A Youth Perspective on the Challenges Related to Fostering Linguistic Security in the Classroom - New Insights from the English-Dominant Context of British Columbia

Oct 15, 2026

This study identifies factors contributing to linguistic insecurity and offers classroom-oriented suggestions for teachers to foster linguistic security. Data come from interviews with 21 high school teachers across British Columbia and a focus group of eight Linguistic Security Committee members. Thematic analysis yields five sets of teacher beliefs linked to key challenges, paired with recommendations for French-speaking minority contexts in Canada. Conclusions emphasize teacher-belief–focused research, sociolinguistic teacher preparation, and linguistic security as a priority.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

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A Youth Perspective on the Challenges Related to Fostering Linguistic Security in the Classroom: New Insights from the English-Dominant Context of British Columbia Marie-Eve Bouchard University of British Columbia Abstract This study aims to identify factors contributing to linguistic insecurity and provides suggestions to support teachers in fostering linguistic security in their classrooms. The findings are based on data from interviews with 21 high school teachers from across the province of British Columbia (Canada) and a focus group with eight members of the Linguistic Security Committee. A thematic analysis of the data led to the identification of five sets of teacher beliefs associated with challenges about the fostering of linguistic security in their classrooms. For each of these challenges, the Linguistic Security Committee made recommendations, and these may prove helpful to teachers in French-speaking minority contexts across Canada. Three main conclusions are drawn from this study: attention to teacher beliefs should be a focus of educational research, teacher preparation grounded in asociolinguistic understanding of linguistic variation is necessary, and linguistic security should be a priority. Résumé Cette étude vise à identifier des facteurs contribuant à l'insécurité linguistique et formuler des suggestions pour aider les enseignants à favoriser la sécurité linguistique dans leurs classes. Les résultats sont basés sur des données provenant d'entretiens avec 21 enseignants du secondaire en Colombie-Britannique (Canada) et d'un groupe de discussion composé de huit membres du Comité sécurité linguistique. Une analyse thématique a permis d'identifier cinq ensembles de croyances des enseignants associées à des défis concernant la promotion de lasécurité linguistique dans leurs classes. Pour chacun de ces défis, le Comité sécurité linguistique a formulé des recommandations qui pourraient se révéler utiles aux enseignants en contexte minoritaire francophone. Trois conclusions principales sont tirées de cette étude: la recherche en éducation devrait se concentrer sur les croyances des enseignants, lapréparation des enseignants doit être fondée sur une compréhension sociolinguistique de la variation linguistique et la sécurité linguistique devrait être une priorité . A Youth Perspective on the Challenges Related to Fostering Linguistic Security in the Classroom: New Insights from the English-Dominant Context of British Columbia Introduction The Conseil jeunesse francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (BC Francophone Youth Council, henceforth CJFCB) is a not-for-profit organisation created to promote, develop, and represent the interests ofthe French-speaking youth of British Columbia. In 2019, the CJFCB put together the Linguistic Security Committee – a committee by and for youth to address the topic of linguistic insecurity. The mission of the Linguistic Security Committee (henceforth LSC) is to offer interactive workshops to youth and community members in order to raise awareness and increase linguistic security within the Frenchspeaking community of British Columbia. Linguistic insecurity is the feeling that a language variety one uses is somehow inferior, ugly, or bad (Meyerhoff, 2006) . It can be reinforced in school by teachers who consistently monitor and correct the language variety used by their students (Canadian Parents for French, 2020) . Teachers play an essential role in fostering linguistic security in their classrooms (Bouchard, 2024) . Therefore, in order to raise awareness and increase linguistic security within the French-speaking community of British Columbia, the LSC wants to make every educational establishment of the Francophone School District of British Columbia a bastion of linguistic security (CJFCB, 2023). To this end, they aim to create a workshop for teachers in order to support them in choosing practices that foster linguistic security among their students. However, th

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study on linguistic security in classrooms?

The study aims to identify factors contributing to linguistic insecurity and to provide suggestions that help teachers foster linguistic security in their classrooms.

How were data collected for the findings?

Findings are based on interviews with 21 high school teachers across British Columbia and a focus group with eight members of the Linguistic Security Committee.

What main conclusions does the study draw?

The study concludes that educational research should focus on teacher beliefs, teacher preparation should be grounded in sociolinguistic understanding of linguistic variation, and linguistic security should be a priority.

Oct 15, 2026

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