Читать книгу The Mysteries of Bilingualism. Unresolved Issues онлайн

55 страница из 69

To get at actual bilingualism, that is, the regular use of two or more languages in everyday life, one has to look at the results of the languages spoken at home, on the one hand, and at work, on the other. Concerning the home,¹⁰ 19.4% of the population report speaking more than one language at home (this is a rise from 17.5% in 2011). The languages involved can concern the two official languages, English and French, or one of these languages along with a non-official language (aboriginal language or immigrant language). People with a non-official mother tongue who use a language other than their mother tongue at home usually adopt English or French as their main language or as a secondary language. Only 28.0% of people with a mother tongue other than English or French speak only their mother tongue at home. By comparison, 94.3% of people with English as their mother tongue and 83.1% of people with French as their mother tongue speak only their mother tongue at home.

Researchers Schott, Kremin, and Byers-Heinlein (2019) examined child bilingualism in the home based on the 2016 census. They found that 15.7% of children aged 0 to 4 grow up with two or more languages at home. The percentage varies, of course, according to the region or province in question, with the highest percentage in Northern Canada (29%), and the lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (4%). Quebec and Ontario are close to the mean with 17%.