Youth, Language, and Identity

This book is a path-breaking examination of identity construction among minority-language youth. Based on a three-year study at two English-language high schools in the Montreal area, it builds on Diane Gérin-Lajoie's previous work on Francophone minority identity in Ontario and extends her analysis to Canada's other official language minority: anglophones living in Quebec. The book begins with an overview of the social and educational reality of Quebec's anglophone minority, and then presents the findings on students' language practices. The central chapters sketch identity portraits of the study's participants, and the later chapters pursue analyses of the themes raised by the study. The result is an original contribution to the understanding of language and identity that will be of interest to school administrators and teachers working in minority-language communities in Canada, and to scholars working on issues of minorities in the social sciences.