• The Conference
  • Home
  • Programme
  • Venue & directions
  • Organizing Committee
  • Scientific Committee
  • Exhibitors & sponsors
  • Satellite events
  • Conference Party
• Past & future
  • Previous symposia
  • Finland 2014
  • Spain 2016
• About FU Berlin
  • University homepage
  • Humanities at FU

Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1349

Part of Session 100: Montreal, a francophone, anglophone and multilingual city (Other abstracts in this session)

Language in Montréal: two visions and models of intervention

Authors: Tremblay, Mireille
Submitted by: Tremblay, Mireille (Université de Montréal, Canada)

On one view, language is part of our cultural heritage. This corresponds to the anthropological approach; language is seen as a means to express identity, and issues related to quality prevail. On another view, language is more than a cultural object, it is also an industry.  It is an expertise associated with good jobs (translation, interpretation, etc.), and is involved in economic development. In this paper, we show how these two views of language meet in Montréal, the cultural and economic centre of French Canada.

The impact of provincial and federal legislation to protect both French and English through language laws such as Quebec’s Bill 101, and Canada’s Official Languages Act has been well documented. Government agencies such as the Office de la langue française, the Conseil supérieur de la langue française et the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages play an important role in regulating language use and rights. However, Montreal is also the locus of development of an active private sector: translation firms and services, software development companies, language schools, translation programs, and wide-range of self-employed workers form what is now called the language industry.  This private sector benefits from the presence of qualified workers in the city.  The Canadian government though its Language Sector Enhancement Program has recently played a more active role in providing support for the development of this skilled labour force (through the university scholarships in translation).  This program also seeks to strengthen the capacity of the Canadian language sector (through the language industry initiative).  Surprisingly however, the Quebec government appears to fail to see the economic potential of the Montreal language industry, as no concrete strategies have been put in place to provide support.  This lack of support from the provincial government might explain why language issues in Montréal seem limited to culture, language planning and rights.  However, we will see that taking into consideration the full potential of Montréal language expertise might trigger changes in attitudes toward other language related issues both within the city and beyond.