"Language and Identity" are themes of conference in Toronto (07/07/02)

"Language and Identity" are themes of conference in Toronto

by Oksana Zakydalsky

TORONTO - Language and identity: How important is one for the other? The Ukrainian language: Who in Canada is speaking it? Who is learning it? These were some of the questions addressed at the one-day "Language and Identity" conference held in Toronto on April 27 at St. Vladimir's Institute.

The organizers of the conference included: the Educational Council of the Ukrainian World Congress, the Shevchenko Scientific Society of Canada (NTSh) and the Ukrainian Canadian School Board - Toronto Branch. It attracted a large audience - the organizers had expected about 30 to 40 persons, but there were over 80 registrations. The program included a statistical examination of Ukrainian language speakers in Canada and three presentations on language use research.

The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Jim Cummins, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Prof. Cummins is one of Canada's foremost experts on second language acquisition; he has published widely and has served as a consultant to many international organizations on questions of language policy. In his address, he focused on the benefits of mother tongue retention and pointed out that the education system in Ontario does not build upon the rich language and cultural heritage of Ontario's multicultural society.

He emphasized that children who have fluent use of a second language (particularly one that is used in the home) are better at learning other languages. Although there seems to be no doubt about the positive conclusions of second language research and the benefits of second language fluency, this information has not yet fully filtered down to the curriculum policy and teaching levels.

A presentation of Dr. Oleh Wolowyna's census-based research on the situation of the Ukrainian language (originally prepared for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress) was made to provide a demographic foundation to the language question in Canada. Dr. Wolowyna's study pointed out that, when one speaks of "over a million Ukrainians in Canada," this figure, although rising, includes persons of multiple ancestry (only one out of up to four immediate ancestors is Ukrainian). On the other hand, the number of Ukrainians of single ancestry (both parents Ukrainian) has fallen from 581,000 in 1971 to 332,000 in 1996, a decrease of 43 percent. Thus, although the proportion of persons of single Ukrainian ancestry with Ukrainian mother tongue (language first learned and still understood) has remained around 50 percent in the last 25 years, the absolute number has fallen.

Furthermore, the percentage of single Ukrainian ancestry persons speaking Ukrainian at home has declined from 25 percent in 1971 to 12 percent in 1996 and, because it is age-related, is decreasing rapidly. Between 1991 and 1996 the number of persons who spoke Ukrainian at home declined by 20 percent, from 50,000 to 40,000, mostly due to mortality. The effect of persons of the so-called fourth wave immigration on the language situation has so far been largely unknown, although probably minimal, as the number of immigrants is small. Comparisons are difficult because, up to the 1996 Census, Statistics Canada did not keep separate data for immigrants from Ukraine.

Dr. Wolowyna's study stated that the components of Ukrainian identity of the 700,000 persons of multiple Ukrainian ancestry are not known other than the fact that they are ready to declare their ethnic origin on the census questionnaire. Their understanding of identity would have to be studied separately from the language issue as, of all persons of Ukrainian ancestry (single and multiple) under 30 years of age, less than 2 percent declared Ukrainian as their mother tongue.

The other presentations at the conference related to specific research topics. Prof. Roma Chumak-Horbatsch, Ryerson University, Toronto, spoke about her research on "Language Change in the Ukrainian Home." Ten years ago, she studied 10 families in Toronto, each with a 3-year old child, where special effort had been made to keep the home Ukrainian-speaking. She recently did follow-up interviews with six of the 20 initial sample families, speaking to the now 13-year-old subjects. Her interviews did not yield any dramatic conclusions about the Ukrainian identity of the children involved partly because the complex processes of identity and self-image in the teenage years make it difficult to isolate a single factor.

Prof. Olenka Bilash, associate dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Alberta, is also a researcher in the field of second language studies. She is the award-winning author of the NOVA series of guides to Ukrainian language teaching and her areas of interest include classwork, second language acquisition and development, and the training of language teachers. Her paper dealt with a study of Grade 6 children and where they are comfortable in using the Ukrainian language, which turned out to be in situations that are not judgmental.

Prof. Oleksandra Jawornicka, whose presentation dealt with the linguistic and national assimilation of Ukrainians in Poland, is a sociologist and demographer and lecturer at the Zielonogorski University in Poland. She provided a different perspective to Ukrainian language acquisition and retention, as Ukrainians in Poland are an official minority and not, as in Canada, part of the multicultural fabric. Furthermore, Ukrainians in Poland are not an immigrant but an autochthonous population even though most of them no longer live on their actual ancestral lands.

Prof. Jawornicka's paper outlined her research with students age 15 to 19 at two Ukrainian lycees - Legnica and Gorowo Ilaweckie. Although the students come to these schools from all over Poland, 81 percent are from families of single Ukrainian ancestry and hence exhibit a fairly high commitment to language retention, although this is falling. Data on Ukrainians in Poland is very difficult to isolate as no question on ethnic identity is asked in the census, although, in this year's census, it was possible to write in this information.

The chairs of the three sessions at the conference included: Nadia Luciw, president of the Educational Council of the Ukrainian World Congress; Prof. Emeritus Edward Burstynsky, University of Toronto; and Tania Onyschuk, president, Ukrainian Canadian School Board-Toronto Branch. Prof. Emeritus Wsevolod Isajiw, University of Toronto, provided a summation of the sessions.

Although the conference did not delve deeply into the connections between language and identity or the influences of one on the other, it delineated several areas where such questions should be studied: demographics, education policy, language acquisition research and immigrant vs. autochthonous experience.

| Home Page |