캐나다의 공식 언어 사용과 언어적 불안감

Canada”s Official Language Use and Linguistic Insecurity

Canada recognizes the equal status of English and French through the Official Languages Act of 1969, granting legal rights and obligations to use both official languages in federal offices located in areas designated as bilingual areas. However, the English-speaking population of Canada far exceeds the French-speaking population, and the equal status of the official language is being shaken as the development of the English-centric global era is accelerating. Accordingly, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages conducted a survey on the subject of “linguistic (in)security at work” among federal government employees in Canada in 2019 and published the results in January 2021. Based on the results of this survey, this paper discusses the linguistic insecurity that many people feel when using Canada”s official languages. According to the survey results, both English-speaking and French-speaking users were found to be more uncomfortable with using French in the workplace. In addition, it was found that the reason for feeling discomfort in using an official language is that respondents or their colleagues are not familiar with the language or that colleagues tend to switch to another official language when they try to speak an official language of their choice.