Le bilinguisme concurrentiel et la minorisation systémique du français dans l’enseignement supérieur au Québec

The authors examine the language system of higher education in Quebec, which puts two distinct and parallel networks, English and French, in competition, both funded by the Québec government and, to a lesser extent, the Canadian federal government. Their study traces the origin of this competitive bilingualism, which was largely left untouched for postsecondary education by Bill 101 (Charter of the French Language) in 1977, and to which Bill 96 (Law on the Official and Common Language of Québec, French) added some guidelines, while confirming the dominant position of English CEGEPs on the island of Montreal and leaving French to the internal management of "Francophone" universities. The authors document what they claim is the institutional over-representation that benefits English postsecondary institutions, whose growth far exceeds the demographic weight of the historical Anglophone community, and which limits the development of French institutions. They argue that this systemic limitation has led to the downgrading of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) by Concordia University and by a certain erosion of the position of the two French universities (UQAM and the Université de Montréal) on the Montreal university scene.

Enjeux et société

Hiver 2024

Vol. 11

no. 1

146-186

fr