Language attitudes in Quebec: a contemporary perspective

Abstract

Language attitudes studies are a central part of both sociolinguistics and social psychology, and Quebec, Canada’s only province with a francophone majority, has proved to be one of the most fascinating places for this kind of research. This thesis is an investigation of the attitudes that anglophone, francophone and allophone Quebecers – both immigrants as well as those who were born in the province – hold towards English, Quebec French and European French. The first part of the thesis provides the context for the author’s own research. It outlines the most relevant events in Quebec history and explains the current social and linguistic situation in the province. Furthermore, it provides an introduction to attitude theory in general and language attitudes in particular, before summarising the most significant previous investigations into language attitudes in Quebec. The second part of the thesis focuses on a language attitudes study conducted amongst 164 Montreal college students in the autumn of 2007. The study made use of two different methodologies: a direct method (questionnaire) and an indirect method (the so-called matched-guise technique). The results of each method of inquiry are first presented separately, before being compared and analysed in the light of the current social and linguistic situation in the province of Quebec.