Canadian language attitudes from “coast to coast to coast”: On the pluricentricity of English

The present paper explores key aspects of the linguistic autonomy and the character, recognition and social embedding of “Standard Canadian English” (StCanE). Only a few studies have hitherto investigated the phenomenon of linguistic attitudes in Canada and have either focussed on impressionistic assessment or on linguistic insecurity among Canadian English (CanE) speakers. The present paper is based on a national questionnaire survey in all Canadian provinces and territories with n = 3,000, offering both quantitative-statistical and qualitative data analyses. Results show, for instance, that roughly one in two respondents knows what StCanE is, while just 13% of respondents are able to offer a definition. Knowledge about the standard is low before the age of 25–29, and it appears that the conceptual work relating to CanE is not carried out sufficiently in high school and elementary school but only at post-secondary level. This is a remarkable feature of CanE, with Canadian schools displaying a kind of laissez-faire attitude in regard to the linguistic standard (e.g. spell one way, but consistently).