Читать книгу The Mysteries of Bilingualism. Unresolved Issues онлайн

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Finally, there are those countries that have the appropriate language questions in their censuses to work out the proportion of bilinguals but that put the emphasis on specific classes of bilinguals. Here we will consider Canada and Switzerland. The questions and answers of the census that Canada conducts every five years are a dream for anyone interested in languages and bi-/multilingualism in a country. The 2016 version contains five language questions, the last two in the long form of the questionnaire only:

 7. Can this person speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?

 8a. What language does this person speak most often at home, and 8b. Does this person speak any other languages on a regular basis at home?

 9. What is the language that this person first learned at home in childhood and still understands?

 16. What language(s), other than English or French, can this person speak well enough to conduct a conversation?

 45a. In this job, what language did this person use most often? and 45b. Did this person use any other languages on a regular basis in this job?