.
It is an historical fact that the Francophones often have been denied their basic rights by the English-speaking people who won Canada on the Plains of Abraham. These 'others' called Anglophones (regardless of actual native language) have formed the majority in the nation. A long struggle between the two language groups has led to the present situation in which Canada has two official languages, thus creating problems which may appear trivial to other nations but which are of the utmost power in Canada.
Today, Anglophones may still be the majority, but the Francophones wield unbelievable power as they have lobbied for their rights to a Monde Français. In Canada, you are Canadian or Canadien!
A variety of perspectives have been developed in the dissertation to explain how a conquered people have, through language, religion and an unbelievable oneness, managed to become the victors despite overwhelming opposition.
Theme :
BilingualismEducationOntario
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