Post-secondary Education and the Development of Bilingual Canadians: Historial can Future Perspectives

Abstract

One of the most persistent themes discussed in recent times by individuals concerned about post-secondary education in Canada is the role universities and community colleges ought to consider playing in developing bilingual young people. Throughout the 1980's, statements emanating from the office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (e.g., Fortier, 1986; Yalden, 1982) have brought post-secondary bilingual education to public attention. The issue has been the focus of numerous conferences (cf. Manzer, this issue), a special issue of the Canadian Modem Language Review (Mydlarski & West, 1985), and a nationwide survey of universities by Leblanc (1986), Bilingual education: a challenge for Canadian universities in the 1990's. As the papers in the present issue clearly demonstrate, interest in the topic remains strong and there are no indications that it will wane in the foreseeable future. Post-secondary institutions face important decisions as to what role, if any, they might wish to play in developing bilingual students and how best to play that role. In making those decisions, it seems crucial to us that universities and colleges first examine what they have contributed so far to this endeavour and then take stock of their current situation. In this editorial, we review the contributions made to date and consider what roles might be desirable for post-secondary institutions in the future, as well as the implications of those roles for research, administration and teaching practice.