So They Want Us to Learn French Promoting and Opposing Bilingualism in English-Speaking Canada
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
Matthew Hayday is an associate professor of Canadian history at the University of Guelph. He is the author of Bilingual Today, United Tomorrow: Official Languages in Education and Canadian Federalism and co-editor of Mobilizations, Protests and Engagements: Canadian Perspectives on Social Movements and Contemporary Quebec: Selected Readings and Commentaries, as well as many scholarly articles and book chapters on issues related to political history, Canadian language policies, English-French relations, national identity, federalism, commemorations and Canada Day celebrations. He was the founding chair of the Canadian Historical Association's Political History Group and has served on the editorial boards of the Canadian Historical Review, the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association and the Journal of Canadian Studies. He is currently the series editor for Oxford University Press Canada's "Living History" Canadian history book series.<p>Hayday's work is solid, carefully researched, and written in an accessible style … [T]he entire book is worthwhile reading, for it tells an important story of efforts, not by political decision-makers or paper-pushers but by grassroots activists, to transform English Canada's linguistic identity one classroom at a time. </p> - Bruce Douville, Algoma University (Canadian Journal of History) Hayday's work is a careful account of the English Canadian response to the Official Languages Act and French immersion programming that effectively illustrates the divisions of public opinion on these controversial programs. It is a valuable addition to our understanding of the evolution of English Canadian opinions regarding Canadian identity, official bilingualism, and national unity. - Jack Cecillon, Glendon College (Historical Studies in Education) <i></i><p><i>...So They Want Us to Learn French. Promoting and Opposing Bilingualism in English-speaking Canada </i>est à la fois informatif mais aussi symptomatique d'un problème profond et souvent occulté que peu de politiciens canadiens osent regarder en face.</p> - Yves Laberge (The Journal of Canadian Studies)
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.
Foreword / Graham Fraser
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Canada's Bilingualism Conundrum
1 Bilingualism and Official Languages in Canada
2 From Chez Hélène to the First French Immersion Experiments
3 Playing Games with the Language Czar: The First Commissioner of Official Languages
4 Social Movement Activism, 1969-76
5 Canadian Parents for French and its Adversaries, 1977-86
6 Internationalization and Higher Education: The Second Commissioner of Official Languages
7 Canadian Parents for French and Local Activism, 1977-87
8 Shifting Priorities in the Commissioner's Office
9 Squaring off the Foes of Bilingualism in the Meech Lake Years, 1986-90
10 Constitutional Crises and Economic Challenges in the Early 1990s
11 A Millennial Reprieve
Conclusion: We Learned French! Well, Many Canadians Did
Appendices
Notes
List of Unpublished Primary Sources
Index