ELNG 200 Reflection
To represent bi/muliligualism in my community I chose to photograph my little sister’s school agenda. The picture I took shows the national anthem in both French and English. I believe both languages are presented on the Agenda because Canada has two official languages. Rather than assuming every student in Saskatchewan speaks English, agendas typically include both languages. The inclusion of both official languages symbolizes and shows diversity amongst students and staff within our school systems.
This relates to me and my identity in a couple of different ways. I remember having both languages in my school agenda as well. When I started to analyze my little sister’s agenda, which was different than the one I had, I saw many similarities. Of course, most agendas will be similar, however, the fact that my agenda had both English and French surprised me a little bit because I did not notice that 10 years ago. This also relates to my identity because my step-siblings come from a small town in Manitoba and one of my step-sister’s recently became a teacher at a French school. Every time I go visit my siblings I take the time to look around and see all the differences in the community.
It was only three years ago that I met my step-siblings and had the opportunity to experience a whole different language and community. Prior to that, I was just like most people in my community. I speak English, yet I still recognize that Canada has two official languages and that is why both are written in agendas and other documents in schools.
I believe this came to be because we have two official languages and it makes sense that we include both. Mine and my sister’s agendas were very similar even though they were given to students 10 years apart. We live in Saskatchewan where people primarily speak English if they are from here. However, as society and school systems evolve, we all try to integrate and promote the idea of diversity into everything that we can.