Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
What's Wrong with Bilingualism and Becoming Multilingual? An Analysis of Discourses in Alberta's Updated French Policy. |
| Authors: |
Gillis, Steven1 |
| Source: |
Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics / Revue Canadiennne de Linguistique Appliquée. 2025, Vol. 28 Issue 2, p1-20. 20p. |
| Subject Terms: |
*Language policy, *Language planning, *Learning, *Multilingualism, *Bilingualism, *Second language acquisition, Participation, Canadian history |
| Geographic Terms: |
Canada, Alberta |
| Abstract (English): |
This paper employs the 'What's the problem represented to be?' (WPR) method to explore language learning and language planning policy in Alberta, Canada through the provincial government's newly published update of a document titled 'French Policy'. Through an analysis of its discourse, along with the political and pedagogical contexts in which the French Policy finds itself, the underlying belief emerges that learning in languages other than English in Alberta should only be reserved to the few who qualify for official minority education obligated by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The argument is made in this paper that the province would actually benefit from the opposite: that an educational turn towards promoting the learning of multiple languages would better achieve the goals of inclusion and social and economic progress for which the government is claiming to be endeavouring in the French Policy and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Abstract (French): |
En se servant de la méthode WPR (« Quel est le problème représenté ? » - « What's the problem represented to be? »), employée sur le document « French Policy » (traduite, « Politique française »), dont une mise à jour a été récemment publiée par le gouvernement provincial albertain, cette étude explore la politique d'aménagement linguistique et pédagogique en Alberta au Canada. À travers d'une analyse de discours et des contextes politiques et pédagogiques autour du document, une conviction sous-jacente ressort : en Alberta, l'apprentissage de langues autres que l'anglais doit être uniquement réservé pour le petit groupe y ayant le droit, comme l'exige la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés. Cet article présente l'argument que la province bénéficierait en fait d'une approche inverse : que la promotion de l'apprentissage de plusieurs langues à l'école atteindrait mieux les buts inclusifs, sociaux et économiques auxquels le gouvernement prétend viser dans le document « French Policy » et ailleurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: |
Education Research Complete |
