Download French and Creole in Louisiana by Albert Valdman (auth.), Albert Valdman (eds.) PDF

Show description

Fasold (1984) gives several frequently cited factors implicated in language shift: migration, industrialization, school language, urbanization, prestige, and a small population of the minority language group relative to the majority language group. Although similar social factors are cited in study after study, it is important to remember that correlational studies cannot prove causality. Brown (1993) cautions that there is nothing "foreordained" about language shift, especially in a case such as French Louisiana, where a strong language revival movement appears to be having some effect.

In language-shift communities, however, the child's linguistic system never fully develops, but instead ceases developing at an immature stage. In Louisiana, speakers who could be considered imperfect learners have typically acquired CF as a second language by means of either natural second-language learning or formal instruction. It will be especially interesting to see the long-term effects of formal language instruction (typically conducted in SF) on CF. I have witnessed signs of an emerging hybrid dialect among children enrolled in the Pierre Part Elementary School French immersion program.

An enlightened long-term language policy for Louisiana would be to impart competence in SF through the intermediary of the schools and the media so that Louisianans would be able to use it in situations where it is appropriate. At the same time, students should have the opportunity to hear the local vernaculars-CF and LC-in authentic communicative situations-for example, in listening to recorded conversations among fluent speakers or listening to and reading folklore materials. Necessarily, these authentic speech samples would reflect the full range of variability inherent in unstandardized vernacular speech.