Language Practices of Trilingual Youth in Two Canadian Cities

Type of resource
Authors/collaborators
Title
Language Practices of Trilingual Youth in Two Canadian Cities
Abstract
The authors document what learning languages means to multilingual youths living in two different cities - Montreal and Vancouver - with two different educational and language policy contexts. They adopted this comparative approach to examine how multilingual youths view their language repertoires and practices, and to understand how specific linguistic markets influence language practices and the workings of habitus. They found that language policies can transform and shape educational opportunities available to immigrants, but the presence or absence of educational opportunities to become multilingual count less in the final outcome than market forces. The authors found that in Montreal there was a higher rate of trilingual youths (44 percent speak French, English and a mother-tongue) where educational options for immigrants are constrained but French-English bilingualism is an asset, compared to a low rate of multilingualism (4 percent) in Vancouver where there are more educational opportunities to become multilingual but English is the dominant work language . Youths in both cities saw language as a resource, convertible into economic and social capital.
Book Title
Trilingualism in Family, School, and Community
Place
Clevedon, England & Buffalo, NY
Publisher
Multilingual Matters
Date
2004
Pages
53-74
Language
en
Citation
Lamarre, Patricia, and Diane Dagenais. “Language Practices of Trilingual Youth in Two Canadian Cities.” In Trilingualism in Family, School, and Community, edited by Charlotte Hoffmann and Jehannes Ytsma, 53–74. Clevedon, England & Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters, 2004.
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