Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T02:26:22.603Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Is There Really a Canadian English?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2019

Stefan Dollinger
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Get access

Summary

The final chapter goes beyond the set time frame of 1940-98 and into the present. Analyzing news coverage since the postwar period, in this chapter we identify a recurring Canadian news coverage on Canadian English, presenting the concept of "Canadian English" as either new or weird. In the light of the evidence presented throughout the book, the readers are in the position to decide for themselves whether there is a Canadian English. Canadian intellectuals are shownas often taking a rather negative stance, treating expressions of national identity as more or less akin to national jingoism, which is surprising given their generally international orientation. Attitude data are used to show that a "Canadian way of speaking" is firmly entrenched in the minds of today's Canadian residents, with 80 per cent of Canadians across all age groups positively confirming the concept. This is a radical change from only a generation or two ago, when especially younger Canadians were often sceptical. News coverage has since also seen a shift, being today exclusively positive. Such data should encourage educators to teach about Canadian English expressly, starting in elementary school. Using examples from www.dchp.ca/dchp2, it is shown that much remains to be explored about Canadian English.

Type
Chapter
Information
Creating Canadian English
The Professor, the Mountaineer, and a National Variety of English
, pp. 218 - 244
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×