By Alberto Manuel Poletti Adorno
Canadian policy encourages people to learn another language in a spirit of mutual understanding, but there is nothing in the policy that requires them to do so (unless you want a job in the Public Service) — Monica Heller, University of Toronto [3]
Can we force a person to become bilingual? Can public policies treat different the persons who speak only one language in the States who recognize themselves as Bilingual?
We could consider many countries in the world in this situation. In order to make a comparison, we could choose two of them that have many similar aspects and also some differences regarding their linguistic policies.
What are the common things between Canada and Paraguay linguistic legislation? This is not an easy question to answer. We can easily think that bilingualism would be an appropriate answer.
Yes, in these countries people speak Spanish, English, French and Guarani and also other minority languages. We are going to analyze whether there is common factor when discussing this subject. We believe that, even if there were two official languages in the Constitution which were similarly constructed so that everybody would speak both languages in a near future, there are not many aspects in common in order to consider this as an exact answer.
In the 2006 Census, on a population on 33 million people, more than 18 million Canadians use English as their mother tongue, 6.9 million had French as their mother tongue and 6.3 million are “allophone” that is, they have a mother tongue other than English or French. This is equivalent to 58%, 22.1% and 20.1% of the population. The proportion of bilingual Canadians, that is, who are capable of conducting a conversation in either English or French, was 17% according to the 2006 Census. There were only 12% in 1951. [4]
In Paraguay, the current population is about 6 million people. According to official information, 50% of the families mention that they speak both Spanish and Guarani, 37% speak only Guarani, 7% speak only Spanish and 6% speak other languages. [5]
The international framework
We should mention that there is a consensus in the international community about the recognition of linguistic rights. For instance, in the International Covenant on civil and political rights we may find many references to the linguistic rights and the prohibition of discrimination for linguistic reasons:
Article 2. 1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status
Article 14. 1. All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
…
3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
(a) To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him;
…
(f) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;
Article 26. All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Article 27. In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.
The Constitution rules and the Languages Acts
Paraguay and Canada mention their official languages in their Constitution. This is not a rule. Some countries like Italy, Germany and even the United States don’t have a constitutional rule that institutes an official language. [6] We believe that countries that follow the Canadian & Paraguayan model promote the peaceful inhabitation of different cultures. The language makes it possible to communicate and express a way of thinking in society. People normally look to communicate and receive answers from the government in the language they ordinarily use. So, the reception and understanding of norms in a language other than the one that is used by the majority will probably generate problems.
We can find here the first difference between our countries. It is true that bilingualism in Canada was officially set up in 1867 and ratified on many occasions, especially in 1969 and 1982 and with the Official languages Act. [7]
Article 16 of the 1982 Canadian Constitution Act establishes that English and French are the official languages of Canada and have equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and government of Canada.
It is also mentioned that everyone has the right to use English or French in any debates or other proceedings of Parliament (article 17), that the Statutes, records and journals of Parliament shall be printed and published in English and French and both language versions are equally authoritative (article 18) and the right of any member of the public of Canada has the right to communicate with, and to receive available services from, any head or central office of an institution of the Parliament or government of Canada in English or French.
In Paraguay, even if Guarani were a national language since the Hispanic colonization on XVI Century, we would have to wait until 1992 to see its recognition as an official language. Article 140 of the Paraguayan Constitution defines Paraguay as a multicultural and bilingual country and establishes that Spanish and Guarani are the official languages. It was also mentioned that indigenous languages and all the minorities languages form the cultural patrimony of the nation and that a Law of the Parliament shall establishes the modalities of use of one and another. [8]
It was only on 2010 when the government and the Congress reached a consensus that allowed the promulgation of the languages Act Number 4251/2010 on this field.
In Paraguay, the Act 4251/2010 aims to establish the modalities of use of the official languages of the Republic (article 1). It is mention that the official languages of the Republic will have validity and use in the three branches of the State and in all public institutions. Guarani language must be object of special care from the State, as a sign of cultural identity of the nation, instrument of social cohesion and way of communication of the majority of the Paraguayan population (article 3).
There is a special provision that launches that the Paraguayan State shall promote the recognition of the Guarani language as an official language of the supranational organization that Paraguay becomes part.
Besides the prohibition of discrimination based on the use of the language (article 7) there are two important related to the government agencies.
According with article 14, laws in Paraguay shall be enacted in Spanish, but the government institutions and Agencies shall have text in both languages, once the alphabet and the official grammar are settled.
Besides, in order to integrate the civil service in public, departmental and municipal services, in case of equal capacity, preference will be given to persons with linguistic competence in both official languages. The current civil workers that, because of their duties, have direct contact with people will have a five years period to acquire communicative competences in both languages.
Why States establishes official languages?
Although no Canadian province has officially adopted English as its sole official language, English is the de facto language of government services and internal government operations in Canada’s eight provinces. Service levels in French vary greatly from one province to another. We have to mention the particular cases of Quebec that adopted French as official language and a particular legislation to promote and protect the use of the French language (the Charter of the French language) [9] and also the New Brunswick legislation that recognizes two languages in the territory.
Bilingualism have proved to be an advantage rather than a defect in many fields like education, reasoning, job market and even for the economy of the country. No law can force a person to talk another language in private life, but for public and practical reasons, the State may choose one language to communicate with citizen and people who live in the country. This does not exclude the provision of special services to people who don’t speak any official language in particular situations especially in criminal trials or services in government agencies like Customs Services.
There are many people who are unhappy with bilingualism. Some of them want to review the essences of bilingualism and reduce (even eliminate) this practice. Others want to promote the rights of minorities and assure them all the services. There are also other who complain about the cost of translation services. Let’s consider that the Translation Bureau Revolving Fund (“the Fund”) is a Canadian Special Operating Agency that provides, on a cost recovery basis, translation and other linguistic services to the judiciary and federal departments and agencies and, upon request, to other governments in Canada and international organizations.
For 2009-2010, the Fund received authorization from the Treasury Board to access for a total amount of up to $ 5,062,000 to allow for strategic investments. [10]
The right to information / L’accès à l’information / El acceso a la información / Marandu jehupity rehegua derecho
If we take a look at internet sites of Canadian government agencies and the legal documents we can observe that all the official sites are in French and in English. The Canadian Parliament enacts Law in both languages. In courts, everybody has the right to speak English or French and sentences are adopted and immediately translated in both languages.
This is not the case in Paraguay. Official institutions don’t publish information in Guarani. The Laws and the judgments are (almost exclusively) adopted in Spanish. Except for the Constitution (which was translated into Guarani in 1992) there has not been an effort to reach the persons who only speak Guarani.
We have to consider that there are some efforts coming from persons in public or private sectors who have had the courage to translate documents.
Even though the Ateneo of Guarani and Language Culture doesn’t have a bilingual internet site, they display an effort to communicate with Guarani speaking people by promoting the languages Act and by teaching Guarani to Spanish speakers.
The MERCOSUR Permanent Court of Revision publishes every year the official report of activities in Spanish, Portuguese and Guarani. [11] And it was well mentioned that even if Guarani has reached the statute of official language of Paraguay, the Government never published an official document. And in MERCOSUR even if Guarani is not an official language, the MERCOSUR Permanent Court of Revision has published a few weeks ago the Third Report in the three languages.
The results of the State actions can be measured. In the Canadian example, the information reaches the public in their language and in Paraguay only a part of the population can easily understand the laws since everything is only enacted in Spanish. Guarani complete speakers, even if they are supposed to fulfill the laws, don’t have a “comprehensive” text to read.
Let’s now talk about press. We can see that public buys newspapers, listen to the radio or watches TV in their language. Unfortunately, there have not been many efforts to promote bilingualism in this area. ABC Color of Paraguay [12] is among the few examples that doesn’t have a bilingual edition, but provides an internet summary of the important news.
What should the State, enterprises or people do in order to promote the access of information to all groups? I think this is a very complicated subject that requires a global reflection so I only try to assert some clues.
Education and translation: obligation or rights?
Again Canada has a long tradition in this field. In public offices there must be personnel that can provide services to people in both official languages. And all the legislation is enacted in English in French. Article 14 of the Paraguayan languages Act ordains that Paraguayan Laws will be enacted in Spanish but all the government agencies must have text in both official languages, once the alphabet and official grammar are determined. A similar obligation is also established for other regulations.
Since Paraguay will probably not grant many funds to translation in a near future, we believe that this is an interesting way to start the construction of a bilingual country. The languages Act declares that for being part of national, departmental and municipal administration, people with linguistic competences in both languages will be preferred. Current civil workers that have direct contact with people have five years to acquire communicative competence in both official languages. The law also proclaims that inside the territory of an indigenous language, people with competence in the language of the territory will be preferred.
There is a common belief that Paraguayans who only speak Spanish are only “half” Paraguayan. Many people say that in Canada this idea is not openly expanded and people who only speak one language should not be considered as a “half” citizen. In any case we cannot make a negative comment for the people who did not have the opportunity to grow up in a bilingual environment. Patriotism is not related exclusively with the use of a language but with a lot of values that we are not going to mention here.
And translation of information is, I think, another important way to start the interaction of two groups of people. And I will explain some arguments that support my ideas.
Firstly, when we are learning a new language, we have to “translate” the target language into the native language and vice versa. This could be called a reflex. So, if we want to learn another language, besides taking courses, we should be in contact with the language. I think that in both Canada and Paraguay, we are used to hearing another language, so news and information can be easily translated in order to get used to other language and promote the understanding of both idioms by the people.
Secondly, the Government can promote the use of language. How many hours of English and French exist in all levels of Educations in Canada? Are there equals? In Paraguay, we used to have Guarani lessons only in three of the twelve years in Primary and Secondary School. Now most of the Schools have 12 year courses but only for a few hours in Guarani. And there are a lot of complaints about the way the language is taught. There is a discussion that, with the new language Act, both languages should be treated similarly and the teaching hours should be equally.
Government should encourage the hiring of bilingual people not only in public but also in private company (there are many ways: diminishing taxes, giving prizes or recognitions to persons and enterprises, establishing clauses in public contracts that give preferences to firms that provide services in both languages) so young people will be encouraged to learn another language. I honestly think that people will have the motivation to learn another language if they see that they will have not only a “cultural” benefit but also an economic benefit.
Litigation about use of languages
The Judiciary of Canada has a lot of judgments concerning the relation of both languages. We can mention the case Ford v. Quebec [13] considered as a landmark of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision pronounced in 1988 in which the Court struck down a part of the Quebec Charter of the French Language that restricted the use of commercial signs written in languages other than French. The court ruled that this legislation violated the freedom of expression as guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.
The case concerned a group of Montreal florists that were forced to serve only in French and replace their bilingual French and English signs with unilingual French ones. They have been fined for violations of the Charter of the French Language and decided to argue the case in courts. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that while the underlying aim of the law to protect French was just, it could not justify prohibiting other languages.
Here in Paraguay, there have recently been some cases that the public followed with attention. There is a big national discussion every time that any person mentions the place that Guarani should have in the society. I will only name some of them.
After the shooting of a Paraguayan soccer player named Salvador Cabañas in Mexico in Feb. 2010 and his recovery, the Mexican Prosecution asked the Paraguayan Judiciary to provide an interrogatory of Salvador Cabañas. As the hearing took place in Paraguay, decided to testify in Guarani. The Judge, who speaks both languages very well, decided nevertheless to redact the record in Spanish. There was a logical argument in this decision: the main readers are Mexican authorities who do not speak one of the official languages of Paraguay. But this situation led to an old debate: should the judiciary acts be redacted directly in Guarani? With the new linguistic Act, the answer is affirmative even if we have not heard many applications of this law yet.
But this leads us to another point. Should there be a translation into the other language? Another judge who provided an opinion of this case affirmed that, considering the principle of equality of the languages, translation would imply recognition of inferiority of one of the languages to the other. [14] I respectfully disagree with this idea since not only the number of speakers are different but also the aim of the Government when enacting the use of both languages was be to give information to most of the people in a language that he/she would understand. This duty should not be considered as accomplished when there is information in one language in countries like Canada and Paraguay who are composed by people of different languages.
Besides, the City Hall of Ciudad del Este, the second largest city in Paraguay, recently enacted a provision that stipulates that all publicity in streets should be written in one of the official languages. There are some examples of this Act in Comparative Law. The Toubon Law in France enacts a similar norm and establishes that advertising must have a translation from the foreign language into French with the use of an asterisk (*). The provision also stipulates the possibility of the use of another language in a secondary place and the possibility of fines, remove of the panel and even the closure of the magazine in case of failure of comply with the obligation. [15]
A foreign executive that was hired by a TV Channel as a CEO of the company was involved in a national discussion after suggesting that use of Guarani on Live TV should be avoided. There was a discussion following the decision of dismissal of some workers on the TV Channel apparently for reasons related for the use of Guarani. The main argument advanced to justify the banishment of Guarani was that as the TV Chanel was also watched abroad, many people would not understand what was being transmitted on TV and it is not easy to provide a simultaneous translation.
And a few days ago, it was published that a foreign owner of a magazine fired a Guarani speaking woman because of this reason. [16] These are very difficult questions to examine in a few minutes and we are not going to consider only the facts as provided by the press. We could only ask for investigation in order to determinate if there has been a linguistic discrimination concerning the article 7 of the Paraguayan languages Act.
We believe that there is a lot to do here in Paraguay in order to reach a “real bilingualism”. The Paraguayan Government recently nominated Mr. Carlos Villagra Marsal as the first Commissioner for linguistic affairs and there is a lot of job waiting for him. Now, we should wait the nomination of the members of the Guarani Academy Language that will also have the delicate work to help the promotion of Guarani and indirectly, the Paraguayan bilingualism. So, we can present this figure that exists in the Canadian system and his/her role.
The duties of the commissioner
According to the Official languages Act, any person or group of persons, even no speakers can make a complaint to the Commissioner related with the use of the official languages. The Commissioner shall investigate these complaints in order to determine if the practice, provision, Act of Parliament or regulation obeys the Official languages Act.
The Commissioner has extent powers to decide the opening of an investigation or to refuse it, he can decide to hold a hearing or not, receive evidence, produce documents and determine the procedure to be followed in carrying out any investigation under the Act.
If, after carrying out an investigation the Commissioner finds that any Act or government regulation should be reconsidered or any practice that leads or is likely to lead to a contravention of the Act should be altered or discontinued or even whether an action should be taken, Commissioner reports the opinion and the reasons thereof to the President of the Treasury Board, the deputy head or other administrative heads of any concerned institution. The opinion and reports can also be transmitted to the Parliament.
The Paraguayan equivalent has similar responsibilities and obligations and fortunately it will be helped by a new Agency and by motivated people in public and private sectors.
The office for linguistic politics has a budget of $ 888.000, and it will be used in a first period to create the First Nation’s Department in order to protect and maintain 20 languages used by people to belong to these linguistic groups. [17]
There are also plans for the promotion of research and normalization of the Guarani language, this is, to stabilize the use in current life. The consensus of a terminology in science, technology, law and other fields is considered as essential.
Should States be bilingual?
I am not sure that we can fully answer yes or no to my question about the similar common linguistic legislation in Paraguay and Canada. It will be very difficult to find a perfect balance in both countries regarding linguistic rights but there is always something that could be done in order to promote communication between people who speak different languages since we all want to live in a better society. Talking is the way in which people can understand themselves.
We should also provide the way in order that the information can reach the person in a language that they understand. As it will be very difficult and expensive to translate all the information in all the languages, it is a good idea to use an official language.
There is not a customary rule that establishes that the countries should determine one or more official language in the Constitution or in the law. But as this is an important matter, we believe that the State should make a choice about it.
But this is not enough. Through the use of language, private people can obtain services and ask the government to fulfill their needs. As it was stated during the United Nations special session on Children in May 2002 in the document “A world fit for children”, education and the elimination of discrimination are essentials issues. In this way we will allow people to take all the advantages of bilingualism rather than seeing their weakness.
Resources:
1. Conferences at Paraguayan Center of Canadian Studies in August 2011 and at the Bureau des Affaires Francophone et Francophiles at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC, September 2011
2. Attorney at Law (National University of Asuncion 2000); SJD (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne 2007). Law Professor at Universidad Columbia del Paraguay. Member of the Paraguayan Center of Canadian Studies. http://www.uned.es/dpto-derecho-politico/Curricula%20Departamento/poletti.htm
3. Benoit Hardy-Vallée «Canadian Bilingualism: pourquoi c’est important », Canadian Newcomer, 2008, N° 22. http://www.cnmag.ca/fr/numero-22/428-le_bilinguisme_canadien
4. Statistics Canada. Some facts about the demographic and ethnocultural composition of the population. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/91-003-x/2007001/4129904-eng.htm
5. Dominique Demelenne “Educación bilingüe en Paraguay como ejemplo de transformación de las prácticas de enseñanza en un contexto pluricultural”, CEISAL, 2007, p. 8. http://www.reseau-amerique-latine.fr/ceisal-bruxelles/PENS-EDU/PENS-EDU-1-DEMELENNE.pdf
6. There are other countries that institute official languages in their Constitution: Spain, South Africa, Ireland, Philippines, and Bolivia. We could also mention Belgium and New Zealand as countries with more than one official language.
7. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/O-3.01/FullText.html
8. We should also mention that article 77 of the Constitution establishes that the education at the beginning of the scholar process shall be made in the native tongue language of the student. It will be instructed in the knowledge and the use of both official languages of the Republic. In the case of minority groups that do not have Guarani as mother language, it could be chosen one of the official languages.
9. Commonly known as Bill 101
10. Translation bureau revolving Fund of Canada. Statement of management responsibility. PWGSC. http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/rapports-reports/rpp/2010-2011/frbt-tbrf-eng.html
11. www.tprmercosur.org
12. http://www.abc.com.py/seccion/marandu
13. http://scc.lexum.org/en/1988/1988scr2-712/1988scr2-712.html
14. ABC Color, Politics. August 7th 2010. Cabañas testimony in Guarani leads to a controversy between two judges. http://www.abc.com.py/nota/164860-declaracion-en-guarani-de-cabanas-desata-polemica-entre-jueces
15. http://www.municde.com/?p=451
16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_YbYHcaRj0&feature=share
17. La Nación, September 16th 2011. Secretaría de políticas lingüísticas promoverá el uso del español y guaraní. http://www.lanacion.com.py/articulo/39158-secretaria-de-politicas-lingisticas-promovera-uso-del-espanol-y-guarani.html
The post Bilingualism And Law: A Look At Experiences In Canada And Paraguay Through Both Countries’ Linguistic Legislation – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.