Intensive English in Quebec: Popular Attitudes and News Media Debates

Intensive English in Quebec: popular attitudes and news media debates by Mirian Olívia da Silva Perez Department of Integrated Studies in Education Faculty of Education, McGill University, Montreal April, 2013 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts © Mirian Olívia da Silva Perez, 2013 1 Abstract In the province of Quebec, Canada, linguistic issues are often covered by the French- language news media in a way that vilifies the English language and victimizes the French language. This author considers it necessary that the French-speaking population understand that English instruction need not harm students’ school performance in any subject, including French. Individuals need to have access to accurate and diversified information about research on second language instruction. The thesis research reported here investigated how three French-language newspapers in Quebec (Le Devoir and La Presse, from Montreal, and Le Soleil, from Quebec City) framed the debate about the Ministère de l’Éducation, Loisir et Sports’s (MELS) announcement of their intention to implement a mandatory intensive English program policy in all Quebec schools (Grade Six) between July 2010 and July 2012. The theoretical framework for this study was frame analysis (Entman, 1993; Goffman, 1974; Hallahan, 2008; McCombs, 2004; Pan, 2008; Scheufele, 2008).The study investigated how positive or gain frames contrast with negative or loss frames, with details of how the publications under study chose to position themselves on the issue. In total, 60 newspaper articles (news, editorials, op-eds and letters) containing the key words ‘anglais intensif’ [‘intensive English’] were studied. The findings show that all three newspapers, but especially Le Devoir and Le Soleil, were mainly against the policy and that most of the arguments were framed as losses or negative attributes of intensive English. The results also show that the extensive scholarly research on intensive English was not well represented in the newspapers. These three publications should therefore give more space for differing views about language issues in their reporting. Moreover, newspaper readers should also question themselves about the objectivity of the reporting. 2 Résumé Dans la province du Québec, au Canada, les problèmes linguistiques sont souvent abordés par les medias francophones dans une façon que diffame la langue anglaise et victimise la langue française. L’auteure du présent rapport considère qu’il serait important que la population francophone comprenne que le fait d’apprendre l’anglais, langue seconde, n’a pas forcément de conséquences sur la performance des étudiants dans d’autres matières, y compris le français. Les individus on besoin d’avoir accès à de l’information exacte et diversifiée en ce qui concerne les recherches en didactique et apprentissage des langues secondes. Ce mémoire de maîtrise a examiné comment, pendant la période entre juillet 2010 et juillet 2012, trois quotidiens francophones au Québec (Le Devoir et La Presse, de Montréal ainsi que Le Soleil, de la Ville de Québec) ont encadré le débat autour de l’annonce du Ministère de l’Éducation, Loisir et Sports (MELS) de son intention d’implanter un programme d’anglais intensif obligatoire en sixième année. Le cadre théorique de cette étude est la théorie de l’encadrement (‘frame analysis’) (Entman, 1993; Goffman, 1974; Hallahan, 2008; McCombs, 2004; Pan, 2008; Scheufele, 2008). Nous nous penchons sur la question de comment les cadres positifs, ou de gains, contrastent aux cadres négatifs, ou de pertes, ajoutant des précisions sur la façon dont les quotidiens étudiés ont choisi de se positionner par rapport au sujet. Un total de 60 articles (nouvelles, éditoriaux, ‘op-eds’ et lettres) contenant le mot de recherche ‘anglais intensif’ ont été étudié. Les résultats démontrent que les trois quotidiens, plus particulièrement Le Devoir et Le Soleil, étaient en grande partie contre la politique et que la plupart de leurs arguments ont été encadrés comme étant des pertes, ou des attributs négatifs, de l’anglais intensif. Les résultats démontrent aussi que les recherches académiques sur le sujet n’on pas été adéquatement représentées par les quotidiens. Nous concluons que ces trois quotidiens devraient donner plus d’espace aux différents points de vue sur le sujet. De plus, les lecteurs des journaux devraient se questionner d’avantage sur l’objectivité des reportages. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my thesis supervisors Mela Sarkar and Becky Lentz. Mela, thank you for believing in me, for making our meetings fun, for the encouragement, and for your optimism. Becky, thank you for familiarizing me with new ideas and for your thorough feedback. I would also like to give a huge thank you to my family, especially my husband, sister, and brother-in-law. Thiago, thank you for running my errands, for the tech support, and for putting up with my emotional ups and downs during the months of intensive writing. I love you! Natália, thank you for the conversations filled with excellent advice and encouragement. Jon, thank you for editing my clumsy writing and helping me find the right words to communicate my ideas. I miss you both! Keiko, Heather, Joy, Jorge, thank you for your practical tips and experienced advice. Thanks for promptly answering my silly questions and for encouraging me with your kind words. I also want to acknowledge those who helped me with small details. Tati, thanks for listening to me talk about my project, for reading parts of it and for your feedback. Shaheen, thank you for sacrificing an hour of your lunchtime to translate my abstract. Ben, Mathieu, Alexa, Nancy, thank you for helping me translate tricky French expressions. Elda, thanks for your help with my references. I also want to thank all the wonderful people I met at McGill University and my friends from the Brazilian SDA Church in Montreal. All of you played an important part in this project. Thank you for encouraging me to take breaks, but to work hard as well. Your words of support and your prayers were much appreciated. You are all amazing! Above all, I want to thank God for giving me the breath of life and the strength to go through it all. 4 Table of contents Acronyms Used ............................................................................................................. 7 1 Chapter 1 – Introduction ........................................................................................ 8 2 Chapter 2 – Context ............................................................................................. 13 2.1 French Canadians’ Linguistic Insecurity ................................................................... 13 2.2 Heavy hands: the English and the Catholic Church .................................................. 16 2.3 Quebec’s “Quiet Revolution” .................................................................................. 18 2.4 Quebec Commissions, Bills and the Charter of the French Language ....................... 22 2.5 French Maintenance versus English Mastery in Quebec .......................................... 29 3 Chapter 3 - The Political Role of Francophone News Media in Quebec ................. 32 3.1 Media and language issues historically ................................................................... 34 3.2 The Press and the ‘Quiet Revolution’ ...................................................................... 37 3.3 Newspapers in this study ........................................................................................ 39 3.3.1 Le Devoir ............................................................................................................... 40 3.3.2 La Presse ................................................................................................................ 44 3.3.3 Le Soleil ................................................................................................................. 46 4 Chapter 4 – Research Design ................................................................................ 49 4.1 Rationale for the Study ........................................................................................... 49 4.2 Theoretical Framework: Media Agenda-Setting and Framing .................................. 50 4.2.1 Media Agenda-Setting .......................................................................................... 50 4.2.2 Framing .................................................................................................................. 52 4.2.3 Francophone News Framing of Intensive English Policy in Quebec .................... 56 4.3 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 56 4.3.1 Data collection ...................................................................................................... 57 4.3.2 Data analysis: organization and coding ............................................................... 59 4.4 Validity Concerns .................................................................................................... 61 4.5 Summary ................................................................................................................ 61 5 Chapter 5 – Findings and discussion ..................................................................... 63 5.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................

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