World War II and its Impact on French Canadians

This research takes the perspective of a Romanian-born philologist after having lived, studied, and taught in the Quebec public educational system for nearly 12 years. The main purpose of this study is to discuss the important influences World War II had on the evolution of Quebec society. Examining Quebec's social life and culture from a historic standpoint is a primordial step for immigrants and their integration into Quebec's society. An analysis of the corpus selected for this study, namely, Roch Carrier's La guerre, yes sir!, Jean Jules Richard’s Neuf jours de haine, Jean Vaillancourt’ s Les Canadians errants, and Gabrielle Roy’s Bonheur d’ occasion, reveals that World War II marked in different ways the disturbance of the traditional, pastoral, and agrarian life, which triggered some modernist influences in people’s lives. For instance, the war changed women’s condition. When Canadian French men were shipped out to Europe to fight in the war, women were employed in Quebec’s factories and plants. Even though they were paid less than men, they became independent and autonomous. Another example is the presence of British soldiers in Quebec, which disturbed the traditional lifestyle of French Canadians. It was difficult for English soldiers to understand the locals’ culture, who in turn, perceived them as dangerous and responsible for the war. Nowadays, Quebecers’ mentality is influenced by the various cultures they are surrounded by, yet, they still preserve some values which are originated during World War II.

Canadian French Translation and Preliminary Validation of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory: A Pilot Study

Conformity to masculine norms has been linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes. Its valid assessment among subgroups of the population is therefore a crucial step in the investigation of intercultural variability in the enactment of masculinity, as well as its causes, costs, and benefits. The present pilot study aimed to adapt and conduct a preliminary validation of a French version of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI-22), a self-report questionnaire designed to assess overall conformity to male gender standards. The French adaptation of the CMNI-22 (CanFr-CMNI-22) was developed using a forward-backward translation process. The data from a sample of 57 Canadian French men (23–81 years old), collected at two time points 2 weeks apart, were then analyzed to investigate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the CanFr-CMNI-22. Findings indicated adequate internal reliability of the global scores and highly satisfactory test–retest reliability. Correlations with the Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF) at both time points also showed strong convergent validity. Overall, the CanFr-CMNI-22 appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to assess conformity to traditional masculine gender norms in French-speaking men from the general population. This study is a key step in a research process aiming to validate the Canadian French version of the CMNI and contributes to enhance inclusive research and clinical care to foster men’s health.

Scientific Facilities as a Subject Matter of “Infrastructure Law”: Une Approche Québéсoise

The article deals with the original approach of Canadian French-speaking province (federal entity) to legal regulation of scientific facilities as a type of infrastructural objects governed by “infrastructure law.” The author firstly proves that the expression “scientific facility” and “Megascience” represent no more than the specific types of social infrastructure and, thus, generally denoted in legal instruments as “research infrastructure” which may be qualified as “large” (Megascience), “medium”, “small” etc. Further the article explores the modern legislation of Quebec which, unlike other countries, has decided to create a full-fledged “infrastructure law” governing, amongst other types of infrastructure, the research infrastructure. The article points out and analyses the particularities and principle findings of Quebec infrastructure laws and by-laws: the “supraministerial” governance of all infrastructure projects, the general public infrastructure company (Quebec Society of Infrastructures) etc. The latest developments in the Quebec “infrastructure law” relating to information infrastructures are also taken into account.

Canadian French Translation of The Couples Satisfaction Index: A Pre-Validation Pilot Study Exploring Men’s Perspective

Background It is imperative for health care professionals to have access to valid and reliable tools to evaluate the quality of romantic relationships, as it has been repeatedly shown to be related to psychological and physical health outcomes. The Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI) was developed to address the shortcomings of the most widely cited measures of satisfaction by increasing precision and power of measurement. However, the use of this questionnaire is limited due to a lack of translated versions. The purpose of the current study was therefore to translate the CSI to Canadian French (CanFrench-CSI) and to evaluate its reliability in a sample of male Canadians. Methods The CSI questionnaire was adapted and translated into Canadian French using a forward-backward approach. Its reliability was then evaluated by means of Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficients, corrected item-total correlation coefficients, and a test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient at a two-week interval. Results Data from 53 men in committed relationships were analyzed. The French adaptation of the CSI demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Conclusions Overall, the results provided evidence supporting the translation consistency and reliability of the CanFrench-CSI, and thus, paved the way for further research on romantic relationships and health outcomes among French-speaking individuals.

ENGLISH BORROWINGS IN FRENCH IN THE ASPECT OF CANADIAN BILLINGVISM

The article examines English borrowings into French in the context of Canadian bilingualism in connection with Canadian language policy, which combines several centralized language policies implemented by the federal government and regional policies pursued by provincial governments, including Quebec. To understand and analyze such a linguistic phenomenon, the article briefly discusses the historical causes of Canadian bilingualism. The study focuses on the lexical, grammatical and phonetic features of Canadian French and suggests that borrowing from both British and American versions of English into French has led to a unique combination that can only be identified as an independent phenomenon. The characteristics of Canadian French vocabulary, spelling, and grammar discussed in this article illustrate that Canadian French cannot be fully identified with any other type of French. The Canadian version of the French language is expressive, authentic, including through borrowings from the English language. The study emphasizes that the Canadian version of the French language, provided constant interaction with the English language, is learned naturally, and the rules naturally. Bilingual speakers agree on universal rules without knowing them, share and use these rules, but never clearly study them, because it seems impossible to teach how to change the code and maintain the structural integrity of the statement. The findings contradict the expectation that borrowed words harm the language that borrows them, so it was found that bilingual speakers who speak both English and French implicitly understand and use the rules of both languages, and borrowing and switching codes do not lead to language erosion.

Relations between phonological production, grammar and the lexicon in bilingual French-English children

Aims and objectives: This study examines multiple associations between language domains in bilingual children with a focus on phonology. Previous studies indicate within- but not cross-language associations between vocabulary and grammar in bilingual children. We investigate whether the relation between phonology and other language domains differs from the one reported between vocabulary and grammar. Methodology: Canadian French-English bilingual children ( n = 31), aged 31 months, participated in 2 free-play sessions, from which lexical, grammatical and phonological information was extracted. The children’s parents completed the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventories and its Canadian French adaptation providing additional information on vocabulary and grammar in each of the children’s languages. They also completed a questionnaire on their children’s exposure to French and English. Data analysis: Within and cross-language relations between phonology, vocabulary and grammar were investigated using correlational analyses and mixed logistic regression. Findings: Correlational analyses did not reveal significant cross-language relations between phonology, vocabulary and grammar. However, mixed logistic regression, which controlled for language exposure effects, indicated that phonology was influenced by vocabulary and grammar both within and across languages. Originality: This study is one of the first to study cross-domain relations involving phonology in young bilingual children. Implications: Overall, the findings suggest that phonology displays a pattern of relations that is different from other language domains engendering between-language effects due to a language-general component.

Spoken word recognition in a second language: The importance of phonetic details

Spoken word recognition depends on variations in fine-grained phonetics as listeners decode speech. However, many models of second language (L2) speech perception focus on units such as isolated syllables, and not on words. In two eye-tracking experiments, we investigated how fine-grained phonetic details (i.e. duration of nasalization on contrastive and coarticulatory nasalized vowels in Canadian French) influenced spoken word recognition in an L2, as compared to a group of native (L1) listeners. Results from L2 listeners (English-native speakers) indicated that fine-grained phonetics impacted the recognition of words, i.e. they were able to use nasalization duration variability in a way similar to L1-French listeners, providing evidence that lexical representations can be highly specified in an L2. Specifically, L2 listeners were able to distinguish minimal word pairs (differentiated by the presence of phonological vowel nasalization in French) and were able to use variability in a way approximating L1-French listeners. Furthermore, the robustness of the French “nasal vowel” category in L2 listeners depended on age of exposure. Early bilinguals displayed greater sensitivity to some ambiguity in the stimuli than late bilinguals, suggesting that early bilinguals had greater sensitivity to small variations in the signal and thus better knowledge of the phonetic cue associated with phonological vowel nasalization in French, similarly to L1 listeners.

Bilingual outcomes for a student with down syndrome in French immersion

This study investigated the French and English outcomes and experiences of one student with Down syndrome enrolled in a Canadian French Immersion (FI) program. Testing in Grades 6 and 8 revealed development in both languages, higher English than French skills, and progress across the two years in English only. English language and reading comparisons in Grade 8 showed the bilingual student had similar or better English abilities than age-matched monolinguals with Down syndrome (DS) schooled in English only. Interviews revealed that the parents were strong advocates for their son and worked closely with the school to ensure accommodations were in place in FI that fostered his success. The interviews also offered some explanation for the lack of French progress at second testing. This study provides the first evidence that FI can provide a path to bilingualism for students with DS. The findings have implications for inclusive education.

The acquisition of English stress by Québec Francophones

In this chapter, we report the results of two production experiments, one in Canadian French (CF) and one in English, aimed at examining how advanced CF L2ers produce English stress. In other words, our focus is not on language development (i.e. whether learners actually acquire stress in English), but rather on ultimate attainment in L2 acquisition (i.e. how native speakers and advanced learners compare vis-à-vis stress production). In order to evaluate whether L2ers’ rhythmic patterns mirror native English patterns, we compare L2ers’ production with control data, focusing on three possi- ble acoustic correlates of prominence: duration, pitch (F0) and intensity. To verify whether L2ers transfer acoustic cues or rhythmic patterns from their first language (L1) into the L2, we also analyse how prominence is produced by L2ers in their L1.