CPF Magazine Winter 2020 Issue

CPF EVENTS
Nancy McKeraghan, CPF National President
Prof. Hayday also spoke about
what it means to be bilingual and
how Canadians in different parts of the
country view bilingualism. Definitions are
changing. In some instances the word
Francophone now is meant to include
all people who speak French and or live
in the French culture. This brought an
interesting perspective to the ensuing
discussions. As someone who does not
speak French as a first language, can one
or does one consider themselves to be
Francophone?
One participant working in Quebec
identified as a Franco-Ontarian. French
was her first language. She felt that
although she was perfectly bilingual
and working in Quebec, she was still not
integrated into Quebec’s society and
culture. She was proud of her “identité
de francophone minoritaire” and hopes
that in speaking to people in Quebec
they grow to realize that there are many
Francophone people living outside the
province who speak French as their
primary language of communication.
DAY 2 The keynote speaker,
multi-disciplinary Franco-Ontarian
artist/musician Yao, born in Ivory Coast,
informed us that the largest French
speaking city in the world is now Kinshasa
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He stated that when he is in Africa, he
identifies simply as a man. In North
America he first identifies as a black man,
then as a black man from Ontario who
speaks both French and English. Labelling
who we are becomes an issue, but as
language learners, identity is an issue. One
Indigenous participant reminded us of our
euro-centric viewpoints, and that both
English and French were the languages
of colonizers. The Official Languages Act
does not consider indigenous languages,
although we are beginning to accept
and appreciate the importance of these
languages to the Canadian mosaic. We
speak about a linguistic duality, but there
are so many perspectives and definitions
that we need to broaden our understanding
of the plurality that is Canada.
DAY 3 This day began with a viewing
of parts of the film “Bi” a Radio-Canada
documentary about bilingualism in our
country. Although about bilingualism,
the film could not be made bilingually,
or even sub-titled in English, because
Radio-Canada would not fund the project
if there was too much English content.
Yao also referred to this challenge in
the artistic community. If a French
artist works with an English artist and
there is too much English content then
funding is not available to support
the project.
Media personality Tasha Kheiriddin,
reinforced the idea of the two solitudes
within the journalism profession
in Canada, with very few journalists
understanding and working in both
English and French. Producers are
often not interested in looking at
projects from outside of the majority
culture.
The film pointed out some of
the challenges in immersion education,
but unfortunately did not look at the
many positive stories from across the
country, where a young population of
immersion students are changing the
definition of what it means to be
bilingual in Canada. I felt the film,
although raising many significant
issues with regards to bilingualism,
immersion education and identity,
lacked a perspective from Western
Canada, particularly Manitoba and its
many successful immersion programs.
In a panel discussion following
the film, Graham Fraser, former
Commissioner for Official Languages,
spoke about the success of the French
immersion program, but also about
the challenges of immersion educators
responding to the needs of all children.
I asked him if he was familiar with Tara
Fortune’s work “Struggling Learners and
Language Immersion Education”, an
excellent resource for all educators
which dispels so many myths about
second or additional language learning.
French immersion educators must
work diligently to dispel myths about
immersion education and advocate for
increased supports to help all students
with their learning.
I am grateful to have had the
opportunity to be part of such dynamic
and relevant discussions about
bilingualism, identity and Canada’s
linguistic duality/plurality.
“ Si on me donnait un seul vœu, ce serait
de parler toutes les langues qui existent
et qui ont existé à travers les années.
Juste à cause de la richesse culturelle
que tu pourrais acquérir. »
– Yaovi Hoyi (Yao)
CPF MAGAZINE WINTER 2020 13