Official-Language Minority and Aboriginal First-Language Education: Implications of Norway's Sami Language Act for Canada

Abstract

Norway has given official-language status to the languages of its aboriginal peoples, the Sami, yet Canada has accorded that status only to English and French, the languages of the colonizers. In Norway, the 1992 legislation giving major language and cultural rights to the Sami has had a major impact on Sami education. This Norwegian experience has significant implications for official-language minority and aboriginal first-language education in Canada, shedding light on such important topics as minority teacher educa- tion, minority first-language pedagogy, curriculum texts, community attitudes to minority languages, language support services, school administration, devolution of control, cultural incorporation, and the maintenance of cultural identities. As a result, in this article I question the appropriateness of official policies and language practices in Canada. La Norvege a accorde le statut de langue officielle aux langues de ses peuples autochtones, les Samis. Cependant, le Canada n’a accorde ce statut qu’a l’anglais et au francais, langues de ses colonisateurs. En Norvege, la legislation de 1992, accordant des droits linguistiques et culturels majeurs aux Samis, a eu un impact considerable sur l’education de ceux-ci. Cette experience norvegienne qui comporte des implications significatives pour l’education relative a la langue officielle des minorites et a la langue maternelle des autochtones au Canada, jette un eclairage sur des sujets importants pour les minorites tels: la formation des maitres, la pedagogie relative a leur langue maternelle, les attitudes de la communaute a l’egard des langues des minorites, les services de soutien linguistiques, l’administration scolaire, la devolution du controle, l’incorporation culturelle et le maintien des identites culturelles. Par consequent, je remets en question dans cet article le bien-fonde des politiques officielles et des pratiques linguistiques au Canada.