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From the May 2007 issue of Canadian Social Trends (Statistics Canada) ...

Aboriginal Languages in Canada: Emerging Trends and Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition

By Mary Jane Norris

Aboriginal people are confronted with the fact that many of their languages are disappearing. Over the past 100 years or more, at least 10 once-flourishing languages have become extinct. However, declining trends in the intergenerational transmission of Aboriginal mother tongues are being offset (to a degree) by the fact that Aboriginal languages are increasingly being learned as second languages.

Only one in four Aboriginal people speaks an Aboriginal language. Currently, only a minority of the Aboriginal population in Canada is able to speak or understand an Aboriginal language. According to 2001 Census data, of the 976,300 people who identified themselves as Aboriginal, 235,000 (or 24%) reported that they were able to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language.1

This represents a sharp drop from 29% in 19962, and appears to confirm most research which suggests that there has been substantial erosion in the use of Aboriginal languages in recent decades. Another definite indicator of the erosion is the declining percentage of the Aboriginal population whose mother tongue is Aboriginal. In 2001, just 21% of Aboriginals in Canada had an Aboriginal mother tongue, down from 26% in 1996.

However, the decline in mother tongue population has been offset to some degree by the fact that many Aboriginal people have learned an Aboriginal language as a second language. In 2001, more people speak an Aboriginal language than had an Aboriginal mother tongue (239,600 versus 203,300). This suggests that some speakers must have learned their Aboriginal language as a second language. It appears that this is especially the case for young people.

Learning an Aboriginal language as a second language cannot be considered a substitute for learning it as a first language.3 Nevertheless, increasing the number of second language speakers is part of the process of language revitalization, and may go some way towards preventing, or at least slowing, the rapid erosion and possible extinction of endangered languages. Indeed, the acquisition of an Aboriginal language as a second language may be the only option available to many Aboriginal communities if transmission from parent to child is no longer viable.

As well, in gaining the ability to speak the language of their parents or grandparents, young Aboriginal people will be able to communicate with their older family members in their traditional language. It is also thought that the process itself of learning an Aboriginal language may contribute to increased self-esteem and community well-being, as well as cultural continuity.4

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