THE LANGUAGE OF CEGEP
English CEGEPS have been in the spotlight this week, with many nationalist voices being raised to decry them as vectors of anglicization that must be cut down to size. Much is being made of the fact that francophones attending English CEGEPS make up a little more than one-quarter of the student body at these institutions. Several teachers at French CEGEPS additionally expressed concern that the francophone sector is being weakened by the loss of some of the strongest students.
That an increasing proportion of francophones are doing collegial studies in English is, presumably, explained by a desire to be better prepared for a job market where that language is an asset, and CEGEP is their first chance to study in English. However, this demand for English is a reflection of the integration of Quebec's economy nationally and internationally, which is not something new language policies would change.
It should also be noted that the proportion of francophones choosing English CEGEP, while increasing, is still small, about six per cent. In fact, it's smaller than the proportion of anglophones who are now choosing French CEGEP, just over 10 per cent, a figure that has also been trending upward. Francophones are not the only ones concerned about employability. As for those of other mother tongues, the proportion doing CEGEP studies in French also has been increasing. Similarly, the Université de Montréal has seen steady increases in anglophone enrolment in recent years.
This week, the premier quickly rebuffed his language minister's musings about applying Bill 101 access provisions to CEGEPS. However, there is still a clamour, including from the Parti Québécois, to cut English CEGEP funding to make it proportional to the size of the anglophone population.
That would be problematic for both anglophone and francophone students. It is the strongest students who choose to study in their second language. Others may opt to try to improve their linguistic skills in some other fashion. If the government shrinks English CEGEPS, this would seem likely to result in weaker anglophone students being squeezed out by francophones with higher marks. Some francophones would also be squeezed out, but they, at least, could still study in French. Where would the anglos go?
The other effect, of course, would be to deprive francophones of an inexpensive way to improve their English, while the elite still have many other options.
As for being vectors of anglicization: Fluency in English does not make one any less of a francophone, as any number of fluently bilingual Quebec nationalist politicians can attest.