Language Immersion and Cultural Identity: Conflicting Influences and Values

Abstract

This study examines the developing cultural and linguistic identities of three French/English bilingual children reared in two linguistic cultures: American and Quebecois. The children's mother is a French-English bilingual of Quebecois ancestry; the father is a French-English bilingual and lifetime native of the United States. They have reared their three children, a boy 13 and identical twin girls 11, in a mainly French-speaking home since birth. The children have acquired English-speaking skills predominantly outside of the home in South Louisiana, in both all English-speaking and French-immersion academic environments. Additionally, they have spent brief periods of complete academic immersion in French-Canadian schools, and spend summers in an all French-speaking environment in Quebec. The study data include field notes, tape recordings, self-perception surveys, and teacher-administered surveys. The study results indicate that the adolescent boy, who speaks more English than French, tends to identify with his American peer culture, from whom he conceals his bilingualism. The twin girls, who are in a French immersion programme, speak more French than English, and are prouder of their bilingual status. Though having an accent was regarded as a disadvantage in Quebec, the more time spent in French Canada, the less this seemed to be a concern.