Mr. Curzi's argument in favour of enforcing the language law is twofold, the first notion is that students who graduate from French high school and opt for English cegep, will magically transform into 'cursed' anglophones (a racist concept to begin with.) His second assertion is that the numbers of these 'turncoats' is alarming. LINK{fr}
Both ideas are utter tommyrot.
He references a self-serving 'sky is falling' study that he himself prepared, one which is fatally flawed, biased and scientifically unsound. LINK{fr}
See my blog piece debunking his nonsense conclusions in another language study.
From this study, he builds from a false foundation to arrive at a similarly flawed logical conclusion.
Mr Curzi claims that about 3,500 Francophone and Allophone students (about half and half) who graduate French highs school opt for English cegep and that this fact, in and of itself, represents a danger to the French language. He further posits that when they finish their education they are more likely to accept an English-speaking job in Quebec, which will ultimately complete their descent into the hell of Anglicization.
Let us consider the alternate truth;
According to Mr. Curzi this means that an additional 135,000 students will have passed through English cegep over the next 35 years.
Exactly how and why he chooses 35 years is as unfathomable, his rational that 35 years is the usual length of a career is about as relevant as the price of tea in China.
It's more likely that he chose this number to pump up the volume, he could have chosen 100 years, 10 years or 1 year.
Even at Mr. Curzi's own reference point, it's hardly a frightening scenario, even for language militants. The number represents about .005 percent of the population per year, or about 1.5% of the population over 35 years. Not exactly earth-shattering.
But let's keep it simple and discuss the 3500 students a year that opt for English cegep after having attended French high school.
Mr. Curzi intimates that these students will be 'lost' to the French side of the linguistic equation by virtue of their attendance at English cegep, but here's where Mr. Curzi conveniently ignores reality by failing to consider or refusing to accept the following;
- Of the 3500 students, the majority are already bilingual (and already lost) before entering English cegep.
- Of the 3500 students many are already eligible for English schooling under Bill 101 and have chosen French high school out of choice.
- Of the remaining minority of 'bone fide' francophones who make the balance of the 3500 students, very few give up their linguistic heritage just because they learned English or have accepted an 'English' job.
Again, let's consider some other truths; (I'll refer to these above-mentioned students as 'the 3500')
Most of the 3500 who Mr. Curzi refers to, are hardly francophones at all, about half are allophones and about half of the remainder are the children of French/English families who have chosen a French language path.
Almost one-third of Quebec anglophones choose a francophone or ethnic (or combination thereof) life partner, an amazing statistic that testifies to the fact that anglophones, francophones and ethnics get on pretty well.
Of these 'mixed' families about 65% of the children graduate from French high school, notwithstanding that ALL OF THEM are eligible for English education.
At any given time, almost 13% of all English-eligible students attend FRENCH school, by choice.
(Readers can attest to this fact in the comments section. Please do.)
But going to French school doesn't change the fact that one of the parents of these mixed couples is English and almost all these children are BILINGUAL, based on their two-language home life. For these children going to English cegep makes sense, their parents keen that their bilingual children have the best of both worlds.
And so, sadly for Mr. Curzi, applying Bill 101 to cegeps, would not affect these students, as THEY ALREADY QUALIFY for English schooling and would continue to attend English cegep even if Bill 101 was extended to cegep!
You can safely knock out a significant number of the 3500 as being affected by Bill 101.
As for the balance of the 3500, how many have already chosen English as a language path before entering cegep? Well, almost all of them, to be sure......
The vast majority of students who hail from all-francophone families and who have attended public French school all their lives, cannot attend English cegep because they cannot speak English.
Students graduating from the French public system are generally unable to order breakfast in English, let alone successfully attend classes in English.
That is why 96% of these students go on to French colleges and universities.
It is only the already bilingual graduates of French high schools who have the capacity to go to English cegep, a fact that is never considered by Mr. Curzi.
If he thinks that dissuading these already bilingualized students from attending English cegep will forestall their ability to work in English he's a day late and a dollar short, that ship, as they say, has already sailed.
Most of the allophone students (half of the 3500) who opt for English cegep are already firmly assimilated in the anglophone community. According to MR. Curzi's own figures, 39% (or about 600 of the 3500) of them already speak English in the home, notwithstanding the fact that they were forced to attend French schools as per Bill 101. These are the students who talked English among their friends at recess (much to the chagrin of teachers) and who lived their lives completely in English outside school.
Recovering these students to the French side by virtue of forced French cegep is well nigh impossible, they've maintained their English language and culture for over a dozen years during French primary and high school. The die is already cast.
Of the remaining students of the 3500, who are bone fide francophones and who have chosen cegep in order to become bilingual, what proof does Curzi offer us that they will become anglophones? Its my observation, that for those who have lived their entire school and home life in French, learning a second language and even working in a second language will not magically turn them into anglophones.
Just because a bilingual francophone speaks English at work, doesn't mean that he or she has abandoned French at home. Actually far from it. Remember, their children must still attend French school and in almost all cases the language of the home is French.
So how many students are actually being 'linguistically' transferred to English because of the open door policy of admissions at English cegeps?
Impossible to say, either for me or Mr. Curzi. There is no usable data available.
Mr. Curzi intimates that the number is 100% of the 3500, a ridiculous notion.
Me, if I'd have to pick a number, it would be less than one hundred, no more. Really.
Now consider this;
Almost two thousand students who graduate from English high schools choose to go to French cegep, of their own volition. A reverse 'language transfer' if we were to accept Mr. Curzi's logic.
Do these anglophones magically turn into francophones by virtue of the French cegep experience? Hardly.
But if Mr. Curzi was honest and applied his logic evenly across the board he'd have subtracted these students from the the number transferring to English cegep. Fair is fair.
Somehow I doubt that will happen.....
Here's an interesting comment written under the Montreal Gazette story concerning the issue of imposing Bill 101 on English cegeps;
I am a child of bill 101. My parents are immigrants, came to Quebec 45 years ago.
I went to school in French (elementary and high school). I then chose to go to Marianopolis (English) and McGill (english). I had a choice between engineering at McGill in English or at Ecole Polytechnique in French (I got accepted to both) but opted for McGill due to the better reputation. While at McGill, i took the opportunity to study two courses at Polytechnique. The only french aspect to engineering courses was putting a french spin on non-french words and units.
I then went to grad school, in french, at HEC. The freedom to flip back and forth between french and english schools (starting in CEGEP) allowed me to develop my language skills and writing skills in both languages, making me a tremendous asset to my employer.
I spend my days correcting my colleagues and supervisors' emails. And the worst of them are the ones written, IN FRENCH, by unilingual, FRANCOPHONE QUEBECOIS. You know, the "pur laine".
Lets keep this province in the dark ages, keep voting for PQ and keep sacrificing our economic prosperity to preserve an archaic, destitute form of "french". Lets keep blaming the English language for all the ineptness of the francophone "leaders" of this province (nation har har). LINK
And so, good readers... every time you hear a French language militant quoting statistics invoking the spectre of French language doom, you can safely stick your fingers in your ears and shout;
"LA-DEE-DA!.......LA-DEE-DA!.... I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
It is all self-serving crap. Balderdash!
It's the same logic that militants use to remind us that Quebec gets a raw financial deal from Canada.
It just ain't so!......but hey, I'm only one voice in the wilderness....
Further reading Does Going to French School Make You a Francophone?
