French in Louisianan Schools: What Kind of Language, Pedagogy and Policy? Nicolas Martin-Minaret

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French in Louisianan schools: What kind of language, pedagogy and policy? Nicolas Martin-Minaret

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Nicolas Martin-Minaret. French in Louisianan schools: What kind of language, pedagogy and policy?. 2013. hal-02534999

HAL Id: hal-02534999 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02534999 Preprint submitted on 7 Apr 2020

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. French in Louisianan schools: What kind of language, pedagogy and policy?

Nicolas Martin-Minaret

June 2013

ABSTRACT

The situation of the French language in the American state of Louisiana, the linguistic policies enacted by the administration and its academic processing is highly representative of lots of countries or regions, and will be examined in this study.

Having been a teacher within the CODOFIL program (which recruits native-speaker teachers, mostly from France and Belgium), working in New Orleans for two years, successively in a charter school and in a Recovery District school with students ranging from 4 to 18 year-old, I had time to observe the process from inside: students, parents, teachers, school administrators, CODOFIL and the Louisiana Board of Education’s behaviors, preconceived ideas and orientations.

On the other side, living among Louisianans, it was fairly easy to measure the vitality and the varieties of French in the state, as well as the different linguistic levels and the social values of linguistic interaction through different codes.

Being from Poitou proved useful, allowing a good understanding of the Cajun speech and a better comprehension of code-switching meanings and values; and I felt that being part of a diglossing1 and culturally oppressed and undervalued community (the Poitevin one) helped me identifying similar social trends in the local social and cultural groups.

This study, as stated, will focus on the French language and its varieties in Louisiana, and will just skim through some other aspects of the local linguistic spectrum, but further studies and analysis should be done to have a more complete understanding of language dynamics:

1 Diglossia: “a situation in which two languages (or two varieties of the same language) are used under different conditions within a community, often by the same speakers. The term is usually applied to languages with distinct ‘high’ and ‘low’ (colloquial) varieties, such as Arabic”, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/diglossia

In Louisiana there is a large and growing Latino community (with Spanish present in business and services); a phonetically and sometimes grammatically local form of English (extending throughout the southern states), its more extreme version being attributed to white countrymen derogatorily known as ‘rednecks’, is present too; Ebonics is widely used by the black community (the aim of this study not being arguing if it is either a Creole form of speech or just “broken English”, I will just signal the use by the Afro-American community - usually that group belonging to lower classes – of a non-standard English language). Some of the immigrant groups, especially the more numerous ones such as the Vietnamese, also maintain a certain use of their language (data for 2004)2:

Rank Language Population PopulationPercent Of Reported Languages 1. Only English 3,771,00390 90.80% 2. French 194,314 4.68% 3. Spanish Or Spanish 105,189 2.53% Creole 4. Vietnamese 23,326 0.56% 5. German 8,047 0.19% 6. Chinese 5,731 0.14% 7. Arabic 5,489 0.13% 8. French Creole 4,470 0.11% 9. Italian 3,730 0.09% 10. Tagalog 3,335 0.08%

Therefore, observing different socio-linguistic processes across the state and the country is an essential key to understand the dynamics and to take measures that help to promote local language, and especially French varieties in Louisiana.

2 http://www.justia.com/us-states/louisiana/#quick

CONTENTS

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….5

2. History of the French language in Louisiana…………………………….6 2.1. Origins……………………………………………………………….6 2.2. Diversity……………………………………………………………..9 2.3. Language practice evolution (identity awareness)…………….11 2.4. Legal status………………………………………………………..17

3. Public administrative bodies in charge of education and schools’ status……………………………………………………………………….20 3.1. Federal government………………………………………………20 3.2. State government…………………………………………………20 3.3. Local administration………………………………………………21

4. Language policies and their consequences……………………………23 4.1. Academic policies toward languages…………………………...23 4.2. Language status in school……………………………………….23 4.3. Pedagogy………………………………………………………….25 4.4. Means and resources…………………………………………….29 4.5. Results……………………………………………………………..30

5. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………31

6. References………………………………………………………………...34

1. INTRODUCTION

Louisiana had been since its origins a contact area between languages and civilizations (Choctaw, Chitimachas, Caddos, French, Spaniards, Cajuns, Anglo-Americans, Afro-Americans, Caribbean Creoles, Latin-Americans, etc.) in a fast changing American continent, especially in its northern part, since European explorers and colonists set foot on those lands.

The status of the piece of land which converted itself into the State of Louisiana, member of the United States of America, varied across time; the languages spoken there and their statuses varied as well, but not necessarily in a synchronic way.

Since 1968, the state policy toward French, particularly in the schools of the Pelican State, have changed radically, as has, progressively, the image of the language in the speakers’ mind. James R. Domengeaux’s input as president of the CODOFIL (Council for the Development of French in Louisiana), spearhead of the state effort to enhance the use and preservation of French language in Louisiana, has been important.

Two centuries after the annexation of the territory to the United States of America and after more than 40 years of CODOFIL activity, it is time to observe the present linguistic situation in Louisiana, the pedagogy used in schools and the results of the language policy led by the State administration and enforced by the Department of Education of the State of Louisiana.

In that spirit, and after two years in daily contact with Louisianans, inside the school system (I taught French Language and Social Sciences in French, part of the immersion program), working with young children or teenage-students, integrated at the same time into the university as a master student, involved in some cultural events, I was able to perform an overall observation, almost an audit, of the work done, or intended to be done, in the field of languages and education. A quick analysis of the results balanced to the input, and more specifically the financial investment and economic burden of those policies will follow in this research.

That thesis was an opportunity to present a short study on that case, with the further idea for it to be of interest and help for decision makers and academics.

Locating that main part of the study, i.e. the present situation and the CODOFIL involvement until today, at the end of a long political, cultural and demographic time line is essential. Without that long evolution and those developing trends, today’s situation, and today’s school programs, would be most likely radically different. Analyzing taking into account a maximum of various factors is needed to cast a new light on the linguistic politics and social trends found in Louisiana. It is essential to understand the present policies as a result of a long process, but as a reaction too, reaction provoked by different factors, like the activism of a part of the population and new awareness of the political leaders about the cultural and linguistic questions; in a country vastly marked by a non-intervention stance, playing sometime against minority languages, sometime in their favor3 4.

2. HISTORY OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN LOUISIANA

2.1. Origins

When the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, in 1682, reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, the area was sparsely populated by Native Americans (mainly Choctaw, Chitimacha and Caddo). The European population of the area remained, at first, sparse as well, limited to soldiers, administrators, merchants and trappers.

The foundation of the city of New Orleans in 1718, on a strategic land, between the Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, proved decisive

3 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-05-09-spanish-usat.htm 4 The non-intervention has played in favour of Spanish in the USA, by letting services being set up in that language to serve Latin-Americans, allowing some states to give it a certain semi-official recognition (New Mexico, Texas), but has played against many other languages, like French and Native American languages for example, letting communities face a massive influx of allophones on there territory and a new language market value.

in the development of the colony. Indeed, despite no great increase in the colony’s population, the city quickly converted itself into the new capital of a gigantic territory, and, more importantly, into the main gate to Louisiana, with colonists and goods going through its port.

At the 1735 census, the colony, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, had 2450 French settlers (from different regions of the kingdom, with minimal dialectological influences so) and 4225 black slaves; 799 Whites were living in New Orleans with 925 black and 26 native American slaves. To that number, around a thousand soldiers have to be added, plus illegal or unregistered residents.

It is, however, to be compared to the 400 settlers of the territory in 1713, before the foundation of New Orleans; and those colonists, were, according to the Governor Antoine de La Mothe, “of the worst kind”, and they were mixing with local Native American (and later black) women.5

That ethnic mix and the cultural processes going with it explain why, from the 18th century to the present, the Native American Houma nation of Louisiana (as well as other, smaller groups) spoke French, progressively forgetting its Choctaw language.

The cession of the territory to the Kingdom of Spain in 1763 did not change the trend: the language used in daily and social life remained French, and to keep the population satisfied, the governor had to speak its language.

The position of French language was reinforced by further migrations, the most notable one in 1755: the Great Upheaval; Acadians from what is today Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick were expelled from their land. Many sought refuge on the shores of Louisiana. They brought with them their own language variety: Cajun French.

5 http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/amnord/louisiane-2historique.htm

Another major event was the arrival, between 1793 and 1809 (the last waves arriving when Louisiana was already an American territory) from Hispaniola Island (the French colony of St Domingue), of white planters (White Creoles and their black slaves) fleeing the revolt of the slaves and the Haitian revolution. These newcomers doubled, in a few years, the population of New Orleans (in 1810, the city had 24 552 inhabitants, and among them only 3 200 English speakers), greatly developed the cotton plantations, and added to the linguistic trend leading to the development and reinforcement of what is considered as two varieties of French in Louisiana: Creole and Colonial (or Plantation) French, the former being mostly the language used by the black slaves, the latter by the white plantation owners.

German, Irish, Scottish, Sicilian, Swedish and Spanish migrants added, over time, to the ethnic mix in Southern Louisiana, but were quickly assimilated into the French speaking majority. Toponymy is pretty clear about those arrivals, with, for example, a town called Des Allemands in the Acadiania region, Saint Charles and Lafourche parishes.

In 1803, the total population of the Territory of Louisiana was 43 000, almost all French speakers.

From that time English speaking settlers arrived in Louisiana, but the American Civil War (1861-1865) was a turning point. White Creoles gave up their language and blend with their white Confederate neighbors. More and more migrants arrived in southern Louisiana following the development of transport infrastructure and industry. From that point, however, the integration of the newcomers has been done through the English language, French losing its position as language of society and progress.

2.2. Diversity

Three varieties of French language have been historically used on the territory of modern days U.S. state of Louisiana, and are today collectively referred to as Louisianan French:

a) Colonial (or Plantation) French.

This variety was the first to be spoken in Louisiana. It roughly copies the standard French of the time it was brought to that part of the New World. Colonial French evolved over time, especially in the mid-19th century, in response to different factors (continuing immigration, influence from France, etc). A parallel could be established with the development of Canadian French in Quebec: with a larger population and a different historic process, Colonial French could have developed into a very local form. Instead, the vast majority of its speakers, being the white Louisianan gentry, progressively integrated themselves in the English-speaking upper class, with the remainder of the community mostly merging with the Cajuns. But that form of French is still be used (rarely) by speakers of other varieties as prestige dialect (leading to diglossia, which can be even triple: Cajun or Creole/Colonial French/American English).

b) Cajun French6.

The presence of this variety is the result of the Acadian migration after the Great Upheaval. As its name indicates, Cajun (from Cadien, pronounced “Cadgien” in Acadian French, therefore “Cajun” in English) is the local form of the language developed in Acadia (the modern day Maritime Provinces of Canada), as a result of the merging of the Poitevin (also known as Pictavian) and

6http://appl003.lsu.edu/artsci/frenchweb.nsf/$Content/Cajun+French+Glossary?OpenDocum ent

French languages with diverse influences (English and Native American, mostly).

This variety often proved hard to understand for European CODOFIL teachers (from France and Belgium), but is highly intelligible for someone speaking both the French and Poitevin languages. Cajun is by far the most spoken variety of French in Louisiana: the community is evaluated at around 430 000 people, but according to the U.S. Census, only 250 000 Louisianans declared that they speak French (in its Cajun form for the overwhelming part) at home. It can be spoken by people of mixed race and by Amerindians. c) Louisianan Creole.

The language should not be confused with the ethnic groups referring to themselves by the term “Creole”; while white Creoles (white settlers born in the colonies) traditionally spoke Colonial French, Creole French is the language of black and colored (mulatto and other mixed races) Creoles. It is similar to Caribbean French-based creoles, particularly to Haitian. The number of speakers is around 70 000 today.

The two latter varieties being associated with lower classes, they manage to survive due to poor schooling conditions, social and/or geographical isolation and tighter social links. As an example, the Houma Nation was segregated up to the middle of the 20th century; therefore, its members could not attend regular schools. This saved the social language from official education policies.

To further complicate this panorama, some people identifying themselves as (Colored) ‘Creoles’ speak Cajun, especially in and around Lafayette.

2.3. Language practice evolution (identity awareness)

Counties and parishes with the highest proportion of French-speakers in the USA (speakers of French-based creoles not included)7:

. St. Martin Parish, Louisiana (pop. 48,583) - 27.4% French-speaking . Evangeline Parish, Louisiana (pop. 35,434) - 25.7% French-speaking . Vermilion Parish, Louisiana (pop. 53,807) - 24.9% French-speaking . Aroostook County, Maine (pop. 73,938) - 22.4% French-speaking . Lafourche Parish, Louisiana (pop. 89,974) - 19.1% French-speaking . Acadia Parish, Louisiana (pop. 58,861) - 19.0% French-speaking . Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana (pop. 41,481) - 17.6% French-speaking . Assumption Parish, Louisiana (pop. 23,388) - 17.6% French-speaking . St. Landry Parish, Louisiana (pop. 87,700) - 16.7% French-speaking . Coos County, New Hampshire (pop. 33,111) - 16.2% French-speaking . Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana (pop. 31,435) - 16.2% French-speaking . Lafayette Parish, Louisiana (pop. 190,503) - 14.4% French-speaking . Androscoggin County, Maine (pop. 103,793) - 14.3% French-speaking

As one can observe, all the most French-speaking counties (or parishes) of the USA are located in Southern Louisiana with the exception of three New England counties bordering Canada, but none of them is even close to having a French speaking majority.

Percentage of Standard French and/or Cajun French speakers in Louisiana parishes8: - Brown 20 to 30% - Red 16 to 20% - Orange 11 to 15% - Yellow 4 to 10%; - Grey Less than 4%

7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language_in_the_United_States 8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Louisiana_French.svg

Figures from the United States Census report that roughly 250,000 Louisianans claimed to use or speak French in their homes.

On the national level, the 2008 figures indicated that 1,979,951 people used French in their home on a daily basis (up form around 1.6 million in 2000), and in 2000 the US Census Bureau listed French as the fourth most-spoken language in the nation after English, Spanish and Chinese (inclusive of all varieties). Many residents of Acadiana, mostly elderly individuals, are bilingual, having learned French at home and English in school. In recent years the number of speakers of Cajun French has diminished considerably, but efforts are being made to reintroduce the language in schools. As shown in the map below, French is not currently the majority language anywhere in Louisiana. However, lots of people still identify as Cajuns, and recent bills allow Louisianans to have “I’m a Cajun” written on their I.D. cards9, and even to use a French language license plate for their cars10, with the motto and the state name in French :

9 http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/bill_putting_im_a_cajun_on_dri.html#incart_river_default 10 http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/05/celebrate-your-ancestry-on-your-license-plate.html

However, percentages and quantity of speakers are two different things, as shown below:

Cities with larger populations, like New Orleans or Baton Rouge for instance, have respectively 5500 and almost 8000 French speakers in their territory. It is interesting to notice that sizeable communities are present even in the far north of the state, around the major cities of Shreveport and Monroe, mainly due to Hurricane Katrina evacuations11. Today there are more French speakers in Caddo parish (around Shreveport) than in Plaquemines (Mississippi Delta)!

The number of people who speak Cajun and Creole has declined dramatically over the last sixty years, accelerating through urbanization and coercion, a process slowly started in the second half of the 19th century. The language was not transmitted between generations, parents believing that it would be a burden and that English language fluency was the key to economic success and social achievement. Regular pressure from state policies (English-only schools, English-only official communications, etc) comforted Cajuns and Creole parents in their conceptions12.

11 http://sdsu-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.10/579/Saenz_Arthur.pdf?sequence=1 12Ward, Roger K. (1997), ‘The French Language in Louisiana Law and Legal Education: A Requiem,’ Louisiana Law Review Volume 7 Number 4, LSU.

In 1921 the Louisiana Legislature passed a law prohibiting the usage of French in public schools. This law was accompanied by a general social opinion in Louisiana that those Louisianans who spoke French were uneducated or unintelligent. Today, some adults are trying to (re)learn the language, helped by a dynamic culture (music, festivals, cuisine, theater, etc.), but it is still rare to hear young people speaking Cajun or Creole (and even French).

According to my own experience, speaking French in public places, with friends for example, sometimes proves efficient in finding French speakers: they are often eager to start a conversation in French if they hear you speaking the language.

The identity perception of the community has changed too: if 40 years ago Cajuns generally said that they were not Americans (as a common saying of that time stated in Cajun: “les Amaricains ça reste après Les Avoyelles”), today younger generations generally identify themselves with the cultural mainstream of the U.S.A. (but still consider themselves as Cajuns, even if they do not speak the language, as shown in the statistics and by the symbols widely used across the state: flag, license plate, stickers, etc.)13.

Ethnic Cajuns make up roughly half of the state population, but only 8% of the community speaks French today. Language transfer is the main issue, not immigration.

The situation of the Cajun community is reminiscent of cases in France, and particularly its socio-linguistic configuration in Brittany14.

The promotion of Louisiana’s French roots has done much, since 1968, to spur a decaying pride in that heritage, and today, identification as “Cajun” or “Creole” is pretty strong, especially in Acadiana15.

13 http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/nutr216/ref/nutr216_ref/cajun_henry.pdf 14 http://www.unine.ch/dialectologie/broudic.pdf 15 Tamara Lindner (2008) ‘Attitudes toward Cajun French and International French in South Louisiana: A study of high school students’ , Indiana University, p. 254

Around Louisiana, and more specifically in the Acadiana region and in New Orleans, French appears more often, symbolically, on public and private signs16:

In downtown New Orleans, in and around the French Quarter, all street signs are bilingual: the French form is smaller, and placed atop the English name17:

16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Louisiana.JPG 17 http://www.allposters.com/-sp/French-Market-Place-Street-Sign-New-Orleans-Louisiana-Usa- Posters_i4888045_.htm

It is the opposite in Lafayette, where the French form, usually historic, is the larger one18:

The famous Mardi Gras keeps its French name too, as do many cultural events. Some radio stations such as KRVS, which broadcasts avariety of programming in English and French, and Radio Louisiane offer programs in French. Today the image sticking to French language in Louisiana is radically different. It used to be seen as a backward language. Today it is a highly cultural language, and speaking French is seen as a sign of greater culture19.

It is interesting to note that the Spanish speakers in Louisiana saw their proportion almost double in ten years (1990 – 2000) while the percentage of the population that speaks French decreased a bit over the same period (however, the number of speakers remained stable). One possible explanation is an increased number of Latin- Americans driving down the raw percentage of French speakers without changing their actual numbers.

Nevertheless, Cajun and Louisianan Creole are still considered endangered.

18 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Street_signs_Lafayette.jpg 19Tamar Lindner (2008) ‘Attitudes toward Cajun French and International French in South Louisiana: A study of high school students,’ Indiana University, p. 185.

Around 5% of the Louisiana population speaks French at home while roughly 7% are partial speakers and/or use another language at home.

It is also interesting to look at the private sector; it is often - and every passing day a bit more – bilingual, but in Spanish. Indeed, it is today easy enough to live in New Orleans or Baton Rouge speaking only Spanish: banks, insurances, shop retailers, even mechanics will speak Spanish. However, it is much more complicated – if not impossible – to live in those cities speaking only French. The difference is explained by the fact that a lot of the Latin Americans living in those cities have a low command of the English language, while almost all French speakers are bilingual. Another point is that Spanish speakers do not give up their language: it is a community language, a tool for solidarity, and there is a very high rate of transmission from generation to generation.

Spanish speakers represent between 2.5% and 4.5% of the total state population (the first number is from the census, the last one is an estimate), and more than 10% of the Greater New Orleans population.

2.4.Legal Status

- Policy toward French

French was tolerated in the 19th century, in (semi-)official translation, in public services, and in school: It was officially banned from schools in 1920, and the students caught speaking French were punished.

The radical change occurred with the creation of CODOFIL in 1968, with the clear aim of reversing past trends and encouraging French in schools through immersion programs or language classes.

- Law

By law, French has no official status whatsoever in Louisiana. Public service, such as trials, must be conducted in English), but it is provided that people unable to speak English will be given a translator.

Where French has a privileged position, on the legal ground, it is for administrative advertisement: it must be done in English, but it may be duplicated in French:

§ 204 of article 12 of the constitution:

A. When advertisements are required to be made in relation to judicial process, or in the sale of property for unpaid taxes, or under judicial process or any other legal process of whatever kind, they shall be made in the English language and may in addition be duplicated in the French language. B. State and local officials and public institutions are reconfirmed in the traditional right to publish documents in the French language in addition to English.20

Louisiana, like most U.S. states and the federal government, has never declared any "official language" as such. When it joined the Union in 1812 it was the first state to join with a non-English-speaking majority and, for that reason, Congress required the state's first constitution to safeguard the rights of English speakers:

Article 6

That all laws that may be passed by the legislature, and the public records of the State, and the judicial and legislative written proceedings of the same, shall be promulgated, preserved and conducted in the language in which the constitution of the United States is written.

All laws and official documents had to be published in English (and the constitution was written only in that language) but no prohibition of also publishing them in other languages appeared. Until the Civil War, Louisiana continued to publish documents in French and its legislature continued to operate bilingually out of practical necessity as many officials did not speak English. Louisiana's 1845 constitution made these practices an official requirement, as both a recognition of French language rights and a pragmatic measure. In 1847 a law even formally authorized bilingual instruction in the state's public schools.

The 11th and last state constitution (1974) claims, in English, that:

20 http://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/amnord/louisiane_lois-div.htm#Les_communications_officielles_

Article 12

§ 4. Preservation of Linguistic and Cultural Origins

The right of the people to preserve, foster, and promote their respective historic linguistic and cultural origins is recognized.

This principle is reinforced and specified in Louisiana's Revised Statutes (43:204):

When advertisements are required to be made in relation to judicial process, or in the sale of property for unpaid taxes, or under judicial process or any other legal process of whatever kind, they shall be made in the English language and may in addition be duplicated in the French language. State and local officials and public institutions are reconfirmed in the traditional right to publish documents in the French language in addition to English.

It is the only text with a linguistic value in the state Constitution and the French language is not mentioned but the Louisiana’s Revised Statutes reconfirmed the possibility offered to public servants and institutions to publish in French (in addition to English) but no obligation whatsoever appears.

Article number 7, which addresses education, does not mention language either.

Nevertheless, the Code Civil Louisianais, basis of the civil law in Louisiana, is written in French, and the original French version is the official text. However, modifications to the Code have been made in English and pressure from the surrounding Common Law, (a result of the Federal Government trying to homogenize most of American laws) is playing against the French language.

The 11th of January 2004, the newly elected governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, took the oath of office in English and French.

3. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIVE BODIES IN CHARGE OF EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS’ STATUS.

3.1. Federal government

As stated on the Department of Education website and summarized here, the role of the federal administration is:

[...] to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access21.

Education is primarily a State and local responsibility in the United States. It is States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and graduation.

The federal government does not have a directive role in education, but can help in setting standards and rules, and found projects and scholarships. Some educational programs, like “no child left behind” can have an important impact on school programs and pedagogy.

3.2. State Government

In Louisiana, the State Legislature delegated part of its executive powers, specifically concerning the teaching of languages in school, to the Coucil for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL), created in 1968. This marked a radical change in the state position on the French language. The stated goal of the council was to "do anything possible and necessary to encourage the development, usage and preservation of French as it exists in Louisiana”.22 There are three main lines in CODOFIL’s policies: generalization of French teaching in elementary schools and high schools, restoration of ethnic pride, and development and popularization of cultural events.

21 https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html 22 Clarence's Guide to the Cajun French Language, Cajun Phrases, and Cajun Dictionary, qtd. in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun_French and http://www.codofil.org/

It is actually CODOFIL and not the state itself that sets language policy: the only political stance the state of Louisiana officially takes today is that of non-interference, as in the vast majority of the US states. Additionally, some Louisiana universities, like LSU, offer courses in Cajun French; however, they remain marginal and focus primarily on culture.

3.3. Local administration (parish)

Each parish of Louisiana has its own school board, the body which manages public school budgets, teachers, materials, and quality controls.

The education system, prior to university, is divided into three kinds of schools:

a) Public schools

The term "public school" is used for primary and secondary schools which are funded and/or run by a governmental entity.

Public schools in the United States are typically administered by a three-tiered model, at the federal level by the United States Department of Education, at the state level by state education agencies (Louisiana Department of Education in this case), and at the local level by local education agencies (school boards). The state superintendent of schools, appointed or elected, usually coordinates the state department of education, the state board of education, and the state legislature. Statewide education policies are then entrusted to local school boards, associated with the various parishes of Louisiana.

There are 1,574 public schools in Louisiana, serving 727,594 students.

b) Charter schools

Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money (and like other schools, may also receive private donations) but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools. They are, however, responsible for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter. Charter schools are opened and attended by choice. While charter schools

21 provide an alternative to other public schools, they are part of the public education system and are not allowed to charge tuition. Where enrollment in a charter school exceeds capacity, admission is frequently allocated by lottery. In a 2008 survey of charter schools, 59% reported that they had a waiting list, averaging 198 students. Some charter schools provide a curriculum that specializes in a certain field, e.g. arts and mathematics. Others attempt to provide a better and more efficient general education than nearby public schools.23

In the USA, around 5000 charter schools exist, serving 1.3 million students. That number represents only 2% of the national figure. Only in New Orleans does a majority of students attend charter schools.

Schools within the New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) system are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board, which directly administers 4 schools and has granted charters to another 12, and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, which directly administers 33 schools and has granted charters to another 37. The Recovery School District consists of schools with lower academic results, many in poor areas with difficult social backgrounds. Following Hurricane Katrina, the state seized the opportunity to extend its direct control through the RSD, taking charge in the rebuilding and the administration of damaged schools.

c) Private schools

Private schools are those which are privately funded, without taxpayer assistance. Those school typically charge tuition to finance their activities.

There are 483 private schools in Louisiana, serving 145,216 students. There are 11 Blue Ribbon schools (achieving superior standards of academic excellence), 16 all- girls schools, 13 all-boys schools, and 25 Montessori schools.24

The École Bilingue de la Nouvelle-Orléans is the only private school accredited by the State of Louisiana and the French government.

23 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_school 24 http://www.privateschoolreview.com/state_private_schools/stateid/LA

4. LANGUAGE POLICIES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES

4.1. Academic policies toward languages

French is currently the second-most studied foreign language in the US, behind Castilian (Spanish). In the fall of 2009 there were 216,419 American university students enrolled in French courses, the second-highest of any language (behind Spanish). Historically, in the USA, languages usually do not occupy a very important place in education programs (it is an elective subject, while Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences English and Physical Education are mandatory), especially after the No Child Left Behind bill, focusing on rather low standards, mainly in reading, writing and counting25. Louisiana has tried to support French classes through the CODOFIL and some political actions (mostly symbolic), like 1980’s Resolution 161. The fact that the State of Louisiana created a state agency to manage and develop the French language in Louisiana shows a certain will to reach that goal. However, the lack of guidelines, checks and controls over the agency and its results indicates that the state does not attach too much importance to CODOFIL’s mission, as shown too by the drastic budget cut in 201226. A drastic change in the status of the French language in Louisiana schools has taken place in the last century: in 1916 it was forbidden to speak French in schools (the pupil could get suspended), and in public buildings; this was reinforced with the anti-French 1921 constitution. In 2011, a state law passed by the legislature required the extension of immersion programs into 22 South Louisiana parishes by the fall of 201527.

25 http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/states/index.html 26 http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/codofil_stunned_by_gov_bobby_j.html 27 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec11/french_12-06.html

4.2. Language Status in School

The position of French language in schools is highly variable. There are few immersion schools with a real program and students in their immersion section. Most of those students do not have a French speaking background, as most of them are not of French descent (Sicilians, African Americans, Asian, Anglo-Saxons, etc)28. Often, even those bearing French names seldom hear the language in their family and community, though this varies with the location of the school. Someone living in Lafayette will have many more opportunities to hear Cajun and Creole French than in New Orleans or Baton Rouge.

For some schools with immersion programs in place, only a minority of students are actively involved. Recruitment for these sections are voluntary and, for older students, usually dependent on good performance in other fields. In the aftermath of Katrina, French immersion sections in the areas struck by the hurricane were often very low on students, especially in New Orleans. As an example of the general trend I will shortly write about my experience in two different schools, Hynes Charter School and Schaumberg. In 2005-2006, Hynes Charter School had two 11 year-old students in its very rudimentary semi-immersive class, with only two subjects taught: social sciences and French language.

Private and charter schools have a greater autonomy regarding the subjects taught, and controls are rare or done by incompetent and/or ineffective staff29 30. At H.C. Schaumburg (part of the Recovery School District, in north-eastern New Orleans) the director of the school originally wanted a Spanish teacher: After a 30 second-talk with an employee of the School Board, she accepted to switch to French, showing that the topic did not really matter and that French or Spanish were not, anyway, a “real” part of the curriculum.

28 http://www.justia.com/us-states/louisiana/#quick 29http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2013/04/27_million_in_property_lost_or.html#incart_m- rpt-2 ; 30 In ‘Lousiana’s hope for a francophone future: exploring the linguistic phenomena of Acadiana’s French immersion schools’, by Albert Sidney Camp, after going through an extremely bureaucratic process for authorizations, the author, arriving at Paul Breaux Middle School, realizes that no one knows about his visit and the administrative staff is not even able to take him to the correct class room (p. 31)

In some rare immersion/bilingual schools, French is treated as an “important” subject; but even when grades are actually taken into account, it is clear that languages are not a priority to the students, the staff, or the parents. This is obvious when one observe the typical number of hours taught per week in a well-reputed charter school such as Hynes, where French is compulsory: an average of 90 minutes a week per class. In other schools, where the obsession with benchmarks is stronger and the set goal (“no child left behind” federal policy) is to have a maximum of students reaching the minimum, and rather low, marks in English and Mathematics (those marks are used to evaluate schools and to allocate extra money for good results), second-language education is treated as an unimportant subject. The class is compulsory, so other teachers are free during this time for planning and meetings, and the school, part of the Recovery School District, can theoretically offer similar courses as in other institutions. A similar social trend is underline by Camp and Tornquist in their works: the middle school immersion in Lafayette was previously at Edgar Martin, but was moved to Paul Breaux for the sake of social and ethnic mixing.

The result of this policy during my time spent at Schaumberg, has been to relegate languages, physical education, computer science, and the arts together, with the work of the teachers in charge of those subjects reduced to supervise the pupils while teachers of “serious subjects” have their planning time. Apathy from school leaders obsessed with the federally mandated minimal mark rate in their school (individual bonuses to some teachers and members of the directing board are allocated based on the percentage of students passing those marks) leads to inefficiency in the teaching of French in Recovery School District schools, according to my experience and observations; calm and order being a real issue in this kind of school, students genuinely interested in the subject cannot learn, being victims of intimidation, occasional physical assaults, and surrounded by constant turmoil.

4.3. Pedagogy

Different approaches exist. The two main ones are: a) French as a foreign language classical classes

In this approach, French is taught as any other language would be. No particular attention is given, nor is it asked for by CODOFIL or the parish. The teacher is the only one responsible for putting the language into its local cultural context, though usually the teacher does not even have a deep knowledge of local French-speaking culture (the vast majority - about 75% - of the French language teachers come from abroad)31. The size of the class can vary, but the average is about 16 students. This number can increase to as many as 20 in some cases, most often in public schools. No definite approach is mandated, and the teacher must, with occasional school and/or parish participation, set his own goals, materials and techniques and evaluation standards. b) Immersion classes

In theory, to be called “immersion”, a minimum of 50% of the courses have to be taught in French. Ideally, all subjects except English language are taught in French. 3,715 students are currently enrolled in French Immersion programs. The schools offering immersion programs as of Autumn 2011 were as follows32:

School Grades City Parish Church Point Elementary K-4 Church Point Acadia Pierre Part Primary K-4 Pierre Part Assumption Pierre Part Middle 5-8 Pierre Part Assumption Belle Rose Primary K-2 Belle Rose Assumption Assumption High 9 Napoleonville Assumption Winbourne Elementary K Baton Rouge East Baton Rouge Henry Heights Elementary K-5 Lake Charles Calcasieu Gillis Elementary K-5 Lake Charles Calcasieu Prien Lake Elementary K-5 Lake Charles Calcasieu Moss Bluff Middle 6-8 Lake Charles Calcasieu S.J. Welsh Middle 6-8 Lake Charles Calcasieu Alfred M. Barbe High 9-12 Lake Charles Calcasieu Daspit Elementary K-6 New Iberia Iberia North Lewis Street Elementary K-6 New Iberia Iberia S. J. Montgomery Elementary K-3 Lafayette Lafayette

31Camp, Albert Sidney (2010) ‘Lousiana’s hope for a francophone future: exploring the linguistic phenomena of Acadiana’s French immersion schools’, LSU, p. 14 32 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_French

School Grades City Parish Myrtle Place Elementary K-3 Lafayette Lafayette Prairie Elementary K-5 Lafayette Lafayette Evangeline Elementary K-2 Lafayette Lafayette Vermilion Elementary K-1 Lafayette Lafayette Edgar Martin Middle 6-7 Lafayette Lafayette Paul Breaux Middle 6-8 Lafayette Lafayette Audubon Montessori K-8 New Orleans Orleans Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle-Orléans Nursery-6 New Orleans Orleans Hynes Elementary K-3 New Orleans Orleans International High School of New Orleans 9-10 New Orleans Orleans International School of Louisiana K-8 New Orleans Orleans Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orleans Pre-K3-K New Orleans Orleans Park Vista Elementary K-2 Opelousas St. Landry South Street K-3 Opelousas St. Landry Teche Elementary 4-6 Breaux Bridge St. Martin Cecilia Primary K-3 Cecilia St. Martin

Cecilia Junior High 7-8 Cecilia St. Martin Cecilia High School 9-12 Cecilia St. Martin

The biggest obstacle to a close-to-perfect fluency is that there is a lack of willingness on the part of French Immersion students to communicate in French outside of the classroom. But in a society overwelmingly English speaking, having only three subjects in French (Social sciences, French language and Science), representing roughly 30% of the school time is barely enough to allow students to reach a conversational level after the eighth grade; lots of mistakes are still made and there is very little fluency. Althought, students usually have a very good understanding. School administration and services are done in English only. Therefore pupils do not believe in the ‘power of French’ and they would always revert to English among themselves unless they are constantly supervised. French does not get to the streets, as a community language. When at a CODOFIL sponsored event outside the school, parents and students do not speak French between them. Only teachers do so. Code-switching is quite common too, in class, as Haj-Broussard also noted. They also mainly use fragmentary sentences, relying on the treacher to complete and help them.

Those observations are consistent with the reported findings of Caldas and Caron- Caldas during their case study as well as Tarone and Swain.

This can be explained by different factors:

- The students lack the vocabulary for everyday use, which is usually not taught to them. - English is felt as the peer and community language, used for social communication. - Most of the time students learn the International French, while the language they are most likely to face in their immediate environment is either Cajun or Creole French. - The pupils lack of curiosity and interest for francophone medias (a good idea would be to bring the medias into the classroom).

Haj-Broussard observed that elementary immersion students in Acadiana used French terms for social interaction when they were given a list of appropriate terms, like expletives for instance. Pupils declared to Camp that they do not have big comprehension problems with teachers from France, Belgium, Canada or Africa, but that they have a hard time understanding their Cajun family. Those statements underline again the dilemma faced by the CODOFIL: what kind of French for the school?

Immersion Parishes33

As a comparision, in the immersive Diwan schools in Brittany, only the French language subject is taught in French. It is believed that, as French is everywhere outside the school, then the institution has to provide a fully immerse environment as a ‘compensation’, increasing Breton language exposure. People cleaning the school, working in the canteen or supervising the recess can all be adressed in breton, and the language is felt as a community one, with students often speaking in the target language between them, reaching great level of proficiency at the end of high school. Standard Breton is used in written material given, but teachers are free to use any dialect they like, and they are often encouraged to use the local one.

4.4. Means and resources

There is a massive investment in order to bring native speakers from French speaking countries (from France, Belgium and Canada, mostly. Note that the same kind of program exists for Spanish too); and scholarships are given to local students to go and study in French-speaking countries.

Despite this, nothing is really done to have proper materials, especially books translated or written in French, in order to develop a well-organized immersion or second language program. Instead, teachers are asked to provide material for

33 http://www.frenchinlouisiana.com/

29 themselves, translating, printing, and working around the limitations of the school’s resources.

This situation is damaging the education system in different ways:

- French seems to be a language which is not taken seriously, as the state and the schools do not allocate necessary resources or proper material in this language to reach stated goals. - Teacher must spend a great deal of time to prepare their class, for lack of directly available material; this time is not invested in the preparation of alternative approaches and activities, and can deter some French speaking teachers from teaching in French, as it would be an extra burden for them. - There is no central control over the material presented to students, and as such there can be a great deal of variation between schools and between teachers. - While the state of Louisiana insists upon numerous standardized tests for all students in various subjects, there is no standardized test for the linguistic abilities of immersion students in their second language. - There is still no corpus of systematically gathered data

In June 2012, the financing of the CODOFIL was in the headlines: Bobby Jindal, governor of the State of Louisiana, decided to curtail the council’s budget, asserting that “enough founding had been already allowed in the past”. The CODOFIL budget passed from $257,000 to $157,000, out of a $25.6 billion budget (around 0,0006%). As a comparison, the sum allocated to CODOFIL was around $1 million per year in the 1980s; it has been steadily declining ever since. As in 2013, the state has launched the already cited Cajun I.D. card and the French license plate to finance its activities.

5. RESULTS

Today about 4000 students are enrolled in the French immersion program and around 50,000 are attending French lessons.

Most of the research conducted in Acadiana‟s immersion schools up until this point has been more sociological or pedagogical and less linguistic in nature.

This lack of published research is particularly significant because Louisiana has the highest actual number of immersion programs in the United States.

It is in general very likely that a student in Louisiana will encounter the French language at some point in his career, especially since the place of the language in public services has been reinforced in 2010.

The immersion program, as in Brittany and many other places, produces good results, and the grades obtained by the pupils are higher than in English-speaking classes34. This fact as been clearly explained by Camp: parents choosing to put their children in an immersion program have a particular cultural and/or pedagogical awareness, and their average social status is higher than in most English-speaking schools. Additionally, students struggling in the immersion program are likely to be withdrawn from it by their parents, thinking their child difficulties are linked to the language (which is far from being always true).

Unfortunately, there is no global evaluation of the French knowledge at different education levels, and therefore it is quite difficult to estimate how many students are actually able to speak French, at what level, and after how many years. There is no real academic accountability, and neither CODOFIL nor the parishes have organized a system for it. As a consequence, no one is really able to give concrete numbers, and when you contact CODOFIL you realize that the staff members cannot answer questions which should be obvious and basic for them (when contacted, they were unable to provide accurate numbers, unable to give information about language proficiency of the students, and unable to point to previous studies). Official institutions in Louisiana, such as CODOFIL and local school boards, have generally no or little material, do not know anything about French language curriculum (the teacher have to fend for themselves), and lack a clear and well planned organization. There are no real stated aims, no fixed policies, no regular evaluations of results, no

34 http://rennes.aujourdhui.fr/etudiant/annuaire-lycees/lycee/lycee-diwan-carhaix- plouguer/palmares.html

31 stately organized program for the French language. But it seems that it has been slowly beginning to change since 2010, with the project of opening new immersion classes.

6. CONCLUSION

There is a discontinuity of social use because of the variety taught in school. The language taught does not correspond with the variety traditionally used and occasionally still heard today. Grand-parents speak a language variety that matches only partially the one students learn in school: phonetics, vocabulary and grammar can vary greatly35.

The cultural recuperation and reappropriation program is here facing a dilemma and a paradox: teaching standard French, as it is done today, is close to teaching a foreign language. Most people do not see it as a patrimony and heritage tongue. The Spanish and French languages are not perceived differently by Louisianan students and education leaders. This contributes to the devaluation of the local language varieties, which are seen as undeserving of equal treatment in schools, standardization, full recognition and social development.

Additionally, the raise of the Castilian (Spanish) language throughout the USA and the vitality of this language among the communities using it are overshadowing French. Castilian (Spanish) is by far the most popularly studied language in the USA, although French is more popular in territories with historical French speaking population, such as Louisiana, Maine or Vermont for instance.

Some militants claim that there is a real need to create a Standard Louisianan French which would be taught and promoted as proper to the state, in order to recreate the link between younger and older generations. The publication, in 2009, of the Dictionary of Louisiana French was a corner stone in that direction36. A link needs to be rebuilt between the language and the citizens too: a reappropriation process has to start in order to save an already dying language, and it needs to be done through attractive social events and activities. Music plays a role in the current cultural

35 http://appl003.lsu.edu/artsci/frenchweb.nsf/$Content/Cajun+French+Definition?OpenDocument 36Valman Albert (2009) ‘Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities,’ University Press of Mississippi.

32 movement but it is far from being enough; even in most “Cajun events” attendees are unable to speak either the local language or standard French. It is almost always the elderly who will be eager to talk to you in their mother tongue, though they are often uncomfortable in standard French and even have trouble speaking a ‘straight Cajun’, diglossia being extremely present with English everywhere around. In spite of this, they are usually happy to talk to you in ‘French’ and will engage you in that language if they hear you speaking it, even in random public places like supermarkets or public transportation. A pupil interviewed by Camp also told him that he had an interaction in French at the library with a Canadian national. This behavior shows that a bond still exists between certain members of the community and their traditional language, and through it, to the world of Francophonie.

Another issue is that teachers entering and leaving the program with frecuency (theoritically, foreign teachers are in Louisiana for a maximum of three years) had led to an instability which hindered the children’s development in French; and in the case those teachers would be instructed about Louisianan culture and the particularities of its French language varieties, training would have to be done again with newcomers after very few years. A way has to be found to help teachers stay in the local education system for the sake of stability and competence.

6. REFERENCES

ANCELET, BARRY JEAN (1988) ‘A perspective on teaching the ‘problem language’ in Louisiana,’ Carbondale: in The French Review # 61, p.345-356.

BARNETT, C. BRIAN (2010) ‘French immersion teachers’ attitudes toward Louisiana varieties of French and the integration of such varieties in their classroom: A quantitative and qualitative analysis,’ (doctoral dissertation), Bloomington: Indiana University.

BRADSHAW, JIM (1991) ‘Culture, not blood, defines today’s Cajuns,’ Lafayette: The Sunday Advertiser.

CALDAS, S., & CARON-CALDAS, S. (1999) ‘Language Immersion and Cultural Identity: Conflicting Influences and Values’. Lafayette: Language, Culture, and Curriculum #12, p. 42-58. CAMP, ALBERT SIDNEY (2010) ‘Lousiana’s hope for a francophone future: exploring the linguistic phenomena of Acadiana’s French immersion schools’ (doctoral thesis), Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University. http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11102010-165935/unrestricted/Camp_thesis.pdf

CERQUIGLINI, BERNARD (2010) ‘L’expérience de la minorité : le français, langue régionale en Louisiane,’ in Glottopole #16, Université de Rouen. http://www.univ-rouen.fr/dyalang/glottopol/telecharger/numero_16/gpl16_02cerquiglini.pdf

ETUDES FRANCOPHONES (directed by ANCELET, BARRY JEAN) Volume 21, Numbers 1&2 (2006), ‘La Louisiane Francophone’, Lafayette: University of Louisiana. HAJ- BROUSSARD, MICHELLE (2003) ‘Language, identity and the achievement gap: Comparing experiences of african-american students in a French immersion and a regular education context’ (doctoral dissertation), Lafayette: Louisiana State University. HEBERT-LEITER, MARIA (2009) ‘Becoming Cajun, Becoming American’, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press.

HENRY, JACQUES M. and BANKSTON, CARL L. (2001) ‘Ethnic self- identification and symbolic stereotyping: the portrayal of Louisiana Cajuns,’ London: Routledge http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/nutr216/ref/nutr216_ref/cajun_henry.pdf

HENRY, JACQUES M. and BANKSTON, CARL L. (1998) ‘The Silence of the Gators: Cajun Ethnicity and Intergenerational Transmission of Louisiana French,’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development #19, Lafayette: University of Louisiana.

LINDNER, TAMARA (2008) ‘Attitudes toward Cajun French and International French in South Louisiana: A study of high school students,’ Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.

STIVALE, CHARLES J. (2002) ‘Disenchanting Les Bons Temps: Identity And Authenticity In Cajun Music and Dance,’ Durham: Duke University Press.

TARONE, ELAINE & SWAIN, M. (1995) ‘A Sociolinguistic Perspective on Second Language Use in Immersion Classrooms,’ The Modern Language Journal #19, p.166- 178.

TORNQUIST, LISA (2000) ‘Attitudes linguistiques vis-a-vis du vernaculaire franco-louisianais dans les programmes d’immersion en Louisiane,’ Lafayette : University of Louisiana.

WARD, ROGER K. (1997), ‘The French Language in Louisiana Law and Legal Education: A Requiem,’ Louisiana Law Review Volume 7 Number 4, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univeristy.

Online ressources: Université de Laval, Québec, Canada: http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/amnord/louisiane-2historique.htm http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/amnord/louisiane-3pol-lng.htm US Department of Education:

35 http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml NEA Academy: http://www.nea.org/home/16332.htm Private School Review: http://www.privateschoolreview.com/state_private_schools/stateid/LA Hynes Charter School: http://www.hynesschool.org/french.htm U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/tables/11s0052.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-29.pdf Radios Websites: http://www.radiolouisiane.com/ http://www.radio-locator.com/info/KRVS-FM CODOFIL. Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane: www.codofil.org/ State of Louisiana Government: http://louisiana.gov/ http://www.louisianabelieves.com/ http://web.archive.org/web/19981201222734/http:/www.doe.state.la.us/ About H.C. Schaumburg Elementary School: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/LA/schools/0005400964/school.aspx PBS Newshour, online news: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec11/french_12-06.html Mutulization of resources for French teaching: http://www.frenchinlouisiana.com/ http://louisiana.educationbug.org/public-schools/ http://www.nasbe.org/about/34-about/44-what-is-nasbe The Times Picayune, local newspaper: http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2012/02/french_officials_tour_language.html http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/codofil_stunned_by_gov_bobby_j.html

36 http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/bill_putting_im_a_cajun_on_dri.html#incart_river_d efault http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2013/04/27_million_in_property_lost_or.html#incart_m- rpt-2 Louisiana Statistics: http://www.justia.com/us-states/louisiana/#quick USA Today article about Spanish language use in the USA: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-05-09-spanish-usat.htm Online review ‘Asteur Amérique: L’expérience nord-américaine’: http://www.asteur-amerique.org/?Le-francais-en-Louisiane Online sociolinguistic review ‘Glottopol’ #16: http://www.univ-rouen.fr/dyalang/glottopol/telecharger/numero_16/gpl16_02cerquiglini.pdf Lousiana State University, about Cajun: http://appl003.lsu.edu/artsci/frenchweb.nsf/$Content/Cajun+French+Glossary?OpenDocument