SECONDARY SCHOOL
How can we avoid linguistic insecurity?
By Suzanne Robillard, PhD student in sociolinguistics at the University of Ottawa
When we feel that our way of speaking is “inferior,” when we’re embarrassed to express ourselves in French, or when we’re constantly looking for the “right” way of speaking, we’re suffering from linguistic insecurity. This is a problem that affects linguistic minority communities in particular; in addition to the lack of opportunities to use French, you can feel this insecurity every time you open your mouth.
As a parent, what can I do to prevent my child from feeling this way about French? And what should I do if I feel this way myself?
Here are three strategies to avoid causing linguistic insecurity, both in ourselves and in our children.
1. Encourage informal French rather than French from grammar books
French that is acquired from birth is not necessarily the French found in Grevisse’s grammar reference books. A child learns its mother tongue according to the linguistic model provided by the parents. At home we use an informal French, which in general does not follow all grammatical rules to the letter! This informal French is what linguists call the vernacular. Linguistic science explains that the vernacular is governed by complex rules existing beneath our consciousness. Every community follows slightly different rules, and sharing these vernacular rules strengthens our sense of community solidarity. So, by encouraging the vernacular, we’re actually contributing to the retention of French.
2. Be open to fresh linguistic change
French is constantly undergoing change -- after all, the grammar rules that we follow today aren’t exactly the same ones we followed 400 years ago. Linguistic change is natural and necessary: without change, the language becomes frozen, and eventually it stagnates. The changes are sometimes so subtle that they go unnoticed, but at other times you notice them, and you may think that they’re mistakes -- especially if they’re more common among young people and go against the rules of traditional grammar. A language that evolves is a language that’s in good shape.
3. Avoid explicit corrections of the vernacular
There’s often a tendency to want to “teach” what we may consider “good” French, but this approach can have the opposite effect to what we’re looking for. The French found in grammar texts is made to be taught, but French that’s natural and spontaneous doesn’t lend itself well to corrections. Criticizing someone's spontaneous French is a bit like criticizing the way they walk. When we walk, we’re not consciously thinking about the position of our arms or legs; however, as soon as someone comments about our gait, we can become hypersensitive about it. It's the same for language. Constantly thinking about how we speak eventually leads to linguistic insecurities. Therefore, instead of correcting language, be a linguistic model for your child -- for the vernacular, and also for the more formal French that’s necessary in certain contexts.
In the end, conventional wisdom about spoken French -- that the French in grammar books is the “ideal” French, that changes that transform French can lead to its decline, and that informal French should be corrected -- can cause more harm than good. To avoid linguistic insecurity, one simply has to let French follow its path in a natural way.
