Catalogue no. 75-006-X ISSN 2291-0840 Insights on Canadian Society Results from the 2016 Census: Aboriginal languages and the role of second-language acquisition by Thomas Anderson Release date: December 7, 2018 How to obtain more information For information about this product or the wide range of services and data available from Statistics Canada, visit our website, www.statcan.gc.ca. You can also contact us by email at [email protected] telephone, from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the following numbers: • Statistical Information Service 1-800-263-1136 • National telecommunications device for the hearing impaired 1-800-363-7629 • Fax line 1-514-283-9350 Depository Services Program • Inquiries line 1-800-635-7943 • Fax line 1-800-565-7757 Standards of service to the public Note of appreciation Statistics Canada is committed to serving its clients in a prompt, Canada owes the success of its statistical system to a reliable and courteous manner. 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Results from the 2016 Census: Aboriginal languages and the role of second-language acquisition by Thomas Anderson Today, Insights on Canadian Society is releasing a study based on 2016 Census data. This study uses census data on Aboriginal languages. Overview of the study Using data from the 2016 Census, this study examines the extent to which Aboriginal languages are spoken in Canada, and whether the number of Aboriginal-language speakers rose in past decades. The study also examines the factors that are related to Aboriginal language use and retention. • In 2016, 263,840 Canadians reported that they could speak an Aboriginal language. From 1996 to 2016, the total number of people who could speak an Aboriginal language well enough to conduct a conversation rose by 8%. • First Nations people accounted for 79% of all Aboriginal-language speakers, Inuit for 16%, and Métis for 4%. By comparison, the proportions of the entire population with an Aboriginal identity were First Nations at 58%, Métis at 35% and Inuit at 4%. • Second-language acquisition plays an important role in the transmission of Aboriginal languages. The proportion of Aboriginal-language speakers who acquired it as a second language increased from 18% in 1996 to 26% in 2016. • Among those whose mother tongue was an Aboriginal language, 90% spoke it at least on a regular basis at home. Among those who spoke an Aboriginal language as a second language, 73% spoke it at home. Both figures increased between 2006 and 2016. • The extent to which Aboriginal languages are spoken depends on a number of personal, family and geographical factors. For instance, families where at least one parent had an Aboriginal language as their mother tongue were more likely to have children who could speak an Aboriginal language. Introduction Much of Canadian society has been constructed on the at least on a regular basis in the workplace. This reality capacity to speak either English or French in public life.1 may present some challenges for many Aboriginal- In 2016, over 99% of those who were employed in the language speakers to participate in the larger culture, previous year reported that they used English or French academia or the labour force. Statistics Canada — December 2018 Insights on Canadian Society / 1 Results from the 2016 Census: Aboriginal languages and the role of second-language acquisition According to the Royal Commission total decline. As past research Second-language acquisition on Aboriginal Peoples, centuries has demonstrated, the Aboriginal on the rise of colonial history have had a population is growing rapidly, in large profoundly negative impact on the part due to an increased likelihood The 2016 Census of Population use and transmission of Aboriginal of self-identification.10 This change provided data on close to languages in Canada.2 The abuses means that many people who 70 Aboriginal languages, which can of the residential and federal previously did not identify with the be divided into 12 distinct language 16 industrial school system have been Aboriginal population now do. Much families. Almost all Aboriginal- 17 well-documented by the Truth of this growth has occurred in large language speakers were part of 18 and Reconciliation Commission of cities where Aboriginal languages are the Aboriginal identity population Canada, including their negative less commonly spoken. (99%). First Nations people effects on the transmission of made up 79% of all Aboriginal- Examining the number of people Aboriginal languages.3 Assimilationist language speakers, followed by who can speak an Aboriginal 19 policies that have weakened Inuit at 16%, and Métis at 4%. language, rather than the share of Aboriginal-language use in the past The proportions of the entire speakers, presents these details have had an impact on the promotion population with an Aboriginal from a different vantage point. of Aboriginal languages.4,5 identity (1,673,785 people) were For example, in the 2016 Census, First Nations at 58%, Métis at 35% Literature surrounding the long- 263,840 people could speak an and Inuit at 4%. term survival of Aboriginal languages Aboriginal language well enough has noted the particular challenges to conduct a conversation. Over a A mother tongue is defined as the that arise when language speakers 20-year period, from 1996 to 2016, first language learned in childhood of two or more groups come into the total number of people who that a person still understands. Of sustained contact with one another.6 were able to speak an Aboriginal the three Aboriginal groups, Inuit In rare cases, this contact can language went up by 8%. Aboriginal-language speakers were facilitate the creation of an entirely the most likely to have acquired that In recent years, learning a second- new language—such as the creation language as their mother tongue. language11 has often been cited of Michif from Cree and French.7 Of the more than 41,000 Inuit who as contributing to the number of In others, the smaller language can could speak an Aboriginal language, people who can speak an Aboriginal be pushed out, even to the point of 88% acquired it as their mother language.12 Efforts and calls to extinction.8 tongue. First Nations Aboriginal- support Aboriginal languages have language speakers were the next And yet, despite the obstacles of become increasingly common.13,14 most likely to have acquired that history and the pressures of the Nevertheless, the question remains: language as their mother tongue at contemporary world, Aboriginal can learning these as second 73%, followed by Métis at 58%. languages have endured. languages revitalize languages that have declined? As was stated earlier, the total Over the past two decades, the number of people who could share of the Aboriginal population9 This paper examines two different speak an Aboriginal language well with the ability to speak an Aboriginal groups of Aboriginal-language enough to conduct a conversation language has declined. In 1996, 29% speakers15—those who acquired rose by 8% from 1996 to 2016. of Aboriginal people were able to their language as their mother However, the number of people speak an Aboriginal language well tongue and those who learned it as a with an Aboriginal language as their enough to conduct a conversation. In second language—and examines the mother tongue declined by 1% 2006, just over 22% of the Aboriginal increase in second-language learners. over the 20-year period from 1996 population could speak an Aboriginal It also considers how the increase in to 2016. This difference shows that language. By 2016, this figure had second-language acquisition among the growth in Aboriginal-language dropped to 16%. Aboriginal-language speakers could speakers is mostly due to second- impact the future and vitality of Simply viewing the decreasing share language acquisition. Aboriginal languages in Canada. of speakers within the Aboriginal population may overstate the 2 / Insights on Canadian Society December 2018 — Statistics Canada Results from the 2016 Census: Aboriginal languages and the role of second-language acquisition Among those who could speak an Aboriginal language, the share who Chart 1 learned it as a second language Proportion of Aboriginal-language speakers who acquired an Aboriginal language increased over the 20-year period as a second language, Canada, 1996 to 2016 from 1996 to 2016 (Chart 1). In 2016, one-quarter of all Aboriginal- percent language speakers learned it as a 40 second language.20 This change reflects both the increase 30 in the Aboriginal second-language 25.7 population and the decrease in the 22.1 20.2 19.5 Aboriginal language mother-tongue 20 18.1 population: the net increase from 1996 to 2016 in the total number of people who could speak an 10 Aboriginal language was due to an increase in the number of second- language learners. 0 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 Those who acquired an Source: Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016; National Household Survey, 2011.