Section 5 Subjective sense of vitality

In this portrait of Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones, we have drawn a general profile of their different demolinguistic and socioeconomic characteristics. But what do we know about various key aspects of their subjective sense of vitality, and about how they perceive and value the French fact in their living environment?

Results from the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities bring out at least two key elements shared by most Francophones: a strong, double sense of identification with both Francophone and Anglophone groups, and a high value placed on the French language.

As regards the phenomenon of identity, SVOLM results suggest that Francophones have a double ethnolinguistic identity: 47% of them report that they identify with both Francophone and Anglophone groups, compared with 34% who report identifying mainly or only with the Francophone group.

Identity and the sense of belonging are highly complex concepts. Depending on the circumstances, people may identify with their country, their language, their culture, etc. Among Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones, the double sense of identification with Francophone and Anglophone groups suggests that in many cases, immersion in the primarily Anglophone culture may contribute to an emerging phenomenon: while Francophones value and respect their cultural and linguistic heritage, their language practices are influenced by living within the dominant and pervasive Anglophone culture. However, to verify and analyse this hypothesis would go beyond the scope of this analytical report and the limitations of the SVOLM in this regard.

Nevertheless, a number of factors indicate that Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones definitely value the French language. The majority of the province's Francophones (70%) reported that it is important or very important to them to be able to use French in their daily life. Also, they consider it important or very important for linguistic rights to be respected in their province (84%), for government services to be provided in French (78%) and for individuals or organizations to work at developing the French-speaking community (77%).

In examining the extent to which French is used in various domains covered by the SVOLM questions (notably regarding interactions with health care and justice system professionals as well as access to the main mechanisms for transmitting culture), we observe a phenomenon that may seem contradictory: valuing a language does not necessarily translate into using it a great deal. For example, among the roughly 70% of Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones who consider it either important or very important to be able to use French in their daily life, 68% watch television mainly or only in English, while 85% read newspapers mainly or only in English. Even though Francophones value the French language and give it great importance, their demolinguistic reality and the dynamics of their living environment may work against their using that language.

The Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities collected data on respondents' subjective perceptions regarding the past and future evolution of the minority language's presence in their municipality of residence, as well as the vitality of the minority official-language community. On this score, 30% of Francophones feel that the vitality of the French-speaking community in their municipality is strong or very strong, while 21% feel that it is neither strong nor weak. Also, when asked how the presence of French in their municipality would evolve in the next 10 years, 58% of Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones said that this presence would remain the same or increase. This is quite similar to the finding regarding their perception of how the presence of French had evolved in the past 10 years. These results suggest that Newfoundland and Labrador Francophones are confident regarding their language's presence in their municipality and indeed their province.