<div dir="ltr"><h1 itemprop="name headline" style="color:black">Multilingualism: speaking with one voice</h1>
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By <span itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name">Dale Bechtel</span></span></h4>
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<a itemprop="keywords" href="http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture" style="color:black">Culture</a>
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<a itemprop="keywords" href="http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/topic/human-interest-08000000/40000042" style="color:black">Human interest</a>
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Apr 4, 2016 - 17:00
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<img src="http://www.swissinfo.ch/image/42055632/3x2/640/426/b15ccd5e17cc239f9fd924ee8bb59c84/RA/-1-.jpg" alt="A new language law was approved in Graubünden in 2007 to put Italian and Romansh on a more equal footing with German in the canton. (Keystone)" title="A new language law was approved in Graubünden in 2007 to put Italian and Romansh on a more equal footing with German in the canton. (Keystone)" itemprop="http://schema.org/image" class="">
<div><p>A new language law was approved in Graubünden in 2007 to put
Italian and Romansh on a more equal footing with German in the canton.</p></div><div class="">(Keystone)</div>
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</div><h3>If you only speak one language, and you happen to live in a
multilingual country like Canada or Switzerland, Graham Fraser is the
guy to have on your side.<br></h3><p>I’m waiting in the lobby of the west wing of the Swiss parliament for <a href="http://www.officiallanguages.gc.ca/en">Graham Fraser, Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages</a>, to be ushered in by his Swiss counterpart, Nicoletta Mariolini.<br></p><p>I’m curious as to what language the English and Italian speakers have chosen to converse in when they arrive. It’s French.<br></p><div class="">
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<img src="http://www.swissinfo.ch/image/42065666/3x2/305/203/d3ea713a02871ed59f725aad1587052e/Iy/fraser-graham.jpg" alt="Graham Fraser (zVg)" title="Graham Fraser (zVg)" class="">
<div><p>Graham Fraser</p></div><div class="">(zVg)</div>
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</div><p>Fraser is fluent in French, both spoken and written, which puts
the language ombudsman in an ideal position to take part in a debate in
the Swiss capital. The subject being discussed is dry but one about
fundamental rights: access to public services in your language, as long
as it’s an official one. Fraser has stated that part of his job is to
guarantee the right of people to remain unilingual. With only a small
window to talk to him before he is ushered away, I wanted to ask him
about that in order to understand why that’s so important.</p><p><strong>The paradox</strong><br></p><p>“It’s
a paradox at the heart of Canada’s language policy,” he replies,
explaining that at its core the legislation – introduced in
1969 – guarantees French speakers the same level of services from the
federal government as English speakers.<br></p><p>He continues with an
unpretentious description of the language situation in Canada: “In some
ways it’s misleading to say that Canada is a bilingual country if that
suggests that everybody is required or inspired to learn both languages.
It is a country with two language communities, both of which are a
majority unilingual, and the bridge between these two communities is the
federal government.”<br></p><div class="" style="background-color:transparent">
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<a href="http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/podcast_understanding-the-daily-challenges-of-multilingualism/42028976">
<img src="http://www.swissinfo.ch/image/42028980/3x2/640/426/d70379f5c30183f223a4a65a64b24286/pK/seat-pic.jpg" alt=" (Keystone)" title=" (Keystone)" itemprop="http://schema.org/image" class=""></a>
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<a itemprop="name headline" href="http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/podcast_understanding-the-daily-challenges-of-multilingualism/42028976">Understanding the daily challenges of multilingualism</a>
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<span>By <span itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name">Thomas Stephens</span></span></span>
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<a itemprop="description" href="http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/podcast_understanding-the-daily-challenges-of-multilingualism/42028976">
Speaking many languages in a multilingual country like
Switzerland is certainly a blessing – but can it ever be a burden?</a>
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</div><p><strong>Parlez-vous Deutsch?</strong><br></p><p>Therefore it comes as a surprise to learn that Canada’s francophone community is much more bilingual than the <a href="http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/languages/29177618">three official language groups of Switzerland</a>, a country that prides itself on its linguistic prowess. More than 40% of French-Canadians can converse in English. <a href="http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm">For Canada as a whole, the figure is about 17%</a>,
whether it’s English or French. That’s compared to only 7.5% of people
living in either of Switzerland’s German- or French-speaking regions who
claim they can get by in their second Swiss language. Less than 2% can
manage all three.<br></p><p>At the heart of the issue – and the reason
Fraser was invited to Switzerland – is the challenge governments face in
continuing to provide flawless services to residents, regardless of the
language they speak.<br></p><p>One of the Swiss public policy experts
at the event, Peter Knoepfel, said Switzerland had met its goals from a
quantitative point of view but there “are still doubts concerning the
language skills of employees, and particularly managers” in the federal
administration.<br></p><p>Knoepfel added that education was the key to
readdressing the issue by ensuring schools expose Swiss pupils to a
second Swiss language at an early age. However some cantons have been
putting English ahead of French on the curriculum, which he said could
“have repercussions for national linguistic cohesion”.</p><blockquote class=""><p>A <a href="http://bildung-z.ch/volksschule/fremdsprachenevaluation-2016">University of Fribourg study</a>
one year ago looked at the language results of 3,700 grade 6 and 8
students in six German-speaking cantons where English is taught from
grade 3 and French from grade 5. The results were sobering: only 3.4% of
the grade 8 students achieved a satisfactory level in the speaking
test. Writing skills were better, but still poor, with 37% deemed
satisfactory. In English, 65.6% of students received passing marks for
their writing ability. <br></p></blockquote><p><strong>Playing catch up</strong><br></p><p>In
addition, playing catch up by providing language courses for people in
public sector jobs usually falls short of the goal since it’s a much
greater challenge for adult learners to attain a good command of a
second language.<br></p><p>In Canada, each year about 300,000
English-speaking students are registered in French immersion programmes,
meaning all their studies are in French. However, Fraser tells me that
that number hasn’t grown since the end of the 1980s. He argues that
universities have to do a better job raising awareness among students of
the importance of being bilingual. It also helps when applying for a
job with the federal government – the country’s biggest employer. If
universities do their part, Fraser reckons, the message will trickle
down to high schools.<br></p><p>Fraser has been there. He left high
school with a basic level of French. It was his determination to gain a
better understanding of Canada’s other language region that spurred him
on, and no doubt a lot of hard work led to success. He experienced a
defining moment when working as a student volunteer on an archaeological
dig in Quebec. Another volunteer noted that he was a different person
when speaking French.<br></p><p>“I snapped at her and said ‘Of course I’m different, I’m stupid, I’m inarticulate and I have no sense of humour’.”<br></p><p>Linguists
have long wrestled with how language shapes our identity. His anecdote
shows that if the adage is true that we are what we eat, it is also true
that we are what we speak.</p><p><a href="http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-canadian-ties_multilingualism--speaking-with-one-voice/42055470">http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-canadian-ties_multilingualism--speaking-with-one-voice/42055470</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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