(12/10/11) -

Quebecers Willing to Improve Their Level in the Other Official Language

French speakers are divided in their assessment of Bill 101, while English speakers regard it in a positive light.

People in Quebec are aware of the advantages of bilingualism in the workplace and say they want to improve their proficiency in the official language they do not currently dominate, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted in partnership with La Presse has found.

In the online survey of a representative sample of 1,002 employed Quebecers, 59 per cent of English speakers say they have to express themselves in French during meetings or exchanges with colleagues or superiors. Conversely, only 13 per cent of French speakers say they have to express themselves in English in similar situations.

French speakers are more likely to feel irritated by having to communicate in English (12%) than English speakers who have to communicate in French (3%). In fact, English speakers are twice as likely to report working with unilingual francophones (44%) than French speakers working with unilingual anglophones (21%).

Most respondents say they want to improve their proficiency in the other language because they know it will help them get ahead (62% for anglophones, and 56% for francophones). Still, while half of English speakers say they had to learn or improve their French for work (49%), only three-in-ten French speakers (31%) had to learn or improve their English.

English speakers appear to be facing a tougher time in the workplace, with 45per cent saying that they decided not to apply for a job due to their proficiency in the other language (compared to 39% for French speakers), 25 per cent saying they were deprived of a promotion (compared to 15% for French speakers), and 21 per cent who were teased at work (compared to 11% of French speakers). Less than one-in-ten respondents (6% of English speakers and 4% of French speakers) say they felt compelled to leave their job due to their level of French or English.

Large majorities of English speakers (89%) and French speakers (66%) believe it is the responsibility of both anglophones and francophones to speak the other language to facilitate communications in the workplace.

Politics

Anglophones regard the Liberal Party of Quebec as the most capable of protecting the place of the English language in Quebec (80%) whereas Francophones believe the Parti Québécois is best suited to protect the French language in the province (61%).

While most English speakers believe Bill 101 does a good job of protecting the interests of francophones in Quebec (52%), French speakers are split (47% Good, 43% Bad). Francophones are also divided on the role of the Office québécois de la langue française (46% Good, 44% Bad).

Francophones are practically unanimous in their view that French be the mandatory language in the workplace in Quebec with no exceptions or a few exceptions (93%)—a view shared by only 42 per cent of anglophones.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Jaideep Mukerji, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+514 409 0462
jaideep.mukerji@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From November 29 to December 1, 2011, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,002 randomly selected employed adults in Quebec owners who are Angus Reid Forum panellists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the working population of Quebec. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.