DCHP-2

home language DCHP-2 (July 2016)

• n. — Administration

  the primary language spoken in someone's home.

  Type: 4. Culturally Significant — Home language refers to "the language spoken most often or on a regular basis at home by [an] individual" (see Statistics Canada: Census Dictionary reference). Because of Canada's cultural diversity, researchers and governmental policy-makers supported the polling of Canada's home languages that has taken place since the 1971 census, though the term was in use long before then (see the quotations). As of the 2011 census, over 200 different languages were cited as a "home language or mother tongue" (see Statistics Canada: Linguistic Characteristics of Canadians reference). Data from the 2011 census also indicates that approximately 18% of Canadians noted that they spoke two languages at home while around 14% of the population listed a language other than English or French as their home language.
  As Chart 1 shows, the term is much more frequent in South Africa (.za) and, with a considerable gap, in New Zealand (.nz). Even in the US and in the UK, the term is more widely used than in Canada. Home language is therefore Canadian because of its institutional backing, while the term has not entered general language use as widespread as elsewhere.

  See also: heritage language  immigrant language  official language  Aboriginal language  

  • 1895  This is a very difficult school to conduct, being composed of children of different nationalities. The home language of nearly half the pupils is French, and in many cases they have hardly any knowledge of English when first entering the school. 
  • 1907  The question of bilingual schools was brought before the association by Dr. Quesnel of Hawkesbury, representing Prescott County Council. He argued that the school education should be given in the child's home language, and, therefore, urged the assistance of French rural schools and the establishment of bilingual continuation and normal classes where asked for. 
  • 1924  The contingent was much better than the first one from the point of view of most people. There were more young men, many children, and several boys and girls. All looked bright and healthy. They come from various parts of the islands, and although Gaelic is their home language, they all speak English quite well. 
  • 1966  "I've had the idea for a long time," Mrs. Smith said. "Although I was raised here in Ontario, in Waterloo County, I came from a background where we spoke one language and lived one culture at home and learned a different language and different culture at school. So I know the difficulties this type of situation creates." Mrs. Smith's home language was Pennsylvania Dutch. 
  • 1978  Mrs. Smith said children whose home language is not English should be able to have the familiarity of their own language in junior and senior kindergarten and slowly be introduced to English. 
  • 1985  In Quebec, where 11 per cent of the population has English as its home language, only four-tenths of one per cent of the civil service is English-speaking. 
  • 1996  The Yeungs, Wastie says, "knew instinctively to maintain the home language to the point where she only spoke Mandarin to her oldest girl for the first three years and didn't want Dad to speak Cantonese at all. [...] But the message from society is to not learn the home language. The emphasis is on English. The children see it on TV, hear their parents struggling with it, and they suddenly become very powerful because they can speak English better than their parents." 
  • 2009  Sanderson clearly identifies the pillar of language transmission: speaking it at home. The 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples along with stacks of other studies support Sanderson's view that the continuity of a language is dependent on it being used on a daily basis, ideally as the primary home language. 
  • 2015  Students in the Vancouver school district had a Pro-D day Thursday, a shift from the usual Friday to allow some students to celebrate the Lunar New Year. [...] The change was the result of public feedback when the calendar was established last year, he added. About 4,700 Vancouver students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 were born in China, according to VSB statistics, in addition to 420 students who were born in Hong Kong and 396 in Taiwan. The most common home language of Vancouver students after English is Cantonese (14 per cent) followed by Mandarin (11 per cent).