Ethnolinguistic Identity and Youth Activity Involvement in a Sample of Minority Canadian Francophone Youth

Abstract

We examined the concept of “ethnolinguistic identity” in a national sample of 333 minority Canadian Francophone youth. Youth were categorized into one of four ethnolinguistic categories (integration, separation, assimilation, marginalization) based on commitment/affiliation and self-identification with Francophone and Anglophone cultures. Differences among categories were observed for activity-related identity performance, psychological engagement, and perceived impact of involvement. Youth in the separation category were most likely to use French in their activities and participate in a Francophone-sponsored activity. Integration and separation categories were characterized by the highest levels of psychological engagement in, and perceived impact on, personal well-being. Youth in the integration category reported the most positive impact on prosocial bonding. Implications and applicability of the concept of ethnolinguistic identity are considered.

Notes

¹Due to an administrative error, the last dimension (control) was rated on a different 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (none) to 5 (lots). Thus, the subjective experiences ratings were standardized prior to aggregation.

*p < .05.

²In preliminary analyses, comparisons among the ethnolinguistic identity categories indicated that the groups did not differ significantly in mean age or the relative proportion of male (vs. female) youth. These demographic variables were not examined further.

^aThis comparison controlled for linguistic competence; adjusted means and standard errors are shown.

^bThis comparison controlled for linguistic competence; estimated proportions are shown.

^cThis comparison controlled for linguistic competence, language use, and Francophone sponsorship; adjusted means and standard errors are shown.

³The ethnolinguistic identity categories did not differ significantly in terms of frequency of involvement or the relative proportion of structured (vs. unstructured) activities reported. These variables were not examined further.

⁴We also compared the ethnolinguistic identity categories in psychological engagement and perceived impact treating language use in the activity (French vs. English) as a moderator variable rather than a covariate. To do so, we computed three two-way ANCOVAs in which ethnolinguistic identity category and language use (trichotomized: primarily French use, French and English use, primarily English use) were entered as independent variables; psychological engagement, perceived impact on personal well-being, and perceived impact on prosocial bonds were the dependent measures; and French and English competency variables as well as Francophone-sponsorship activity involvement were treated as covariates. Given the small number of youth in the marginalization group within each of the three cells of the language use categories (n = 14, 9, and 8), the marginalization group was excluded from these analyses. In each model, the main effect of ethnolinguistic identity category was statistically significant (integrated > separation), whereas both the main effect of language use category and the ethnolinguistic identity by language use category interaction were nonsignificant in each model.