Atlanta, United States, July 23, 2004
Canada and the Challenge of Diversity
Notes for an address to the World Congress of French Teachers
Dr. Dyane Adam - Commissioner of Official Languages
Check against delivery
Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen,
Many of you have probably never heard of a Commissioner of Official Languages before today. Up to quite recently, it was a uniquely Canadian title. It was only in 2003 that a Commissioner of Official Languages was appointed in another country, the Republic of Ireland.
Even in Canada, there is some misunderstanding about the role of the Commissioner of Official Languages. When I attend receptions or cocktail parties, people often take me for a walking French-English dictionary. When someone searches for a word, they ask me for the equivalent in the other official language. I am often taken for a specialist in languages, or the language police.
Naturally, the Commissioner deals indirectly with issues of language quality, but it is my role–and my privilege–to promote and defend a vision of Canada, a way of living together. It is the Canadian social contract between the two official language communities, based on respect and appreciation of the value of our differences, a vision of our country that our federal institutions must make an effort to turn into reality.
In my country, teachers, translators, terminologists and language specialists are among those living out this vision. Without them, it would be nothing but a dead letter. These practitioners of language teaching and use make it possible for the vision to become a living reality.
Canada's official languages, and the people of diverse origins who speak these languages, are the threads that make up the social fabric of my country. This representation of the Canadian social fabric is the symbol in my office's pin. The golden fabric in the centre stands for the point of convergence of our two linguistic communities and alludes to the wealth of their dialogue, the wealth of their diversity.
Today, I would like to discuss the challenge of positioning French in the context of global diversity, the value of that diversity, and the role the French language and the teaching of French can play in promoting a vision of humanity at the global scale. Essentially, it is about promoting respect for human diversity.
I will illustrate my remarks with the Canadian experience in multiculturalism and bilingualism, which was just acknowledged as exemplary in the report of the United Nations Development Program.1 The report stresses the need to integrate cultural diversity in a world where migration is increasing exponentially, and cites Canada in particular as a model. As well, I invite you to look at our publication French: A Truly Official Language.2
Positioning French in the Context of Global Diversity
There are two opposing trends in today's world, both of them derived from what is commonly known as globalization. We observe both an affirmation of cultural diversity as our human heritage and a trend towards homogenization, towards standardization of cultures and languages.
We become aware of humanity's immense cultural capital just when cultural monocropping emerges, levelling out and eroding cultural and linguistic expressions.
Should we see this recognition of the world's immense diversity as a warning of the threat of cultural impoverishment? We become fully aware of our body parts like feet or muscles only when they hurt.
And I think the world's diversity is hurting.
It is estimated, for example, that 90% of the languages humanity speaks will disappear over the course of this century if nothing is done to preserve them.3 In Canada, dozens of languages of the Native First Nations are becoming extinct.4 And beyond languages, the customs, knowledge and cultural productions of many peoples are under threat.
As Renato Ruggiero said when he was Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), "Managing a world of converging economies, peoples and civilizations, each one preserving its own identity and culture, represents the great challenge and the great promise of our age."5
The only possible response to the potential extinction of cultures in the context of globalization is diversity.
It is the affirmation that all peoples and all cultures are valuable. It is the recognition of the unique nature of each individual and of the wealth of his or her unique cultural baggage.
This is why I would like to talk to you today about the French language as a leader in diversity and the role that the teaching of French can play in conserving global diversity.
Francophones are called on to take leadership in diversity not because their motivation is higher, but quite simply because, in the current global context, they can and want to do so, and because they have the necessary international structure.
Diversity and La Francophonie: Taking the Lead Together
French: A Leader in Diversity
There are 56 member governments and states in La Francophonie. The official language of many countries, French is the mother tongue of over 110 million people and the second language for 65 million Francophiles.6 French is a language with changing accents, both the vehicle for local cultures and an international meeting point. All Francophone communities have French in common, but they appropriate, cultivate and speak it differently.
The world's diversity expresses itself in French, and the diversity of French is the culmination of this expression.
A rarity among the world's languages, French also serves as a bridge spanning all continents. Spoken in many regions of the North and South, taught in varying degrees in every country of the world, it presents a real alternative to English, the only other language to share all these features.7
The Value of Diversity
And diversity is wealth.
Studies show that diversity contributes to human enrichment on many levels, in particular those of security and social stability, economy and culture.
Security and Social Stability
Global experience shows that diversity can be a potential source of conflict or stability, depending on the structures used to manage differences.
Canada, from its inception, had everything it needed to harbour major conflicts.
It faced enormous challenges, especially:
- the challenge of establishing a country founded on a compromise between the members of two European cultures –the English and the French–and the recognition of the First Nations of our country;
- the challenge of coexistence for different legal traditions–among them English common law and French civil law–and different religions;
- the challenge of serving a population dispersed over a huge territory covering several time zones;
- the challenge of conserving the diversity originating from immigration, while encouraging the integration of newcomers;
- the challenge of promoting the full development of linguistic communities of various sizes and preserving the vitality of the Canadian Francophonie, which in itself is diverse;
- the challenge federations have of striking a balance between the political wills of different provinces.
We have provided ourselves with a system that accommodates differences in a democratic way. We are committed not to endure diversity, but to lead society to fulfil the potential of diversity: enriching ourselves through intercultural dialogue. Canada's federal shape, its institutions, and its way of accommodating differences all reflect this determination to prevent the majority from assimilating minorities. In fact, our Supreme Court recently reaffirmed that respect for minorities is one of the main guiding principles of Canada's Constitution.8
So much so that the historic challenge of diversity has today become our social project.
Canada, as Jacques Attali said, is a sort of laboratory where the project of diversity is being tested.9
On this point, there are some figures I would like to share with you.
Canada today has 30 million inhabitants, over 9 million of whom are French speakers. Quebec's dynamic society, where 6.7 million people speak French, is undeniably the main base of La Francophonie in the Americas. The number of French speakers living outside Quebec–almost 2.5 million–is larger than the combined Francophone population of some 40 member states of La Francophonie. Canada, after France, is one of the countries in the world where French is most widely spoken.
A country of immigrants, Canada is also one of the world's countries that–proportionately speaking–receives the most immigrants. From 1996 to 2001, Canada welcomed almost 100,000 French-speaking immigrants.10 In a recent survey conducted in 44 countries, Canadians proved to be the only group with a majority that had a positive opinion of immigrants–77%. In all other countries, the figure was under 50%.11
An appreciation of diversity leads people from every continent who speak different languages and practice a variety of religions to live together peacefully.12 On that point, let's recall that diversity, as an established fact, can be a stabilizing factor only if there are bridges between different cultures, if a dialogue is established. Thus the importance of the work of language-teaching professionals. Your contribution is at the very heart of democracy and stability for society.
In short, diversity is inevitably a source of tensions and conflict, but when we have the right tools, it can contribute to innovation and stability for society, and condition its prosperity.
Economic Prosperity
Indeed, diversity is a measure of economic prosperity.
Recently, the monthly Canadian Business magazine devoted an entire issue to the economic advantages of diversity in the workplace. According to their study, companies believe that a multicultural work environment makes them more competitive and encourages innovation.13 Diversity stimulates creativity by allowing different viewpoints, ideas and know-how to enrich each other in an open dialogue.
It is estimated that the volume of trade exchanges between countries with a shared language is 1.7 times higher than that between countries with different languages.14 In Canada, our linguistic and cultural diversity makes it possible to forge close trade links with many regions, especially Europe, the Commonwealth countries and Asia. In Canada we have knowledge of the markets, the customs and the languages of almost every country and cultural group in the world. Because of the importance of immigration, here in the United States you have similar advantages.
Another example is the diversity that has made Montréal–one of the most multilingual cities in North America–a leader in the language industry and a home to burgeoning cultural production. The value of the language teaching and translation market is $750 million annually in Canada.15
Language skills are in demand. Last June, a national conference on languages16 was held here in the United States under the aegis of the Deputy Secretary of Defence. The conference put particular emphasis on the fact that the United States does not have the linguistic resources it needs to fight against terrorism. Participants were called on to identify strategies to increase language skills and language courses offered, especially in non-European languages.
Clearly, globalization provides a comparative advantage to societies that have a particular sensitivity to linguistic plurality and diversity.
Multiplicity of Cultures
Culturally speaking, contact with the plethora of human experience drives our creativity. By culture in the broad sense we mean different ways of understanding the world, adapting our behaviour and knowledge to our environment, and innovating.
Diversity is an intrinsic principle in all life. When there is only one kind of cell in an organism, that life form is at the least evolved level. Evolution manifests itself through increasing inherent complexity. The same thing happens in intellectual activity.
Just as an ecosystem needs biodiversity, our knowledge, our intellectual and artistic creations, draw substance from human diversity.
Seeking uniformity is unnatural, both in culture and in biology.
Camus said that the democrat is modest: he knows that he does not have a monopoly on the truth and that a plurality of opinions is needed to find the best possible solution to a problem.17 Likewise, supporters of diversity base themselves on the same modesty: they know that a single culture, a single identity, is a form of paralysis, an intolerable cultural atrophy.
Leadership for Diversity
The value of diversity is reflected by the international consensus for its preservation that saw the light of day in the past ten years with contributions from several institutions, among them La Francophonie.
In partnership with Quebec, the Government of Canada, giving continuity to its social project, defended the value of diversity on the international stage, both at the WTO and at UNESCO. Canada joined several other Francophone countries, especially France, in the demand for an exclusion clause to protect cultural goods and services.
The issue came to the forefront at the last summits of La Francophonie,18 leading to a movement for the upcoming adoption of an International Convention on Diversity, a legal instrument that would give the principles of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Diversity force of law. Canada and its member governments, like Quebec, worked actively for the adoption of this initiative and the creation of an international space where the expression of differences is given its due value.
Moreover, the objective of Francophone countries is also to improve the status of French as a language for global communication, in particular by contributing to the increased use of French in international organizations. My office published a study in 2002 on the Websites of diplomatic missions and international organizations. The study showed that 26% of the sites of the 26 institutions of which Canada is a member and that have French as an official language had hardly any content in French–or none at all. Ensuring a greater presence of French in international organizations depends on the leadership of those in charge, and also on increased demand for the use of French–and language teachers and students can contribute to this demand.
As you can see, the job is not finished. A lot of work must still be done to benefit fully from the wealth of diversity. How can we reach this goal? We can look at the shared challenges and actions.
Shared Challenges and Actions
Day-to-Day Diversity
Many countries face the same challenges when promoting diversity and the French language, particularly the issue of the shrinkage of the spheres of influence of French.
In Canada, to perpetuate our linguistic heritage, our identity, we have focused simultaneously on both:
- extending access to education in French, to promote the vitality of Francophone communities; and
- teaching French as a second language, to associate non-Francophones with the Canadian project for linguistic duality and cultural diversity.
Major progress has been made.
While 20 years ago there were no French schools in half of Canadian provinces, minority school management structures and schools are present today in all provinces and territories. Canada has over 3,000 French schools, more than 120 French community colleges, some 20 French or bilingual universities, and over 100 French university research centres.
When it comes to teaching French as a second language, remarkable progress has also been achieved.
Over one and a half million students–in other words, half of young English Canadians–are taking French as a second language, while 357,000 others are registered in French immersion programs. A quarter of young people from 15 to 19–over double the number of the previous generation–are bilingual. An interesting finding of the PISA study20 was that students in French immersion programs read better than their non-immersion counterparts.21
Recently, as a new step forward in the Canadian linguistic project, the government launched an Action Plan for Official Languages.22 One major objective is to increase the proportion of students eligible for admission in Francophone minority schools. Another ambitious, but pressing objective is to double the percentage of young bilingual Canadians in the next ten years, so that one out of every two young people will master both official languages.
Early this year, in partnership with Canadian Parents for French23 -an organization of English-speaking parents–the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Department of Canadian Heritage, we organized a symposium24 to identify ways of reaching the objectives of the Action Plan. We invited teachers and representatives from all key sectors of society–education, business, culture, sport, and the public service, both federal and provincial–to discuss the issues and propose strategies that would lead young people to embrace linguistic duality and enrol in French courses.
Symposium participants suggested four major areas of action that could be applied in other contexts or countries with similar challenges.
Areas of Action
1. The first area is the promotion of bilingualism.
It is important for society as a whole to give more value to language skills and be open to discovering other cultures. French must be made attractive for Francophones, Francophiles and newcomers. French must be used as a language of success, for work, in education, as a language of research and science, in innovation, on the Internet and, of course, for enjoyment.
Symposium participants proposed to develop a rationale on the advantages of our diversity, encouraging student exchanges between language communities and establishing a national program for recognition of language skills.
2. The second area is the establishment of structures giving more value to and facilitating the acquisition of language skills.
It was proposed in particular:
- to ensure continuity in the teaching of French from early childhood onwards, through primary and secondary school and at university level;
- to establish language skills standards at all levels, for students, teachers and in the labour market; and
- to give second language teaching the same status as other subjects.
3. The third area is concerted action of key players and a committed civil society.
Indeed, all social sectors must act together and mobilize to share the wealth of diversity. Nothing can be achieved by working in isolation.
At the Symposium, participants stressed the need to encourage cooperation between the education sector and the worlds of business, art and sport. Bridges must be built. People at the Symposium said to us, "Make it real!" French must have everyday relevance in society, not just in the classroom.
There is political leadership, and also the leadership of people involved on a day-to-day basis, teachers–community workers–that gives strength to the will for change.
We also need to benefit from public support and civil society's commitment to defend the French language. Today, 30 years after our linguistic regime came into being, 77% of Canadians are in favour of bilingualism.25
Civil society support also expresses itself through the work of associations dedicated to promoting French, such as the Conseil de la vie française en Amérique,26 the Alliance canadienne des responsables, des enseignantes et des enseignants en français langue maternelle, the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers,27 the Association canadienne d'éducation de langue française,28 French for the Future,29 and Canadian Parents for French.
4. The fourth and last area is the enrichment and expansion of curricula, so our schools can have appropriate teaching material, stimulating cultural content and qualified teachers.
Educators and teaching institutions have a central role in the promotion of French and in welcoming diversity. You are the best ambassadors for French to young Francophones and Francophiles. In the age of globalization, to ensure the vitality of our language, French teachers have a new mission: to give diversity, the fabric of today's world, pride of place.
How do we go about this?
First of all, French should be taught as the language of a community of cultures.
Speaking French does not just mean understanding the language, it means taking in the others who speak that language, discovering their culture, their thinking, and their vision.
On that basis, pedagogical material could be offered that reflects the diverse uses of French and the diversity of the cultures that speak French. It is a pedagogical work in progress. All the ideas and proposals you've heard at this Congress will surely have given you the urge to act, to find new ways of doing your work.
We can also take advantage of our shared cultural wealth to diversify teaching methods and make French more attractive, using for example literature, stories, movies or songs from the different countries of La Francophonie.
Diversity can also help us encourage the modernization of French. Words, images and expressions from other countries should be made known and adopted. This is what opens the door to diversity, and this openness enriches and renews our language. French should be able to get up to date.
Opening up to the diversity of French is also being open to the other languages spoken in Francophone spaces. It means translating into and from French, so our language will become an unavoidable meeting point, a catalyst of cultures, and a living example of the benefits of diversity.
Conclusion: French, an International Leader in Diversity?
To conclude, French is spoken and experienced through diversity.
And French presents us with a new challenge: defending a world view that values diversity.
To overcome the paradox of a globalization that pits cultural openness against homogeneity, diversity must become a project that more and more countries share.
This calls for the political will and educational action that Francophone states and French teachers started to demonstrate in the last few years, support from the general public and civil society, and support from institutions such as the one you represent.
Every four years you meet to share and renew your action. Your network is dynamic, a catalyst that can garner support from other sectors. You can extend your influence, be a model for youth and have a positive influence on the image of French as a space where cultures meet.
Participating in this shared project means assuming a responsibility. It is a personal commitment at every level.
A commitment to support national policies for language and French teaching and policies welcoming and accompanying foreigners who wish to participate in La Francophonie. A commitment to encourage partnerships between educational institutions around the world and cultural partnerships–such as those that enable TV5 to open a window for Francophones onto their diversity and the world. And finally, a commitment to promote a dynamic Francophone global environment, especially on the Internet.
Diversity in La Francophonie can renew the international expansion of French. And the multiculturalism of La Francophonie makes it an alternative to homogeneity.
Success depends on our action: let's take the lead together!
In the words of Houdar de la Motte, the 18th-century poet, "What a great spice we have in diversity. Were men all of the same mind, there would be no salt to society."30
Thank you.
Notes
1 UN, World Report on Human Development 2004, Cultural Freedom in a Diversified World, United Nations Development Program, 2004, http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr04_summary.pdf
.
2 Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, French: A Truly Official Language, Ottawa, 2004.
3 Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Linguistic Genocide in Education–Worldwide Diversity or Human Rights?, Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000.
4 Statistics Canada, 1996 Canada Census and 1991 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, Ottawa, 1996. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Final Report, Vol. 3, Gathering Strength, Ottawa, 1996.
5 Renato Ruggiero, WTO Press/74, June 19, 1997.
6 Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, Conseil consultatif (International Organization of La Francophonie, Advisory Committee), La Francophonie dans le monde, 2002-2003, Paris, Larousse, 2003, p. 19.
7 Haut Conseil de la Francophonie, État de la Francophonie dans le monde, Paris, La Documentation française, 1999, p. 349.
8 Re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217.
9 See the heading "Canada" in Jacques Attali, Le Dictionnaire du XXIe siècle, Paris, Ed. Fayard, 1998.
10 Statistics Canada, 2001 Census, Ottawa, 2001.
11 The Pew Research Center, What the World Thinks in 2002, December 4, 2002, see http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=165.
12 Centre for Research and Information on Canada (CRIC), “A Changing People: Being Canadian in a New Century”, 2003, The CRIC Papers (# 9), pp. 5-6.
13 "Why Diversity Pays," Canadian Business, March 2004, http://www.canadianbusiness.com/.
14 John F. Helliwell, "Language and Trade," Albert Breton (Dir.), Exploring the Economics of Language, Ministry of Canadian Heritage, 1999.
15 Les Affaires, Cahier spécial, September 6, 2003.
16 The National Language Conference: A Call for Action, Adelphi, Maryland, June 22-24, 2004, http://www.nlconference.org/.
17 Quoted by Alain Finkielkraut, "La catégorie de 'réactionnaire" est fictive', Le Figaro, November 14, 2002.
18 Moncton Summit (1999), Cotonou Ministerial Conference on Culture (2001), and Beirut Summit (2002).
19 Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Official Languages on the Internet: Websites of Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations, Ottawa, 2002, http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/html/stu_etu_042002_e.php.
20 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment.
21 Statistics Canada, Education Quarterly Review, Vol. 9, No. 4.
22 Government of Canada, The Next Act: New Momentum for Canada's Linguistic Duality. Action Plan for Official Languages, Ottawa, National Library of Canada, 2003, http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/aia/default.asp?Language=E&Page=ActionPlan
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23 http://www.cpf.ca/eng/home.html.
24 Symposium, Vision and Challenges for the 21st Century, March 2-4, 2004, Toronto.
25 CRIC, “Bilingualism: Part of Our Past or Part of Our Future?”, The CRIC Papers, #13, March 2004.
29 http://www.french-future.org/.
30 "C'est un grand agrément que la diversité. Donnez le même esprit aux hommes; vous ôtez tout le sel de la société." Antoine Houdar de la Motte, Fables (1719) Œuvres, Vol. 9, Paris, Prault l'aîné, 1754.
