POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF BILINGUAL CANADIANS - HISTORICAL AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

Oct 15, 2026

Editorial and historical analysis of how post-secondary institutions in Canada contribute to developing bilingual Canadians. It reviews prior contributions and focuses on decisions about whether and how universities and colleges should support bilingual student development, linking roles for research, administration, and teaching practice. The discussion includes pre-1960s patterns, comparing unilingual tracks with a limited “bilingual education,” and evaluating “bilingualism routes” such as cross-language admission and submersion, with attention to demographic and institutional constraints.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages18

Reading Time45 min

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POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF BILINGUAL CANADIANS: HISTORICAL AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

DEVELOPING BILINGUAL CANADIANS: THE POST-SECONDARY SYSTEM IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The pre-1960's era

Editorial # POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OFBILINGUAL CANADIANS:HISTORICAL ANDFUTURE PERSPECTIVES TIMOTHY TOMLINSON and SHARON LAPKIN* One of the most persistent themes discussed in recent times by individualsconcerned about post-secondary education in Canada is the role universities andcommunity colleges ought to consider playing in developing bilingual youngpeople.Throughout the 1980's,statements emanating from the office of theCommissioner of Official Languages (e.g.,Fortier,1986;Yalden,1982)havebrought post-secondary bilingual education to public attention.The issue has beenthe focus of numerous conferences(cf.Manzer,this issue),a special issue of theCanadian Modern Language Review(Mydlarski &West,1985),and a nation-wide survey of universities by Leblanc(1986),Bilingual education:a challengefor Canadian universities in the 1990's.As the papers in the present issue clearlydemonstrate,interest in the topic remains strong and there are no indications that itwill wane in the foreseeable future. Post-secondary institutions face important decisions as to what role,if any,theymight wish to play in developing bilingual students and how best to play that role.In making those decisions,it seems crucial tous that universities and colleges firstexamine what they have contributed so far to this endeavour and then take stock oftheir current situation.In this editorial,we review the contributions made to dateand consider what roles might be desirable for post-secondary institutions in thefuture,as well as the implications of those roles for research,administration andteaching practice. # DEVELOPING BILINGUAL CANADIANS:THE POST-SECONDARYSYSTEM IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE In assessing the role post-secondary institutions play in developing bilingualCanadians,one is naturally inclined to look at the extent to which they areeducating students in both languages.In other words,people tend to believe that *Modern Language Centre,Ontario Institute For Studies in Education AUTHOR NOTES We wish to thank John Kirkness.Frank McMahon,Claudette Tardif and Marjorie Wesche for valuablecomments made on an earlier draft of this editorial. 2 Timothy Tomlinson and Sharon Lapkin the logical route to producing bilingual students is “bilingual education”.Assuggested by Manzer in this issue,however,institutions which educate in only onelanguage can also contribute to the development of bilingual students.They canprobably best do this by admitting students who are already proficient in the otherlanguage and are willing to undergo 'submersion'in the language of the institu-tion.In this section,we will consider what role these two “routes to bilingualism”have played in the post-secondary system,beginning with the pre-1960's era. ## The pre-1960's era On the whole,the post-secondary track record in developing bilingual studentsprior to the 1960's is unimpressive.One of the major reasons for this is that littlewas offered in the way of “bilingual education”.The vast majority of universitieswere unilingual,in either French or English.The only courses students could takein the other language were offered by the language departments;so a true"bilingual education"required a specialization in the second language (L2). Of course,the bilingual universities(i.e.,Laurentian and Ottawa)offered amuch broader range of courses in both languages,but they were conceived in sucha way that francophones registered in the French stream and anglophones in theEnglish stream(Garigue,1985).Students could cross over the boundary if they sowished,and in fact,in the 1950's(and 1960's),students at Ottawa had to completetwo(language or content)courses in their L2 in order to graduate(M.B.Wesche,personal communication,October 16,1989).Beyond that,bilingual education didnot figure prominently on the agenda of the bilingual universities². What about the second “route to bilingualism”(i.e.,submersion)describedabove?To what extent were students already profic

FAQs

What is the central focus of the editorial on bilingualism in Canada’s post-secondary system?

It examines the role universities and community colleges should play in developing bilingual young people, reviewing past contributions and considering desirable future roles for research, administration, and teaching practice.

How did “bilingual education” typically work in the pre-1960s university track record?

Most universities were unilingual, and the limited courses in the other language usually required specialization (L2) for a true bilingual education.

What does the text identify as two “routes to bilingualism” in post-secondary institutions?

The first is bilingual education within institutions; the second is submersion, where students already proficient in one language study in the other language within the institution.

Oct 15, 2026

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