6.5 Promoting Language and Culture


To what extent should globalization shape identity?

Think about this from your own perspective. How important is your language? How important is your culture?

If you are a member of a minority group, you may have experienced struggles to maintain your language and way of life. If you are a member of the dominant culture, you may not have had much reason to think about this issue. But what if you had to learn another language to communicate? What would be lost to you if you were no longer able to communicate in English? What if no one around you celebrated birthdays or Christmas or the joys of turning eighteen, or no one believed in some of the deeply held values that you and your family and others like you share? If you think about those things being taken from you, you will begin to understand why people feel so strongly about preserving their languages and cultures.

Language and culture are the most deeply rooted aspects of our identity. Without them, we lose who we are.

In our pluralistic society, we believe that our differences make us stronger. We believe that the inclusion of other ways of living and thinking into our larger country or community enriches our lives. However, pluralism means that while we accept others' differences, we also want to maintain our own way of life. Pluralism is in many ways inevitable in a globalizing world. Without pluralism, our world must develop one global culture where everyone speaks the same language, lives the same way, and values the same thingsβ€”much like The United States of Borg from the poem by Kevyn Jacobs.


Promoting Language and Culture: Language Laws in Canada

Although Canada is officially a bilingual country, most Canadian provinces are not bilingual. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province. French is the official language of Quebec, and English is the official language of all other provinces. Inuktitut, English, and French are the official language of Nunavut. Yukon is officially bilingual, but the Northwest Territories has eleven official languages: Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey, and TΕ‚Δ―ch or Dogrib.


According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982,

  • French and English are equal to each other

  • debate in Parliament may be in either official language

  • federal laws are printed in both official languages

  • anyone may deal in either official language with any court established by Parliament

  • everyone has the right to receive services from the federal government in his or her choice of official language

  • if a person has learned and still understands or received primary school education in one language (French or English), that person has the right to have his or her children receive their public education in that language where numbers warrant


Language Laws in Quebec: Although the majority in Quebec speak French as their first language, the people of the province have feared that English will gradually take over. To prevent that, several laws were passed in Quebec to preserve the French language and culture. You are not expected to memorize each of these laws, but you should ensure you understand them and the reason they were enacted.