Section 3 Factors influencing the evolution of the French-mother-tongue population

Passer au texte

• 3.1 Transmission of mother tongue and the effect of exogamy
• 3.2 Age structure
• 3.3 Language transfers or intragenerational linguistic mobility
• 3.4 Use of French in the public sphere
• 3.5 Knowledge of French
• 3.6 Migration (interprovincial and international migratory movements)

Début du texte

How language groups in a given province or region evolve depends on the combined effect of different factors: on the one hand the determinants of natural increase—fertility and mortality—and on the other hand, internal and international migration. In the case of Newfoundland and Labrador, the latter two factors are of particular interest. An additional factor is intergenerational linguistic continuity, that is, the mother-to-child transmission of the mother tongue.¹ Yet another factor will also be described in this section, namely intragenerational linguistic continuity, or its counterpart, language transfer or substitution. The latter, while it does not directly influence how a language group evolves in the short term, can nevertheless have a major long-term influence, in that the language predominantly used in the home is generally the one transmitted to the children.

This section will mainly focus on the French-mother-tongue group in Newfoundland and Labrador. However, some of the analysis—particularly interprovincial migration and international immigration—will also cover the population with French as the first official language spoken.

3.1 Transmission of mother tongue and the effect of exogamy

Although the total fertility rate provides useful information on the number of births within different mother-tongue groups, it does not tell anything about the language transmitted from mother to children. The tendency to transmit a language to one's children varies according to a number of factors; one of the most important of these is the geographic concentration of a given language group's population.² This geographic concentration factor also influences the propensity to form an exogamous couple, that is, a couple in which the spouses³ do not have the same mother tongue. Also, the lower the geographic concentration or relative weight of a language group in a given community, the lower the propensity of parents to transmit the minority language. In Newfoundland and Labrador at the time of the 2006 Census, French was transmitted as a mother tongue to 33% of the children living in a family with at least one French-mother-tongue parent.

From 1971 to 2006, among all couples with one French-mother-tongue spouse, the proportion of French-English exogamous couples increased sharply, from 57% to 80%. Conversely, the proportion of endogamous couples with both spouses having French as their mother tongue fell sharply, from 41% to 14%. During the same period, the proportion of children from a French-English exogamous family among all families with at least one French-mother-tongue parent increased in Newfoundland and Labrador, from 58% to 85%.

Because of the increase in the proportion of French-English exogamous couples from 1971 to 2006 and the corresponding decrease in that of French-speaking endogamous couples, one might expect to see a decrease in the rate of transmission of the minority language (in this case, French) to children. But whereas French had been passed on to 7% of the children under age 18 of French-English exogamous couples in 1971 that proportion reached 14% in 2006 (see Chart 3.1).⁴

Chart 3.1 Mother tongue of children under age 18 of parents forming an exogamous English-French couple, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1971 and 2006

3.2 Age structure

It is helpful to examine how the age structure of Newfoundland and Labrador's Francophone population has evolved, so as to be able to reveal part of that population's demographic history while getting an idea of its future course. From 1951 to 2006, this evolution is essentially the result of a decreased total fertility rate among Francophone women, a negative net interprovincial migration of the French-mother-tongue population and increased life expectancy. Added to all these phenomena is a moderate level of transmission of French to children as a mother tongue. As noted above, at the time of the 2006 Census, French was passed on as a mother tongue to 33% of children under age 18 of couples with at least one French-mother-tongue spouse.

Chart 3.2 shows how the age structure of Newfoundland and Labrador's French-mother-tongue population has changed over time. As already noted, from 1951 to 2006, this language group saw its numbers decline by 11%, from 2,320 to 2,055. In fact, all cohorts under 50 years of age decreased in size. Conversely, the number of persons aged 50 and over, due to the aging of the population and increased life expectancy.

Also, as shown in Chart 3.2, the baby boom generation (born between 1946 and 1966)—which corresponds to the cohorts aged between 5 to 9 and 20 to 24 in 1971 (1,290 persons)—is larger than those cohorts 35 years later aged between 40 to 44 and 55 to 59 (770 persons). These findings are partly explained by the negative net migration of Newfoundland and Labrador's French-mother-tongue group.

Chart 3.2 Age structure of the French-mother-tongue population, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1971 and 2006

All things being otherwise equal, the small numbers of the youngest cohorts in 2006—combined with the fact that in the coming decades a number of cohorts will reach age 65—will result in an age structure that reflects considerable aging of the province's French-mother-tongue population. Indeed, already in 2006, the proportion of the Francophone population aged 65 and over was twice as large as the proportion under 15 years of age.

While the aging of the French-mother-tongue population is mainly due to a low total fertility rate and steadily increasing life expectancy, one assumes that it also results from the non-transmission to children of French as a mother tongue. As noted above, in families composed of French-English exogamous couples, the rate of intergenerational transmission of French is low, although it increased from 1971 to 2006 (see Chart 3.1). Instead, it was predominantly English (78%) that exogamous couples passed on to their children in 2006.

Overall during this period, the Francophone population was not favoured by intergenerational linguistic continuity. This phenomenon is measured by establishing—for children under 5 years of age—the ratio of children having French as their mother tongue to children whose mother has French as her mother tongue.⁵ In Newfoundland and Labrador, this ratio was 0.47 in 2006, down from 0.62 in 1971. It is useful to note that "[a] language group emerges at the top of the mother tongue transmission process when the index is higher than 1.[...] Conversely, transfers are unfavourable to a mother tongue when the index is less than 1." (Lachapelle and Lepage, 2011, page 86). In the case of Newfoundland and Labrador, not only did linguistic continuity decline, but it was also, in 2006, less than 1. Thus, in Newfoundland and Labrador, intergenerational transmission is unfavourable to the French-mother-tongue population.⁶

The steep drop in births exhibited by the French-mother-tongue group in the past 35 years is not unique to this language group. Chart 3.3 shows the age structure of the main mother-tongue groups in 2006. The consequences of a fertility rate below or near the replacement level are also apparent in the under 15 age ranges of the English-mother-tongue and "other"-mother-tongue groups, even though they have greater relative shares of the cohorts under 35 years of age than does the Francophone group. But unlike the French-mother-tongue and "other"-mother-tongue groups, the Anglophone group benefited from the contribution of intergenerational linguistic mobility from the other two groups.

It should also be noted that the overrepresentation of the French-mother-tongue group within the 35 and over age cohorts reflects the aging of the population, which is more pronounced among Francophones than among the other two groups.

Chart 3.3 Age structure of French-English and "Other"-mother-tongue populations, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006 (rate per 1,000)

3.3 Language transfers or intragenerational linguistic mobility

Language transfers—sometimes called language shifts—refer to the phenomenon where an individual's main language used at home differs from their mother tongue. This language mobility phenomenon has no direct bearing on the evolution of language groups defined according to mother tongue. However, insofar as the language that dominates in the home is generally the one that is passed on to the children, it has a long-term influence on the future of language groups. When the criterion used to define language groups is the first official language spoken, the language spoken most often at home directly influences the size of the Francophone group. For example, according to this criterion, persons who have knowledge of both official languages and who have either English or French or another language as a mother tongue are part of the French-speaking group if they speak French most often at home.⁷

Through successive censuses, the language transfer rate has increased for persons with French as a mother tongue in Newfoundland and Labrador (see Table 3.1). Thus, in 1971, 43% of the province's Francophones with French as their mother tongue reported using another language, usually English, most often at home. Thirty-five years later, 68% of French-mother-tongue persons reported speaking a language other than French most often at home. Among English-mother-tongue persons, the proportion of language transfers was almost nil and remained stable over the period, registering 0.1% in 2006. Among "other"-mother-tongue persons, language transfers increased slightly over the past 35 years, going from 42% in 1971 to 48% in 2006.

Table 3.1 Language transfer rate by mother tongue, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1971 to 2006

As a corollary to the language transfer rate, a linguistic continuity index can also be used. This index is the ratio of persons with a given home language to persons with the corresponding mother tongue. A language group comes out ahead in the exchanges with other language groups when the index is higher than 1. Conversely, transfers are unfavourable to a language group when the index is less than 1.

As shown in Table 3.2, the French-mother-tongue group saw its linguistic continuity index fall from 0.64 to 0.36 in the period from 1971 to 2006. The "other"-mother-tongue group also saw a drop in its linguistic continuity index, from 0.64 to 0.53. As for the Anglophone group, its index was the same in both 1971 and 2006, at 1.01.

Table 3.2 Population by mother tongue, language spoken most often at home and linguistic continuity index, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1971 and 2006

Because individuals' main home language may differ from their mother tongue, the concept of language transfer has often been interpreted as indicating the abandonment of one's mother tongue. But since 2001, the Canadian census has included a question on the languages, other than the main language, that are spoken on a regular basis at home. Although it may be difficult to judge how respondents interpret this new question, qualitative tests conducted as well as the results from the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities have shown that they usually consider it to refer to the daily use of the language.

Based on the census results for this question, a distinction can be made between partial and complete language transfer. As a corollary to this distinction, the concept of linguistic continuity needs to be understood more broadly, since using one's mother tongue on a regular basis at home cannot automatically be interpreted as linguistic discontinuity.

In 2006, 650 Newfoundlanders spoke French as the only main language at home, while 180 persons reported speaking French most often in combination with English (Table 3.3). Thus, 0.2% of Newfoundlanders reported having French as their main home language. Data from the 2006 Census also show that nearly 2,255 persons reported speaking French on a regular basis at home, although it was not their main home language (see Table 3.4). In short, French was spoken most often or on a regular basis at home by 0.6% of the province's population, or approximately 3,090 persons. Note that this number takes into account the fact that more than 1,700 English-mother-tongue persons report speaking French at least on a regular basis at home; this may explain why there is a smaller number of French-mother-tongue persons in Newfoundland and Labrador than persons who use French at home.

Table 3.3 Population by mother tongue, language spoken most often at home and other languages spoken regularly at home, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006

Table 3.4 Number and proportion of persons with French as mother tongue, first official language spoken, language spoken most often at home and language spoken regularly at home, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006

One can use information on the regular use of French as a second language in the home to distinguish complete language transfers from partial language transfers. Thus, based on single responses to the question on the first language learned and still understood at the time of the 2006 Census (usually called the mother tongue), it emerges that for Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole, 39% of persons with French as their mother tongue do not use French at least regularly at home (complete transfer), while 29% use it on a regular basis (partial transfer) (see Table 3.5). Consequently, French is the main home language for 32% of all Francophones. It is also worth noting that in Newfoundland and Labrador, Francophones who make a language transfer almost always transfer to English.

The rates for complete and partial language transfers are known to vary by age group (see Table 3.5). In Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006 Census statistics reveal that the older Francophones are, the more likely they are to have made a complete language transfer, except for persons aged 15 to 24, whose complete and partial language transfer rates are higher than those for persons aged 0 to 14 and 25 to 34. Consequently, the older people are, the less likely they are to have made a partial language transfer. Overall, depending on the age group, between 50% and 75% of the province's Francophones report not having French as a home language.

Table 3.5 Complete and partial language transfer rates of Francophones by age group, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006

Data drawn from the SVOLM shed light on the association that tends to be established between language transfer and anglicization. The survey includes a question on respondents' main language, that is, the language in which they are most at ease speaking. The data show that 39% of the population for whom French is the first official language spoken have French as their main language.

In Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole, Francophones are more likely to report speaking English most often at home (complete and partial language transfers) than being more at ease in English than in French.⁸ Thus, 68% of Francophones in Newfoundland and Labrador report speaking English⁹ most often at home, while 41% report being more at ease in English than in French.

3.4 Use of French in the public sphere

Statistics from the Census of Population shed light on the use of languages both in the private sphere (at home) and in the workplace, as we will see in the section on the labour force. But what do we know about the use of English and French by Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones in domains of interaction other than the home?

The Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities includes a number of questions on the use of languages in various domains of the public sphere such as stores, health care institutions (which will be examined in detail in the next section), volunteer activities, social support, community or sports activities, etc. Some questions in the survey also deal with domains on the borderline between private and public spheres, such as the language spoken with friends outside the home or the language in which various media are "consumed."

An examination of language practices in various domains of both public and private spheres reveals that in Newfoundland and Labrador, persons whose first official language spoken (FOLS) is French mainly use English in both spheres (see Chart 3.4). The predominant (main or only) use of English at home was reported by 67% of French FOLS persons, while 25% spoke mainly or only French at home. The most widespread use of English occurs in oral interactions taking place in institutions and stores: 90% of French FOLS persons use English predominantly (mainly or only) during such interactions, including 67% who use it exclusively.

Beyond language choices at home and in institutions and stores, the extent to which English is predominantly (mainly or only) used within immediate networks, at work and with friends is about the same: proportions range from 77% to 79% depending on the domain. Also, according to data from the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities, nearly 72% of persons for whom French is the only first official language spoken consume various media mainly or only in English, while 65% report that they work mainly or only in English.

Finally, the general index on use of languages in the public sphere reveals that 84% of the population for whom French is the only first official language spoken use mainly or only English in the various domains of the public sphere (media, institutions and stores, work, immediate network and friends outside the home).¹⁰ Thus, in the public sphere, 40% of Francophones use English exclusively, while 44% use mainly English (with another language, usually French).

Chart 3.4 Proportion of Francophones by language use in various public and private domains, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006

3.5 Knowledge of French

Persons whose main language is French have more opportunities to use it when they are in contact with persons who are able to conduct a conversation in French even though it is not their first official language spoken.

In 2006, a greater proportion of persons in Newfoundland and Labrador reported being able to conduct a conversation in French (4.7%) than having French only or with another language as their mother tongue (0.4%) or having French as their first official language spoken (0.4%). The relative share of Newfoundlanders who are able to conduct a conversation in French is highly polarized by language group. Whereas 88% of persons with French as a mother tongue reported knowing both official languages, only 4% of persons with English as a mother tongue did so and 7% of persons with another mother tongue (see Table 3.6). Among the latter group, 8% reported that they could not conduct a conversation in either French or English.

Table 3.6 Knowledge of official languages by mother tongue, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2001 and 2006

In Newfoundland and Labrador, among bilingual Anglophones¹¹ (that is, those who reported that they were able to conduct a conversation both in English and French), 7% spoke French at least on a regular basis at home and 20% used it at least regularly at work in 2006.

The French-English bilingualism rate of Anglophones barely reaches 6% in municipalities where Francophones constitute less than 10% of the population, while in those where Francophones make up between 10% and 29%, Anglophones' French-English bilingualism rate reaches 26%. Thus, the greater the relative share of Francophones within their municipality, the greater will be the knowledge of French among Anglophones.

Statistics from the 2006 Census show that within the population aged 10 to 24, French-English bilingualism among non-Francophones is more widespread among English-mother-tongue persons than among those with another mother tongue (data not shown). Knowledge of French is more widespread among young people because of their attending French immersion or French as a second language programs. Because French is usually learned at school, the bilingualism rate peaks in the 15-to-19 age group, which covers the period when young people are completing their secondary education. In the 25 and over age groups, Anglophones have lower French-English bilingualism rates than allophones.

The ability of young Anglophones to maintain their knowledge of French as a second language diminishes over time. As shown in Chart 3.5, when we consider youths aged 15 to 19 in 1996, we observe that their bilingualism rate as reported in that census (11.0%) falls to 8.6% in 2001, when this cohort is aged 20 to 24, and to 7.4% in 2006 when it is aged 25 to 29. A similar trend is observed among youths who were aged 15 to 19 in 2001 and 20 to 24 five years later. The French-English bilingualism rate for non-Francophones peaks at age 15 to 19, the period when young people are leaving school.

Chart 3.5 Proportion of persons with English as their mother tongue who can conduct a conversation in French and in English, by age group, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1996, 2001 and 2006

It is difficult to identify the exact causes of this decline in the ability to conduct a conversation in French among young English-mother-tongue Newfoundlanders aged 15 to 19. As Table 3.7 shows, enrolments in immersion programs increased from 2000 to 2006, reaching more than 7,000 for the 2006/2007 school year. Also, starting in the 2000/2001 school year, enrolments in regular French-language programs declined somewhat, never exceeding 200 annually, except for the 2004/2005 school year. Further research would be needed to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon.

Table 3.7 Number of children registered in French immersion and in regular French programmes at the primary and secondary levels in public schools, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2000/2001 to 2006/2007

3.6 Migration (interprovincial and international migratory movements)

The mobility of Francophones within Canada and the contribution of international immigration are factors that greatly influence the evolution of the French-speaking population of Newfoundland and Labrador.

3.6.1 Place of birth

Table 3.8 shows the place of birth of Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones. In 2006, less than 40% of persons with French as their mother tongue were born in Newfoundland and Labrador. The proportion is substantially the same for persons with French as their first official language spoken. Regardless of the criterion used, nearly one in two Francophones residing in Newfoundland and Labrador was born in another province or territory of Canada, including 30% in Quebec. As for foreign-born persons, most of whom were immigrants,¹² they comprised more than 8% of the French-mother-tongue population and 14% of the population with French as its first official language spoken.

Table 3.8 Place of birth of Francophones by mother tongue and first official language spoken, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006

3.6.2 International immigration

Newfoundland and Labrador receives few international immigrants. In 2006, more than 8,000 persons born outside Canada were enumerated in the province. Of these immigrants, a very small proportion (3%) had French as their first official language spoken. Nevertheless, while the relative weight of the English-speaking immigrant population within the Anglophone population of Newfoundland and Labrador was 1.6% in 2006, the French-FOLS immigrant population accounted for more than 12% of the Francophone population.

3.6.3 Interprovincial migration

From 1981 to 2006, Newfoundland and Labrador received between 300 and 600 Francophones per five-year period from other Canadian provinces and territories (see Table 3.9). On the other hand, during these same five-year periods, between 700 and 1,000 Francophones left the province to settle elsewhere in Canada. Consequently, since 1981, Francophones' interprovincial migratory balance has been negative and reached a low of -680 in the 2001 to 2006 period. Among the province's Anglophones too, greater numbers left Newfoundland and Labrador since 1981 than came to the province. As a result, Newfoundland and Labrador has recorded a negative net migration for more than two decades, which fluctuated from one five-year period to another. However, from 2001 to 2006 the province's net migration was at its least unfavourable level, at -6,240. Five years earlier, from 1996 to 2001, it was at its most unfavourable level, at -31,040.

Table 3.9 Interprovincial migration between Newfoundland and Labrador and other provinces and territories by first official language spoken, 1981 to 2006

One can use data from the 2006 Census to study migratory movements occurring between Newfoundland and Labrador and other provinces and territories from 2001 to 2006. Of the approximately 325 Francophones who came from other provinces and territories to settle in Newfoundland and Labrador, nearly 70% had been living in Quebec, New Brunswick or Ontario in 2001. Of the roughly 1,005 Francophones who were living in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001 and then migrated to other provinces, nearly two-thirds (62%) settled in Quebec.

---

Notes

1. Of course, a language is also transmitted from fathers to their children, but it is usually the mother's language that predominates.
2. In general, the concentration of a language group in a given geographic area, like its relative weight, is likely to influence the language practices of its members as well as its vitality. The vast majority (91%) of Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones, who account for 0.4% of the province's population, live in a municipality where they constitute less than 10% of the population. The concentration of these French-speaking persons within their municipality of residence is low for 78% of them, while it is average for 22% (see appendix D for a description of the concentration index and the concept of dissemination area).
3. The term "spouse" includes persons who are legally married as well as those living in a common-law union.
4. Because of the very small number of couples other than English endogamous and French-English exogamous, it is difficult to provide reliable estimates on which to base analyses of language transmission.
5. To establish this ratio, demographers generally look at children living in a two-parent family or a one-parent family headed by a woman, who account for more than 97% of all children in this age group.
6. For an in-depth examination of this approach, see Lachapelle and Lepage (2011).
7. As noted earlier, persons with an "other" mother tongue who know only French are assigned French as their first official language spoken, regardless of whether they speak that language most often at home.
8. This finding applies to both the French-mother-tongue population and the population with French as first official language spoken.
9. This proportion includes both single and multiple responses.
10. See appendix C for a description of the general index of use of languages in the public sphere.
11. Without allocation of multiple responses.
12. Foreign-born persons include immigrants, non-permanent residents and Canadians born abroad.