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Articles on French language

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School choice policies have positioned schools as existing in a free market of schools, but parents and guardians have different amounts of ‘educational currency’ or privilege when choosing programs. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

French immersion and other regional learning programs: Smart choice for your kids, or do they fuel inequity?

In a study, teachers who are parents acknowledged programs of choice separate students into cohorts labelled strong and weak, yet many continue to secure spots for their own children.
Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon at a press conference on Oct. 17, 2022, at the Québec City National Assembly. He repeated that he did not want to swear an oath to King Charles. The Canadian Press/Karoline Boucher

There’s no official French version of the 1867 Constitution Act. So is taking the oath to the King in French valid?

No official French version of the Constitution Act of 1867 exists in 2022. This aberration calls into question the validity of taking an oath to the King in French.
‘Lamartine rejects the red flag in front of the town hall,’ a painting by Henri Félix Philippoteaux (1815–1884), captures a seminal moment in the second French Revolution in Paris in 1848, when revolutionaries demanded human and civil rights. (Les Musées de la ville de Paris)

Note to Québec’s premier: French is the language of human rights, not xenophobia

French has historically been a language of human rights. That’s why the Québec government should promote it as a tool of a human rights-based civic education, not force it on newcomers.
In Canada, the French and English languages generally peacefully coexist. Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Conflicts over language stretch far beyond Russia and Ukraine

It’s common for people to live near others who speak a different – but similar – language. But generally, they handle their differences without violence.
French-language advocates protest Air Canada’s chief executive Michael Rousseau’s inability to speak French in front of the airline’s head office during a demonstration in Montréal. The sign reads: “Rousseau Get Out.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Corporate leadership: Why the tone at the top has moral consequences

What CEOs say and how they say it are essential. Their words can set the tone at the top of the firm and have far-reaching repercussions.
According to a recent survey of public servants by the Commissioner of Official Languages, more than 44 per cent of French-speakers are uncomfortable using French at work. CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

A ‘French malaise’ is eroding bilingualism in Canada’s public service

A recent survey reveals a general uneasiness about using French among both francophone and anglophone public servants in administrative regions where bilingualism is required.
English language teachers should encourage students to draw on their own mother tongues. Here, children participate in learning to help Syrian refugee youths prepare for school at the H.appi Camp in Toronto, July 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Language learning in Canada needs to change to reflect ‘superdiverse’ communities

How we teach languages has not evolved much from the traditional grammar-based mode of instruction, and this approach alone marginalizes students’ existing knowledge and communication abilities.

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