Author: C. Michael MacMillan Publisher: University of Toronto Press ISBN: 9780802081155 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 284
Book Description
On what grounds should language rights be accorded in Canada, and to whom? This is the central question that is addressed in C. Michael MacMillan's book The Practice of Language Rights in Canada. The issue of language rights in Canada is one that is highly debated and discussed, partly because the basic underlying principles have been a neglected dimension in the debate. MacMillan examines the normative basis of language rights in Canadian public policy and public opinion. He argues that language rights policy should be founded upon the theoretical literature of human rights. Drawing on the philosophy behind human rights, the arguments for recognizing a right to language are considered, as well as the matter of whether such rights possess the essential features of established rights. Another model that is examined is the idea that rights are a reflection of the established values, attitudes, and practices of society. This analysis reveals that there is a significant gap between what a political theory of language rights would endorse and what garners support in public opinion. MacMillan also scrutinizes the federal and provincial contexts in the development of a language rights framework. From these explorations, a case is developed for a recognition of language rights that is consistent with the logic of human rights and that corresponds roughly with developing Canadian practice. The Practice of Language Rights in Canada is a unique contribution to the current literature not only because it conceives of language rights as a human right but also because it frames the whole debate about language rights in Canada as a question of values and entitlements.
Author: John Edwards Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 0521563283 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 521
Book Description
Language in Canada provides an up-to-date account of the linguistic and cultural situation in Canada, primarily from a sociolinguistic perspective. The strong central theme connecting language with group and identity will offer insights into the current linguistic and cultural tension in Canada. The book provides comprehensive accounts of the original 'charter' languages, French and English, as well as the aboriginal and immigrant varieties which now contribute to the overall picture. It explains how they came into contact - and sometimes into conflict - and looks at the many ways in which they weave themselves through and around the Canadian social fabric. The public policy issues, particularly official bilingualism and educational policy and language, are also given extensive coverage. Non-specialists as well as linguists will find in this volume, a companion to Language in Australia, Language in the USA and Language in the British Isles, an indispensable guide and reference to the linguistic heritage of Canada.
Author: Helaina Gaspard Publisher: University of Ottawa Press ISBN: 0776623362 Category : Political Science Languages : fr Pages : 135
Book Description
Canada’s official languages legislation fundamentally altered the composition and operational considerations of federal institutions. With legislative change, Canada’s public service has achieved the equitable representation of its two official languages groups, provided services to the public in both official languages, and has codified rights for public servants to work in their official language of choice. On paper, the regime is robust. In practice, there is a persistent divergence between policy and practice, as English dominates as the regular language of work in the federal public service. Through an historical institutionalist lens based on extensive archival research and semi-structured interviews, Gaspard shows that the implementation of official languages policy in the federal public service from 1967–2013 could not challenge the predominance of English as the operating language of the federal public service. The analysis of the roles of actors, ideas and institutions that influenced the policy implementation process show that a lack of structural change, inadequate managerial engagement, and a false sense that both official languages are equally ingrained in the public service explain the persistence of English as the dominant language of work. This book is published in English. - La politique sur les langues officielles du Canada a transformé la composition et les considérations opérationnelles des institutions fédérales. Grâce aux modifications législatives, la fonction publique du Canada a réussi à mettre en place une représentation équitable de ses deux groupes de langues officielles, assure la prestation de services au public dans les deux langues officielles, et a procédé à la codification des droits des fonctionnaires de travailler dans la langue officielle de leur choix. En théorie, le régime est robuste. En pratique, il existe un fossé entre politique et pratique, l’anglais s’étant établi comme langue dominante de travail dans la fonction publique fédérale. En adoptant une approche historique à cette question institutionnelle et au moyen de recherches archivistiques et d’entrevues mi-structurées, Gaspard fait valoir que de 1967 à 2013, la mise en oeuvre du programme de langues officielles à la fonction publique fédérale n’a pu influer sur la trajectoire de l’anglais comme langue prépondérante de travail. L’analyse des rôles des intervenants et des institutions qui ont façonné le processus met en lumière le fait que l’absence de changements structurels, l’engagement insuffisant des gestionnaires, de même que la perception erronée que les langues officielles sont toutes deux bien ancrées dans la fonction publique se conjuguent pour expliquer la persistance de l’anglais comme principale langue de travail. Ce livre est publié en anglais.
Author: María Constanza Guzmán Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP ISBN: 0228009561 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 145
Book Description
Cultural and linguistic diversity and plurality are seen as markers of our time, linked to discourses about citizenship and cosmopolitanism in the context of economic globalization in the late twentieth century. It is often monolingualism, however, that informs understanding and policies regulating the relationship between languages, nations, and communities. Grounded by the idea of language as lived experience, Negotiating Linguistic Plurality assumes linguistic plurality to be a continuing human condition and offers a novel transnational and comparative perspective on it. The essays featured cover concepts and praxis in which linguistic plurality surfaces in the public sphere through institutional and individual practices. The collection adopts a critical view of language policies and foregrounds distances and dissonances between policy and language practices by presenting lived experiences of multilingualism. Translation, seen as constitutive to the relations inherent to linguistic plurality, is at the core of the volume. Contributors explore a range of social and institutional aspects of the relationship between translation and linguistic plurality, foregrounding less documented experiences and minoritized practices. Presenting knowledge that spans regions, languages, and territories, Negotiating Linguistic Plurality is a thoughtful consideration of what constitutes language plurality: what its limits are, as well as its possibilities.
Author: Eve Haque Publisher: University of Toronto Press ISBN: 1442640782 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 321
Book Description
"From the time of its inception in Canada, multiculturalism has generated varied reactions, none more starkly than between French and English Canadians. In this groundbreaking new work, Eve Haque examines the Government of Canada's attempt to forge a national policy of unity based on 'multiculturalism within a bilingual framework, ' a formulation that emerged out of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963-70). Uncovering how the policies of bilingualism and multiculturalism are inextricably linked, Haque investigates the ways in which they operate together as part of our contemporary national narrative to favour the language and culture of Canada's two 'founding nations' at the expense of other groups. Haque uses previously overlooked archival material, including transcripts of royal commission hearings, memos, and reports, to reveal the conflicts underlying the emergence of this ostensibly seamless policy. By integrating two important areas of scholarly concern -- the evolution and articulation of language rights in Canada, and the history of multiculturalism in the country, Haque provides powerful insight into ongoing asymmetries between Canada's various cultural and linguistic groups."--Publisher's website.
Author: María Constanza Guzmán Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP ISBN: 0228009553 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
Cultural and linguistic diversity and plurality are seen as markers of our time, linked to discourses about citizenship and cosmopolitanism in the context of economic globalization in the late twentieth century. It is often monolingualism, however, that informs understanding and policies regulating the relationship between languages, nations, and communities. Grounded by the idea of language as lived experience, Negotiating Linguistic Plurality assumes linguistic plurality to be a continuing human condition and offers a novel transnational and comparative perspective on it. The essays featured cover concepts and praxis in which linguistic plurality surfaces in the public sphere through institutional and individual practices. The collection adopts a critical view of language policies and foregrounds distances and dissonances between policy and language practices by presenting lived experiences of multilingualism. Translation, seen as constitutive to the relations inherent to linguistic plurality, is at the core of the volume. Contributors explore a range of social and institutional aspects of the relationship between translation and linguistic plurality, foregrounding less documented experiences and minoritized practices. Presenting knowledge that spans regions, languages, and territories, Negotiating Linguistic Plurality is a thoughtful consideration of what constitutes language plurality: what its limits are, as well as its possibilities.
Author: Canada. Department of the Secretary of State Publisher: Department of Secretary of State of Canada ISBN: Category : Education, Bilingual Languages : en Pages : 6
Author: Matthew Hayday Publisher: UBC Press ISBN: 0774830077 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 365
Book Description
Since the 1960s, bilingualism has become a defining aspect of Canadian identity. And yet, today, relatively few English Canadians speak or choose to speak French. Why has personal bilingualism failed to increase as much as attitudes about bilingualism as a Canadian value? In So They Want Us to Learn French, Matthew Hayday explores the various ways in which bilingualism was promoted to English-speaking Canadians from the 1960s to the late 1990s. He analyzes the strategies and tactics employed by organizations on both sides of the bilingualism debate. Against a dramatic background of constitutional change and controvery, economic turmoil, demographic shifts, and the on-again, off-again possibility of Quebec separatism, English-speaking Canadians had to decide whether they and their children should learn French. Highlighting the personal experiences of proponents and advocates, Hayday provides a vivid narrative of a complex, controversial, and fundamentally Canadian question.
Author: Martin Howard Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing ISBN: 152756696X Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 225
Book Description
This volume attempts to illuminate Canada’s linguistic diversity by bringing together within one single volume a range of innovative studies which explore Canadian language issues across the political, legislative, social, educational and linguistic horizons. The ten chapters within the volume constitute a mixture of overview survey articles on a particular theme, as well as analyses based on large-scale empirical studies, presenting both qualitative and quantitative findings. The multidisciplinary approach provides complementary insights on a range of key-themes central to the Canadian linguistic context, such as in the case of language politics, language legislation, language education, sociolinguistics, language contact, language variation and change, varieties of French, minority language issues and language standardisation. The languages covered include both English and French, as well as Aboriginal languages.
Author: C. Michael MacMillan
Author: John Edwards
Author: Helaina Gaspard
Author: Lucie Thibault
Author: María Constanza Guzmán
Author: Eve Haque
Author: María Constanza Guzmán
Author: Canada. Department of the Secretary of State
Author: Matthew Hayday
Author: Martin Howard