The Canadian Language

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the sociolinguistics of English spoken in the Greater Toronto Area where more than half the population was born outside of Canada. The paper notes that one hears many forms of English and English as a second language. The paper brings a reference to the O'Grady text (2004) and offers a comparison with what is observed in Kingston, London and Ontario. The paper discusses grammatical errors spotted by people from elsewhere that are commonly used in Toronto as well as the slower pace of speech and higher inflection at the ends of their sentences.

From the Paper:

"An important adjustment of life in the Greater Toronto Area involves how many people do not speak English as the first language. In fact, more than half of the Toronto population was born somewhere other than Canada. The English they speak may be fluent, but it reflects a first language, where English was learned, if learned formally or informally and perhaps how much the individual watches American television. The stereotype of Canadians as people who speak English that is more formal than American English seems untrue of Toronto. One does notice how in public, people speak quite slowly to one another, as if expecting the other person to be "ESL" or English Fourth Language, perhaps."

More papers on The Canadian Language:

• Analytical Essay # 89111 : "Immigrants in the Canadian Workforce"
• Term Paper # 103562 : "Canadian Senior Immigrants"
• Research Paper # 86832 : "Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: