1.Francophonie and Cultural Consumption

2. Is Official Languages Act the Precursor for Multiculturalism

Policies? Jack Jedwab Association for Canadian Studies

September 2009

Introduction

• Changing technology and cultural diversity are regarded as the principal contemporary challenges to the preservation and transmission of group identities. New technologies offer unparalleled access to cultural products and diversify the range of choices at people’s disposal. Population diversity also has an impact on the linguistic and cultural landscape and may causes shifts in priorities when it comes to addressing issues of culture. To what extent are Canadians exposed to diverse expressions of culture in the country? This is one of the issues we will explore in the analysis which follows.

Sources for Analysis

• 2008 Canadian Books Readership Study, Decima Research, 2008

• 2008 Canadian Magazine Readership Study, Decima Research, May 2008

• Attitudes and Behaviour Towards Canadian Music, 2008, Decima Research, 2008

• The Arts and Heritage in Canada, Access and Availability, Phoenix Strategic Perspectives March 2007

Cultural Consumption

Part 1. MUSIC

Music - Language

• Youngest francophones listen to majority of their music in English, with age the consumption of music in the French language grows. But it is clear that there is considerable exposure to English for francophones at a young age

Age

Percentage of French-speakers who listen to half or more of their music in English

15-17 93%18-34 44%35-54 27%55+. 12%

Young Francophones report downloading more than young

anglophones

Age. Have you downloaded music for free in the last 12 months?

English French15-17 Yes 64% 79%

No 34% 21%18-34 Yes 42% 47%

No 57% 52%35-54 Yes 23% 16%

No 77% 85%55+ Yes 8% 2%

No 92% 97%

Language of interview.

Music on the Computer and Music on Social Networking Sites

• In the 18-34 age cohort, 43% of French speakers spend time listening to music on social networks, compared with 31% of English speakers.

• French-speaking males claim to have the least usage of P2P networks (40% claim never to use it); Whereas French-speaking women are the most prolific of all, with 45% claming to get ALL their music from a P2P source.

• Twice as many (32%) of English speaking 15-17 year olds have not seen a single live music performance over the past 12 months, as French 15-17 year olds (16%).

2. Books and Magazines

Some 15% of francophones read at least half of their books in English

English French

0 Percent .8% 62.0%

1 to 49 Percent

1.6%23.0%

50 Percent 1.4% 7.3%

51 to 99 Percent

10.4%6.4%

100 Percent 84.3% 0.8%

Language of interview.

What percent of the books you read or browse are in English?

Nearly one in four francophones read at least half of their magazines in

English

English French

0 Percent .5% 50.7%

1 to 49 Percent

0.05%26.5%

50 Percent 1.4% 9.7%

51 to 99 Percent

0.06%8.7%

100 Percent 90.9% 4.4%

Language of interview.

What percent of the

magazines you read or browse are in English?

English French

0 Percent 95.1% 4.4%

1 to 49 Percent

3.6%9.40%

50 Percent .5% 10.7%

51 to 99 Percent

.0%25.2%

100 Percent .3% 50.3%

Language of interview.

What percent of the

magazines you read or browse are in French?

Francophones-50% or more read browsed in English Magazines

15-19 34.6

20-24 30.8

25-34 20.0

35-39 19.2

40-44 26.5

45-49 13.3

50-54 22.2

55-64 13.4

65+ 12.8

Francophones-50% or more read browsed in English Books

15-17 10.6

18-34 16.0

35-54 16.2

55 and over 10.4

Francophones 18-54 more likely to read books in English than

youngest and oldest cohorts

Demographic Breakdowns by Gender and Age

• More than twice the number of French-speaking men (54%) read or browse books in English than French-speaking women (24%).

• After controlling for language and age respondents it is observed that the more likely the respondent is to read exclusively in English. For example, by age cohort, these are the percentage of respondents who said they ONLY (100%) read books in English – 15-17 year olds - 66%; 18-34 year olds - 79%; 35-54 year olds - 87% and 55+ year olds - 88%.

• ~90% of both male and female English-speakers do not read any French books.

Digital Magazines – contd.

• At least 2 in3 French respondents and 4 in 5 English respondents expected to find free articles when they visited magazine websites.

• Regarding the statement 'I would like there to be more digital magazines available', they general consensus was to be neutral (~50% of respondents), followed by those who disagreed (~19%) and agreed (~15% of respondents).

• Significantly more French speakers (26%) than English speakers (18%) disagreed with the statement 'I would like there to be more digital magazines available'. Yet at the same time far more French speakers agreed (21%) that would like there to be more digital magazines available, than English speakers (13%)! This is probably because many more English speakers were neutral about the subject (48%) than French speakers (33%).

3.Arts and Access to Cultures

English Thinking of the performances, events or exhibits you have attended over the past 12 months were any of them based on…cultures and

traditions from

Age

French Aboriginals

Latin Amer, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa or Asia

15-20 23.7 37.3 39

21-24 26.0 32 34

25-34 25.1 36 31.2

35-44 22.2 37.2 28.0

45-54 20.2 35.7 25.6

55-64 24.3 30.6 25.2

64 plus 20.1 30.5 18.8

English language youth less exposed to French than aboriginal and multiethnic, for 25 and over expose to aboriginal cultures most

common

French Thinking of the performances, events or exhibits you have attended over the past 12 months were any of them based on…cultures and

traditions from

Age

English Aboriginals

Latin Amer, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa or Asia

15-20 59.0 17.9 25

21-24 48.5 6.1 36.4

25-34 40.9 22.7 30.7

35-44 59.5 33.1 20.7

45-54 53.7 24.8 22.3

55-64 63.6 33.3 21.2

64 plus 63.2 33.3 10.5

Francophones far more exposed to Culture in English, youth more multiethnic exposure than aboriginal, older

more aboriginal than ethnocultural