EDMUND A. AUNGER
The Decline of a French-Speaking Enclave:
A Case Study of Social Contact and Language Shift in Alberta
ABSTRACT/RESUME
This study examines the
sociological and demolinguistic factors that have lead to the decline of a
French-speaking enclave. The principal
focus is on the links between regional dispersion, social integration, social
contact, and language shift. Migration
and marriage were found to be particularly useful in explaining recent changes
in language use. The data are drawn
largely from a 1989 survey conducted in St. Paul, Alberta.
Notre étude dresse un bilan des
facteurs sociologiques et démolinguistiques qui ont contribué au déclin d'une
enclave francophone. Elle met en
évidence les liens entre la dispersion régionale, l'intégration sociale, le
contact social et la mobilité linguistique.
Les changements observés dans l'emploi de la langue française
s'expliquent surtout par la migration et le mariage. Cette étude s'appuie en grande partie sur une enquête-sondage
menée à Saint-Paul, Alberta, en 1989.
Introduction
The imminent disappearance
of the French-speaking population living outside Quebec was predicted more than
two decades ago in Richard Joy's (1972) pioneering study of Canadian language
contact. Subsequent works have repeated
this prediction with such convincing regularity that the outcome almost seems a
foregone conclusion, notwithstanding the determined resistance of a resilient
minority.1 Joy classified
Canada's regions into three categories--French-speaking, bilingual, and
English-speaking--and concluded that "the language boundaries in Canada
are hardening, with the consequent elimination of minorities everywhere except
within a relatively narrow bilingual belt" (p. 21). The so-called "bilingual belt,"
including parts of northern New Brunswick, southern Quebec and north-eastern
Ontario, encircled the French-speaking heartland of interior Quebec. Outside this narrow belt, and most
particularly in the farthermost outreaches of western Canada, Joy observed that
the population was almost universally English-speaking; and he concluded that
"the French-speaking population of the West appears well on the way toward
final disappearance" (p. 21).
In a subsequent update, Joy (1978) reiterated this
conclusion, noting that "les minorités francophones du Canada anglais sont
sur le point de disparaître" (p. 6) and that "il semble inévitable
que la tendance des minorités à disparaître s'accélère encore" (p.
15). More recent demolinguistic studies have tended to avoid such dire
unequivocal predictions while noting, nevertheless, the continuation of a trend
now several decades old: French-speakers are increasingly concentrated in
Quebec, and English-speakers outside Quebec.
Lachapelle and Henripin (1980), in their definitive study of the Canadian
demolinguistic situation, concluded that the position of French-speakers
outside Quebec remained, after decades of decline, extremely fragile (p.
61). The results of the 1986 census
indicate that this decline continues: French-speakers make up only 2.4 percent
of the population of Canada's English-speaking regions, compared to 3.4 percent
in 1951 (Lachapelle 1989, pp. 14-15).
Demolinguistic research
has attributed the relative decline in the French-speaking population outside
Quebec to one dominant factor: language shift.
Simply put, an increasing number of French-speakers are adopting English
as their principal language. Migration,
mortality and fertility have had, by comparison, only marginal effects. (See, for example, Lachapelle 1989, p.
17.) Ecological studies have
convincingly demonstrated that this language shift is strongly correlated with
regional dispersion or, inversely, that language retention is strongly
correlated with regional concentration (Lieberson 1970, p. 47; Joy 1978, p. 23;
Lachapelle 1986, p. 131; Laponce 1985, p. 168). The lower the proportion of French-speakers in a region, the
greater the shift from French to English.
French-speakers are thus caught in a vicious downward-spiralling circle:
minority status leads to language shift, which leads to increased minority
status, which leads to further language shift.
Hence Lachapelle's (1986) pessimistic
conclusion: "En l'absence d'apports extérieurs, il n'y aurait finalement
aucun point d'équilibre stable autre que l'effacement de la population
minoritaire" (p. 123).
Such studies—based almost exclusively upon the
ecological analysis of census data—are unable to provide a detailed description
of the mecanisms that link regional dispersion and language shift. Nevertheless, most suggest that the crucial
intervening variable is "social contact" and, more specifically, the
frequency and degree of personalisation of contacts with members of other
language groups (Lachapelle 1986, p. 131).
This line of reasoning suggests three logical steps. First, regional dispersion contributes to
social integration. As French-speakers
become dispersed over a given territory, they are integrated into the same
networks and institutions as English-speakers.
Second, social integration contributes to social contact. As French-speakers are integrated into
common institutions, they interact with English-speakers in a wide variety of
social relationships. Third, social
contact contributes to language shift.
As French-speakers interact with English-speakers, they adopt English as
their principal language.
This article uses the
case study method to examine the relationship between regional dispersion,
social integration, social contact and language shift. The value of this method for understanding
the decline of the French-speaking population in Canada has been amply
demonstrated by Li and Denis (1983) in their study of Gravelbourg,
Saskatchewan. Our study looks at
language shift in St. Paul, Alberta.
A French-Speaking Enclave in Decline
St. Paul is located in
north-eastern Alberta, about 210 kilometres north-east of Edmonton. The St. Paul region is defined here as the
immediate trading or market area of the Town of St. Paul; it includes a
population of almost 12,000 persons, located within a radius of 15 to 40
kilometres. The region corresponds
roughly to the western half of the County of St. Paul, and has the Town of St.
Paul at its heart. The town, although
relatively small with a population numbering only 5,000 people, serves as an
important regional centre in Alberta, providing a wide range of government and
commercial services to the surrounding, largely rural, population.
The town of St. Paul
has the largest proportion of French-speakers of any major population centre in
Alberta. According to the 1986 census,
22.7 percent of the town's population had French as their mother tongue; this
included 3.8 percent who had both French and English as their mother
tongues. When the surrounding rural
population is added, the proportion of French-speakers is considerably
higher. According to our 1989 survey,
31.0 percent of the region's population have French as their mother tongue;
this includes 11.2 percent who have both French and English as their mother
tongues (see Table 1). Most French-speakers
are also fluent in English. For example,
while 28.3 percent of the region's population claimed to speak French well,
only 1.2 percent claimed that French was the only language spoken.
Table 1. St.
Paul Region: Linguistic and Ethnic Composition, Single and Multiple
Responses, 1989
_________________________________________________________________________
Category %English
%French %Ukrainian %Other Total
_________________________________________________________________________
Ethnic origina
a. inclusive 25.3 39.1 25.9 39.4 129.7
b. exclusive 13.8 24.4 17.2 15.0 70.4
Mother tongue
a. inclusive 63.2 31.0 16.7 8.2 119.1
b. exclusive 45.3 19.8 11.2 4.6 80.9
Spoken languageb
a. inclusive 98.8 28.3 16.1 4.3 147.5
b. exclusive 51.4 1.2 0.0 0.0 52.6
Home
language
a. inclusive 87.8 22.5 7.5 2.2 120.0
b. exclusive 68.1 10.3 0.6 0.9 79.9
___________________________________________________________
N = 329
NOTE: The "inclusive"
category includes multiple responses: it counts all respondents who claimed the
language (or origin), including those who cited two or more languages (or
origins). For this reason, the total
responses exceed 100 percent. The
"exclusive" category includes only single responses: it is limited to
those respondents claiming only one language (or origin).
a When English origin is
indicated in this table, it includes, for the sake of convenience, all those
who replied English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh.
British Isles would be a more appropriate designation.
b The respondents' spoken
languages are any languages that they claimed to speak well, very well or
perfectly.
The French-speaking
population has experienced a substantial decline since its arrival in the
region. In 1909, after the St. Paul
colony had been newly opened to homesteaders, the area's four townships had a
combined population of 1,800, and this was about 95 percent French-speaking
(see Aunger 1989a). The provincial
constituency of St. Paul, known at first as Pakan, had a population of 10,000,
estimated to be 75 percent French-speaking.
In 1911, a visitor to the area observed:
"Cette partie du pays, c'est-à-dire, d'une centaine de milles de long sur
cinquante de large, est d'un bout à l'autre colonisée par des
Canadiens-Français. On l'appelle la
petite province de Québec" (Z.G. 1911).
In 1920, a census of the Roman Catholic
population in the parish of St. Paul counted 1,317 adherents; 89.1 percent of
these were listed as French-speaking (Archevêché d'Edmonton 1920). A year later, the first federal census of
the village of Saint-Paul des Métis, as it was then known, recorded a total
population of 869 persons, and 78.0 percent claimed French origin.
Subsequent census
results have shown a steady, and seemingly inexorable, decline in the French
population, in relative proportions if not in absolute numbers (see Table
2). No longer a French-speaking
enclave, St. Paul is now an English-speaking multi-ethnic community. The French population is still substantial. It remains the largest ethnic group,
surpassing the British, the Ukrainians and the Cree; but it is considerably
diminished as a language group. Some
63.2 percent of the region's population now claim English as their mother
tongue, and 87.8 percent speak English in the home.
Table 2. Town of St. Paul:
Evolution of the French Population, Single Responses,
1921-1986
________________________________________________________________________
French French French French
Ethnic Mother Home Official
Origin Tongue Language Language
__________________________________________________________________
Year N % N % N % N %
________________________________________________________________________
1921 678
78.0
1941 619
60.8
1961 1,580 56.0 1,300 46.1
1981 1,190 25.3 1,135 24.1 790 16.8 70 1.5
1986a 1,155 23.6 950
18.9 510 10.4 70 1.4
________________________________________________________________________
SOURCE:
Census of Canada, 1921-1986.
NOTE: In 1921, 1941 and 1961,
the census recorded only single responses to each of these questions. In later years, the census recorded multiple
responses however the breakdown of some responses, in subdivisions such as St.
Paul, was not published. In 1986, in
the town of St. Paul, 36.3 percent claimed multiple ethnic origins, 7.8 percent
multiple mother tongues, and 7.0 percent multiple home languages.
a The census reported different
total populations for the town of St. Paul in its various published
tables. The percentage for mother
tongue is based on a population of 5,030.
The percentages for ethnic origin, home language and official language
are based on a population of 4,900.
In this study of the decline
of the French-speaking population, our principal source is a 1989 survey
conducted in the St. Paul region. An
initial sample of 462 names was randomly selected from the electoral lists of
the 28 provincial polling subdivisions making up the region. This sample constituted 6.9 percent of the
6,688 electors enumerated on October 1, 1988.
A total of 420 persons from this sample were contacted and 78.6 percent
of those contacted (330 persons) agreed to be interviewed. Interviewing took place over a two-month
period beginning on April 4, 1989. Some
68 percent of the interviews were completed by April 28, and 94 percent by May
15. While the length of the interviews
varied greatly, the modal average was 15 minutes and the mean average 20
minutes. In addition, 203 persons, or
61.5 percent of those interviewed, also returned a written questionnaire. On the whole, it was found that the 1989
survey population closely resembled the 1986 census population for the principal
categories compared.2 This
finding is convincing evidence of the sample's reliability. The data from this survey is supplemented,
as appropriate, with both published and unpublished results from the Canadian
census.
Migration and Regional Dispersion
An important part of
the decline in St. Paul's French-speaking population can be accounted for by
migration. French-speakers make up only
a relatively small proportion (2.7 percent in 1986) of Alberta's population,
and migration between the town and the rest of the province, has led to a net
loss of French-speakers in St. Paul. On
balance, French-speaking out-migrants have been replaced by English-speaking
in-migrants. As elsewhere, local
concentrations of French-speakers have diminished as residents migrate to other
parts of the province. Edmonton and
Calgary have been the principal beneficiaries of this population movement. More than half (60.0 percent) of the
province's French-speakers live in these two metropolitan centres although,
even here, they constitute only a small minority: 3.1 percent in metropolitan
Edmonton, and 2.0 percent in metropolitan Calgary.
Between 1981 and 1986,
French-speakers made up 17.2 percent of all out-migrants, but only 8.3 percent
of all in-migrants, in the town of St. Paul (see Table 3). The impact of this gap on the
French-speaking population was all the more important because of the high rate
of population movement. In only five
years, St. Paul's French-speaking population suffered a net loss of 14.5
percent through migration. The
English-speaking population suffered a loss of 8.5 percent, while the
Ukrainian-speaking population realised a gain of 3.5 percent. Taken in isolation, population movement
during the five-year period was sufficient to reduce the proportion of
French-speakers in the town of St. Paul from 24.7 percent in 1981, to 23.3
percent in 1986.
Table 3. Town
of St. Paul: Population Migration, By Mother Tongue, 1981-86
____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Mother
Tongue N % N % N
% N
%
____________________________________________________________________________
|
English |
2,840 |
57.9 |
1,090 |
70.6 |
850 |
78.3 |
-240 |
52.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
French |
1,210 |
24.7 |
265 |
17.2 |
90 |
8.3 |
-175 |
38.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ukrainian |
565 |
11.5 |
70 |
4.5 |
85 |
7.8 |
+15 |
-3.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other |
290 |
5.9 |
120 |
7.8 |
60 |
5.5 |
-60 |
13.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
4,905 |
100.0 |
1,545 |
100.1 |
1,085 |
99.9 |
-460 |
100.0 |
___________________________________________________________________________
SOURCE: Statistics Canada,
special tabulation.
NOTE: These results are
calculated from the 1986 responses of Canadian residents aged 5 years and
older. A total of 50 residents immigrated
to St. Paul from outside Canada in 1981-86.
It is not known how many St. Paul residents left the country.
The dispersion of the
French-speaking population in Alberta is slowed somewhat by language-based
differences in the propensity to migrate.
A French-speaker has a lower propensity than an English-speaker to move
from a French-speaking region to an English-speaking region, and a higher
propensity to move from an English-speaking region to a French-speaking region
(Lachapelle 1986, p. 138). This pattern
holds for St. Paul. For example,
between 1981 and 1986, the propensity of French-speakers to leave the town of
St. Paul was 21.9 percent, while that of English-speakers was 38.4 percent.3 Conversely, the propensity to move to the
town of St. Paul was 2.5 times greater for French-speaking Albertans than for
English-speaking Albertans: 9.1 per 10,000 compared to 3.7 per 10,000. Nevertheless, these differentials have not
been sufficient to compensate for the disparate sizes of the two language
groups: the number of English-speakers in Alberta is 27.8 times greater than
the number of French-speakers.
Most migration to St.
Paul originates from within the province.
Between 1981 and 1986, for example, only 26.3 percent of St. Paul's new
arrivals were from outside Alberta.
Nevertheless, even this out-of-province in-migration tends to reinforce
the English-speaking population of St. Paul.
For Canadian residents as a whole, the propensity to move to the town of
St. Paul was 3.8 times greater for English-speakers than for
French-speakers. For immigrants from
outside Canada, the propensity to move to St. Paul was 3.7 times greater for
English-speakers than for French-speakers.
The results of the 1989
population survey suggest that this imbalance is not a new development. A disproportionate number of
non-French-speakers have migrated to the St. Paul region during the lifetime of
its current residents (Table 4). About half
(49.6 percent) of the permanent residents, that is, those who were born in the
region and who have lived there for at least twenty years, are
French-speaking. However, only a fifth
(20.5 percent) of those who have moved to the region are French-speaking; and
only 13.5 percent of the most recent arrivals (those who have lived in the St.
Paul region for less than 5 years) are French-speaking. Perhaps equally significant, it may be
deduced that the new French-speaking residents are also more anglicized: a
majority (51.4 percent) claim English as a second mother tongue, compared to only
about a quarter (27.1 percent) of the permanent French-speaking residents.
Table 4. St. Paul Region: Length
of Residency, By Mother Tongue, 1989
________________________________________________________________________
Permanent New Residents:
Residents Length of Residency
___________
______________________________________
Mother 20 yrs
or 20 yrs or 10 yrs to 0 yrs to
Tongue more more
19 yrs 9 yrs
% % % %
________________________________________________________________________
English 33.6 36.5 61.3 63.5
French 49.6 24.7 21.0 14.3
Ukrainian 14.3 25.9 12.9 11.1
Other 2.5 12.9 4.8 11.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
N = 119 85 62 63
________________________________________________________________________
X2(9)=50.9, p<.01;
V=.23
NOTE: Permanent residents are
defined here as those who were born in the St. Paul region, and who have lived
there for at least 20 years. The
English language category is limited to single responses, that is, those who
gave English as their only mother tongue.
The other language categories include both single and multiple
responses. They also include,
therefore, some who indicated English as a second mother tongue.
Historically, the large
concentration of French-speakers in the St. Paul region owes its origins to the
active recruitment of settlers from Quebec.
In 1908, Adéodat Thérien, parish priest and manager of the colony, was
successful in obtaining the support of the Minister of the Interior, Frank
Oliver, for his plan to open the former Métis reserve to settlement by
French-Canadian homesteaders. Within
months he had recruited 140 applicants, mostly Quebec-born (Aunger 1989a). This early influx of settlers from Quebec
was substantial, but short-lived; by 1912, it had largely ended. It was succeeded, instead, by other waves of
immigration, again publicly organised, notably from the Ukraine. However, these long-distance population
movements have now been reduced to a small trickle and, today, the St. Paul
region is composed overwhelmingly of western-Canadian-born residents. In 1989, 89.6 percent were born in western
Canada, including 76.1 percent in Alberta.
Public sector
employers, and particularly the provincial government, now play an important
role in present-day in-migration.
Almost two-thirds (65.6 percent) of those who moved to the St. Paul
region between 1984 and 1989 were employed by the public sector, mostly by the
provincial government. French-speakers
were disproportionately under-represented among these new residents. Although 33.3 percent of St. Paul's employed
population, exclusive of recent in-migrants, was French-speaking, only 19.0
percent of the new public servants were French-speaking. Significantly, only 11.1 percent of the new
private sector employees were French-speaking.
Social Integration
With a few important exceptions,
the migration of large numbers of English-speakers and Ukrainian-speakers into
the St. Paul region did not lead immediately to the creation of separate
institutions. Instead, the newcomers were accepted and integrated into the
community's existing French-speaking institutions. Church, hospital, school, store, workshop, club—all became
meeting places for many different language groups. Distinct—and therefore multiple—institutions were established
only sparingly, perhaps because they were often perceived as costly and
impractical given the relatively small population of the region. This social integration, characterised by
common institutions and networks, was also accompanied by a blurring of social
and economic distinctions.
Consequently, there are now very few language-based inequalities,
whether in schooling, in occupation or in income.
The church was an early
model for such integration, but it proved to be a model of partial, rather than
complete, integration. Many new
residents, from various language groups, joined the French-speaking Roman
Catholic parish; by 1920, a significant minority (10.9 percent) of the
parishioners were either English, Cree, Ukrainian or Polish (Archevêché
d'Edmonton 1920). By 1989, this
minority had increased to 41.7 percent of the Roman Catholic population in the
St. Paul region. The English language
has now gained equal status with French, and services are given in both
languages. Sunday morning mass is given
twice, once in English and once in French; and Saturday evening mass is given,
in alternate weeks, in English and in French.
Not all the new
arrivals were Roman Catholic, however, and this explains the creation of
separate institutions. The 1921 census
of the village of St. Paul showed that 85.7 percent of the population was Roman
Catholic, but 10.0 percent was Protestant (mainly Presbyterian), and an
additional 2.3 percent Greek Orthodox.
Sixty years later, following the continuous in-migration of non-French-speakers,
the census revealed that the Catholic population had fallen to 55.2
percent. Some 27.0 percent of the
town's population now was Protestant (mainly United Church and Anglican), and
7.1 percent, Greek Orthodox. Most
non-Catholics established their own places of worship: St. Paul United Church,
All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church, St. John Anglican Church, St. Paul
Ukrainian Catholic Church. Only 4.2
percent of the region's non-Catholic population is French-speaking.
The St. Paul School was
also, at least in its origins and its early composition, a French-language
institution. Founded by the Oblate
Fathers in 1897, the school was turned over shortly thereafter to the Soeurs de
l'Assomption, a Quebec-based religious order committed to teaching in
French. This commitment was sorely tested,
however, since the Alberta School Act, until its amendment in 1968, prohibited
instruction in any language other than English. (A regulation adopted in 1925 introduced a significant exception
to this rule by permitting French-language instruction in grades one, two and
three.) Thus, the St. Paul school was,
by law, an English-language school.
Furthermore, it was also a public school.
In 1911, all students
registered in the school were both French-speaking and Roman Catholic. But with the subsequent arrival of new
residents, this proportion declined steadily over the years and, by 1940, only
66.5 percent of the students were French-speaking, while 84.9 percent were
Roman Catholic (Fortier 1940). As the
number of non-French-speakers and non-Catholics increased, so did the pressure
to set up separate elementary schools.
The first such school, Glen Avon School, an English-language Protestant
school, was opened in 1956, after several years of intensive lobbying. Another school, but of a much different ilk,
a French-language school, École Le Sommet, was opened amidst considerable
controversy in 1990. In the surrounding
countryside, where the student numbers are smaller, integrated public
schools—Mallaig Community School, Ashmont Elementary and Secondary School--have
continued. Students from the various
elementary schools in the town and adjoining area subsequently attend St. Paul
Regional High School.
The important political
institutions of the region were originally French-speaking but, today, all language
groups are represented in the decision-making process. The municipal council, established in 1912,
was composed solely of French-speaking members until 1937. Since that time, the town has elected three
non-French-speaking mayors and a majority of the councillors are now
English-speaking. Similarly, the public
school board, created in 1910, did not have an English-speaking member until
1937; a second English-speaking trustee was elected in 1970. Non-French-speakers constitute a majority of
the trustees on the separate school board.
In our 1989 survey, respondents from all language groups ranked
English-speakers ahead of French-speakers in both their public-sector
representation and their political power.
For example, 96.8 percent of the English-speakers believed the
English-language community to be well-represented in the region's public
institutions; by contrast, only 73.7 percent of the French-speakers believed
the French-language community to be well-represented.
The region's business
sector is also highly integrated and counts members from all language groups
among both its employees and its customers.
An examination of consumer behaviour shows little difference in the
shopping preferences of English-speakers and French-speakers--both groups
patronize the same business and professional establishments. Banking services are the major exception to
this pattern. While English-speakers
prefer the Toronto-Dominion Bank and the Alberta Treasury Branch,
French-speakers favour the St. Paul Credit Union/Caisse Populaire de
Saint-Paul. Nevertheless,
English-speakers tend to dominate the business sector and this is reflected in
public perceptions. Some 97.8 percent
of the English-speakers believe that their language community is
well-represented in the region's business institutions, while only 75.4 percent
of the French-speakers believe that the French-language community is similarly
well-represented.
About half (49.2
percent) of St. Paul's residents claimed to be members of a club or an
association. The most frequently cited
associations were the Senior Citizens Club, the Minor Hockey Association, the
Alberta Teachers Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Chamber of Commerce,
the Royal Canadian Legion, the Fish and Game Association, and the Agricultural
Society. None of these associations are
language-based; all include English-speaking, French-speaking and
Ukrainian-speaking members. English,
however, is the dominant language spoken.
There are also several important language-based associations. The two most commonly named were the
Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, and the Mouvement des femmes
chrétiennes. Only a third of all
French-speaking club members claimed to belong to associations in which most of
their fellow members were also French-speaking.
The French-speaking
population shares the media preferences of its English-speaking and
Ukrainian-speaking neighbours: it reads the same newspapers, listens to the
same radio stations and watches the same television stations. The preferred media are English-language
media. The St. Paul Journal, a
weekly newspaper founded in 1924, is read by about three-quarters of the
population, including 75.2 percent of the French-speakers and 73.8 percent of
the English-speakers. The Edmonton
Journal, a daily newspaper, is the region's second choice, read by 39.6
percent of the French-speakers and 45.5 percent of the English-speakers. Le Franco, the province's
French-language weekly, is read only by a minority (22.8 percent) of the
French-speaking population.
The most popular radio
stations, among both English-speakers and French-speakers, are Edmonton's CFCW
and St. Paul's Radio LW. Together,
these two stations accounted for more than half the radio-listeners within each
language community. Only 11.8 percent
of the French-speaking listeners reported listening to CHFA, Radio-Canada's
Edmonton-based French-language station.
The most popular television station, CTV-CFRN, was watched by a majority
of the population, including 54.0 percent of the French-speakers and 57.2
percent of the English-speakers.
However, a significant portion (40.0 percent) of the French-speakers
also watched Radio-Canada's French-language station, CBXFT.
On the whole, when
various socio-economic indicators are considered, the French-speaking
population is not significantly different from the English-speaking
population. Both have about the same
levels of educational attainment. The
average resident has completed high school; but 31.7 percent of the
French-speakers, and 30.9 percent of the English-speakers also have a
post-secondary education. Both possess
a similar occupational profile. The
average worker is likely to have a skilled manual occupation, but 45.0 percent
of the French-speakers and 43.0 percent of the English-speakers are in
non-manual occupations. Both have
similar levels of income. The average
family earns an annual income between $30,000 and $39,999 per year; but 37.0
percent of the French-speakers and 34.8 percent of the English-speakers earn $40,000
or more.
The in-migration of
non-French-speakers over several decades has contributed to the creation of a
highly-integrated, multi-ethnic community.
Most institutions now include members from all language groups. Socio-economic differentiation, based on
language, is relatively low. English
and French share similar values, similar characteristics and similar
memberships.
Social Contact
The integration of
non-French-speakers into St. Paul's traditionally French-speaking institutions
has resulted in increased social contact between the various language
groups—French, English, Ukrainian and Cree.
French-speakers now live in a world dominated by English-speakers. Nevertheless, their contact with
English-speakers varies greatly according to their degree of integration, and
the intimacy of their relationship.
Contact with English-speakers is more frequent in formal relations than
in intimate relations; conversely, contact with other French-speakers is more
frequent in primary relationships than in secondary relationships (Lachapelle
1986, p. 132).
In the business world,
where integration is most complete, and where relations are least intimate,
contact with English-speakers reaches its peak, and contact with
French-speakers, its low. Table 5 shows
that only 18.7 percent of St. Paul's French-speakers, when shopping, dealt with
merchants and store clerks who were mostly French-speaking. (Respondents were
asked to identify the mother tongue of the merchants, rather than the language
actually spoken.) Similarly, only 26.8
percent reported that the people with whom they worked were mostly
French-speaking.
Table 5. St. Paul Region:
Contact with Speakers of the Same Language, By Mother
Tongue and Social Relationship, 1989
_________________________________________________________________________
% Reporting Mostly Contact with Co-Linguists
_______________________________________________________
Social
Relationship N English French Ukrainian Totala
_________________________________________________________________________
Family 323 87.7 81.0 54.7 77.1
Relatives 315 84.2 62.0 41.5 66.3
Club Members 184 86.3 34.8 11.1 53.3
Friends 317 85.2 31.0 17.0 51.7
Co-Workers 244 79.1 26.8 11.4 48.4
Neighbours 311 72.8 37.4 17.0 47.6
Merchants 296 84.3 18.7 2.0 45.2
_________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: Respondents were asked to estimate the number of
persons in their various relationships who had the same mother tongue as
themselves. For example, respondents
who had previously identified themselves as French-speakers were asked how many
of their friends (or neighbours, etc.) spoke French as their first language. This table indicates the percentage who
replied that "most" or "all" of their friends (or
neighbours, etc.) belonged to their own language group. It was found that, in a closely-knit
community such as St. Paul, residents usually knew the language identity of
their associates.
a The total also includes
respondents with mother tongues other than English, French or Ukrainian.
In family life, the
last remaining bulwark for the French-speaking community, social integration
and cross-language contact are much more limited. Some 80.0 percent reported that most of their immediate
family—including parents, brothers and sisters, children—were French-speaking;
while 62.0 percent reported that most of their relatives—including cousins,
aunts and uncles, in-laws—were French-speaking. (Again, these responses relate to the mother tongue of the family
members, and not necessarily to the language actually spoken.) Yet even in family relationships, including
marriage, there is evidence of growing contact with English-speakers.
The rate at which
French-speakers marry other French-speakers, that is, the rate of endogamy, is
in decline. While this rate was very
high among earlier generations, it has now fallen dramatically. It is estimated, for example, that the
French-origin population's rate of endogamy was 97.3 percent in 1910-1914, 92.9
percent in 1930-34, 77.5 percent in 1950-54 and 46.3 percent in 1970-72
(Bielech 1973).4 This trend
is consistent with the generational differences observed in our 1989 survey:
the French-speaking population's rate of endogamy was 85.2 percent for those
aged 55 and over, 58.8 percent for those aged between 35 and 54, and 43.9
percent for those aged between 18 and 34.
Marriage outside the
language group is a consequence of both regional dispersion and social
integration. In a completely integrated
community, the rate of endogamy would be determined largely by the numerical
strength of the language group. As the
proportion of French-speakers decline, the probability of contact—including
marriage—with English-speakers increases. Since the major language groups have
been integrated into the same institutions, and since they share similar values
and norms, there are few barriers to close social contact.
A comparison of the two
marriage types—endogamy and exogamy—tends to confirm the link between
integration and contact. The variable
from our study that best explains the difference between these two marriage
types is the place where the French-speaker first met his (or her) future
spouse. Among those who married another
French-speaker, some 88.9 percent first met their spouse in a place where
French was the main language spoken; by contrast, among those who married a
non-French-speaker, only 18.4 percent met in a place where French was the main
language (see Table 6). The specific
place is, in itself, relatively unimportant; its influence depends on its
linguistic character and its degree of integration. Nevertheless, some contexts are clearly more integrated than
others. For example, only 12.5 percent
of those meeting their spouse at the workplace reported that French was the
main language used in this milieu. On
the other hand, a large majority of those who met their spouse at church
reported that French was the principal language used there.
Table 6. St.
Paul Region: Selected Characteristics and Marriage Type, For Married
French-Speakers, 1989
__________________________________________________________________________
% of
Respondents Possessing Characteristics
____________________________________________
Endogamous Exogamous All
Married
French French- French-
Characteristics Speakers Speakers Speakers phi
_________________________________________________________________________
|
Upbringing: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Endogamous
parents |
92.7 |
76.3 |
86.0 |
.23 |
|
|
Two mother
tongues |
40.0 |
31.6 |
36.6 |
.09 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Language: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
French-language
instructiona |
54.5 |
28.9 |
44.1 |
.25 |
* |
|
Language
highly-valuedb |
20.0 |
2.6 |
12.9 |
.25 |
* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Religion: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Roman
Catholic spouse |
100.0 |
60.5 |
83.7 |
.53 |
* |
|
Religion
highly-valuedb |
30.9 |
13.2 |
23.7 |
.21 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Identity: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
French-Canadianc |
70.9 |
26.3 |
52.7 |
.44 |
* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Meeting-place: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Work-place |
5.5 |
15.8 |
9.7 |
.17 |
|
|
French-speaking
milieu |
88.9 |
18.4 |
59.8 |
.71 |
* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
N = |
55 |
38 |
93 |
|
|
_________________________________________________________________________
* p<.01
a French was the language of
instruction during at least one year of schooling.
b This characteristic was claimed
to be the most important factor in the way the respondent thought and
acted. Possible choices included
occupation, language, religion, education, income, sex, age.
c Includes Franco-Albertan.
There are also
significant differences in the attitudes and values of endogamous and exogamous
French-speakers; and these indicate different levels of integration and
acculturation. For example, exogamous
French-speakers—those who marry outside their language group—attach less value
to their language, their religion and their ethnicity. Generally, they do not think that their
language and their religion have had an important impact on the way they think
and act; and they do not identify themselves as either French-Canadian or as
Franco-Albertan. Attitudes such as
these obviously predispose French-speakers to mixed-language (and
mixed-religion) marriages. However,
such attitudes may also be a product of these marriages.
Language Shift
Social contact leads to
language shift. For example, when
French-speakers are in contact with English-speakers, they adopt the English
language. The direction of the shift
depends on the relative power of the languages involved, and this in turn is
influenced by the status of the language-speakers (Aunger 1989c, Laponce 1984,
Mackey 1976). The strongest language
will dominate the weaker languages. In
present-day St. Paul, English is the most powerful language, and contact
between any two languages almost inevitably means shift to English. This was not always so. During the early years of the St. Paul
settlement, French had greater status, and language contact—with
English-speakers, Ukrainian-speakers and Cree-speakers—often resulted in a
shift to French.
The high levels of
language shift in St. Paul can be discerned in the low levels of language
continuity. Few French-speakers (or
Ukrainian-speakers or Cree-speakers) speak their mother tongue at all
times. For example, only 27.8 percent
of the French-speakers claimed that they almost always spoke French, while
virtually all English-speakers could claim that they almost always spoke
English. Nevertheless, the level of
language continuity for French-speakers is significant, and certainly much
higher than that of other language minorities.
Almost three quarters (72.1 percent) of the French-speakers said that
they spoke French at least half the time during the previous year, while less
than a third (30.2 percent) of the Ukrainian-speakers reported that they spoke
Ukrainian at least half the time.
The degree of language
shift, like the frequency of cross-language social contact, varies according to
the nature of the relationship. Shift
to English is lowest in primary relations, and highest in secondary relations. The further French-speakers are from their
family, the greater the language shift.
The store, the office, the workplace, the club and the school—all are
places where St. Paul's French-speakers today are unlikely to speak French;
instead, they shift to English (see Table 7).
Nevertheless, even this tendancy varies with the degree of integration
and the language policy of the various institutions. French-speakers are dispersed between different schools and
different streams—English, French immersion or French minority—but French is
more likely to be spoken in a French school than in an English school.
Table 7. St.
Paul Region: Contexts in which French is Used by French-Speakers,
By Frequency of Use, 1989
________________________________________________________________________
Just about Most of Some
of
Context N always the time the time
Never
% % % %
________________________________________________________________________
Family 96 46.9 11.5 21.9 19.8
Relatives 94 35.1 29.8 33.0 2.1
Post Office 94 35.1 22.3 22.3 20.2
Church 89 32.6 19.1 32.6 15.7
Income Tax 92 20.7 5.4 4.4 69.6
School 45 15.6 20.0 33.3 31.1
Club 64 14.1 9.4 40.7 35.9
Friends 95 11.6 16.8 54.7 16.8
Work 64 10.9 10.9 56.3 21.9
Grocery Store 94 9.6 5.3 37.3 47.9
Bank 95 8.4 10.5 34.8 46.3
Recreation 86 8.1 7.0 50.0 34.9
Government Office 88 8.0 2.3 27.3 62.5
Garage 85 7.1 8.2 24.7 60.0
Doctor or Dentist 94 6.4 2.1 29.7 61.7
Restaurant 92 5.4 3.3 27.1 64.1
Hardware Store 71 4.2 5.6 35.2 54.9
________________________________________________________________________
NOTE:
Certain contexts are not relevant for some respondents. For example, not all respondents are employed
and the question relating to the language used with co-workers at the place of
work is, therefore, not applicable. N
indicates the number of French-speaking respondents for whom the question is
applicable; and the percentages are calculated as a proportion of this number.
French education is an
option for many present-day students; it was not for their parents. Before 1968, the Alberta School Act did not
permit the use of French as a language of instruction except in grades one, two
and three (see Aunger 1989b). Thus, for
most French-speakers, schooling was in English. On average, French-speakers in the St. Paul region report that
French was the main language of instruction for only three of the twelve years
that they attended school.
Nevertheless, this average conceals a wide range of variation: 52.0
percent never received any French-language instruction, and a mere 2.0 percent
received more than twelve years of French-language instruction. (This latter group includes some who
attended French-language post-secondary institutions.) Historically, then, the language of
schooling may be attributed as much to legislated language policy as to social
contact.
The family,
traditionally a haven for the French language, best exemplifies the link
between language contact and language shift.
Exogamy leads to language shift; endogamy to language retention. In 77.8 percent of exogamous marriages,
English is the only language spoken in the home; while in 92.6 percent of
endogamous marriages, French is the home language. The retention of French in these cases is only partial,
however. In most (51.8 percent)
endogamous marriages, French is not the sole language used: both French and
English are spoken in the home. The
relationship is clear. Exogamy does not
lead to bilingualism; it results in English unilingualism. Endogamy does not ensure French
unilingualism; it usually results in bilingualism. Such is the power of the English language in the St. Paul
region. Among those who speak both
French and English in the home, 80.0 percent are in endogamous French-French
marriages; only 10.0 percent are in exogamous French-English marriages and 6.7
percent in exogamous French-Ukrainian marriages.
Exogamous marriages
have an impact not only on language shift but also on language
transmission. The language spoken in
the home is the mother tongue of the next generation. In exogamous marriages, French-speaking parents have
English-speaking children. This is
increasingly reflected in a lop-sided age distribution: French-speakers are
much older than English-speakers. In
1986, the average age of French-speakers in the Town of St. Paul was 42 years,
while that of English-speakers was only 25 years. (The average age of Ukrainian-speakers, though, was 57
years.) The school has assumed a
correspondingly greater responsibility for the transmission of the French
language. It is exogamous parents, more
so than any other group, who register their children in French immersion
programmes, French-language programmes designed for English-speaking children
(see Table 8).
Table 8. St. Paul Region: School
Programme and Marriage Type, For School
Children, 1989
_________________________________________________________________________
Children's French- French- Other-
School French Other Other All
Programme Marriage Marriage Marriage Marriages
_________________________________________________________________________
|
English |
12.5 |
36.7 |
77.5 |
58.2 |
|
French
Immersion |
25.5 |
63.3 |
20.7 |
32.6 |
|
French
Minority |
62.5 |
0.0 |
1.8 |
9.2 |
|
Total |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
|
N = |
24 |
49 |
111 |
184 |
_________________________________________________________________________
X2(4)=123.8,
p<.01; V=.58
NOTE: This table is calculated from
the responses of parents whose children are presently attending school. The French immersion programme is designed
for English-speaking children and the French minority programme for
French-speaking children. Only parents
who are French-speaking or who have a French-language education are entitled,
by the Canadian constitution, to register their children in the latter
programme.
English is the dominant
language in St. Paul and the use of English is wide-spread. It is thus significant that 86.5 percent of
the St. Paul population—regardless of mother tongue—consider English their best
language, i.e. the language in which they are most competent. This includes 64.2 percent of the
French-speakers and 92.5 percent of the Ukrainian-speakers. When all types of competence—speaking,
understanding, writing and reading—are evaluated, 92.4 percent of the
French-speakers report that they are fluent in English; but only 78.5 percent
that they are fluent in French. Nevertheless,
there is a wide range of variation in the different types of competence. While 86.2 percent deem that they speak
French well, only 61.4 percent say that they write French well. This discrepancy may be attributed, at least
in part, to the sorry state of French-language education in past decades. Spoken French is learned at home; written
French at school. Indeed, spoken
competence is unrelated (r=.01) to years of schooling, while written competence
is positively correlated (r=.39, p<.01) to years of schooling.
The relationship between
social contact and language shift is examined more precisely using multiple
regression analysis. In this, the
various types of social contact explain just under half the variance in
language shift, where language shift is defined as the frequency with which the
French-speaking population uses a language other than French, and is measured
on a five-point scale (Table 9). One
type of contact explains more than all the others combined: marriage to a
non-French-speaking spouse accounted for 24.8 percent of the total variance.
Table 9. St. Paul Region:
Multiple Regression Analysis of Language Shift on
Social Contact, For French-Speakers, 1989
___________________________________________________________________________
%
% Cumulative
Type of b
Beta Variance Variance
Contact Coefficient Weight Explained Explained
___________________________________________________________________________
|
Spouse |
.695 |
.534 |
24.8 |
24.8 |
|
Media |
.306 |
.189 |
8.8 |
33.6 |
|
Friends |
.136 |
.130 |
6.0 |
39.6 |
|
Neighbours |
.051 |
.059 |
2.8 |
42.4 |
|
Relatives |
-.056 |
-.056 |
2.6 |
45.0 |
|
Family |
.047 |
.039 |
1.8 |
46.8 |
|
Merchants |
-.033 |
-.031 |
1.4 |
48.2 |
|
Work-mates |
-.019 |
-.024 |
1.1 |
49.3 |
|
Constant |
-.226 |
|
|
|
_________________________________________________________________________
R2=.493
NOTE: Language shift was defined
as the use of a language other than French, and was measured according to the following
scale: (1) never, (2) some of the time, (3) about half the time, (4) most of
the time, and (5) always. Respondents
were asked to indicate such use during the past year. Spousal contact was scaled according to the mother tongue of the
spouse: (1) French only, (2) French and English, and (3) English and/or another
language. Media contact measured
television viewing during the previous week and was scaled by the language of
the television stations: (1) French only, (2) both French and English, and (3)
English only. All other types of
contact measured the proportion of non-French-speakers in the social
relationship: (1) none, (2) some, (3) about half, (4) most, and (5) all. Contact with club-members was not included
because of the relatively small number of cases.
While other social
relationships appear at first glance to have a relatively marginal influence,
their impact cannot be discounted.
Excepting media contact, each variable in this analysis measures contact
with persons rather than with languages.
Each measures the proportion of non-French-speakers, but not the actual
linguistic context. This deficiency is
not insignificant. Social norms and
public policies dictate the use of English in some relationships, regardless of
the number of English-speakers present.
Both the business world and the field of education provide ample
evidence of this. This is not to say
that social contact is irrelevant; its rôle is simply acted out on a larger
stage. In the wider community, the
province of Alberta, English-speakers are dominant; and this dominance has had
a substantial impact on the norms and policies governing language use in St.
Paul.
Conclusion
The St. Paul case
dramatically illustrates the decline of the French-speaking population in western
Canada. When the region was first
settled between 1909 and 1912, the population was 95 percent
French-speaking. French was the
language of community life, used for government, education, business and
religion. Eight decades later, the
population is now only 31 percent French-speaking and English is the dominant
language. Yet, while the French
population has declined, it has not disappeared. It remains a substantial minority. Further, the French language is still widely spoken: about half
the French-speaking population claims to speak French most of the time. However, the situations where French is
usually spoken are now limited: the family, the church, the post office.
Migration has been a
major factor in the decline of this French-speaking enclave. Between 1912 and 1936, the major waves of
in-migration were composed of English-speakers and Ukrainian-speakers, not
French-speakers. In more recent years,
population movement within the province has resulted in a net loss of
French-speakers in the St. Paul region: out-migrants outnumber
in-migrants. The new residents have
been integrated into the community and, consequently, cross-language social
contact has increased. Where such
contact has been highest, notably with work-mates and merchants, the shift from
French to English has also been highest.
Where such contact has been lowest, notably with family and spouse, the
shift from French to English has also been lowest.
While the shift from
French to English is a social phenomenon affecting all members of the
French-speaking population, there are significant individual differences. Almost half the variance in language shift
is explained by differing levels of social contact with non-French-speakers. Marriage with a non-French-speaker is clearly
the most important factor: exogamous marriage leads almost invariably to the
use of English in the home. It also has
significant implications for language use in the next generation since the
children of exogamous marriages speak English as their mother tongue.
The imminent
disappearance of the French-speaking population living outside Quebec has long
been predicted, and the ominous signs evident in the St. Paul region cannot be
ignored. The proportion of
French-speakers, the rate of endogamy, and the use of French have all steadily
declined for several decades. However,
this trend should not be seen as simply the result of an immutable demographic
law. It has been highly influenced by
public policies designed to discourage, if not suppress, all languages other
than English. Such policies have
affected migration patterns, social integration and language use. It is significant, for example, that
French-language instruction in the schools was outlawed in Alberta in 1892, and
that most French-speaking St. Paul residents have had no French-language
education. In this respect, the
creation of a French-language school in 1990 represents a significant policy
change; it may yet have an important impact on the use of the French language
in the future.
Acknowledgements
The research assistance of Dorine Chalifoux, Jean
Champagne and Caroline Pinckert-Rust is gratefully acknowledged. Two anonymous reviewers provided many
helpful suggestions for the revision of an earlier, and much longer, version of
this article. Financial support was
received from the Department of the Secretary of State and from the Faculté
Saint-Jean, University of Alberta.
NOTES
1. In response to frequently-repeated assertions that
the French-speaking communities living outside Quebec are "dead
ducks" and "les cadavres encore chauds," the Association
canadienne-française de l'Alberta (1992) has noted bluntly: "Nous avons
refusé de disparaître" (p. 2). In
its brief to the Castonguay-Dobbie commission, the Association quoted a statement
made by its leadership in 1926: "[les francophones de l'Alberta] ne sont
pas si morts que quelques-uns se le sont imaginé."
2. The boundaries of the St. Paul region, as defined
in this study, do not correspond to the boundaries of the census divisions used
by Statistics Canada. For this reason,
any comparison of the 1989 survey population and the 1986 census population
must be limited to the town of St. Paul.
Fortunately, this is the most important part of the region: residents of
the town accounted for 46.3 percent of those interviewed. Ethnic origin, sex, age, labour force
activity and occupational sector were among the categories compared. The results show that 23.0 percent of the
survey respondents (compared to 23.6 percent of the census population) claimed
French origin, while 35.5 percent (compared to 36.3 percent) reported multiple
origins; 51.7 percent (compared to 48.8 percent) were male; 52.6 percent
(compared to 55.6 percent) were aged between 20 and 44 years; 66.2 percent
(compared to 64.9 percent) were employed; and 73.7 percent (compared to 69.7
percent) worked in the tertiary sector.
3. The propensity to migrate is estimated by dividing
actual migrants by possible migrants.
For example, the propensity of French-speaking Canadians to migrate to
the town of St. Paul would be 0.2 per 10,000 persons, that is, 90 (actual
in-migrants) divided by 5,936,845 (possible in-migrants). All calculations are for the population aged
5 years and older in 1986, as tabulated by Statistics Canada.
4. Bielech (1973) studied 3,918 baptismal entries in
the parish of St. Paul and classified the parents of newly-baptised children by
their ethnicity. Mixed parentage was
defined as either French and non-French, or Métis and non-Métis. The estimated rate of endogamy calculated
here applies to the combined French and Métis populations. Although, the study looked only at the
parents of newly-baptised children, it is likely that the results are
representative of all marriages. Using
Bielech's figures, for example, it can be calculated that the rate of endogamy
for the French and Métis parents of newly-baptised children in 1920-24 was 93.7
percent. By comparison, it can be
calculated from the parish records that the French-speaking population's rate
of endogamy in 1920 was 94.3 percent (Archevêché d'Edmonton 1920).
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