Language attitudes and self‐reports of French‐English language usage in Quebec

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Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the impact of Quebec language planning in favour of French (Bill 101) on self‐reports of language use in cross‐cultural encounters between Francophones (QFs) and Anglophones (QAs) in Montreal. A sociolinguistic survey was completed by QF and QA university students three months after the promulgation of Bill 101. Results showed that whereas QFs were in total agreement with Bill 101, QAs were in complete disagreement with this legislation. Although QAs disagreed with Bill 101, they reported being more likely to use French in conversation with QFs today than they had been in the past prior to the passage of the language legislation. QFs reported they were as likely to maintain French when conversing with QAs today as they had been in the past. However, discrepancies between respondents’ self‐reports of language use and their reported experiences with the language behaviour of outgroup interlocutors did emerge in this study. Finally, results suggest that motivational and normative factors combine in complex ways to affect self‐reports of language use in multilingual settings.

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