Language Profile of Iranian Immigrants in Montréal Compared to Toronto
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Language profile of Iranian immigrants in Montréal compared to Toronto Mémoire Simin Shafiefar Maîtrise en sociologie - avec mémoire Maître ès arts (M.A.) Québec, Canada © Simin Shafiefar, 2018 Language profile of Iranian immigrants in Montréal compared to Toronto Mémoire Simin Shafiefar Sous la direction de : Richard Marcoux, directeur de recherche RÉSUMÉ Comme le nombre d'immigrants Iraniens a augmenté au Canada au cours des dernières décennies, les nouvelles recherches sont nécessaires sur cette population. Étant donné que la transmission des langues immigrantes est une composante du processus d'établissement des immigrants et que les immigrants iraniens ont rarement fait l'objet d'études canadiennes, le but de cette recherche est d'étudier le profil linguistique des immigrants Iraniens à Montréal par rapport à Toronto. En utilisant les données du questionnaire long du recensement canadien de 2001, 2006 et 2011, nous avons étudié l'influence des facteurs sociodémographiques, familiaux et migratoires sur la langue que les immigrants Iraniens parlent le plus souvent à la maison à Montréal et à Toronto. Pour ce faire, nous avons procédé à différentes analyses descriptives pour déterminer si les immigrants Iraniens sont plus susceptibles de parler en langue non officielle (langue ancestrale) à la maison ou en langues officielles. Dans le but d'approfondir le profil linguistique des immigrants Iraniens à la maison, j'étends mes recherches en effectuant des régressions logistiques. Les résultats montrent que les immigrantes iraniennes par rapport à leurs homologues masculins, immigrants légalement mariés, les iraniens qui ont immigré au Canada à l'âge de 15 ans et plus ainsi que les immigrants iraniens arrivés au Canada après 1980 parlaient dans une langue non officielle à la maison plus que les langues officielles à Montréal ainsi qu’à Toronto. Mots-clés: Langue parlée à la maison, immigrants Iraniens, maintien de la langue d'origine, Toronto, Montréal, régression logistique, Recensement canadien de 2001, 2006 et 2011. iii ABSTRACT As the number of Iranian immigrants has increased in Canada in recent decades, more research is necessary on this population. Given that immigrant-language transmission is one component of immigrant settlement process and also, Iranian immigrants have rarely been the subject of Canadian studies, thus, the purpose of this research is to study the home language profile of Iranian immigrants in Montreal compared to Toronto. Using the data of long form census questionnaire 2001, 2006 and 2011, we have studied the influence of socio-demographic, familial and migratory factors on language Iranian immigrants spoke most often at home in Montreal and Toronto. In doing so, we have carried out various descriptive analyzes to discover if Iranian immigrants are more likely to speak in non- official language (heritage language) at home or in official languages. For the purpose of further investigation of home language profile of Iranian immigrants I expand my research by running logistic regressions. The results show that Iranian female immigrants compared to their male counterparts, legally married immigrants, those Iranians who have immigrated to Canada at the age of 15 years old and over as well as Iranian immigrants who have arrived in Canada after 1980 spoke in non-official language at home more than official languages in both Montreal and Toronto. Keyword: Language spoken at home, Iranian immigrants, heritage language maintenance, Toronto, Montreal, logistic regression, 2001, 2006 and 2011 Canadian census iv Table of contents RÉSUMÉ ....................................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv List of figures ............................................................................................................................... viii List of tables ................................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................................ x Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 i. Purpose of study ................................................................................................................... 4 ii. Research questions ............................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. Language as a part of cultural identity ................................................................................. 6 1.2. Immigrants language maintenance in Canadian multicultural environment ........................ 7 1.3. Heritage language maintenance in Quebec ........................................................................ 10 1.4. Factors which promote the use of heritage language at home ........................................... 12 1.5. Factors which reinforce heritage language transmission ................................................... 14 1.6. Bilingualism as a social capital in Canadian context ......................................................... 17 1.7. Factors which cause the use of official language at home and heritage language loss ...... 20 1.8. Literature review ................................................................................................................ 24 1.9. Conclusion and Model of study .......................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 29 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 29 2.2. Iranian immigrants in Canada ............................................................................................ 30 2.3. Toronto and Montreal as major destinations of immigrants .............................................. 32 2.4. Methodology of study ........................................................................................................ 34 2.5. Database of study ............................................................................................................... 35 2.6. Population of study ............................................................................................................. 36 2.7. Definition of concepts ........................................................................................................ 37 2.7.1. Home language ................................................................................................ 37 2.8. Dependent variable ............................................................................................................. 38 v 2.9. Independent variables ......................................................................................................... 38 2.9.1. Socio-demographic factors include: .................................................................................. 39 2.9.1.1. Sex .................................................................................................................... 39 2.9.1.2. Age ................................................................................................................... 39 2.9.1.3. Marital status ................................................................................................... 40 2.9.1.4. Education ......................................................................................................... 40 2.9.1.5. Official language proficiency .......................................................................... 40 2.9.2. Familial factors include: .................................................................................................... 41 2.9.2.1. Family structure .............................................................................................. 41 2.9.2.2. Size of family .................................................................................................... 42 2.9.3. Migratory factors include:.................................................................................................. 42 2.9.3.1. Age at immigration .......................................................................................... 42 2.9.3.2. Period of immigration ..................................................................................... 43 2.10. Choice and description of methods .................................................................................... 43 2.10.1. Descriptive analysis ......................................................................................... 43 2.10.2. Explanatory analysis ....................................................................................... 44 2.11. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................................................