The German Language in Alberta: maintenance and teaching

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Author: Manfred Prokop

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THE GERMAN LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA

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THE GERMAN LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA MAINTENANCE AND TEACHING Manfred Prokop

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA PRESS

First published by The University of Alberta Press Athabasca Hall Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 2E8 Copyright © The University of Alberta Press 1990 ISBN 0-88864-204-0 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Prokop, Manfred, 1942The German language in Alberta Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-88864-204-0

1. German language—Alberta. 2. German language —Study and teaching—Alberta. I. Title pF5939.P76 1990 437'.97123 C9O-O91016-x All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. The Minister of State for Multiculturalism and the Multiculturalism Directorate disclaim any responsibility in whole or in part for the views and opinions expressed and for the completeness or accuracy of information included in this publication. Typesetting by The Typeworks, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Printed in the United States of America This book has been printed on acid-free paper

CONTENTS

1 2, 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Preface vii Acknowledgements xiii The "Germans"—An Invisible Minority? 1 Establishing a "German Presence" in Alberta 18 Maintenance and Loss of German as a Mother Tongue and as a Home Language in Alberta 65 The Role of the German-Speaking Churches and Church Schools 116 The Development of Programs for the Teaching of German as a Second Language 138 Enrolment in German in Elementary and Secondary Schools 214 The Teaching of German in Heritage Language Schools 236 The Teaching of German at Universities and Colleges in Alberta Z54 Support for the Teaching and Learning of German in Alberta 294 The Future of the German Language in Alberta 319 Appendices 325 Notes 355 Bibliography 387 Index 401


PREFACE

THE PROCLAMATION OF multiculturalism as an official policy of the Canadian Government in 1971 and the subsequent series of statements of support made by the Government of Alberta, culminating in the passing of the Alberta Cultural Heritage Act of 1984, have resulted in an increased self-awareness among many of the ethnic groups in Alberta, in particular among Germans. More than ever before, teachers and students of German and members of the German community have made enquiries, casually as well as formally, regarding a number of questions: "How many Germans are there in Alberta (in Edmonton, in Lethbridge, in Bruderheim)?" "When did the Germans come to Alberta?" "In how many schools is German being taught?" "How popular is German among the second languages taught in Alberta high schools?" "How can I get my child to speak German fluently?" "When and where was German taught for the first time in Alberta?" "Do I have to send my child to a church school if I want her to learn German?" "Is German hard to learn? How many years will it be until I am fluent in German?" "Does anyone REALLY speak German in Edmonton? In the German stores most people speak English or a mixture of English and German." "I would like to get an M.A. in German Literature. Can I do it in Alberta?" This book is intended to answer some of these questions and to anticipate others which might be raised about the maintenance and teaching of the German language in the Province of Alberta. It will deliberately restrict itself to Alberta (although on several occasions a navii

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tional or regional perspective will be offered) because in spite of many parallel developments in the ethno-cultural history of "the Germans" in the Prairie provinces, education has been the prerogative of individual provincial governments. Consequently, legislation governing the use of second languages in school as subjects or languages of instruction has differed considerably from province to province. Curricula have been developed independently; learning objectives, teaching materials and testing standards have necessarily varied as well. Restricting the scope of this study to Alberta also allows a much higher degree of specificity of factual information than could be offered in an investigation dealing with the history of the teaching of German on a national or even regional basis. At first glance, the two topics, "the maintenance of German" and "the teaching of German" appear to be quite unrelated. But can the teaching of German in Alberta really be examined without extensive consideration of the broader ethno-cultural context in which it has been embedded and without due regard to the extent to which the German language has been maintained as a mother tongue and home language among Germanspeaking immigrants and their descendants? I believe not. After all, German is not a "dead" language like Latin or Greek—there has been, as we know, a "German presence" in Alberta for more than a century. The concern for the retention of the German language among some immigrants and their descendants in Alberta (and in Canada at large) has not been universally shared: the greater proportion of immigrants, and certainly their descendants, has been more than willing to abandon its linguistic heritage (not necessarily its cultural heritage) in order to become accepted into mainstream Canadian society. Consequently, those speakers of German in Alberta who wanted to preserve and maintain their mother tongue had to do so in the privacy of their homes (their intention being facilitated by their relative isolation from the anglophone world as they tended to live in bloc settlements and on remote homesteads in the rural areas of the Province), in private schools, or in their own church schools. After all, in the first part of this century if the public schools offered German at all, it was done so at great extra expense to the parents or at such an advanced grade level in secondary school which most immigrant children, in those days, could not expect to reach. Consequently, the home, and to a certain extent the church schools, played an immensely important role as effective teaching environments and propagators of the linguistic heritage in the early history of German immigration to Alberta. As Albertan society became more urbanized, as more and more stu-

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dents (including those of the immigrants) advanced to the final years of high school where German was taught and finally to the colleges and universities, and as the value of German as an academic subject became more widely recognized among the anglophone population, the role of private language schools and the public schools became more pronounced. They provided not only an opportunity for the study of German as an academic subject, but also permitted the retention (facilitated by the audio-lingual teaching method, which emphasized the acquisition of the oral aspects of language learning over the formal study of the grammar) of the linguistic heritage—an effort prior to this often enforced by the parents alone. Enrolments in language schools and public schools soared. However, the parents' willingness to insist on the acquisition of German in the home, beyond the children's early years, was not as strong as it had been after the turn of the century, and the long-term effect of instruction in German in the schools, without home support, was limited in extent and duration. The children preferred English to German as their first language. Moreover, the shrinkage in immigration of speakers of German after the peak in the 1950s exacerbated the language loss experienced in the second and third generations of the highly urbanized immigrants. The ensuing decline in the population who had learned to speak and use German in the home has been accompanied by plummeting enrolments in German across Alberta (and Canada). Increasingly, German is disappearing in the church schools, the private language schools, and the public schools. In spite of recent innovations in educational programming (e.g., the introduction of bilingual programs in elementary and junior high schools) and teaching methodology (e.g., the communicative approach), the student clientele at the secondary level has been dwindling and consists to an ever-increasing extent of students with no German background whatsoever or of students from German-speaking families who never learned any or much German at home. Clearly, this development is bound to have a profound effect on the availability of programs and the teaching methodology to be employed in the future. Only at the university level, for a variety of motivational reasons (e.g., use of German for career purposes or for travel in Europe), methodological reasons (e.g., the use of communication-oriented approaches and modern media), and formal reasons (e.g., the existence of admission and exit language requirements at university) have enrolments in German not only held their own, but increased dramatically. Thus, the relationship between desire for language retention and the

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attractiveness of German as a subject may be considered to be indirect in nature. The effect of language maintenance on enrolments may be said to be mediated by political circumstances (e.g., real or perceived pressure towards assimilation, anti-German feelings after World War I and World War II), demographic factors (e.g., size and recency of immigration, residence in urban/rural areas, the immigrants' educational background, loyalty to a closely knit religious or ethno-cultural group), developments in educational theory and practice (e.g., increased access to high school and college, oral and communicative teaching methods, introduction of bilingual programs), and motivational reasons (e.g., desire to "be like the others," ethnocultural apathy or pride, functional/pragmatic reasons for language study). It seems appropriate therefore to study the maintenance and the teaching of German in Alberta as an interrelated set of issues. Chapter One examines the status of German-language clubs and associations (and the ethnic, social, and cultural events which they organize in the community), the German-language media, and the Germanspeaking businesses and churches in the community at large. How visible have they been? In Chapter Two a comprehensive overview is given of the immigration of persons of German origin and of the use of German as a mother tongue and as a home language. Has Alberta's German community held its own against the overpowering influence of English in Canada in comparison with its counterparts in the other provinces? How much change in the use of German as a mother tongue and as a language spoken in the home occurred in a recent well-defined time period, namely between the two censuses of 1971 and 1981? Have "the Germans" always been quick to learn English in comparison with other ethnic groups? Chapter Three takes up in considerable detail the issue of the survival of German in Alberta. Statistics are provided which document the level of usage of German in Canada and, in particular, in Alberta. Does the use of German die away with the immigrant generation, with the second or the third generation? Factors known to affect language maintenance in Canada (such as residence in an urban or rural area of the Province, being married to a German-speaking partner, sex, and level of education) are examined before the study launches into a detailed probe of the maintenance of German as a mother tongue and as a home language. Do "the Germans" care whether or not their ancestral language becomes extinct or continues to thrive? Attitudes towards language retention are crucial for the survival of an immigrant's language. What difference if

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any does it make if one (or both or none) of the parents speak German in the home? How does their use of German in the home affect the chances of their children acquiring it as the mother tongue and/or the home language? Assuming that the immigration of speakers of German does not increase substantially over the next several decades, how many Albertans will still speak German in the home around the turn of the century? And finally, will instruction in German in the schools of the Province be able to counteract the language loss which can be observed in the German community? In addition to ministering to the psychological and religious needs of the immigrants, their churches have played an important, indeed a pivotal, part in immigrant communities. The use of German in the Germanspeaking churches of Alberta will be traced over the last eighty years in Chapter Four, as well as the churches' attempts at teaching children the German language. In the smaller communities in Alberta, particularly in the first third of the century, church schools represented virtually the only educational institution where children could learn German formally, whether or not they had started it in the home. Chapter Five deals with the provincial school legislation governing the teaching of "foreign" languages, with the historical development of curricular objectives, the textbooks and the methods used to teach German as a subject of instruction and as a language of instruction in the schools of the Province, and with the expectations which have been held for the students as they are revealed in province-wide exams. Excerpts from textbooks and Departmental Exams will demonstrate how school books and standards have changed over the last seventy or eighty years. Furthermore, comprehensive sets of statistics dating back to the earliest available records are presented in Chapter Six to document the rise and fall of German as a second language in the elementary and secondary schools, both by itself and in comparison with the other classical and modern languages taught in Alberta schools. But there are private, nonchurch-sponsored schools as well in the Province which since the 1950s have served large numbers of students from kindergarten on up to adults in credit as well as noncredit programs. Because these schools appeal mostly (although not exclusively) to families with German background, as the church schools do, they are often in a better position to offer advanced instruction in German language and culture and to set higher standards than the public (and separate) schools are able to do. As they have been upgrading their teachers'

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qualifications, they have come to represent an important element in the network of educational institutions where German is taught (Chapter Seven). On the post-secondary level, German has long played a significant role both as a subject in its own right and as a research tool for students and scholars who need to access the technical literature published in German in their fields. From the first year of the existence of the University of Alberta on, courses in German language and literature have been given leading to Bachelor's Degrees, and later, to Master's Degrees, and the Ph.D. At the same time, colleges and universities have taught German to adults who were not interested in obtaining a degree in the language, but only wanted some reading or speaking knowledge of it (Chapter Eight). The teaching of German has not proceeded in a vacuum; after all, there is a sizeable German-speaking community in Alberta, and Germanlanguage media have been available since the early days of the Province. Moreover, the Provincial government as well as the governments of the German-speaking countries have given generous support to the teaching and learning of German; the latter have made significant contributions to German instruction in Alberta by enabling students and teachers to travel to Europe on study and work programmes and, for those who cannot go to Germany, Switzerland or Austria, by supplying a vast amount of cultural material which makes German language and culture come alive. Last but not least, Canadian educational institutions and teachers' associations have, in a variety of ways, contributed to the success of German as a second language in Alberta (Chapter Nine). Based on the data gathered, the final chapter examines the likely future of the German language in Alberta.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THIS BOOK IS THE result of the efforts of several individuals, and without their help it could not have become a reality. In particular, I wish to thank my friends at the Association for English-German Bilingual Education of Edmonton, who were the first to sponsor this project, and the many individuals in the German-speaking community of Alberta who contributed data and observations, among them Elsa Petrikowski and Ingrid Sollbach. Dr. Gerwin Marahrens and Susan Nimmo at the University of Alberta, Dr. Peter Liddell at the University of Victoria, Heinz Pantel at Alberta Education, and Jim Jones at the Edmonton Public School Board were among the colleagues who gave generously of their time to read and criticize the manuscript at its various stages. I acknowledge with gratitude the work of Prasad Joshi, who verified all my references, and of Michael Shields who brought the manuscript into readable form by eliminating the excesses of ponderous German scholarly style. I am also indebted to Joanne Poon for her excellent work on the text design, but special gratitude is due to my editor at the Press, Mary Mahoney-Robson, for her encouragement and her constructive criticism of the project. I am also indebted to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism, the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, the Alberta Cultural Heritage Foundation, Alberta Culture, the Central and East European Studies Society of Alberta, and the University of Alberta for providing generous financial assistance. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. But, above all, I wish to thank my wife, Christiane, and my sons, Robert and Thomas, for their patience, support and steady encouragement over the years as the manuscript was taking shape. xiii


1 THE "GERMANS"-AN INVISIBLE MINORITY?

ACCORDING TO THE 1981 Canadian Census, 339,135 persons in Alberta indicated that they were of German origin; in other words, almost twenty percent of the population of Alberta either has a very strong German background (if the respondent gave only "German" as his or her ancestry on the Census questionnaire) or a mixed ethnic background (when the respondent indicated another ancestry in addition to German). In Census Division II alone (Edmonton and vicinity), more than 109,000 people claimed some German background; in and around Calgary almost 90,000 were of German origin. One might conclude, therefore, that such a large number of persons with German background would be highly visible in Albertan society and that German language and culture would play a very noticeable role in the Province. European visitors to Alberta, when hearing about the large number of Germans in Alberta, often expect German to be virtually the unofficial language of communication to be heard on every street corner. Somewhat embarrassed, the knowledgeable German-Albertan will usually respond, "Yes, there are a lot of Germans around here, but you don't see or hear very much of them," and the visitor learns that most "Germans" do not speak German any more, especially in public, and particularly the younger people. The uncomprehending visitor's "Why?" then produces a variety of responses regarding the presumed reasons for this state of affairs, many of them relating to World War II. It is a well-known fact that statistics, by themselves and without supporting context, can be misleading. The fact that some 340,000 Albertans claim German origin does not mean that all of them speak German and follow German customs and traditions. The actual number of 1

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Albertans using German as the predominant language of the home is substantially smaller, namely 27,485 (or barely two percent of the total population of Alberta indicating multiple ethnic origins, including German). Of this number, 11,245 are immigrants who came to Canada after World War II. Thus, it is the reality of the "German presence" in Alberta that only a relatively small percentage of "the Germans" keeps the German language and culture alive, either informally by using it in the home as the first language of the family, by participating in the activities of the various German clubs and associations, or by having their children learn the language in a public or private school. Cultural activities, in which the emphasis is on German customs and traditions, are often considered to represent an important part of the attempt to maintain the German heritage in Alberta. Probably the bestknown, large-scale event dedicated to the cultivation of ethnic customs is "Heritage Days" in Edmonton, which is held every year at the beginning of August. At the German Pavilion, the visitor can consume not only juicy sausages with sauerkraut and a roll, washed down with alcohol-free beer, followed by a German apple strudel, but he can listen to traditional German folk music, folk singing, and yodeling and watch the Schuhplattler in action. But does German-style food plus German music and dance equal German culture? This is the impression generated and reinforced by the public image of the German community at Heritage Days, yet we know these particular aspects are only a small part of the totality of the "German heritage," aspects which have been selected for their ability to draw visitors and which are celebrated with a certain amount of nostalgia. In fact, the function of the various German clubs and most German organizations is, to a large extent, to cultivate certain traditional customs for the enjoyment of their members; only incidentally do these ethnocultural events also, from a broader perspective, serve to keep German language and culture alive.1 Consider the following image: after the ethnic performances, those who had just been engaging in what other people might consider to be quaint customs, change their clothes and speech and are, by their own choice, virtually indistinguishable from the "ordinary" Albertan. A more balanced approach to keeping German language and culture alive has been used for the "German Days" during which the participants can partake of the usual ethnocultural activities and can attend seminars, lectures, and theatrical performances as well.

The "Germans"—An Invisible Minority

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A detailed history of immigration of speakers of German to Alberta would exceed the scope of this study,2 but it might be of some sociocultural interest to sketch the arrival in Alberta of "typical" immigrants and the conditions which they had to face around the turn of the century, conditions which certainly were not described in detail in the recruitment pamphlets distributed in Europe by the Canadian railroad companies. The immigrants usually were not aware of the physical isolation which they would encounter in Alberta, the harsh weather conditions, and the amount of hard work required simply to survive the first few winters. The virtues of the Alberta prairies had been painted in such glowing colors by immigration agents that people were led to believe that: ... free land, where a man might become rich overnight, awaited their plows, a land of temperate climate with the blessing of the Chinook, luscious grass belly-high to a tall horse, sod just waiting to be turned.3 In the following four excerpts from the family histories of Germanspeaking immigrants, the homesteaders raise many issues which can be encountered repeatedly in the local and family histories of Alberta, and which may therefore be considered characteristic of the process of psychological separation from the old country and acculturation to the new. Among these issues are the following: although many settlers were glad to leave dusty old Europe behind, there was—mixed with the eager anticipation of a better future—a sense of loss of what had been held dear for many generations. The immigrants really had no idea where they were going, nor how far removed from the rest of the world this virgin land of milk and honey was going to be. Only after they had arrived on this continent did the realization set in that Canada was indeed a foreign country with a new language and a new set of customs and values to be acquired. Furthermore, not all immigrants were poor: many settlers had left relatively comfortable homes behind in Europe. Small wonder then that some women, upon arriving at their home-to-be, often just sat down and cried. To be sure, there was ready willingness to change and adapt, but the homesteaders, especially in the far-flung rural settlements, stuck together and were always happy to meet other settlers in the village or the church with whom they could speak German, with whom they could share the stories of their pasts and apprehension about their futures.

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These men and women often were people without a country—not yet acculturated to Canada, but unable to return "home." For them, the German language was a vital link to the well-known world left behind. In his reminiscences, a German-speaking old-timer from Russia talks about leaving his farm and coming to Waterhole, a tiny hamlet near Fairview: It was on a warm day in June 1911 in the village of Sebastianfeld in Southern Russia, near the Black Sea, when my father came home from the village office where he served as a councillor. Among the mail he brought home that day was a letter... It was from a friend of my parents who had emigrated a few years earlier to America. Along with other news the friend wrote that land was plentiful and cheap; in fact, 160 acres could be had for just $10. My father said to mother, "I think, Maryann, we should emigrate to America." "But why should we emigrate?" she asked, "we have everything here, our folks, our friends, our home, just everything!" ... Finally it was decided the two oldest boys of the family, brother Joseph with his wife Rosa and baby Monica and brother Frank, were to leave for America in the Fall and report home their findings. Almost a month later the first letter arrived from our world travellers and to our dismay it was all but enthusiastic. In his next letter, brother Joe described their arrival at Estavan [sic], Saskatchewan and their impression of the new country. They were to stay with relatives until they had located the "160 acres for $10.00" and then settle on it in the spring. It was around this time our emigrants made the dismal discovery that in this new land called Canada just about everyone spoke English. As time passed the newcomers were gradually introduced to Canadian farm life. They met more people of German origin with whom they became dear friends, and going to church they met many people who seemed happy and content with their lot. ... Besides our family there was my father's youngest brother, Uncle Frank and his wife Aunt Thekla with their family of five and their hired man, a Russian by the name of Conrad, were in our party to emigrate to America. Eventually we arrived in Bremen where we had to stay a few days before boarding a ship ... A train took us to the dock where the huge


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steamship S.S. Kaiser William II was anchored. The brass band on the steamer played the sad wanderer wails as only the Germans can play them: Muss i denn, muss i denn zum staedele naus. Must I leave, must I leave my little home town, Little home town, and you, my darling stays here. And then: Now adieu my dear homeland, dear homeland, adieu, We are leaving for a far away strange land, Dear homeland, adieu. Everyone was happy when we saw wheat and oats and cornfields again near Winnipeg. The scenery was very much the same as the steppes of southern Russia. A short time later a man stepped up on the platform and asked my father if we were the family of Joe Doll. He had been instructed by brother to meet us when we arrived and direct us to two little houses which he had rented for us. We asked ourselves, "Where is this Peace River country?" It took brother Joe to find it, but he also found it was 350 miles from the nearest railroad (Athabasca Landing) and about 100 miles from Balgonie.... 4 The oppressive sense of distance and isolation is very clearly expressed in another homesteader's recollections: ... we left Winnipeg on Monday morning and got to Medicine Hat and from there on, a little narrow gauge (called turkey) train took us to Lethbridge, and on that train people were on the lookout for the Rocky Mountains. On the same train was a Methodist minister ... He asked me where I was going. I said Pincher Creek. "Well," he said, "You are going to the prettiest spot in Canada." But he said nothing about the wind. At Lethbridge my husband's partner or friend was waiting for us with a wagon and four horse team. After making some purchases the next day, we started for the 8o-mile drive to Pincher Creek in a lumber wagon. It was a long lonesome drive and as far as the eye could see it was prairie and nothing but prairie and lovely little creeks and rivers which we had to ford. Fort Macleod was a dry stony little place and looked forlorn enough, and here the wind started to blow. I had hard

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work hanging on to my hat as it had no elastic, for where I came from, there was no wind... Well, we reached home... It was a pleasing sight, to be sure. The people who had been keeping house during my husband's absence moved out the next day, and I started to clean up the house and whitewash it. By the way, the house was the usual one-roomed shack with no stairs to climb and only one door. After I got through with the house it looked a good deal better, and as I had a lot of little nicknacks it began to look quite comfortable. Well, bit by bit, I learned things. I milked the cows, fed the pigs, and we bought some chickens. But it was lonely. If it had not been for the work that I had to do, I think I would have gone crazy.5 We came from a fairly large town, according to European standards, with many fruit bearing trees, beautiful flowers, clean and wellkept houses and yards. I remember well the impression my sister and I had upon arrival at my father's house. Our shock was immense and most unbearable. As we stood in the yard and observed this vast open prairie, where the naked eye could see for miles in any direction, we looked at each other and broke down crying for the things we had left behind.6 ... relatives and friends coming from Romania would gather on street corners on afternoons, dressed in their traditional clothing with black shawls around their heads.... They spoke German and were very happy when some of the English speaking neighbors could speak German. They were all willing to learn the language and customs and adapted readily. This was home now.7 Upon arrival, the immigrants found emotional and psychological group support in the bloc settlements themselves and in their village churches. Those who had moved to the towns and cities of Alberta had access to a number of German-speaking clubs and associations, businesses and churches there. The German-language Alberta Herold, for example, informed its readers about current events in Europe, commented on what was happening in North America and ran columns and letters from readers in rural Alberta. It also contained many advertisements directed at the German-speaking population of Alberta. Real-estate agencies offered good farmland in the Leduc district, pointing out that there was a German settlement there;8 two department stores in Strathcona praised


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their wares ranging from foods to clothing articles.9 German books were available directly from the Herold,10 and for $4.05 a person could buy the most recent model of the Edison Phonograph.11 The Dreamland Theater on Jasper Avenue in Edmonton showed "first-class moving pictures, the best entertainment for young and old," and the Starland Theater, calling itself a family theatre, advertised a similar fare in bewegliche Bilder [moving pictures], for example, "Die letzten Tage von Pompeji" [The Last Days of Pompei].12 "Club Edelweiss" indicated that it was open every day from 2 P.M. to 11 P.M.,13 and in Calgary, "Club Harmonic" welcomed members and nonmembers alike to its Club-Hall.14 In Edmonton, the German choir "Germania" advertised its New Year celebration in large advertisements, and great play was given to the visit to the Edmonton Opera House by Mme. Langendorff who—according to the advertisement—was the favorite singer of His Majesty, the Emperor.15 In virtually every issue of the Alberta Herold, the homesteading regulations appeared in a German translation, and even the Alberta school laws were published in German for the benefit of the readership.16 Eight churches indicated in the paper that they offered services in German as well as youth clubs, Sunday school, women's auxiliary meetings and German-language schools for children and adults.17 It is quite clear that the German-speaking community around 1910 was just as visible as it is today, offering the same kinds of ethnic entertainment and opportuntities for education, edification, and business. In the 1980s, in view of the large number of Albertans of German origin, it is not surprising that there are many German clubs and other groups in the Province of Alberta which fulfill an ethnic social function. The German-Canadian Association of Alberta, the umbrella organization for most German clubs and associations in the province, listed 26 groups as its members in the January 1986 edition of the Alberta Echo, its official publication.18 A number of other groups were not members of the German-Canadian Association of Alberta,19 and although most clubs and associations are located in the major centres, there are German clubs in other regions of Alberta as well, for example, in Red Deer, Fort McMurray, and Hinton. Most German clubs and associations offer ethnically flavored cultural and social events to their members and the public at large. For example, every year the Edmonton Karnevalsgesellschaft Blaue Funken organizes a Prinzen-Galaabend, which, in the tradition of the carnival celebrations of the Rhineland, is always a smashing success. Club Austria sponsors

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about one Weinkost each month (with the major event in celebration of good wine taking placing in the fall) at which new and old wines from Austria may be sampled by real and self-styled connoisseurs alike in a gemutliche atmosphere. But there is a great deal more to do. The Calendar of Events in the Alberta Echo, during the 1985 calendar year, drew attention to more than forty major events which were to take place in Edmonton, among them theme dances, presentations by ethnic choirs, bands, and dancing groups, ethnic festivals, and meetings of various ethnic interest groups (see Appendix 1). A similar range of activities was available to club members and the public at large in other areas of Alberta, such as Calgary and Red Deer. For persons who prefer their culture with a capital "C", the city of Edmonton is the location of two Viennese-style balls in the classical tradition. Both are fine entertainment and draw local as well as Austrian dignitaries, and both are, in the final analysis, dedicated to a charitable cause: funds are collected for scholarships to enable talented students to study music in Austria. During the academic year at the universities, the discriminating listener can attend free recitals given by advanced music students as part of their examinations where German composers of lieder play a very important role. And, of course, there is always a German component to be found in the music programs of several local AM and FM radio stations as well as on the programs of the symphony orchestras and operas (recent examples being Wagner's Lohengrin and Mozart's Zauberflote and Die Lustige Witwe in Edmonton, and Die Fledermaus in Calgary and Edmonton). Once in a while, the Studio Theater at the University of Alberta and the Citadel Theater perform plays, in English, by Brecht; several lectures on German literature are given each year by professors at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, and visiting professors are invited to give such lectures at the major universities in the province. Those who do not find these cultural highlights to their taste have had a number of other avenues open to them to get their entertainment in German. Until 1984, Studio 82. on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton showed popular movies from the 1950s and 1960s which appealed particularly to the older people of German origin. Subsequently, films such as Wetterleuchten uber dem Zillertal or Jugendstreiche des Knaben Karl were shown in Zeidler Hall in the Citadel Theatre. In Calgary, the Plaza Theater has been screening these old films about twice a month. The


9

Beverly Cinema in Edmonton, for a while, showed German feature film classics as well until the public began to lose interest. In Edmonton, other local movie theaters (for example, the Princess and the Varscona), the National Film Theater, the Edmonton Film Society, as well as the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Alberta, have shown a variety of German films on a more or less regular basis. In Medicine Hat, it is reported, Heimatfilme are shown quite frequently for the members of the older generation. German-language newspapers, magazines, and radio and television programs have enjoyed considerable popularity in Alberta. A checklist of German-Canadian periodicals contains seven general-circulation newspapers, four club newspapers, and 27 church bulletins which have been published at one time or another in Alberta.20 The newspapers include the Alberta Courier (appearing under a variety of mastheads), the Alberta Deutsche Zeitung, Alberta Echo, Alberta Herold (a continuation of Der Herold, the Alberta Herold und Farmerfreund, Der Deutsch-Canadier, and the Deutsch-Canadischer Farmer).21 In 1986, there were two German-language publications available in the Province, the Kanada Kurier and the Alberta Echo, both having a circulation of more than 3,000 copies in Alberta. The Kanada Kurier, founded in 1889, is a national weekly newspaper printed in eight regional editions with a circulation of some 23,000 across the country. It presents the reader with a summary of the most important events in Europe, especially in the Federal Republic of Germany, but it reports on Canadian events as well, and in its special regional section, it focusses on events of interest to the German-Canadian reader in his particular area, such as club events recently held or future events. Regional reports often contain interviews with persons of importance in the local German-speaking communities, and a feuilleton rounds out the national section of the paper. The Alberta Echo is more local in character and concentrates on detailed reports from the German clubs and associations in and around Edmonton; in addition, the editor provides the reader with thoughtful editorials on a variety of subjects and with accounts of what is happening on the arts scene in the city. A very popular service to the German community of Edmonton has been the Lesezirkel Zimmermann, an agency from which one can borrow, for a small weekly fee, a number of women's and news magazines as well as the mass-circulation illustrated papers published in Germany.

10


In the broadcast media, "Forum in German," for a while, was the only show in town, in Edmonton, that is. The producer responsible for this half-hour television show, which came in with the advent of cable television in Edmonton, attempted to put together a show which would please many tastes and presented a variety of programs ranging from TV games to interviews, song recitals, and choir performances. The show required a sustained input from volunteers in the German community in Edmonton, and after seven years of struggling against the odds, "Forum in German" ceased broadcasting in 1981. The Edmonton cable TV company QCTV has offered a short program, "The German Scene," for several years, with material provided by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany. In Calgary, the community TV channel has been presenting a weekly show, Das Ahornblatt, as well as a broadcast originating from Red Deer, Ein erfulltes Leben. Air-time was also used for German on educational television. The beginnings of what today is an Alberta-wide network of educational programming go back to 1970 when the Metropolitan Edmonton Educational Television Association (MEETA) began distributing programs via Channel II, sharing air-time with the CBC French network.22 The educational network broadcast in English between 9 A.M. and 3 P.M. and between 7 P.M. and 9 P.M., but included a number of German programs obtained from the film library of the local German Consulate. These were primarily documentaries on scientific achievements, environmental protection, biographies of famous German personalities, and cultural events and a few music programs. In 1971, the German language instruction series Guten Tag was acquired and aired twice in the schedule, and it was repeated in the following year. In 1973, the more advanced series Guten Tag—Wie geht's was broadcast for the first time. Accurate user statistics are not available regarding the number of persons actually watching the German program, but some 500 program guides for the first series were sent out in response to audience requests. When MEETA became part of the Alberta Educational Communications Corporation (ACCESS), both series were included in the Corporation's Media Resource Center, which distributes programs free of charge to Alberta's educational instituions; it is estimated that some twenty-five schools and colleges have asked for the first-level materials, and somewhat fewer institutions have asked for copies of the second series. ACCESS has not aired any German language material since its incep-


11

tion because of lack of air-time; however, it may be possible in the future for German programs to be telecast again. At the time of this writing, applications have been made to the Canadian Radio and Television Commission for an ethnic television channel, and it was expected that German programming would be available in the not-too-distant future. Dreamers have even suggested that, one day, there would be European television programs beamed into Canadian homes via satellite or cable television, but technical, political, and copyright difficulties may prevent this event from occurring for a long time to come. German on the radio has a long history in Alberta; as early as the 1920s, the Young Men's Bible class (Baptist) started broadcasting the Gospel in German over the radio. It was reported that "the response from many scattered settlers hungry for the word of God and homesick in a strange country was beyond expectation. Some drove for miles and gathered round a radio for this half-hour service in their mother tongue."23 After World War II, the Lutheran Church put on a Lutheran Hour on the radio, which was called a resounding success because it helped dispel some of the suspicions which Canadians had of the Germans at that time.24 During the years of the immigration boom from Germany after the War, a certain Rev. Freytag sought to serve immigrants with informative 10-minute German language talks on CKUA radio.25 In more recent times, German on the radio has been heard for entertainment as well as spiritual edification. In Edmonton, CKER has brought its German listeners in Edmonton an afternoon German show since its founding in November 1980. The music part of the show has been structured so as to please a large segment of the German-speaking population of Edmonton and vicinity: traditional folk songs, light classical music, and modern pop music. A very important part of the show are cultural materials supplied by Internationes and by radio stations in the Federal Republic of Germany, which focus on cities in Germany, seasonal customs and traditions as well as social and political events in the Federal Republic. Interviews with local and visiting luminaries as well as chats with ordinary visitors to Edmonton balance out the program. Every day at 5 P.M., the station broadcasts news from Germany taped via the telephone from the German Press Agency in Bonn, and for a number of years, brought the news from Austria and from Switzerland as part of the weekly broadcast calendar. And, last but not least, a sports report was broadcast twice a week to keep listeners up-to-date on what was happening, for example, in the German soccer leagues. In Calgary, CHRB has of-

12


fered the German show Heimat-Melodie—Das Grosse Wunschkonzert on Sunday afternoons from 4 to 6 P.M. For the faithful, several radio stations (for example, cj01 in Wetaskiwin and CKER) broadcast radio sermons in German on Sundays as well as weekdays. Of course, anyone owning a shortwave receiver would not have to wait for the 5 o'clock news on CKER; he could simply tune in to any one of the frequencies used by the Deutsche Welle, the German short-wave service, the reception of which—depending on the time of day, quality of the receiver, and the status of the sun spots—can be as clear as a bell or just so much static. For two years, the University of Alberta (financed by a grant from the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany) made available daily news recorded from the broadcasts of the Deutsche Welle over a local telephone number—which, as this service was available before CKER began its operations—logged as many as 93 calls per day. The Swiss and the Austrian short-wave radio services to Western North America are usually almost impossible to understand because of insufficient signal strength, but the short-wave buff could spend hours listening to the entire evening program of the Deutsche Welle—from the news to reports on the social and political scene, commentaries, music shows, documentaries, sports events, and the like. For several years, one half of the city of Edmonton was able to receive Deutsche Welle broadcasts over their cable connection, weather conditions permitting. There is no doubt that local businesses owned by "Germans" are appealing to the members of the German community for their business: A person reading the Alberta Echo of January 1986, for example, could find 76 services and businesses advertised and do virtually all his shopping in German in Edmonton and vicinity. The Kurier of the same period, in its Alberta section, drew the reader's attention to a similar range of services and businesses in Edmonton and Calgary, and most larger and smaller communities in Alberta have their share of German-speaking shops and businesses. (See Appendix 2 for a list of such businesses.) In all of Alberta, about seventy churches offer services in German at least once a month (some even twice or more often each Sunday). In Edmonton, a person wanting to attend a service in German would find eleven churches advertising such services in the Religion section of the Edmonton Journal and the Kanada Kurier.26 In Calgary, according to the Kanada Kurier of the same date and the Calgary Herald, six churches offered services in the German language in January 1986.27 From the impressive array of German clubs and organizations in Al-


13

berta and the multitude of events organized by them, the reader might get the impression that all is well with German language and culture in the Province of Alberta. Judging from the large number of Albertans of German origin—some 340,000 according to the 1981 census—and German clubs, associations and choirs in Alberta, there should be a strong and lively interest in the events organized by them. Cinemas in the larger towns and cities, community television and radio stations, Germanlanguage newspapers and magazines, book and import stores are providing a diversified and rich German ambience, particularly in the larger centers of the province when compared with the rural areas. The picture is deceptive, however. It is indeed true that, at present, the German ethno-cultural and social events are reasonably well-attended, but the emphasis must be on "at present." According to most community leaders, presidents of German clubs, newspaper editors, language school teachers, and ministers, the interest expressed in the activities offered has, at best, remained stable or has slowly but steadily declined. In particular, it is the young people of German origin who are not participating. According to the president of one of the major associations, the social and cultural events sponsored by most clubs (except those which offer sports entertainment) are attended predominantly by the first generation, the immigrants for whom German is the mother tongue. He estimated that less than one percent of the young people of German origin (the second and third generations) is involved in organized ethno-cultural activities.28 The Kanada Kurier apparently is read primarily by older people. In the churches—if services are still held in German at all—it is the young children and the members of the immigrant generation who appear to attend most frequently. Obviously, these are generalizations; in churches where an effort is being made to attract the children by a youth program or a language school, the percentage of youngsters is sizeable; no doubt, there are a few members of the second generation who read the Kurier regularly and listen to German programs on the radio. But the trend is undeniable: quite often, the comment may be heard that in perhaps twenty years there will not be much left of most of the German clubs and associations. Although some Canadian-born Albertans from German-speaking families speak German fluently and correctly, English has become the first and dominant language for most young Albertans of German origin. In terms of the proficiency in and formal knowledge of their parents' mother tongue, German for them is now a distant second language,

14


barely understood and hardly spoken. It seems that "the Germans," wherever they may be from, have become an "invisible minority" in the everyday cultural life of the community. Only on certain holidays and festival days do some of them get together and talk and behave "like Germans." For them, German language and German culture have assumed the role of museum pieces to be displayed exuberantly and publicly when the occasion warrants it; at all other times, however, they take pains to show that they have been acculturated to the mainstream "Canadian way of life" and to Canadian social expectations. One of the reasons for the lack of participation among the majority of young people of German origin might well be what has been referred to as a "museum approach to German culture": to cherish and preserve aspects of German culture (folk dancing, folk singing, wearing folk costumes) which have become "petrified" in North American society while they are on the verge of extinction in Germany—aspects which, for better or worse, have little relevance in present-day German culture, at least to the young people who have grown up in Canada. To many Albertans, the concept "culture" is synonymous with food and folk dancing, and the Alberta Heritage Days reinforce the perception that, for "typical" German culture to be enjoyed, the visitor has to eat a Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut, followed by a slice of Apfelstrudel, while watching a performance of Schuhplatteln or listening to a group of enthusiastic Jodler. To be sure, these aspects are significant and enjoyable dimensions of traditional German culture, but presumably there is more to German culture than eating, drinking, and dancing "in the old style"—and yet there is little that is offered in terms of contemporary German, Austrian, or Swiss culture, be it a discussion of contemporary life styles, the value system, entertainment, or the arts. Only schools and universities attempt to convey to the learner a view of the culture of the German-speaking countries as they exist today, in all their similarities and dissimilarities with North American culture. Visitors from Germany are frequently surprised at the opinions and attitudes held by some of the "old-timers" (i.e., those who immigrated some thirty years ago) and will tell them that "things just aren't like that any more." It is a well-known fact that emigrants tend to preserve a perception of their home land "the way it was then," especially if they feel that modern ideas and attitudes, be they political, social or economic, are not an improvement on what they used to know and maybe like. Small wonder then that the younger generation, which is mobile and often can readily afford to travel to Europe, will reject ethno-


15

cultural activities that they consider to be outmoded curiosities. Unfortunately, the issue whether it is too late already for the German clubs and associations to change course and offer activities which might attract the young can only be resolved in retrospect, but by then it will indeed be too late. There appear to be essentially three patterns of approach to the preservation and cultivation of the German language and culture in Alberta,29 which may be characterized as follows: Type A: Regular and serious participation in various ethno-cultural and social events to "preserve" the German heritage in the family and the province; preservation of a "German" life style and system of values in the home; use of German as the main language of communication in the home and in the church by the older and the younger generation; a deliberate seeking out of the company of other speakers of German just because they are German; formation of a "German island" amidst the anglophone culture, where the stated intention is to pass on German language and culture to the next generation, and members consider themselves to be "German" or "German-Canadian" with strong German background. With this approach, traditional German culture and language will survive beyond the present generation. Type B: Occasional participation in ethno-cultural activities for nostalgic enjoyment and social mingling; immigrant parents may speak German to each other and to the children when they are still young, but they give up eventually and switch to English when talking with them; children use English among themselves; parents and children follow an increasingly Canadian life style and do not want to appear "different"; the parents may have German-speaking friends, but do not seek them out deliberately; the older members consider themselves "GermanCanadian" or "Canadians of German origin," but the younger members perceive themselves primarily as "Canadian." In this pattern, the German cultural and linguistic heritage will not survive beyond the immigrant generation. Type C: Virtually no participation in ethno-cultural activities; immigrants give up German as the home language very quickly, even among themselves; they adopt the Canadian life style and system of values completely; the children are raised as anglophone Canadians for whom German culture is something that was left behind in Europe; if they have German-speaking friends, this is a coincidence; the members of this group consider themselves Canadians. With this

16


approach to the preservation of language and culture, the cultural heritage has already been abandoned. In Chapter 3, the notion of the preservation of German language and culture will be examined in great detail. It will be seen that Types B and C predominate in the German-speaking community of Alberta, except in the isolated rural communities, such as in Hutterite colonies, where the Type A approach to the maintenance of language and culture is followed. It follows that the image of the participant in ethno-cultural activities who changes from traditional German costume to Canadian clothes and therefore becomes "invisible" in the broader Canadian context is indeed an apt one. It is quite conceivable that second-and third-generation Albertans of German origin buy their German bread and meat in a German delicatessen and their German wine in the stores of the ALCB; they may listen to Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann or various German pop music stars or may flock to performances given by singers of the fifties, sixties, and seventies from Germany when these performers stop in Alberta on their cross-Canada tours. Some of them may even go and see English adaptations of German plays in the local theaters and sub-titled German films in the local cinemas or film clubs; they may, occasionally, enjoy oompahpah music, Weisswurst, and beer at the annual Okoberfest and hum along with the music. Yet, it appears inevitable that German (which at present is the second most frequently used language of the home in Alberta) will have virtually disappeared from active use among the majority of Canadian-born Albertans of German origin within one generation. This development is regrettable and unfortunate because in the future it will be easier than ever in the history of the Germans in Alberta to maintain their linguistic and cultural heritage. Videotapes from Germany are already readily available, and in the not-too-distant future, modern technology will be able to supply the local cable company with European programming. The physical and psychological distance between Canada and Europe will continue to shrink because of inexpensive travel opportunities. The loss of German language and culture is regrettable as well because German will increase in importance as a reflection of the economic, cultural and political roles played by the German-speaking countries in Europe and throughout the world. A fluent knowledge of German language and familiarity with German culture would surely be an invaluable asset for young Canadians. For the teaching of German at school and university, the steadily in-


17

creasing authenticity, quality and variety of cultural events available in the local community will mean a tremendous enrichment of formal instruction by informal opportunities to encounter and appreciate German language and culture. However, it seems that it will be increasingly the anglophone Canadians who will take German in school and at the university, discovering the present-day utility of the language and the cultural and scientific contributions made by speakers of German over the centuries. A teacher or student of German, in the first half of the century, or even twenty years ago, could hardly have imagined the opportunities to immerse himself or herself in the German language on a daily and casual basis, to hear and speak German outside the classroom: for them, German was truly a "foreign" language, spoken predominantly by people living thousands of miles away, and German culture a foreign culture, to be read about in some dry, out-dated textbook. Today, the German language can indeed be learned as a "second" language and German culture be acquired in a relatively enjoyable and painless manner. But for the students of German of the not-too-distant future, the remnants of German language and culture in Alberta, whatever may be left of them, will be museum pieces from the past.

2 ESTABLISHING A "GERMAN PRESENCE" IN ALBERTA

How STRONG ARE German cultural and linguistic traditions in Alberta? How much has the German language been used in the province, and is this language use declining? If so, why? Are patterns of language loss or retention similar to other heritage language groups in the province? To answer these questions, the immigration patterns of German speakers, both in Canada and Alberta, must be examined and then the use of German in the home and enrolment in German classes at school must be studied. Presumably, German-speaking parents who attempt to maintain their mother tongue in the home will also be keen to have their children continue with German in school. But there is a further demographic factor which is important in the retention or loss of the German language in Alberta. The literature clearly shows that heritage languages have been maintained much more broadly and easily in rural than in urban areas. Thus the progressive urbanization of the Alberta population as a whole throughout this century plays a role in the continuous decline of German, and other heritage languages, in the province.

LIMITATIONS OF THE CENSUS DATA

Canadian census data for roughly the last century, the basis for this discussion of a "German presence" in Alberta, present several difficulties, due to the very nature of the census-taking process itself. In many cases, the data are not strictly comparable from one census to the next because of a change in the manner of measuring a certain variable. For example, 18

Establishing a "German Presence"

19

until 1981, only one response to the question regarding "ethnic origin" was recorded, but that year's census permitted the census population to indicate several ethnic origins if they wished to do so.1 Sometimes, a variable name change may have resulted in a change of its meaning as perceived by the census population. An example is the repeated redefinition of the concept "mother tongue." In 1901, it referred to "one's native language, the language of his race, but not necessarily the language in which he thinks or which he speaks most fluently or uses chiefly in conversation."2 The 1911 census referred to the "language spoken most often in the home"3 and therefore did not even mention "mother tongue." In 1921, a person's mother tongue was defined as "the language of customary speech employed by the person."4 Ten years later, "mother tongue" was described as the "language learned by children and still spoken, or the language of the home whether the person has learned it or not (e.g., infants)."5 In 1941, this definition of competence in one's mother tongue (which is still being used) was broadened to "the first language learned in childhood and still understood by the person."6 Clearly, the concepts "language of customary speech" and "the language first learned in childhood and still understood" do not measure the same linguistic skills. Another example of a change in the meaning of a variable whose label did not change is the "rural/urban distribution" of the population. Before 1951, the population residing within the boundaries of incorporated cities, towns, and villages, regardless of size, was classified as urban and the remainder as rural. 7 But, in that year, this definition was changed to refer to an urban population as "residing in cities, towns, and villages of 1,000 and over, whether incorporated or unincorporated, as well as the population of all parts of census metropolitan areas."8 The 1971 census defined an urban population as that "population living in (1) incorporated cities, towns and villages with a population of 1,000 and over, (2) unincorporated places of 1,000 or having a population density of at least 1,000 per square mile, (3) the built-up fringes of (1) and (2) having a minimum population density of at least 1,000 per square mile."9 Finally, the 1981 census described the urban population as those "persons living in an area having a population concentration of 1,000 or more and a population density of 400 or more per square kilometer."10 The difference in the meanings of "urban" should be quite apparent, especially in view of the fact that, before 1951, villages consisting of as few as 35 houses could count as being "urban."

20


Data from Alberta's early history are not strictly comparable with later figures due to changes in boundaries in the territory until it achieved provincial status in 1905. Similarly, but on a smaller scale, the boundaries of census districts have been altered from time to time. The census unit "Edmonton," for example, has referred to an area of increasing size over the years. In addition to "true" growth, then, an increase in the population of Edmonton is also due simply to the annexation of adjacent communities. The problem of inconstant territorial definition is even more significant for the specification of "birthplace" because of the changing political geography of Europe. The boundaries of "Germany" changed substantially at least three times between 1890 and 1981, and, of course, the Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared with the end of World War I. Although the directions given in the census questionnaire may have been perfectly clear to the census takers, some immigrants from the eastern regions of Poland and Austro-Hungary may have been uncertain about whether they should report their birthplace as Poland, Austria, or Russia.11 Was their mother tongue German or Polish or Ukrainian? Uncertainty about shifting European borders may also have existed in the minds of Canadian government officials, because until 1941 the census provided not only for "Austrian racial origin," but also for an Austrian mother tongue as part of the group of Slavic languages. Even more astounding is the fact that the statistics of the Department of Agriculture of 1890 actually refer to Bavarians as a distinct and identifiable group of immigrants next to Austrians, Germans, Mennonites, Bosnians, and others.12 During and after the two World Wars, many people of "German" origin are known to have misstated their ethnic affiliation deliberately in order to avoid stigmatization as being "German." For instance, some Mennonites gave Russian or Dutch as their racial origin. To wit, the 1931 census recorded a sharp increase in the number of Germans over 1921; this rise was attributed, at least in part, to the inclusion of many who in 1921 had reported themselves to be of Austrian or Russian extraction.13 During the Second World War, a substantial number of persons reported their origin as German or Dutch, their language as German, and their birthplace as Russia.14 Eberhardt15 pointed out that according to the 1941 census, 2,164 persons of German origin lived in Medicine Hat—but only 55 persons with German origin appeared in the 1946 Census. A decline in the number of people of German origin may therefore be either a


21

"true" decline or an artifact caused by interviewees avoiding the "German" label, or a combination of both. Consequently, the descriptors "birthplace" and "ethnic origin" are likely to yield only approximations to actual numbers for the earlier period. Even the data from the years after World War II are probably not entirely accurate, especially for the Volksdeutsche who fled or were expelled from the regions in Central and Eastern Europe where they had lived for up to hundreds of years. A major obstacle to any generalization about the "German presence" in Alberta is the fact that the term "German" itself is difficult to define unambiguously.16 "Germanness" has been defined by Canadian government officials in terms of racial or ethnic origin, mother tongue, birth place, country of last permanent residence, and nationality. A person may consider that he or she belongs to the German ethnic group, but may be a citizen of Austria, Switzerland, Romania, the United States, and so on. He may have been born in Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Holland, the German Democratic Republic, or Argentina; his last country of permanent residence may have been the United States or Paraguay; he may speak English, Spanish, Dutch, or German as a mother tongue. How is this person defined as "German" according to the above criteria? Another problem area is the concept "birthplace." A person could have been born in Germany, the Alsace, the Sudetenland, Austria, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, Galicia, Bosnia, or Romania; he may carry a German, Swiss, or Canadian passport; his mother tongue may be German, Czech, Polish, or Ukrainian, but most of the time he speaks English. Can birthplace be the criterion for "Germanness"? The large number of "German" immigrants immediately before World War I were, in fact, primarily speakers of German or persons of German origin who had come from Russia, Poland, Hungary, Romania or other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Are Mennonites "Germans"? What about the Austrians or the Hutterites?17 There may be gradations of "Germanness" even within the home. A man may speak German at home and English at the work place; if his wife stays at home, she may speak English only with their anglophone neighbors and friends; their daughter may understand but not speak German; perhaps their son used to understand German when he was small, but now he does not speak or understand German at all any more. Yet all four of them would be classified as having a German mother tongue and as being of German origin.

22


Thus it is very difficult to speak with precision about a "German presence" or about "the Germans" in Alberta. If there are fifteen "native speakers of German" in a high school German class, we may tend to think of this group as being a homogeneous bloc. This may or may not be the case, but more likely it is not. The students' unique cultural and linguistic background may well be the result of the interplay of two or more of the above-mentioned variables, and of others, such as membership in a certain linguistic group, growing up in a rural versus an urban environment, etc. It will be important, therefore, to make appropriate distinctions when discussing aspects of "Germanness." We will have to think in terms of "speakers of German," who will include Austrians, Swiss, and all those born elsewhere who learned German as their first language and who are still able to use it to a minimum extent. But we may also have to distinguish by ethnic origin, which separates the German speakers of German from the Swiss or Austrian speakers of German, and by birth place or nationality. In any event, it should be remembered that, in Alberta, the adjective "German" must be qualified on the basis of additional distinguishing criteria when reference is made to a particular person or ethno-cultural group. Canadian census takers have been keenly aware of the problems of comparability of data and the quality (accuracy as well as reliability) of the responses. Each census contains lengthy discussions of the extent to which the results of two censuses can be compared, and periodically, census officials have issued corrected data for earlier census results.

PATTERNS OF "GERMAN" IMMIGRATION

When did "the Germans" come to Canada, and to Alberta in particular? Where did they come from? How many of them left their homeland for Canada? Immigration to Canada Annual immigration figures to Canada for persons of Austrian, German, and Swiss ethnic origins are available for the period from 1900 to 1984 (see Appendix 9, Table 1). The number of immigrants from Austria rose


23

slowly but steadily from an annual rate of about 200 people at the turn of the century to some 1,900 by 1907, then took a sharp jump to 8,500 by 1910, and dropped again sharply to about 600 by 1914. During World War I, there was virtually no immigration from Austria. Afterwards, until 1925 when "Austrian racial origin" was subsumed under "German racial origin," annual immigration figures for Austrians were small as well, barely reaching 100 in 1924. A comparison of immigration from Austria with corresponding data for immigrants from Austro-Hungary shows that only a small number of them actually came from Austria itself (often scarcely 10%), while the bulk of the immigrants entered Canada from other areas of the AustroHungarian Empire, such as Bohemia, Bukovinia, Galicia, and Hungary.18 Compared with the number of emigrants of Austrian origin, the influx of people of German origin at the turn of the century was relatively small. In 1900, about 1,000 ethnic Germans came to Canada; this number rose and fell several times and reached its high point in 1913 with 5,700 immigrants. There was hardly any immigration of "Germans" from 1914 to 1919, and, as late as 1919, the Canadian Government was taking steps to prohibit the admission of, among others, Mennonites, Doukhobors, and Hutterites. Only in 1922 was this restriction withdrawn, and in 1923 the "enemy alien restriction" was terminated. As had been the case with the "Austrians," only a small number of "Germans" actually came from the Kaiserreich. Between 1900 and 1914 about 10 to 15% came from Germany itself, 40 to 45% from Russia (Southern Ukraine, Volhynia, Lower Volga), some 25% from southeastern Europe (Galicia, Bukovinia, Banat, Dobroudja), and approximately 20% from the United States.19 After 1919, the annual rate of immigration from Germany resumed with modest numbers (112 persons in 1920), but then rose sharply to 2,600 in 1924, 6,600 in 1925, and 14,100 in 1928. In 1931 there was an abrupt shift in immigration of persons of German origin to substantially lower annual rates, which were to last until after the Second World War. After admitting 10,602 immigrants to Canada from Germany in 1930, barely 800 were allowed to enter Canada in the following year. Subsequently, rates fell further to between 200 and 500 immigrants per year. In 1939, immigration reached the 1,000 level again, but plummeted to less than 50 immigrants per year for the period from 1940 to 1945. The decline in the immigration of persons of German origin to Canada after 1930 was not the result of deliberate discrimination against the Ger-

24


man ethnic group. After 1929, the Canadian government, in view of the deepening economic crisis, restricted the flow of immigrants from all countries to "agriculturalists, residents' wives and minor children, British subjects from the old Dominion, and American citizens capable of selfsupport."20 All promotional work to sustain and increase immigration from Europe was stopped in 1930, and much of the overseas immigration organization was dismantled in the following years. Even British subjects with means of their own were discouraged from immigration to Canada because of the poor working conditions. For these reasons, only two small groups of German immigrants arrived in the 1930s, namely several thousand Jews and about 1,000 Socialists and Social Democrats from the Sudetenland who were refugees from the Hitler regime.21 Emigration of persons of Swiss ethnic origin to Canada rose from 30 in 1900 to about 300 in 1913, practically stopped during the War, increased to some 1,500 in 1923, and dropped again to a few hundred over the succeeding period. Between 1931 and 1946, the annual immigration figures from Switzerland ranged between approximately 10 and 90 persons. After the Second World War, immigration of persons of German origin to Canada started slowly at first and then increased dramatically. Between 1947 and 1950, over 10,000 German-speaking refugees from eastern Europe entered Canada, among them the Danube-Swabians and the Sudeten-Germans who were expelled from their countries during and after World War II. Immigration of "Germans" reached 6,000 per year by 1949, jumped to 32,000 in 1951,22 peaked at 35,000 in 1953, and remained at levels between 20,000 and 30,000 annually until 1957. The late fifties saw a sharp decline to about 11,000 in 1959 and 6,000 in 1961. An annual rate of between 5,000 and 7,000 immigrants of German ethnic origin prevailed until the mid-sixties. Throughout the seventies and early eighties, immigration figures for persons of German ethnic origin have fluctuated between 1,000 and 3,000 per year. The immigration of persons of Austrian and Swiss origin produced a similar bulge in the early 1950s to about 3,800 in 1954 for persons of Austrian origin and 1,300 in 1957 for people of Swiss origin. The figures then declined to 600 to 800 per year for immigrants from these two countries until the middle sixties. Since then, about 200 Austrians per year have entered Canada, and, after a peak in 1967 of 2,000 Swiss immigrants, approximately 800 Swiss citizens have come to Canada annually; in both cases, the numbers have shown a strongly declining trend.


2.5

Immigration to Alberta Detailed data for immigration to Alberta are available only since 1956. The criterion used by officials was "Intended Province of Destination." Obviously, there is wide room for error in these data because immigrants who "intended" to come to Alberta may not have done so in the first place or, if they did, may have moved on to other provinces at some later date. Another difficulty is a change in the definition of the German, Austrian, or Swiss immigrant: the basis of collection of immigration data changed in 1961 from "ethnic origin" to "country of last permanent residence." Even in view of these problems it is instructive to examine the numbers of immigrants "from" Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, so that one may get an impression of the extent of "German" immigration to Alberta in the recent past (see Appendix 9, Table 2). In 1956, 2,750 people of German ethnic origin intended to come to Alberta, about 11% of the Canadian total, a percentage which has varied only little over the succeeding years. From a high of 3,100 persons in 1957, the annual number of immigrants of German origin to Alberta dropped steadily to about 600 by 1962, fell and rose again to about 1,200 in 1967, and dwindled to between 200 and 500 per year subsequently. Only 1982 saw an increase of immigration from Germany to some 650. By 1985, the number declined to 130 persons who had the Federal Republic as their country of last permanent residence. For persons of Austrian origin, the immigration curve has been similar. Two hundred of them stated their intention to come to Alberta in 1956 (about 7% of the Canadian total). By 1958, this number dropped to below 100 immigrants of Austrian origin per year, and since that time, the annual immigration from Austria has ranged between 30 and 260 persons, with an average of fewer than 100, and a definite downward trend has prevailed in recent years. Immigrants of Swiss origin numbered 50 in 1956, with a high of 170 people intending to come to Alberta in 1976. During the fifties and sixties, the corresponding figure was commonly less than 100. Subsequently, the rate has fluctuated between 60 and 120, with an average of fewer than 100 immigrants per year arriving from Switzerland.

26


SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF SPEAKERS OF GERMAN IN ALBERTA

The first German-speaking immigrants came to southern Alberta with the CPR and settled down on homesteads in the area; from there they spread northwards in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Not only "Germans," but people of most ethnic origins who had lived in cities and towns in Europe chose life in the countryside, either voluntarily or by necessity. In the 1880s, there were very few "urban" areas. In 1901, Alberta had one city, six towns and 21 villages.23 Edmonton had a population of 2,6z6 in 1901, Calgary 4,091. Some 2,070 people lived in Lethbridge, 1,570 in Medicine Hat, and 550 in Wetaskiwin. The 1885 census had reported that 13 people of German origin lived in the Edmonton District, 5 3 in the Calgary and Red Deer District, and 155 in the Macleod District. But numbers increased rapidly. In 1901, there were already 7,694 people of German origin in Alberta and 1,576 immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At that time, about one-quarter of the population lived in urban areas, and the German presence began to make itself felt. In the city of Calgary, the census counted 197 persons of German and 20 persons of Austro-Hungarian origin. In Edmonton there were 325 immigrants of German and 81 of Austro-Hungarian descent. In Didsbury, 380 ethnic Germans had settled, 350 in Fredericksheim, 205 in Leduc, 175 in Olds, 253 in Ponoka, 408 in Rabbit Hill near Edmonton, 466 in Spruce Grove, and 558 in Stony Plain. In Wetaskiwin, there were 534 persons of German origin; 415 people of Austro-Hungarian origin were found to have settled in Lethbridge, and 81 in the city of Edmonton. Settlement in the Rural Areas In spite of the beginnings of concentrations in certain urban regions, the vast majority of immigrants remained on the farm. Gerwin24 compiled the following list of approximate dates when significant numbers of "Germans" had moved to certain areas of the province: Date

Place of Settlement

Group

1883 1887 1888

Vicinity of Pincher Creek Southern Alberta West of Red Deer

Lutherans German Mormons


27

CONTINUED

Date

Place of Settlement

1889

Dunmore, Gleichen, Seven Persons Vicinity of Edmonton

ca. 1889

Josephsburg, Beaver Hills, Bruderheim, Bruderfeld, Stony Plain, Rabbit Hill, Leduc, Wetaskiwin, Bashaw 1898 Rosenthal, Miwassin district east of Stony Plain 1899—1903 Spruce Grove, Golden Spike, Gnadenthal west of Leduc, Clover Bar east of Edmonton; area east of Lake Wabamun; increase in Wetaskiwin and Bashaw areas 1901 Vulcan and Champion north of Lethbridge; increase in the urban population of Edmonton 1903 Ardossan; townships west of Ponoka 1906—12 Calgary 1904 Settlement eastward and westward of the Wetaskiwin area, Pigeon Lake; Spring Lake south of Daysland; and near Heisler, Forestburg 1904 Claresholm, Pincher Creek, Magrath, Milk River area and Lethbridge 1907—8 Central Alberta east of the Calgary-Edmonton line in the Acme, Beiseker, Carbon district ca. 1907 Didsbury, Edmonton 1908 Cypress Hills and Medicine Hat areas 1909—11 Schuler-Hilda-Burstall area, Altario, Compeer, Rosenheim, Provost 1910—16 Northern Alberta: Friedenstal; Dapp, Freedom in the Westlock area; areas west of Edson. Tomahawk, Wildwood,

Group

Some 200 families from the south and some newcomers

ca. 1889—

Volga-Germans

American-Germans

Ontario Mennonites American Germans and people from Saskatchewan

28


CONTINUED

Date

ca. 1910 ca. 1911 1918

1923

ca. 1926—

1927 1928 1929

ca. 1935

Place of Settlement

Evansburg, North and South Styal, Wolf Creek, Rosevear Irvine-Walsh area east of Medicine Hat, Granum, Three Hills, Trochu Swalwell northeast of Beiseker South of Tofield Ten Hutterite colonies in southern Alberta Coaldale, Namaka east of Calgary, Rosemary, Duchess, Countess, Gem in the BassanoBrooks district; Burns Ranch east of Olds, La Glace north of Wembley Increases in existing settlements and new settlements in Athabasca, Colinton Northmark, Heart Valley, Goodfare Flatbush, Fawcett, Barrhead Slave Lake, Newbrook, Hines Creek, Thorsby; Patience and Falun, resp., northwest and southwest of Wetaskiwin; Lavesta west of Ponoka; Alhambra east of Rocky Mountain House Areas west of Calgary-Edmonton line, Peace River area.

Group

Manitoba Mennonites Nebraska Mennonites Settlers from the Dakotas Russian Mennonites

Large influx of "Reichsdeutsche" and Polish-Germans

Farmers from southern Alberta.

The Trend Towards Urbanization

Before the turn of the century, an estimated 75% of the total population of Alberta lived in the country, but the ratio between urban and rural population did not remain at 1:3. As early as 1906, about one third of the general population of Alberta resided in urban areas. By 1911, the urban population of Alberta had risen to 37% of the overall population, and it remained at this level until 1941. From that year on, the percentage of the urban population increased steadily by more than 10 points a decade until 1971, when 74% of Albertans lived in urban areas. In the


29

period between 1971 and 1981, this rise slowed to an increase of less than 4%. Thus, over a period of 80 years, the ratio of urban to rural population has completely reversed itself: in 1981, only about one quarter of Albertans lived in rural areas. The shift from a predominantly rural to a predominantly urban population is an extremely important feature in Alberta's history, as it determines the life style and system of values cherished by the population. The maintenance of one's mother tongue, home language, and cultural traditions is strongly affected by segregration—the extent to which the people in an isolated community are able or unable, willing or unwilling, to mingle and intermarry with members of other linguistic and cultural communities. The increasing dominance of the urban population caused by the migration to the urban areas, and the fact that the "new immigrants" after World War II gravitated to urban areas because of their training and background, has been a crucial factor in the loss of cultural and linguistic traditions among many ethnic communities. The settlement of Albertans of German or Austrian origin in urban or rural areas parallels the general trend with only minor deviations. The data for the Swiss immigrant population are always scanty and have been left out of the discussion in most places. Figure2.1ipresents a comparison between the three urban/rural distribution curves (overall population, populations of German and of Austrian origin). Until 1941, Albertans of Austrian and German origin were less urbanized than the population at large. In 1926, that segment of the population of Austrian and German origin which lived in urban areas amounted to 24% and 2 2 % , respectively, of the total population of German or Austrian origin, while 39% of the the overall population already resided in urban areas. This difference indicates that the immigrants of "German" origin preferred to stay in the rural areas of the province. Mennonite and Hutterite Settlement in Rural Alberta Among the earliest German-speaking immigrants to Western Canada and to Alberta were the Mennonites,25 the first group of whom, the German Swiss Mennonites, arrived in High River in 1891. Another group, the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, settled in Didsbury in 1892. Additional groups of Mennonites arrived in Alberta in 1901 and moved to Didsbury, Tofield (1911), Duchess (1914), and other scattered rural areas. By 1921, there were 3,131 Mennonites in Alberta.26 However, the

30

FIGURE 2.1


Ethnic origin and settlement in rural and urban Alberta (1931-1981)

major influx of Russian Mennonites into Alberta came between 1923 and 1926, when 2,000 of them settled in Alberta, especially in the south (Coaldale, Rosemary, Gem, Vauxhall, Duchess, Crowfoot, Carstairs, Cowley, Grassy Lake, Hussar, and Springridge) and in the Peace River area. By 1927, emigration from Russia had practically ceased because of restrictions imposed by the Russian government and because of the resistance displayed by the western Canadian population and governments to the "Mennonite invasion." Witness the following: "If there are in the U.S. or Europe people of any class, whether they be called Mennonites, Hutterites or any other kind of 'ites', we do not want them to come to Canada... "27 Immigration of Mennonites to LaCrete, Fort St. John, and other areas resumed only after World War II.28 The first group of Hutterites (the groups of the Dariusleut and Lebrerleut] came to Alberta in 1918 and established colonies near Cardston, at Rosebud, Springville near Rockyford, Wilson Siding, Standoff, and near Magrath. Between 1918 and 1922, the Hutterites established 14 new


31

colonies in Alberta, and in the next 20 years the number of colonies doubled. At present, there are 116 colonies with 7,400 Hutterites in Alberta, most of them in the southern and south-central regions. The census figures give some indication of the numerical strength of the Mennonite and Hutterite groups (see Table 21). The 1981 Census was the first to distinguish between them; until that time, the Hutterites had always been included under the Mennonite label. As late as 1951, less than 7% of the Mennonites and Hutterites lived in urban areas; in 1961, this percentage had risen to almost 22%. But in 1981, 49% of the Mennonites and only 0.3% of the Hutterites lived in urban areas in Alberta. Clearly, these two religious groups voluntarily selected a rural existence isolated from the rest of the population at the time of their immigration to Alberta. But while some Mennonites have become integrated into Albertan urban society, the Hutterites have chosen to remain in rural districts. Post-World War II Settlement The influx of people of German and Austrian ethnic origin after World War II shifted the ratio between urban and rural population more and more in favor of a dominance of the urban dweller. Between 1926 and 1936, the proportion of the general population who lived in urban areas was about 16% higher than the proportion of people of German origin who lived in urban areas. This discrepancy has diminished greatly and, since 1961, has amounted to only 5 to 7%. In 1981, about 70% of Albertans of German origin lived in urban areas, while the corresponding figure was about 77% for the general population (see Fig. 2.1). Immigrants of Austrian origin tended to settle in urban areas more frequently than did immigrants of German ethnic origin; at each census since 1926, Austrian immigrants have been more urbanized than Albertans of German origin. Although it is true that post-war immigrants from Austria and Germany gravitated to the urban areas, the remaining strong rural presence of persons of German origin in Alberta is the result of earlier, "old ethnic" settlement patterns. It would be wrong, however, to conclude that the Mennonites and Hutterites account for the entire rural population of German and Austrian origin. There are numerous homesteads all over Alberta where people of German, Austrian, or Swiss origin, who are neither Mennonites nor Hutterites, have lived and worked.

32

TABLE


2.1

Mennonite (and Hutterite) Presence in Alberta

Year

Mennonites

1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981

1,555 3,131 8,301 12,119 I3,528 16,269 10,745 10,545

Hutterites

546

7,395

SOURCE: Canadian Censuses NOTE: Hutterites are included with Mennonites between 1901 and 1971 inclusive.

ORIGIN OF SPEAKERS OF GERMAN BY BIRTHPLACE

In 1891, the first year in which the census examined the origin of the people by their birthplace, 146 Albertans reported Germany as their place of birth; 229 said that their father and 223 said that their mother had been born in Germany (see Table 2.2). No immigrants from Switzerland or Austro-Hungary were recorded in that census. The decade between 1891 and 1901 witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of immigrants who had been born in German-speaking countries. The 1901 census reported 1,138 Albertans born in Germany and 57 born in Switzerland, while the number of immigrants from Eastern Europe sky-rocketed: 5,648 immigrants came from Austro-Hungary and 2,396 from Russia. How many of these immigrants actually spoke German? An extract from the 1936 census (see Appendix 9, Table 3) clearly shows the spread of countries where Albertans with German mother tongue had been born. Barely 20% of the foreign-born speakers of German were actually born in Germany; as a matter of fact, there were more speakers of German in Alberta who had been born in Russia and the United States than persons who reported Germany as their birthplace. Of the latter, a large number would have been Hutterites and Mennonites. In the years before and during the Second World War, the number of Albertans claiming Germany as their birthplace decreased sharply. The 1946 census reported about 5,000 Albertans who had been born in

Establishing a "German Presence" TABLE 2.2

Selected Birth Places of Albertans

Year

Austria

1891

n.a. 5,648* 11,041* 10,538 11,372 9,981 5,929 4,083 5,833 7,293 7,070 6,145 10,319 5,030 3,960

1901 1906 1911 1916 I9ZI 1916

1931 1936 1941 1946

1951 1961

1971 1981

33

Germany

146 1,138 3,216 6,102

5,325 4,606

5,199 8,076 7,545 5,867 5,164 7,275 24,821 26,390 17,395

Switzerland

n.a. 57 247 n.a. n.a. 739 880 1,098 993 926 805 908 I,210 1,350

1,755

SOURCE: Canadian Censuses NOTE: Entries marked with an asterisk refer to immigrants from Austro-Hungary.

Germany—almost the same number as 20 years earlier. After 1951, there was a sharp rise in immigration from Germany (in 1961, 24,811 Albertans said that they were born in Germany), with an only moderate rise in subsequent censuses. By 1986, the number of persons with Germany as their birthplace declined to 20,110. The number of persons indicating Austria as their birthplace increased through the thirties and early forties. In 1946, 7,070 people claimed Austria as their place of birth compared to 5,164 born in Germany. By 1981, the number of Austrian-born Albertans fell to 3,960. The number of immigrants born in Switzerland remained relatively stable throughout the twenties, thirties and forties, at about 1,000 persons; post-World War II immigration, however, raised the number of Swiss-born Albertans significantly. In 1981, 1,755 persons in Alberta said they had been born in Switzerland. Although these data demonstrate clearly how few people of "German" origin were actually born in the three German-speaking countries, compared to the rest of Europe, the United States, and Canada, it is

34


clear that the birthplace of immigrants is not a very good indicator of the "German presence" in the province because it does not take into consideration the children and grandchildren of immigrants who might also speak German as their mother tongue and as their home language, but who have been born in Canada.

ETHNIC ORIGIN

The concept of what today is called "ethnic origin" has undergone several redefinitions in the course of the last 100 years. In the 1885 census, reference is made to "Origins of the People" in the enumeration of the population of Alberta.29 The 1901 Census stated that "the racial or tribal origin" is traced through the father.30 The census definitions at the beginning of this century speak of "British races" (i.e., English, Irish, Scotch [sic] and Other) and "European races" (e.g., French, Belgian, Bulgarian and Romanian, German, Bukovinian, Moravian, Laplander)—a classification which hardly matches the standard definition of "race," especially in the first third of this century in Europe. But in the context of the Canadian census, "racial origin" was to be understood as a reference to the cultural and ethnic group from which a person derived. Indeed, in 1941, "racial origin, for census purposes, has mainly a cultural and geographical implication; it suggests whence our people came and their implied cultural background."31 The 1951 census then speaks of a person's "origin or cultural group,"32 and since 1961, the terms "ethnic group" and "ethnic origin" have been used. At present, the question asked by the census taker is: "To what ethnic or cultural group did you or your ancestor (on the male side) belong on coming to this continent?"33 It follows that children are automatically classified as being of "German origin" if the father, grandfather, or greatgrandfather was "German" when he came to North America. Consequently, a person may be classified as being "German" without having much to do with German anymore; he or she may not speak or even understand the language, and another ethnic background in the family may actually have replaced the "official" ethno-cultural past. Yet, as a concept, the ethnic origin of immigrants is a much more comprehensive indicator of the presence of an identifiable ethnic group than birthplace or nationality. Ethnic origin not only includes those who im-


German and Austrian Ethnic Origin of Albertans

Year

German

1901 1911

7,836 41,656

1916

33,997 35,333 47,114 74,45° 90,961 77,721 107,985 183,314 231,010 233,180

1921 1926 1931 1936 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981

Austrian

Total

838

8,674

7,767 15,069 19,430 10,929

49,423 49,066

6,737 6,363 7,513 5,010

15,904 6,305 6,400

54,763 58,043 81,187 97,324 85,234

112,995 199,218 237,315 239,580

35

Percentage of Total Alberta Population

13.17 12.85 9.88 9.31 9.55 11.10

12.59 10.71 12.03 14.96 14.58 10.82

SOURCE: Canadian Censuses

migrated from, say, the German-speaking countries and other countries where they were a linguistic minority, but also encompasses those Albertans who were born "of German origin" in Alberta and Canada. Table 2.3 presents an overview of the growth of the German and Austrian ethnic groups from the turn of the century to the present. The 1885 census provides detailed statistics about the immigrants' origins for the first time. In that year, 109 Albertans reported being of German origin: 43 lived in the sub-district of Macleod, 53 in the Calgary and Red Deer sub-districts, and 13 in the Edmonton sub-district. Fifteen years later, there were already some 8,000 persons of German origin in Alberta, and another ten years later, in 1911, that number had increased to over 40,000. During the First World War, the number of people who reported themselves as being of German origin decreased again to some 34,000 people, and then climbed steadily to 90,000 by 1936. The 1941 Census revealed a reduction in the number of Albertans who admitted to German origin to about 78,000 (the census explains that Germans provided incorrect information about their origin in 1941 because of World War II, as had happened in 1911 because of World War I34). This figure was quick to rise to 108,000 by 1951, more than 180,000 by 1961, and 231,000 by 1971. From 1971 to 1981, however, the number of people of

36


German ethnic background in Alberta (single responses only) increased only marginally to about 233,000.

GERMAN AS A MOTHER TONGUE

The concept "mother tongue" was defined in 1901 as "one's native language, the language of his race, but not necessarily the language in which he thinks or he speaks most fluently or uses chiefly in conversation."35 This definition has undergone several changes since. In 1911, "mother tongue" was defined as "the language of customary speech employed by the person,"36 which disregards previous dimensions of "race." In its second part, this definition seems to be the very opposite of the older definition: the mother tongue as being "not necessarily the language... use[d] chiefly in conversation" versus the mother tongue as "the language of customary speech." The 1931 definition returns to the concept of "one's native language," stating that the mother tongue is "the language learned by children and still spoken or the language of the home whether the person has learned it or not (e.g., infants)."37 Note the requirement that the language has to be spoken by the person concerned so that it may qualify as the mother tongue; note further that the context in which it is used has been narrowed from "customary speech" to "spoken in the home." The 1941 Census definition shifts the focus of linguistic competence from speaking to merely understanding a particular language: "Mother tongue" is defined as "the first language learned in childhood and still understood by the person."38 Clearly, this definition not only increases the number of people who could claim a mother tongue different from English, because the criterion is mere comprehension rather than active mastery, but also broadens the context of its use from the home to the work place and the social arena. The 1941 definition of mother tongue is still in effect. In order to capture a dimension lost in 1941, the 1971 census introduced the concept of "The Language Spoken Most Often at Home," called "Home Language" in the 1981 census. Its definition is very simple: "The language spoken most frequently by the person in his home."39 Consequently, since 1971 the census has distinguished between the language for whose acquisition a child really has no choice because it is the first language heard and presumably learned (the mother tongue) and that language chosen freely

Establishing a "German Presence" TABLE year

1916 1921*

1931 1936 1941 1946

1951 1961

1971 1981

2.4

37

Albertans with German Mother Tongue German

Austrian

22,923

6,649 2,146 n.a. n.a. n.a. 849

28,832 63,410

76,856

62,766

47,707 65,195 97,666 92,805 90,410

* Population of ten years of age and over. SOURCE: Canadian Censuses

as the main language of communication in the home environment (the home language). Thus there are conceptual difficulties involved in defining a term as ostensibly simple as "mother tongue." Yet, because of the widely differing notions underlying the concept "mother tongue," both before and after 1941, direct comparisons of mother tongue data over the years will be inaccurate at best, and misleading at worst. The preceding section showed how wrong it is to equate "speaking German" as a mother tongue with "being from Germany." Table 2.4 presents the number of Albertans who reported German (or Austrian) as their mother tongue (irrespective of their country of origin). It shows a steep increase between 1916 and 1936 from some 23,000 to 75,000; that number declined to 48,000 in 1946, rose sharply to 65,000 in 1951, and increased to about 98,000 in 1961. During the sixties and seventies, the number of Albertans with German mother tongue fell again to 80,000; at present, about 90,000 Albertans claim German as their mother tongue, which means that they, at least, understand German when it is spoken. But its status has significantly diminished over the past 50 years. Table 2.5 shows that the percentage of Albertans of "German" origin reporting German as their mother tongue reached an all-time high

38

TABLE 2.5


Percentage of Canadians and Albertans of German Ethnic Origin Reporting German as Their Mother Tongue

Year

Canada

Alberta

1921

53.2 57.4 53.1 40.1 39.4 42.6 45.1

58.0 65.3 61.9 49.3 42.9 40.1 38.8

1931 1941 1951 1961

1971 1981 SOURCE: Canadian Censuses

with 65% in 1931 and declined to about 39% in 1981. If the immigration of the 19508 and thereafter had not occurred, the loss of German as the mother tongue in Alberta would have been even sharper. At present, only about four out of ten Albertans with "German" ethnic background acquire German as their mother tongue. Their skill in the language may, of course, range from fluency and accuracy to minimal levels of comprehension. It may be concluded that German, as a mother tongue, is steadily losing ground against the anglophone linguistic environment. As the frequency of use of German as a mother tongue decreases, its role as a potential home language will decrease accordingly. Also, as the productive linguistic skills of the population of the "German" ethnic group decrease, the chances of raising children who can speak as well as understand German are further diminished. The Role of German as a Mother Tongue in Alberta and the Other Provinces Has Alberta maintained its share of people with German as their mother tongue in relation to other Canadian provinces? Table z.6 shows Alberta's share of persons with German mother tongue in Canada has remained relatively steady since 192.1 at slightly less than 2.0%. Over the years, the big loser in the share of mother tongue speakers of German in Canada has been Saskatchewan. In 1931, 38% of all Canadians with German mother tongue lived there, but its share had dropped


year

1921*

1931 1941 1951 1961

1971 1981

39

Distribution of German as a Mother Tongue over Selected Provinces B.C. 2.3

3.3 4.9 10.7 12.9 15.8 17.9

Alberta

Sask.

Man.

Ontario

14.7 17-5 19.5 19.8 17-3 16.6 17-5

35.9 38.3 37.3 30.3 15.9 13.6 11.4

13. 2 15.8 16.0 14.6 14.9 14.8 14.4

32.1 22.7 20.5 22.1 32.6 33.0

33.4

* Population of ten years of age or over. SOURCE: Canadian Censuses

to 11% by 1981. Manitoba has remained steady at about 15%, while British Columbia has increased its proportion consistently from about 2.% in 1921 to about 18% in 1981. Ontario gained most from the immigration rush in the 1950S; its share of the population with German mother tongue rose from 22% in 1951 to 33% in 1961 and has remained at that level ever since.

GERMAN AS A "HOME LANGUAGE" IN CANADA

The 1971 Census introduced a new criterion for the evaluation of language use, namely, the Language Spoken Most Often Spoken At Home ("Home Language").40 As a rather accurate indicator of the true extent to which German or any other language is actually being used in everyday life, it compares favorably with the concept of Mother Tongue, which simply refers to the language a child grows up with and still understands in later life, but does not give an accurate account of the actual use of this language. At the same time, it should be kept in mind that the 1971 Census underestimated the extent to which a nonofficial language was used in the home because it allowed only a single response. In some families an official as well as a heritage language may well have been spoken with similar frequency, but the census form did not make provision for such a case.

4O

FIGURE


2.2

The maintenance of German as the home language among persons of German origin and having German as mother tongue, for Canada and selected provinces (1971 and 1981)

According to the 1971 Census, German was the second most frequently used "heritage" or "ancestral" home language in the country (213,350 speakers) after Italian (425,235) and, of course, English and French: 0.99% of the Canadian population spoke German every day. In urban areas, this percentage was somewhat lower (0.85%); on farms, 3.05% of the population spoke German as their home language, but only 0.80% of the nonfarm rural population did so.41 When the relationship between the number of ethnic Germans in a province is compared with those of their number who were actually using German on a day-to-day basis in 1971 (see Figure 2.2), Manitoba came out on top: about 32.% of Manitobans with German ethnic origin used this language as the home language, compared to the national average of about 16%. The average was also exceeded by Ontario (about 17%) and Quebec (ca. 25%). In British Columbia, the corresponding rate was approximately 14%, in Alberta almost 13% and in Saskatchewan just over 10%. In Canada, according to the 1971 Census, 213,350 persons of German origin spoke German as the language of the home. However, there were


FIGURE 2.. 3

41

The maintenance of German as the home language among Canadian-born and foreign-born Albertans of German origin (1971)

1,317,200 Canadians of German origin: consequently, just over 16% of Canadians who were of German origin were sufficiently versed in the German language to be able to use it in daily life. When a distinction is made between those Canadians of German origin who were born in Canada versus those who were born abroad, just over 6% (see Figure 2.3) of those born in Canada used the German language as their home language, while of those who had been born abroad, under 37% did so. In other words, for a person of German origin born in this country, the chance of acquiring German as the home language in 1971 was only about 1 in 15, and a remarkable two-thirds of immigrants of German origin had given up their mother tongue for, in most cases, English as their home language. The distinction between urban and rural farm population with regard to their use of German as a home language is also quite striking: nearly 4% of the urban German ethnics who were born in Canada used German as their home language compared to nearly 17% for the rural-farm German ethnics who had been born in Canada. On the other hand, over 37% of the urban German ethnics who were born abroad used German as their home language in 1971, compared with almost 40% of the foreign-born rural-farm persons of German ethnic origin. One may conclude that having been born abroad did not seem to influence the extent to which urban or rural farm residents used German as their home Ian-

42.


guage, while among the Canadian-born, urban dwellers used German significantly less frequently as their home language than did German ethnics living on a farm. It is of considerable interest that German was the second most frequently spoken language of the home in Alberta. In 1971, almost 91% of the population spoke English in the home, but 1.8% (29,275 persons) used German regularly in the home, 1.7% spoke Ukrainian, and 1.4% spoke French. In the urban areas of Alberta, 1.5% of the population spoke German as the primary language in the home; just under 4% of the rural farm and just over 1% of the rural nonfarm population reported in 1971 that they usually spoke German at home. In Calgary, about 2% of those of German ethnic origin who were born in Canada and 31% of those born abroad spoke German in the home as the dominant language. In Edmonton, under 4% of the Canadians of German ethnic origin used German in the home, compared to about 37% for those born abroad. When sex is introduced as an additional variable, it can be seen that there is no significant difference between male Albertans of German ethnic origin born in Canada (5.8%) and females (5.7%) in terms of their using German as their home language. An important issue for educators is whether the rate of speaking German at home when having a German background is evenly spread over the age groups in question. Census data show that this is not the case. In 1971, about 69% of the children in the 0-4 age group with German mother tongue spoke German at home. By the age of 9, an average of only 52% of the children who had learned German as their mother tongue still used German in the home; the corresponding rate for the 10to-14-year age group dropped to about 39% and to about 34% by age 19. By age 24, only about one-quarter of Albertans with German mother tongue still used German as their home language; after that, the rate remained stable until retirement age when the rate of using German as the home language rose again to between 35% and 45%, an increase which is likely due to the presence of immigrants from the 1950s who never gave up speaking German in the home. It can be concluded, therefore, that the early years (0—10) are critical for the maintenance of German as the home language. In this period its use drops most rapidly (by an average of some 30% alone over this period), while in the second decade its use decreases only by some 20%. The same table also reveals that the number of Albertans of German


43

ethnic origin who are using German as their home language is positively correlated with age. The older the person of German origin, the more likely he or she is to use German in the home. In the age bracket 0—19, about 10% percent speak German at home, while in the 70+ age group the corresponding percentage is some 37%. The implication is that, after the death of the 60 + age group of German ethnic origin, the percentage of Albertans using German in the home will decline sharply.

THE PERIOD BETWEEN 1971 AND 1981

Between 1971 and 1981, the number of Canadians who spoke German in the home dropped from 213,350 to 152,830, a decrease of about 28%. Similar dramatic decreases in the use of German as a home language can be observed in the various provinces. In Quebec, the decline in the use of German as a home language was 44%, in Ontario 34%, in Saskatchewan 33%, in British Columbia 25%, and in Manitoba 24%. In Alberta, the decline was comparatively modest, about 12%. Not only did the absolute numbers of Canadians of German origin, with German mother tongue, and with German as their home language decrease drastically, but the percentages decreased as well (see Figure 2.2). For example, the percentage of those Canadians who had German ethnic origin and used German as the home language decreased from approximately 16% in 1971 to about 13% in 1981. In 1971, 38% of Canadians with German mother tongue spoke German most often in the home; in 1981, this percentage declined to about 30%. Similar drastic reductions can be observed for all provinces. For instance, in 1971, about 45% of Ontarians with German mother tongue spoke German most often in the home; in 1981, the percentage was only 32%, a decrease of 13% in a decade. By comparison, Alberta's figures are more reassuring: in 1971, under 32% of Albertans with German mother tongue spoke German in the home; in 1981, that percentage dropped only about 3% to over 28%. The percentages of Canadians of German origin who used German as their home language declined systematically as well. Whereas in 1971 about 16% of all Canadians of German origin spoke German at home, only about 13% did so in 1981, a decline of some 3%. In British Columbia, the corresponding decrease was almost 3% to 11%; in Saskatchewan, the already low percentage of those of German origin who used

44

FIGURE 2.4


The maintenance of various mother tongues as home languages for Canada and Alberta (1971, 1981)

German in the home dropped from 10% in 1971 to under 8%, and so on. Alberta actually had the lowest l0-year decline in the use of German as a home language, about 2%, down to 11%. Language Loss in German Compared to Other Nonofficial

Languages

Is this decline in the frequency of use of an "ethnic" mother tongue and an "ethnic" home language, both in Alberta and in Canada at large, restricted solely to German? Have "the Germans" been more likely to give up their ethnic language background than other ethno-cultural groups? The census data prove that this is by no means the case. Figure 2.4 shows the use of certain mother tongues and home languages for selected ethnocultural groups in 1971 and 1981. The first observation to be made is the tremendous variation in language retention among the various heritage language groups, ranging from about 7% for Norwegians to 74% for the Chinese in 1971. German occupied a middle position: about 38% of the persons who had acquired German as their mother tongue also used it as their home language in 1971. For Canada as a whole, the percentage of speakers of a certain mother tongue who also used this language as their home language declined most sharply over the decade in the Ukrainian group (-11%); next in line were the Dutch (-6%) and the German groups (-8%). The Norwegian, Pol-


45

ish, and Chinese groups (although on opposite ends of the retention spectrum) changed very little over the decade (actually, Chinese was the only language to increase its mother tongue retention). Of course, in the case of the latter two groups, immigration from Poland and southeast Asia during the decade had infused additional speakers of those mother tongues. French, as an official language, retained very high language loyalty across Canada, with some 93% of those whose mother tongue was French using French also as their home language. In Alberta, a similar variation in language loyalty across ethnic groups can be observed. Without exception, however, the degree of language retention within a certain ethnic group was lower by several percent when these figures are compared with the total Canadian picture. In some cases, the differences between 1971 and 1981 were marginal (e.g., Netherlandic languages: 21% in all of Canada versus 23% in Alberta); in others, they were substantial (e.g., Italian: 74% of all Canadians who had acquired Italian as their mother tongue also used it in the home, compared with 61% for "Italian-Albertans" in the same year). French, of course, occupied a special position, but it should be noted that in Alberta in 1971, only 46% of those whose mother tongue was French also used it as their home language, and this percentage declined by another 4% by 1981. In Alberta, all ethno-cultural groups except the Polish and the Chinese displayed lower language loyalty in 1981 than in 1971. The sharpest decline was seen in the Italian group (-13%), the Ukrainian (-10%), and the Netherlandic groups (-8%). The decline in the maintenance of German as a home language in Alberta, over the decade, was a comparatively modest 4%. It may be concluded that the German language, both Canada-wide and in Alberta, occupies the middle ground regarding the extent to which speakers of German who have German as their mother tongue are retaining the language as their home language. Other ethno-cultural groups, such as the Ukrainians, whose pool of mother tongue speakers cannot be substantially increased from outside of Canada are suffering much more than the Italians and the Germans from the effects of declining language loyalty among their speakers. Considering the tremendous influence which English is exerting on the survival of the nonofficial languages, German, in relative terms, has been holding its own well between 1971 and 1981, especially in Alberta.

46


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GERMAN SPOKEN BY THE SETTLERS IN ALBERTA

The immigrants' German in Alberta has been recorded on phonotapes housed in the Provincial Archives and has been analyzed and documented, by no means exhaustively, in a number of books, theses and dissertations. In addition to several general treatments,42 detailed studies of the dialect of the German spoken by groups in the following areas have been carried out: the Volhynian German in the Edmonton area,43 the Galician dialect in the Stony Plain area,44 samples of Volhynian, Swabian and a Low German dialect in the Barrhead area,45 and the Bessarabian German dialect in and around Medicine Hat.46 Several scholarly analyses have been conducted of Hutterite German.47 These investigations have established that a large number of German dialects have been spoken in Alberta by the immigrants from the 1890s on. In some areas the dialects have remained relatively stable and free of interference while in others processes of linguistic leveling have taken place. All studies concluded that the "older folk" retained the original dialect best,48 with decreasing freedom from interference from English or high German over succeeding generations and a sharply dropping level of proficiency in the dialect from the immigrant to the first and second native-born generations of settlers. In some cases, the younger generation does not even understand the dialect any more.49 For example, the older generation of Bessarabian Germans, at the time of the Eberhardt study, still "preferred the dialect over English as they had never really identified with the culture and life of the adopted country. The younger Bessarabian German speakers are very much a part of Alberta, and even when the German dialect is spoken, many foreign features interfere."50

A LACK OF PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH?

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, Alberta's population grew from 73,022 to 588,454, with the vast majority of immigrants coming from Central and Eastern Europe. Large numbers of the new immigrants knew very little or no English, and they knew next to nothing about Canada, its social customs, traditions, and values. Many brought along their own cultures and prejudices and retained a certain emotional allegiance to their home country. The government of Alberta was faced


47

(as were other provincial governments) with the problem of transforming this diverse group of "ethnics" into loyal and true Canadians. There was no question of permitting the immigrant to retain his ethnic identity in what today would be called "the multicultural mosaic." The authorities decided that the immigrant had to submerge his national identity in the larger Canadian (which, of course, meant British) identity.51 The process of Canadianization involved two different, yet related aspects: teaching immigrants the English language so that they could participate in the affairs of the day and the country, and teaching them to think and behave like Canadians. Canadianization was perceived to be especially difficult in those areas where immigrants settled in "blocs" or colonies, which provided them with a feeling of ethnic or religious cohesiveness, but also discouraged contact with the English-speaking world. In general, it was felt that immigrants to the rural areas were harder to Canadianize than those who settled in the towns. Some ethnic groups were quite willing to learn English and give up their national heritage, at least externally. Others offered strong and determined resistance to any efforts to undercut the language and the culture of the old country. Lack of Proficiency in English: The Immigrants' View52 Although the Department of Education had great difficulty persuading the Ruthenian communities in Alberta to accept English as the language of the school as well as of the home,53 the German-speaking immigrants were much more willing to learn English as quickly as possible, even if only for communication with the outside world, while retaining German for the home and get-togethers with family, friends, and neighbors. Many of the children spoke little or no English when they came to school; sometimes they could communicate with their teacher only through an interpreter, usually a classmate. At first, the only schooling which the children received was from their parents, but the Department of Education was very insistent that schools be erected and instruction be given for the full year. Some families were indeed very eager to get their children into school, so that they could learn to speak English. Women, mainly isolated on the homestead, had the least chance to learn English, and some were always apprehensive because they did not know English and could speak only German. Once in a while, a woman

48


would attend school with the children, as this seemed the best and quickest way to gain proficiency in English. Men were more likely to meet other people and, therefore, acquired English more quickly than the children or women. Frequently, the wife did not learn much English, and so the children talked German with her all the time.54 The new immigrants were quite happy when they discovered that some of their neighbors could speak German, too, but they were all willing to learn the new language. The motivation to acquire a working knowledge of English as quickly as possible was often very immediate and personal. Take, for example, the recently arrived farm hand who "finally discovered that the farmer could also speak German. For lack of communication, his immense misery of the first few days was now over; he no longer had to drink his coffee without sugar and was told how to command his team of horses in English. The team, on a previous occasion, had run away, dragging him along the ground."55 The following sentences sum up the process of linguistic acculturation to Canadian society: I had studied some French in the school in Russia, but no English. After two or three months I had no problem to understand people and I started gradually thinking in English. After that I was on my way to becoming a new Canadian.56 The Immigrants' Alleged Inability to Speak English: The Facts The issue of the immigrants' mastery of one of the official languages of Canada was raised for the first time in the 1901 census. A special record was taken in that year to determine whether the people spoke English and/or French as well as their mother tongue. The justification for this action was that "in a country peopled with so many foreign elements as Canada, it is desirable to know if they are being absorbed and unified as may appear by their acquirement of one or other of the official languages."57 It was found that about one-fifth of the Albertan population were unable to speak English, and over three-quarters could not speak French. However, no distinction was made among the various ethnic groups; thus it is impossible to establish the linguistic skills of "German" immigrants at that time. The degree to which anglicization among the Albertans of German origin had taken place by 1916 is of considerable interest. Of the Canadianborn Albertans of German ethnic origin, 40% of the males and 37% of


FIGURE 2.5

49

The ability of Albertans of German origin to speak English only

the females could speak only English (see Figure 2.5); less than 1% could speak only their mother tongue. Even among the foreign-born, the percentage of those who could speak English only was very high, namely 30% of the men and 32% of the women. Conversely, a mere 2% of the foreign-born men and 5% of the women of German origin spoke their mother tongue only, according to the 1916 census. Following the resumption of immigration after the First World War, the number of ethnically German immigrants who could speak only their mother tongue in 1931 rose slightly to just 4% of the foreign-born men and about 9% of the foreign-born women. Among the native-born Albertans of German ethnic origin, the percentage of men and women who reported to be able to speak their mother tongue only decreased to a fraction of 1%. Between 1916 and 1931, the number of those who could speak English only increased by a few percentage points to just over 40% among the British-born, but declined by some 8% to about one-quarter of the foreign-born of German origin. The picture is totally different, however, in regard to immigrants from Austro-Hungary. It will be remembered that only a small portion of them

50

FIGURE


2.6

The ability of Albertans of Austro-Hungarian/Austrian origin to speak their mother tongue only

(approximately 10%) came from Austria itself, the others having immigrated from the eastern regions of the Empire. In 1916, only 1,02.9 persons of 20,696 with Austro-Hungarian racial origin spoke German as their mother tongue; 6,52,4 spoke Austrian [sic], 1,547 Galician, 7,051 Ruthenian, 492 Ukrainian, 667 Slovak, 320 Magyar [sic], 240 Hungarian, 668 Bohemian, 321 Bukovinian, 427 Polish, and 960 Russian. Of the males of this population, 26% were unable to speak English, and of the females, 46% could not speak English.58 When the variable of birthplace is introduced (see Figure 2.6), it is found that 17% of the males born in Canada (or the British Isles) versus 27% of the males born abroad did not speak English; almost 23% of the British-born females could not speak English, but a staggering 50% of the foreign-born females from Austro-Hungary were unable to speak English. Among the foreign-born, fewer than 1.5% spoke English only, and among the Canadian-born the corresponding rate was 3% (see Figure 2.7). If ethnic origin is disregarded, about 7% of the Albertans 10 years of age and over (5% of the British-born and 9% of the foreign-born) could not speak English in 1916. Against this provincial average, a large num-


FIGURE 2.7

51

The ability of Albertans of Austro-Hungarian/Austrian origin to speak English only

ber of persons of German origin certainly "had been absorbed and unified" quickly. The disproportionately large number of those members of ethnic groups, such as the Austro-Hungarians, who could speak neither English nor French gave the authorities reason for concern about their rate of assimilation. It was on these grounds that they followed a course of vigorous Canadianization in the schools, using them as the vehicle for bringing about assimilation. Between 1921 and 1931, the percentage of Austro-Hungarians who reported to be able to speak English only increased sharply. While in 1921 some 4% of the Canadian-born said that they spoke English only, the corresponding figure rose to about one-quarter of the corresponding population within a decade; the percentage of the foreign-born who claimed to speak English only increased to a mere 7%. At the same time, the number of Canadian-born Albertans of Austro-Hungarian/Austrian ethnic background who spoke only their mother tongue (whatever that may have been) plummetted from 23% in 1916 to a fraction of 1% by 1931. Among the foreign-born, the pattern was very much the same. Whereas in 1916 half of the women reported that they only spoke their mother tongue, the equivalent rate was barely 20% by 1931; among the men, only 10% spoke only their mother tongue by 1931.

52


Quite clearly, the assimilation process had quietly worked in the direction desired by the government, with a slight difference between the two ethnic groups. Among the German-origin group, the trend was towards abandoning their German mother tongue altogether, but the AustroHungarians retained their mother tongue while acquiring English. About one quarter of the Canadian-born Albertans of Austro-Hungarian/Austrian descent reported proficiency in English only; the remainder claimed knowledge of English as well as their mother tongue. In 1931, the census observed59 that those Canadians speaking one of the Germanic languages were the most likely to give one or the other official language as their mother tongue. Indeed, in 1941, a miniscule 0.8% of Albertans of German origin could not speak English or French (the immigration of people of German origin had virtually come to a halt in 1931). The rate for Albertans of all origins had dropped as well: 1.7% of the males and 2.7% of the females were unable to speak English. The linguistic assimilation process had succeeded.60 German-Speaking Immigrants and the Department of Education Judging from the comments made by school inspectors in the Annual Reports of the Department of Education, the German-speaking immigrants caused few problems for the school officials who seemed pleased with the attitude displayed by the two German-speaking groups which immigrated in the first 20 years of this century: The Mennonites are most anxious to have their children educated. Twenty-two districts are now organized among them with fifteen in operation. Their schools are the better built and more fully equipped than any others in my inspectorate and the people are most desirous of meeting any suggestions.61 Again and again, inspectors praised the good work being done in these schools. Apparently the children liked the school life; as evidence the reports cite attendance running as high as 96.66%.62 The Hutterite settlers around Rockyford were reported to have been supportive of schools in their districts and anxious to observe the laws pertaining to education. Mennonite colonies around East Cardston also appreciated the efforts of the Department of Education in extending educational advantages to their children. They were prompt in paying their


53

taxes, and strove to make the teacher who served them as comfortable as possible. The teachers in these communities were also keen to further the learning of English, and for this purpose they borrowed books from the Library Branch, which had been well supplied by the Department. During winter evenings, the teacher's residence was said to be the meeting place of the younger men of the colony; with the teacher's help they read current magazines dealing with agriculture and scientific problems. In the Stand Off District near Macleod, a Hutterite colony gained the special respect of the local school inspector: [The man in charge of the school] has a first class professional standing, is a faithful, careful instructor, with a good knowledge of the best methods to adopt in the instruction of foreign children. These Hutterites appear to be quiet, industrious, inoffensive people. They gave no evidence whatsoever of being in any way opposed to our system of education. On the contrary, their leader displayed a deep interest in the school and inquired closely into the progress the children were making in school, especially in the learning of English. He volunteered his heartiest cooperation in anything he could do in making the school a success, in seeing that the children attended regularly, in making conditions favorable for the teacher to live there and do his work. When it comes to the paying of taxes in order to support the school, we find in the Hutterites a people who pay, and who pay without evasion, murmur or complaint. During the present year, the Englishspeaking ratepayers, among whom were those who had sold certain of their lands to these Hutterites at high prices, strenuously objected to paying taxes to support a school designed for the education of foreigners. They succeeded in their efforts to have their land withdrawn from the district. This reduced considerably the area of the district and threw an added burden of taxation upon the Hutterites, yet no complaint was heard from these people. They assumed the additional obligation as though it were the inevitable and went on paying their taxes as quietly and complacently as before. Had a similar thing happened in the English district, what a storm we would have had to face!63 Around 1920, the language of the residents in the south-east corner of the province was almost entirely German, although in most cases, the children and men had a working knowledge of English. From this area, the inspectors reported uncongenial working and living conditions for

54


teachers and a meagre social life. They concluded that, to retain teachers, attractive salaries would have to be offered and that teachers would have to be paid promptly.64 On occasion, the Department of Education did not hesitate to apply the full force of the law if a school did not conform with regulations. Most of these fights over the implementation of the school law occurred in Ukrainian school districts, but there is one account of the Department dealing harshly with a school operated by the German-Lutheran Church. The Inspector found that, although the teachers were "good types of German manhood," they spent a great part of their time in the instruction of religion and the German language. Consequently, it was determined, the teaching in the other subjects was not up to the standard attained by the public schools in the community where these private schools were located, and the buildings and equipment were considered very much inferior. Apparently, the students' training was neglected and no suitable playgrounds were provided. Therefore, the school inspector declined to give the school his approval for the continued operation of the school, and the children had to attend the public schools. Somewhat later, the school submitted and introduced changes to meet the Department of Education's requirements.65

REFLECTIONS ON THE REASONS FOR VARYING DEGREES OF GERMAN LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE IN ALBERTA

One of the most vexing issues in the analysis of the maintenance of German as a mother tongue and home language in Alberta is the demonstrated readiness of some "Germans" to abandon their linguistic heritage and the equally well demonstrated stubbornness of others in trying to retain it. Any serious attempt at explaining this curious phenomenon must resort to abstraction from individual cases and to generalization, a process which is fraught with the dangers of overgeneralization, the imputation of motives, and the stereotyping of cultural and linguistic behavior. After all, it is clearly inappropriate to refer to "the Germans" in Alberta as if they were a homogeneous ethnic, linguistic, or sociocultural group, adhering to and motivated by a common set of social values and beliefs. Nevertheless, the following discussion attempts to identify possible factors contributing to varying rates of language maintenance. Some or all of these factors may have acted individually or in concert with others


55

to motivate the immigrants to retain or abandon their linguistic and sociocultural heritage. In some instances, rather reliable statements may be made, especially where the readily identifiable groups are concerned; in other cases, individual or family motives may have been the main determiners outweighing the general pattern in importance. Where possible and appropriate, anecdotal evidence and personal reminiscences, for example those offered in the large collection of reminiscences by Germans from Russia collected and edited by Yedlin66 will be used to substantiate the impressionistic character of the speculative statements. Clearly, further sociohistorical research is required here to investigate in more detail the role played by these putative factors in influencing differential rates of German language maintenance. The factors governing the preservation of an ethnic language in Canada, especially after World War II, are quite well understood. Language maintenance or loss is a function of a number of social and personal variables (among them age, residence in a rural or urban area, occupation, and rate of intermarriage). Another important factor is generational shift, which implies that the immigrant generation usually succeeds in maintaining an active competence in the mother tongue (although it may not be used as the language of communication any longer), while members of the second and certainly the third generation usually have little or no proficiency in the language of their ancestors—in Canada, that is. But why did "the Germans" retain their knowledge of German from generation to generation in areas of Central and Eastern Europe where they were surrounded on all sides, for centuries, by speakers of other languages? Why did their sons and daughters acquire English so readily and quickly after their immigration to Canada? The following factors are possible contributors to differential rates of language maintenance in Alberta between the 1880s and the 1940s: a. the extent of cultural, linguistic, and spiritual homogeneity of the group concerned; b. the prestige value of the language and culture as perceived by the group itself and by outsiders; c. the ideologically motivated strength of cultural, linguistic and spiritual traditions and values; d. the strength of the in-group support network and the resulting group cohesion; e. the extent of the desire to remain independent, autonomous, remote and aloof from the outside world; f. the extent to which the group is permitted and able to conduct and

56


control its own internal affairs regarding local government, the economic system, and educational and church affairs; this includes also the group's own perceptions of its ability to do so; g. the extent of voluntary identification with and acceptance of the social and political values held by the outside group(s); and h. the presence of settlement patterns encouraging in-group interaction over interaction with the outside world. The "German" colonists67 in Eastern Europe had been lured there by the promises made by various rulers, in particular by Catherine the Great and Alexander I in Russia, and while patterns varied from region to region,68 the immigrants settled in colonies which, into the nineteenth century, remained relatively autonomous in the administration of local government, education and the exercise of religion. Moreover, on the whole, they remained remote and aloof from their Slavic neighbors, and there was little contact even among the various German settlements there.69 Some settlers may have harbored feelings of superiority for being "German" (an attitude which prevailed, with some, into the twentieth century),70 for had not they and their ancestors been called in to help settle and colonize the land where others ostensibly had not been able to do so? The relative prosperity in villages and towns may have reinforced the "Germans'" pride in their language and culture. There may indeed have been some who valued and treasured the German language as the language of Goethe and Schiller, the language of the "people of poets and thinkers."71 It may well be that this self-perception was respected and even reinforced by some officials and some members of the surrounding ethnic groups. Before the Russification in the late nineteenth century, German was indeed a language endowed with social, economic, and even political prestige.72 Given the freedoms available to them, it would seem natural that the colonists would have tried to pass on their proud heritage in the schools and at home, especially when German-language books and newspapers became more readily available and when more settlers had achieved more than a minimal education. Originally, each community had had the freedom and the responsibility to organize its own schools. It is reported from Bessarabia, for example, that the children attended school from age 7 to age 14 or 15, if only from October till March.73 Because the school was each community's responsibility, its nature and quality depended on local attitudes and finance, but for this reason, German also became the language of instruction. The classes were taught by German teachers, at first by farmers


57

themselves, and after 1844 when a teachers' college had been founded, by more highly qualified personnel.74 The schools were supervised by the churches, which for ideological reasons, sought to perpetuate the tradition of holding services in High German or the local dialect.75 Because of the restricted extent of contact with the surrounding population, there was little need to switch to, say, Russian, to accommodate immigrants from other countries and the native population. This need would change significantly upon emigration to Canada, where the churches had to fight the loss of the younger generation to the anglophone culture and where they often thought that they had to minister to the spiritual needs of recent immigrants from other countries or the local population already present. Among the "German" colonists in Eastern Europe there was thus a feeling of linguistic and cultural communion based on common ethnic, cultural and linguistic roots in the parts of the "Germany" where they had resided before their emigration to the East. They often shared a common spiritual bond to the exclusion of other religious beliefs, and they supported each other as members of a closely knit family would. They showed pride in their sociocultural heritage and were able to look back on a long tradition of success. They settled in villages which allowed frequent and reinforcing social, cultural, linguistic and religious contacts, and they lived in communities which were functionally complete and autonomous from the rest of the world. Until the 18705, they enjoyed the freedom to arrange their own educational and religious affairs in their own language without outside interference. They remained aloof from or rejected the political structures outside their own communities; by no means did they identify with the system and the values which it represented. Thus they remained intentionally remote from the surrounding population and from the worldliness of that society. These may have been the major factors which allowed the "German" settlers in Eastern Europe to maintain their language and culture in the midst of a "foreign" population. However, when the State interfered with the autonomy of the settlements, when the established religious and economic privileges began to erode, when the school lost its autonomy, when Russian became a compulsory subject, and when Russian became the sole language of instruction with Russian supervisors of the curriculum, it would not have been surprising for the settlers to develop a siege mentality for the defense of what appeared or was in fact threatened, rejecting the outside world and

58


emphasizing their own internal group values and practices even more than had been the case before.76 For some the situation became unbearable and they sought other lands where their former freedoms and privileges would continue to be available to them. But in the meantime, the majority of the settlers, wherever they were in Eastern Europe, did learn Russian in school (or the respective dominant language).77 They did, however, avoid or at least hesitate to use German outside the home and the church and in dealing with the surrounding villagers and townspeople. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, outside the German-speaking enclaves, German ceased to be a prestige language. Consequently, the situation facing the settlers upon their arrival in Canada may not have been totally unfamiliar: German certainly was not a language with an intriguing, prestigious aura when the settlers came to western Canada, especially during and after the Great War.78 Here, as well, pressure was exerted on them to abandon their sociocultural and linguistic heritage, and often English simply took the place of Russian or Polish as the official language which had to be learned. They enjoyed the freedom to use German in the home, with friends and neighbors,79 and in the church, supported by church leaders who were convinced that in the absence of spiritual leadership and education in the native language, assimilation would have progressed much faster.80 Many formed close bonds with the members of their community and helped each other out. However, they were not as free to teach the German language in their schools as they might have wished. There were strict laws governing the use of languages other than English in the prairie provinces, restricting the teaching of languages other than English to afterschool hours and requiring the parents to pay for such instruction. Private schools might have been the solution, but while private German schools were common in Saskatchewan, this was not the case in Alberta at all. In Alberta, religious groups, some voluntarily and others under the direction of the government of Alberta, adopted the public school curriculum. Private German-language schools, because of the effects of animosities against Germans during and after World War I, were closed down altogether. When they were permitted to reopen, German was no longer the language in which instruction was given.81 Although emigration from Eastern and Central Europe tended to take place in groups of five to ten families,82 sometimes emptying entire villages in the "old country," there was more mixing of various linguistic, sociocultural and even religious backgrounds in the settlements in Al-


59

berta, less unbroken continuity with the past than had existed in Eastern Europe. There was greater linguistic and cultural heterogeneity inside and outside the ethnic group. There were Germans from all parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire, from Germany itself and from Austria who did not think of themselves as "Germans"; if they had been recent immigrants from Germany, their own political histories, their dialects, and their religions divided them and prevented them from achieving some sort of "Pan-German" identity.83 True, many immigrants still tried to settle in ethnically and spiritually homogenous configurations,84 but often they were scattered across the countryside on their homesteads, and although they may have lived only a few miles apart, the feeling of communion had lessened, the group cohesion which had existed in a village where everyone lived close by and drove out to work their strip of land, in the fashion of the traditional German village in "Germany." True, German could and certainly was still spoken within the families and with the friends and relatives nearby, but one had to walk or drive to the centrally located church (often in the middle of nowhere, put there simply because it was more or less equidistant to the various homesteads of the faithful) and to the nearest town for shopping. A knowledge of German would not have sufficed for buying and selling if the settlers around them were of Ukrainian, Swedish or Dutch ethnic background. Thus English became the lingua franca for those who had to go out "into the world," especially for the men, while the women remained at home, came "into town" only rarely, met speakers of English only rarely, and thus experienced much greater difficulty in learning English.85 Therefore, the women became responsible for teaching the children German (they could not speak English very well themselves and often learned their English from the children when they went to school),86 while the men tended to become bilingual to a greater extent. The economic success with King Wheat necessitated a greater openness to the world and, therefore, to the anglophone culture; English quite literally was required as the language of communication with the ethnically and linguistically heterogenous outside world and served as the means for educational advancement.87 A factor which might have played a significant role in the anglicization of immigrants of German ethnic origin is the probability of the settlers' identification with and support of the political and social system in Canada, which appeared to be fairer to the "little man" than the autocratic and arbitrary regimes of the European East.88 The positive evaluation of

60


the social and political system would have caused a greater inclination to accept it for itself and the language in which the system functioned. It may be concluded, therefore, that those settlers who arrived by themselves or were accompanied only by their immediate family and sought admission into established groups, or who did not arrive in ideologically well-defined groups in Alberta, were more prone to accept the anglophone culture and to abandon the German language because of the geographic, ethnic, social, cultural, and religious fragmentation of the group, because of the discontinuity with the past, and because of a greater heterogeneity within the "German" ethnic group and a greater heterogeneity outside it. Moreover, German did not represent a dominant or status language in western Canada, and in order to achieve economic success, English had to be accepted and acquired as the language of everyday life. New social, cultural, and religious pressures towards anglicization were added over the decades after the 1920s, increasing urbanization, improving educational opportunities, a shift from farming to the trades, greater geographical and social mobility, greater secularization of life, and increasing acceptance of the importance of material wealth over traditional suspicions of the corruptness of this world. Later on came more efficient means of transportation from the farms to the towns and cities of the province, the building of highways and the invention of the radio, all of which further decreased the real and perceived geographical isolation by facilitating access to the anglophone world and thus further broke down the remnants of group cohesion. The fact that more recent immigration had brought people to Alberta who spoke High German and who equated the use of dialects with lack of education made the immigrant generation uncomfortable,89 and thus they tended not to use their own dialect anymore except within their own dialect group because they were ashamed of it; they tried to imitate a High German pronunciation where they could, or switched to English altogether. Finally, the Canadian-born generation wanted nothing to do with a language which made their parents sound different, foreign, and funny, and thus they readily switched to English.90 What has been said above in general terms about "the Germans" in the "old country" was particularly true for certain closely knit religious groups who valued their spiritual independence and their remoteness from the material, physical world even more than others did, namely the Mennonites and the Hutterites. In Russia, the Mennonites had been singularly intent on retaining their


61

religious freedom, the freedom from military service, and the freedom to organize their own affairs, and they had vigorously resisted Tsarist attempts at intervention. They had not identified with the state nor had they given it fully the obedience and subservience which had been demanded. They had remained remote from the outside world, had erected their own closely built villages, and had run their own internal affairs; and their strong ideological commitment to their religion had required a strict and reserved life style from the members of their community. Their group had had common cultural, social and linguistic roots and a long, proud tradition to look back on, and the feeling of intra-group cohesion was very strong. When the situation in Russia became intolerable for them, the Mennonites asserted their independence and sought, en masse, a country or countries which would accept them and would guarantee to preserve the rights and privileges previously enjoyed in Eastern Europe. Upon immigration to Manitoba, for example, they were determined to "remain separate from the materialism and godlessness which they associated with the larger prairie community,"91 and they brought along their system of housing and farming arrangements, albeit adapted, at least formally, to the Canadian square survey system. Rather than living on individual homesteads as their neighbors did, they lived in villages, and it was the village government which decided on matters of land allocation, local government and school and church affairs. As the noted prairie historian Gerald Friesen observed, "with their own schools, churches, and agricultural systems, the villages seemed remote from the Canadian society that surrounded them."92 Clearly the Mennonites were able to resist the anglicization and the Canadianization of their community better than individual families and ideologically less strongly committed groups. This latter point is of great significance because the various factions within the Mennonite religious community have displayed differing attitudes towards schooling and worldliness and the need to maintain their linguistic heritage. Since many Mennonites in Alberta have been more "liberal" in their view on education and worldliness than their counterparts in Manitoba, it is not surprising that German now enjoys a stronger position in Manitoba both in the churches and the public schools than is the case in Alberta. The Hutterites have been able to preserve their original identity to an even greater degree than the Mennonites. They share a long common ethnic, sociocultural, religious, and linguistic history, and they enjoy a strong in-group feeling. They live in village-like colonies and have a fierce

6 2.


ideological commitment to the preservation of their religious beliefs and their autonomy. They have remained remote from the outside world in spite of their economic success, which necessitates regular contacts with it. They have preserved their agricultural life style and have resisted urbanization, secularization, and attempts at integration into society at large and into the "welfare state." In short, they are just as fiercely independent and economically and politically autonomous as they had been before their emigration to the United States and Canada.93 Even today, their own German dialect, which has remained virtually unchanged over the centuries, is the first language taught in the home, and "German school" is held before and after the "English" school which offers the public school curriculum. It is, therefore, not surprising that in those areas of Alberta where the Hutterites form a major part of the Germanspeaking population, the Canadian census has recorded the highest language maintenance rates for German, both as a mother tongue and as a home language.94

CONCLUSION The numerical dimensions of the "German presence" in Alberta, namely the magnitude of immigration of speakers of German and ethnic Germans, their settlement patterns, and their use of the German language, show the disappearance of German as a home language, at least in the urban areas, to be a distinct possibility in the foreseeable future. While this picture may be disconcerting to anyone who would like to see the German language and the German heritage maintained in Alberta, this province is by no means the worst off with regard to the status of German: on the contrary, language loss is lowest in Alberta of all provinces. Canada-wide, the use of German as a home language by people of German origin dropped by some 3% between 1971 and 1981, and there were 8% fewer Canadians with German mother tongue who used German as their home language. Some ethnic minorities in Canada resisted the thinly veiled enforced assimilation in the first part of this century, and while the government may have had justifiable reasons at that time to be concerned about the cultural and linguistic adaptation of several groups from Central and Eastern Europe where resistance to abandoning the mother tongue was


63

indeed very strong, it did not have to have such fears with regard to the preparedness of "Germans" to learn English. Their overall attitude towards Canadianization and anglicization of the immigrant was essentially positive. In the rural areas, especially in the physically isolated communities, the German language and the traditional customs were maintained extensively, although English was readily adopted for communication with the outside world. Where the men had to deal with the outside for business reasons, they were more likely to abandon their use of German than the women who had had fewer occasions for contacts with the anglophone community. The children of pre-school age usually grew up with German as their first language, and many learned English only when they entered school; consequently, their linguistic habits were already well established when they started English, and they were less likely to give up or lose German altogether than those who either had not acquired German as their mother tongue at all or had lost it at a very early age. Unfortunately, there is little direct evidence regarding the maintenance of the German language by immigrants who settled in the urban regions of Alberta two generations ago, but it may be surmised that linguistic assimilation proceeded in a manner very similar to what could be observed with the German-speaking immigrants after World War II who tended to settle in the towns and cities of Alberta: frequency of contact with the anglophone outside world, including the impact of the mass media, promoted the use of English by men as well as women, although to different degrees. They were more likely to have anglophone friends than were their rural counterparts; their children not wanting to appear "foreign" to their English-speaking classmates, they tried to learn English as quickly and correctly as possible and to avoid the use of German as much as possible. The opportunities and affairs of the English-speaking world impinged more strongly on the urban family than on a family living in relative isolation from the rest of the population. The rest is history. German, at present, is suffering the same fate as that of practically all other heritage languages in Canada at present—disappearance due to the linguistic assimilation of its speakers. The traditional goal of the government, to assimilate the immigrant, is being fulfilled every day to such an extent that the author of a special study on language transfer concluded in 1971 that

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... in [the Prairie Region], it is unlikely that the concentration of nonofficial languages will continue much beyond the present generation. English is the home language of 88.3% of the population even though only 73.8% have English as their mother tongue.95 The ultimate transfer to French or English home language by individuals who have learned nonofficial languages as mother tongues or their children appears to be a virtual certainty... The language transfer of nonofficial languages to English and French is concerned mainly with post-World War II immigrants. The children of these immigrants, and certainly these immigrants' grandchildren, will be able to speak only English and French.96 It may be concluded that the willingness of the "German" immigrant to abandon his ancestral language and culture altogether or in part and to become "invisible" in Alberta's ethnocultural mix has had a long history in Alberta. It can only be small consolation to the "German" community that other ethnic groups, such as the Dutch and the Scandinavians, have been even more prepared to adopt the Canadian way of life and the English language for themselves and their families.

3 MAINTENANCE AND LOSS OF GERMAN AS A MOTHER TONGUE AND AS A HOME LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA

IN 1974, THE CANADIAN Department of Manpower and Immigration published a comprehensive study of immigrants' readiness to acquire English as their home language. Among immigrants from the Federal Republic of Germany, an astounding 32% reported speaking English at home after six months; subsequently, this percentage rose only slightly to 34% after two years. The corresponding percentages for immigrants from Italy were 13% and 24%, respectively, and for immigrants from Portugal, 12% and 18%, after one and two years, respectively.1 When immigrants were asked about the perceived quality of their English, immigrants from the Federal Republic of Germany gave the highest percentages of "good" or "perfect" knowledge of English of all non-English or non-French-speaking immigrants: After six months, 52% of the German immigrants indicated "good" or "perfect" knowledge (compared with 21% for immigrants from Greece, 12% from Italy, and 5% from Portugal). After two years of residence in Canada, 71% of immigrants from West Germany claimed "good" or "perfect" knowledge of English, and after three years, 83% said that they spoke "good" or "perfect" English. After three years, the corresponding rates for immigrants from Greece were 54%, from Italy 36%, and from Portugal, 23%.2 One might infer from the quick acceptance of English by immigrants from the Federal Republic of Germany that they also felt a much greater sense of belonging, of feeling at home in Canada than had the other groups, but this was not the case: 48% of the sample of immigrants from the FRG felt "at home" after their first three years in Canada, 19% still felt "attached to their country of origin," and 33% were undecided. 65

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Italians felt less at home (39%), while Greeks (53%) and Portuguese (64%), although much less fluent in English, claimed a greater sense of belonging in Canada.3 Another investigation4 found as well that members of the first generation of German immigrants were quick to call themselves Canadian: 35% of a selected sample of immigrants from German-speaking countries described themselves as "Canadian," another 49% saw themselves as "German-Canadians" or "Canadians of German Origin," and only 10% still thought of themselves as "German." Only Scandinavian (58%) and Dutch immigrants (53%) surpassed the Germans in the extent to which they perceived themselves as Canadians as early as the first generation. An overwhelming 68% of second-generation ethnic Germans labeled themselves "Canadian," and 15% "German-Canadian" or "Canadian of German origin." Among the third-generation ethnic Germans, the percentage describing themselves as Canadians rose to 80%; in this sample, the number of those who saw themselves as "German" was essentially zero.5 The same study also sought to determine generational differences in language use in five metropolitan areas (Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Vancouver)—that is, differences in the extent to which immigrants of various ethnic groups still used German in Canada, compared to members of the second and third generations. For all ethnic groups studied, 71% of first-generation immigrants considered themselves "fluent" in their mother tongue. The percentage of Germans claiming fluency was slightly higher: among German ethnics, 78% of the first generation considered themselves "fluent." This compares with under 5% of the second generation, and virtually none of the third generation. In the second generation, the number of German-Canadians speaking their mother tongue with "some degree of fluency" amounted to just over 65%, compared to some 64% of the total sample. A substantial number of ethnics of the third generation still reported "some knowledge" of the ancestral language, namely 39% of the total sample and 27% of the Germans.6 Reitz had found the lowest level of ethnic community participation and language maintenance in the third generation,7 and a similar decrease in language use by the third generation was noted by Isajiw.8 First-generation German immigrants used their ethnic language "frequently" (44%), but none of the third generation did so. There was quite a range in the proportion of those who thought that they were "fluent" in German; Edmonton was lowest with 26% of the

Maintenance & Loss of German

FIGURE 3.1

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Frequency of use of German by generation

Germans considering themselves "fluent" in German, Winnipeg 38%, Vancouver 42%, Montreal 52%, and Toronto 66%. This was attributed by O'Bryan et al. to the fact that Toronto and Montreal are immigrant cities and are, therefore, regularly supplied with recent immigrants speaking an ancestral language. Moreover, it may be that the opportunities to hear and read the ancestral language (radio, television, newspapers) are greater in these two cities than in the others.9 Since language fluency is greatest among immigrants, it can be expected that the ancestral language is used most frequently by members of the first generation. This is borne out by Figure 3.1: well over half of the German immigrants in Edmonton used the ancestral language every day, but less than a quarter of the second generation, and only about 1 % of the third generation did so. Among those ethnics who speak the nonofficial language fluently, 81% reported that they used it "every day," but only 65% of the speakers of German did so.10 Correspondingly larger percentages of fluent German speakers used German either more "often," "only occasionally," or "rarely or never" than was true for the entire sample. Similarly, among those speakers who only know "some" German, 11% reported daily use compared to 39% for the total sample.11 It can be concluded that

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FIGURE 3.2


Use of German in social interaction by fluent speakers

both fluent and nonfluent speakers of German in Canada used the nonofficial language less frequently on a day-to-day basis than did the "typical" ethnic Canadian. The place of a nonofficial language can perhaps best be understood by knowledge of the partners with whom it is used. O'Bryan et al. selected the following partner groups: family, close friends, clergy, grocer, doctor, classmates or co-workers (Figure 3.2.). As expected, German was used most frequently with members of one's own family. Of those who spoke German fluently, 97% spoke German with family members, about 55% with close friends, almost 28% with their clergy, and only about 15% with their grocer, doctor, classmates or co-workers. When the definition is narrowed to "exclusive use of German" with the above target groups, the percentages are greatly reduced: in that case, only about a quarter of those who had reported using German with the various types of members of their social group (except for talks with the clergy) did so exclusively in German. Here it is of interest that the use of German with the clergy ranked just as high as did use of German with close friends. Clearly, German is used mainly as the language of communication within the immediate circle of family members and friends, but not as extensively with less intimately known persons; members of the clergy occupied a middle


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position on the intimacy scale. It is of some interest that German was used much less frequently with all other partners, only about half as much, than were other ancestral languages in all social contexts except the family.12 This brief review of the use of German in Canada confirms the general impression that "the Germans" in Canada, in comparison with other ethnic groups, have always been quick to give up their linguistic and cultural heritage. They are said to be among the first to neglect to teach their children German in the home, and they themselves appear to be quite ready to abandon their mother tongue. Frequently, people who, by their pronunciation and intonation, are obviously of German descent may be heard talking to each other not in their mother tongue, but in heavily accented, broken, unidiomatic English. When asked, some will deplore the fact that they have forgotten their mother tongue, but have not yet fully learned the English language.

LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE DEFINED

By definition, the rate of language maintenance is an effective indicator of the future status of a language; using the empirically obtained rate of language loss, appropriate extrapolations may be made from present data about the future of the German language in Canada.13 The degree to which German has been retained as one of the mother tongues and one of the home languages spoken in Alberta can be measured by three indices: Language Maintenance i (LMI), which is expressed as the ratio of persons of German ethnic origin who have acquired German as their mother tongue; Language Maintenance 2, (LM 2 ), which measures the extent to which Albertans of German origin are actually using German in the home as the language spoken most often; and Language Maintenance 3 (LM3), which represents the ratio of persons who learned German as their mother tongue and are still using it as the language spoken most often in the home. Of the three indicators of ethnicity—ethnic origin, mother tongue, and home language—the first two are considerably less accurate indicators of "true" preservation and cultivation of the German language than the third. It will be recalled that the Canadian census determines a person's origin by identifying his or her father's or ancestors' ethnicity when they came to North America. There is no reason to assume that a person who

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had a grandfather from Germany is still necessarily in any way identifiable as being "German"; certainly, other cultural traditions and language preferences may have superseded the effects of German origin. "Mother tongue" refers to the language first learned by a person; again it may well be that children grew up with German for the first few years, possibly well into school age, may have given up speaking German at some time and may now have a very faint and fragmentary knowledge of German. Furthermore, none of the cultural traditions would necessarily have to be known and practised by such people to justify their being counted officially among Albertans with German mother tongue. Consequently, the labels "ethnic origin" and "mother tongue," especially the former, are likely to overstate substantially the number of persons who can be considered proficient in the German language and knowledgeable of German culture. The first language maintenance ratio (L.M I ) is particularly deceptive; similarly, LM2 is subject to distortion because of the overstatement of "ethnic origin" vis-a-vis the number of people who actually use German as the language of the home most often. Since LM3 provides the most accurate account of the true state of language retention or language loss, as it represents the ratio of people who, having learned German as their mother tongue, are still using German as the language of the home, the following discussion is based on that indicator of the maintenance of German in Alberta.

VARIABLES AFFECTING LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE

A study by Stadler investigated the issue of language maintenance and linguistic assimilation among German-speaking immigrants and their children in the predominantly English-speaking community of Vancouver.14 Although her analysis does not deal with the Alberta situation, its findings will be of considerable interest in the present context. Stadler's sample consisted of 137 children and their parents (138 adults of German-speaking origin, 18 adults of English-speaking origin, and nine adults of other origin, all of whom were married to Germanspeaking immigrants). Almost three quarters of the children had learned German as their first language and English as their second language; 70% of the children came from families of mixed parentage where only one parent was of German-speaking origin. Seventy-seven percent of the children attended a German language school for three hours per week


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outside regular class hours; the remaining 23% served as a control group.15 The data collected by questionnaire from children and parents, supplemented by personal interviews, dealt with such variables as language background (Home Language, Family Type, Language Dominance, and Length of Residence) and social/demographic features (Sex, Age, ExtraCurricular Schooling in the Ethnic Language, and Socio-Economic Status). Although Stadler repeatedly, and justifiably, sounded a note of caution because the number of respondents in one or the other subcategory was relatively small, it is nevertheless worthwhile to examine some of her findings. Among the conclusions most relevant for the present investigation were the following: I Seventy percent of the German-German parents spoke German "always" or "most of the time" to each other, while none of the English-German or German-English couples did. 2. During the pre-school years, 51% of the German-German parents had "always" spoken German to their children, and 32% had done so "most of the time." However, only 17% and 35%, respectively, spoke German "always" or "most of the time" when Stadler carried out her study. 3. Children of mixed-origin families hardly ever used German in the home; 28% of the children in German-German families did, but none in families of mixed parentage used "mostly" German with their parents. 4. Although German was spoken considerably more often between children in German-German families than between children in families of mixed parentage, only a small minority did so "frequently" (14%). 5. Almost 60% of the mothers with German origin spoke German "always" or "most of the time" with the child; only about 7% of the mothers did so in families where the father was not of German origin, and none of the mothers of English origin spoke German with their child "always" or "most of the time." The percentage of fathers who spoke German with their child "always" or "most of the time" resembled very much the pattern obtained for mothers. 6. About one-quarter of the children in the German-German families spoke German with their father and their mother "always" or "most of the time"; in mixed-origin families, the number of children speaking German with their father or their mother was practically nil.16 In

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7.

8.

9.

10.


83.5% of the German-German families, German was spoken as the home language to the children in their pre-school years; in about one third of the English-German or the German-English exogamous marriages, German was used as the home language when the children were small. Again, a large decrease in the percentage of families using German as the home language in their children's preschool years could be observed between then and the time of the study: 58% spoke German with their child before he went to school compared to 20% at the time when the study was conducted.17 After approximately ten years of residence in Canada, the percentage of parents using German with each other "all the time" decreased substantially from 67% (under ten years) to 16% (ten years and over). Of the parents who had been residents of Canada for ten years or less, 92% used German "always" with their child before he went to school, compared with only 42% of those who had immigrated between ten and twenty years ago, and 33% who had immigrated more than twenty years ago. At the time of the study, however, only 58% of the parents with ten years of residence in Canada or less used German with their child; this compares with 13 % of parents with between ten and twenty years of residence, and 4% of those who had come to Canada twenty years ago or earlier.18 Children spoke German more often to both parents and siblings in homes in which the children had an average age of less than ten years.19 Only minor differences in the use of German by mothers or fathers vis-a-vis their children were observed; however, mothers did tend to use German slightly more often with their children than did fathers—about 5% more often. The use of English increased with rising socioeconomic status. Parents in the lowest of three socioeconomic status groups (i.e., parents with elementary and high school education involved in manual work; versus parents with additional vocational training and/or a more advanced level of education; versus parents with university education involved in professional work or holding other high status jobs) used German most frequently to each other (91% vs. 59%, and 38%, respectively), to their children before school (92%, 77% and 56%), and at the time at which the study was carried out (75%, 45% and 34%). Children in the low-status group also used German with their parents most frequently (55%, 17%


73

and 19%, respectively). In the high socioeconomic status families, children were considerably less likely to use German with their siblings (2.0%) than in low (36%) or the middle socioeconomic status groups (47%). In general, the percentage of families having German as their home language decreased coincident with higher economic status (92% for the low status group vs. 78% for the middle and 63% for the high-status groups).20 11. Language Dominance (determined by informants' responses to two questions: a. In which language do you feel more comfortable? [for children] and b. In which language can you express yourself better in personal/nonpersonal matters? [for adults]21) was a significant variable in Stadler's analysis. There was a direct relationship between Home Language and Language Dominance for adults: Germandominant parents mainly chose German as their home language, and English-dominant parents mainly chose English. As socioeconomic status increased, German language dominance decreased (83%, 63%, and 47% in "personal matters," and 83%, 37% and 28% in "nonpersonal matters." Members of the two highest socioeconomic groups actually felt that they could express themselves better in English in nonpersonal matters than did members of the lowest socioeconomic group. 12. Only very few children considered themselves dominant in German, while the vast majority of the parents still felt that they had an excellent command of German and a very good command of English. It can be concluded that the rate of linguistic assimilation displayed by children was substantially higher than that of their parents, which was in itself already very high. 13. Long-term residence in an English-speaking area by the parents revealed the strongest English-language dominance; among children, German proficiency and language dominance tended to decrease as age increased.22 14. While Home Language, Language Preference, and Language Dominance were closely related in the case of parents, a slightly different picture emerged for their children: regardless of their home language, children exhibited comparatively low German language preference, but high allegiance to Canada.23 Clearly, the maintenance of German as a home language among these children (who were by no means typical of the overall ethnic German population because more than three-quarters of them attended a German

74


language school) was related to several important factors: whether both parents were of German origin; whether German was spoken by the parents in the home before their children began school; when their parents had immigrated to Canada; the children's age; the parents' socioeconomic status; and the confidence with which the children spoke the German language. The present study sheds additional light on the relationships between various predictors and language use and maintenance; it does so more reliably than other investigations because the analysis has been performed with the entire population universe of ethnic Germans in Alberta (total number: 339,135). This figure includes both single and multiple responses to the census question on ethnic origin ("To which ethnic or cultural group did you or your ancestors belong on first coming to this continent?") and thus differs considerably from the figure of 233,180 given in the official census publications. Before 1981, respondents could only list one ethnic origin (previous censuses reduced all multiple ethnic origin responses down to a single one; for the 1971 census, if more than one origin was indicated on the questionnaire, one was arbitrarily selected), while in 1981 they could select one or more from eleven specified ethnic origins (plus the Native Peoples categories and "Other"). Thus the 1981 data reflect more adequately the respondents' perceptions of their ethnic background and the cultural group with which they most closely identify.24 Especially in the case of intermarriage, the rate of which has been steadily increasing, and in the case of ethnic Germans who, before and after World War II had often tried to conceal their German ethnic origin, the option to list more than one ethnic origin must have been selected frequently in 1981. Nationally, 7.6% of the population gave multiple responses to the ethnic origin question; in Alberta, 12% of the population checked off more than one origin, and in the present case of Albertans of German origin, the rate of such multiple responses was considerably higher, namely 31%! Since it was considered to be important to include all persons of German ethnic origin in the present analysis, and since the language maintenance calculations were performed by Statistics Canada specifically for this study, all subsequent references to ethnic origin will refer to single and multiple origins. In addition to using the entire Albertan population of ethnic Germans as the data base, this investigation also deals with all speakers of German as a mother tongue in Alberta (N = 90,410), and all speakers of German as a home language (N = 25,700); only a very small part of the analysis is


75

based on a 1%-sample of the Alberta population made available by Statistics Canada for public use. Thus, relationships between certain predictor variables and language use and retention reported here will reflect true rather than statistically inferred patterns. Several significant variables, in addition to the effect of number of generations in Canada, appear to be related to the maintenance of a heritage language such as German. The following have been chosen for the purposes of this study:

Sex There is some evidence in the literature that females tend to retain their heritage language longer than do males. As early as 1921, the Canadian census came to the conclusion that females of nearly every racial origin appear to have acquired the language of the country of their adoption more slowly than males. This is probably accounted for by the fact that men more largely than women are employed in pursuits which bring them more intimately in touch with persons speaking English or French.25 This observation was reiterated in 1931, when the Census report stated that "in almost all classifications more males are bilingual than females."26 Ten years later, it was reported that a larger percentage of females than males was unable to speak either English or French.27 Residence in Urban or Rural Areas It may be assumed that people in rural areas, where the official language is likely to be less overwhelming at work or at leisure than it is in urban areas, are retaining their ancestral language longer. The 1931 Census did, in fact, make a very clear statement about the effect of residence in a rural area: "Segregation is a powerful impediment to linguistic assimilation. The more cosmopolitan commercial life of urban centers, on the other hand, favors it."28 In 1941, it was reported that "twice as many persons in rural than in urban localities were unable to speak either of Canada's official languages."29 Conversely, "urban residence favours English more than does rural, urban females favor it more than do urban males while among rural persons there appears to be no sex differentiation."30

76


Period of Immigration Presumably, persons having immigrated more recently will have retained their mother tongue more fully than those who immigrated many years ago. Stadler's study, as previously stated, found that immigrants who had spent more than ten years in Canada spoke German significantly less frequently at home than did those with Canadian residence of less than ten years. A 1971 Census Report distinguished between the so-called "old ethnic" and the "new ethnic," the criterion being the time of their (or their parents') immigration, namely either before or after World War II. This distinction proved to be effective in determining the extent to which persons of German ethnic origin had retained German as their home language. For Canada as a whole, only a quarter of those ethnic Germans who claimed German mother tongue and had immigrated before 1945 reported using German as the predominant language of the home (while three-quarters of the same group had adopted English as their home language). On the other hand, about 47% of those ethnic Germans with German mother tongue who immigrated after the end of World War II still spoke German at home.31 Clearly, those who had been in Canada longer had switched more extensively to English as their home language than had more recent arrivals. However, the fact that the "new" ethnics tended to be occupationally different (fewer farm-related and unskilled workers) and preferred to settle in urban rather than rural areas may have confounded the effect of "period of immigration" alone. Birthplace in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, or "Other" Countries It may well be that speakers of German from various regions of the world display a different attitude, not only in theory but also in practice, towards the importance of language maintenance, but no evidence for or against this assumption can be found in the literature. Level of Education Intuitively, two different statements of a relationship between level of education and language maintenance appear to be meaningful. Maintenance of the ancestral language might be higher among those who have a


77

higher level of education because they have a better appreciation of the need for retaining their mother tongue and its culture for themselves and their children; after all, it appears to be an accepted fact in Canadian society, especially among the "professionals," that knowledge of more than one language is a "good thing" for children from a developmental as well as a practical point of view. Conversely, it may be that the more highly educated will move in circles where the appearance of being an immigrant and having a foreign accent may be considered detrimental to their social position. Borhek32 found that formal education was the most powerful predictor of assimilation and in-group choice among his sample of of Ukrainians in Alberta. He concluded that there was a marked relationship between high occupational status and high assimilation among those having high school education or more. Among the less highly educated, high or low occupational status was unrelated to preparedness to assimilate. It seemed that only in the presence of higher formal education did the effects of workplace, occupational status, and place of residence lead to decreasing ethnic loyalties and involvement. O'Bryan et al. concluded from the available research that education was negatively related to current level of knowledge of the language; indeed, fluency was found to be lower among the better educated respondents (this is in addition to the observation that the better educated tend to be second- and third-generation Canadians who, in turn, tend to have a lesser knowledge of their ethnic language). They concluded cautiously that "there is some tendency for respondents having more formal education not to know their ancestral language." They gave the following as possible reasons for this state of affairs: those who know the ethnic language may not want to obtain a high degree of formal education because they hold a job which is not tied to their level of education, or because the time and energy required for higher formal education may take time away from the family and the ethnic community and undermine efforts at retaining the ancestral language; schools may downgrade and suppress an interest in ethnic ties; and there may be a lack of opportunity to study and use the language at school and university.33 Occupation This criterion is related to "level of education," of course, and the implied hypothesis may again be stated both ways. Some tentative evidence

78


regarding this hypothesis is provided by Stadler, who concluded that the use of English in her sample increased with socioeconomic status among both parents and children.34 O'Bryan et al. concluded that, according to the available research, income differences should be strongly and negatively related to the current level of language knowledge, although their own research did not reveal such relationships. It may well be that in their study, positive and negative relationships tended to cancel each other out in the overall statistics. They speculate that it may be that those achieving economic success are less inclined to have retained the language, but among those who are so inclined, their higher income may be a positive factor in reacquisition or primary acquisition, since currently [1976] almost all costs of such language activities are borne by the individual.35 In a later analysis, Kalbach and Richard concluded that "ethnic connectedness" was related negatively to measures of socioeconomic status achievement, but only for the first generation among whom ethnic visibility is highest. They speculated that "the persistence of ethnic behaviour appears to prejudice [the immigrants'] chances for higher status achievement."36 Using 1971 Census data, Wolowyna determined in an investigation of speakers of Ukrainian across Canada that families, in which both parents spoke Ukrainian as their mother tongue, were more rural and had lower levels of education and income; the husbands usually worked in primary and blue-collar occupations.37 Age The category "age" is of special interest because it reveals to what degree language maintenance can be expected to extend into the future. If language maintenance is low among the young, compared with language maintenance among the older speakers of German, certain predictions can be made as to the future of German as a mother tongue and as a home language in Alberta. The 1931 census, for example, found that the number of school age children was found to be the largest single factor in promoting the learning of English, which implies that the school and the associations that go with it are the most potent social agencies in this phase of assimilation.38


79

Furthermore, census researchers found that the proportion of the race which was of school age appeared to be "the most important single factor in explaining the differences in the extent to which the several origins acquired English outside the home."39 The following four factors were singled out as significant predictors of the rate of acquisition of English: 1. percentage of children between 10 and 20 years of age, 2. segregation (almost as strong as the first predictor), 3. percentage of people in urban residence (two-thirds as strong), and 4. percentage of North-American born members of the ethnic group (about 15% as strong). In 1961, the next time that the census addressed the question of age as a predictor for the acquisition of English, the Report concluded: The extent to which children... learn in early childhood the corresponding mother tongue depends on many factors. Among those that appear to be most important is the relative proportion between foreign-born and native-born segments within an ethnic group. Another is the ratio of rural to urban residents.... Since a substantial number of post-war immigrant families are resident in urban centers it would appear that Canadian-born children of these families will tend to learn English or French as the language first taught in the home to a greater degree than in the past when a larger number of immigrant families settled in small farm communities, often in blocks of the same linguistic group.40 Subsequent decades were to prove the accuracy of the Report's predictions. Endogamy An important factor in the retention of ancestral language and traditions is the extent to which immigrants intermarry within their own ethnic group. It may be surmised that the ancestral language will less likely be spoken at home and old traditions cultivated if the spouses belong to different ethnic groups, and even less likely if one of them is the speaker of a minority ethnic language. The literature shows that the extent to which members of an ethnic group marry within or outside their own ethnic group is closely related to the rate of assimilation into the dominant culture. For example, the 1931 Census reported that in those groups where intermarriage has made least

8o


headway, the progress of assimilation is slow. It was determined that "only 7% of married men of South, Eastern and Central European origin had married into British or French stocks in Canada up to 1931, and less than 6% of the women."41 The percentage of endogamous marriages was highest among people of Slavic origin in Canada: 82% of the males and 81% of the females of Slavic origin were found to be married to spouses of the same origin in 1931. Conversely, the Germanic peoples [sic] led in the proportions of mixed marriages contracted with Anglo-Saxons (males: 68%, females: 71%); people of Scandinavian origin ranked second, and persons of Latin and Greek origin ranked third.42 To the census researchers in 1931, there was a very close relationship between intermarriage and the proportion of the ethnic population speaking English or French as the mother tongue. They concluded that in practically every instance, a high percentage speaking one of the official languages of Canada in the home is associated with a large amount of intermarriage with the British and French and vice versa. The two phenomena are closely connected, statistically as well as logically.43 An inspection of Table 3.1, which compares the percentage of males of certain ethnic origins who married into English or French stocks with the percentage of those speaking English or French as the mother tongue, reveals that the members of the German ethnic group are somewhat overrepresented in terms of their readiness to claim English or French as their mother tongue: judging by the percentage speaking English or French as their mother tongue, either more males should have married into British or French stock or, alternatively, fewer ethnic Germans should have acquired English or French as their mother tongue when their rate of intermarriage is taken as the criterion. Otherwise, the data do confirm the census report's contentions. On the basis of 1941 data, a very close relationship between the rate of endogamy and mother tongue retention rate was determined (see Table \ 44 3.2).

In 1951, an almost equal number of ethnic German men and women (52.0% and 52.3%) were found to be married to partners of the same ethnic origin.45 These figures remained practically identical until 1961, but in the decade between 1961 and 1971, studies showed a steady decline in the percentage of endogamous marriages in the German ethnic

Maintenance & Loss of German TABLE 3.1

Ethnic Origin

Dutch German Norwegian Italian Russian Polish Ukrainian Japanese

TABLE 3.2. Ethnic Origin

German Dutch Ukrainian

81

Relationship between Percentage of Males Married into English and French Stocks and Percentage of English and French as Mother Tongue, by Ethnic Origin, 1941 Percentage of Males Married into British or French Stocks

Percentage Speaking English or French as their Mother Tongue

37.65 21.84 30.82 18.95 8.07 4.80 1.38

67.20 41.80 25.50 9.80 7.60 5.60 1.90 .50

24

Relationship between Endogamy and the Rate of Mother Tongue Retention, by Ethnic Origin, 1941 Rate of Endogamy

Mother Tongue Retention Rate

58% 53% 80%

53% 61% 91%

group. In 1961, 52.% of the Canadian males of German ethnic origin (54% of Albertan males of German origin) were married to women of the same ethnic origin; in 1971, the rate had dropped to 49% Canadawide. Among Canadian-born males of German ethnic origin, the rate of endogamous marriages was far lower (38% of the ethnic German males born in Canada were married to partners of the same extraction). The lowest rates of endogamy were found for the Scandinavian group (a decline to almost 27% from 31% over the ten-year period after 1961; the percentage for Canadian-born males remained identical at 19%), while among Ukrainian males 62% in 1961 and 54% in 1971 were married to women of Ukrainian ethnic origin.46 Kalbach47 found that the rate of intermarriage depended on nativity and the period of immigration of the foreign-born. Most ethnic groups showed evidence of increasing ethnic mixing as the length of residence in-

8z


creased for foreign-born. But other variables were important, too, namely geographical distribution, and urban/rural residence. He suggested that the effects of cultural and demographic factors should also be considered. For example, he showed that among the native-born, the rate of endogamy for ethnic Germans across Canada varied from about 31 % in the metropolitan areas, to 33% in nonmetropolitan urban areas, and 47% in rural areas. Similarly, before World War II, about 54% of immigrant heads of families of German origin in metropolitan areas had married women of German origin, compared to about 61% in nonmetropolitan urban areas and 67% in rural areas. Stadler has shown quite convincingly that endogamy had a significant positive effect on language maintenance. None of the parents in the ethnically mixed marriages spoke German in the home, and children in these ethnically mixed marriages never spoke German at home, although they were learning it in the ethnic language school.48

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE RATIO 3 AND SELECTED PERSONAL VARIABLES

For the purpose of the following analysis it was desirable to identify those areas of Alberta in which the use of German as the mother tongue predominated. The Census Metropolitan Areas of Calgary and Edmonton served as samples of the urban regions of Alberta (Calgary CMA is 100% urban, and for the Edmonton CMA, 92.% of those who had learned German as their mother tongue lived in the urban regions). Of the 15 census divisions in Alberta in 1981, the four which showed the highest percentage of rural residents with German mother tongue in the 1981 census were chosen: Census Division 5 (86% of the total number of persons with German mother tongue lived in the rural areas), Division 3 (83% rural), Division 15 (74% rural), and Census Division 7 (72% rural) (see Table 3.3). These six sample areas comprised 55,325 of the 90,410 persons (61%) with German mother tongue in Alberta and 52% of those who spoke German at home in 1981. Census Division 5, east of Calgary, encompasses Wheatland County and Vulcan County, with towns and villages and surrounding rural areas such as Rockyford, Standard, Hussar, Gleichen, Champion, and Carmangay. Census Division 3 stretches from Nanton in the north to Cardston and the U.S. border in the south, and from Pincher Creek in the


83

German as a Mother Tongue and as a Home Language in Alberta Census Divisions and Census Metropolitan Areas, 1981

Census Division

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Total Population with German Origin

6,550 7,215 2,135 990 2,710 20,775

34 51 83 71 86

2,200

72 45 30 64 18

3,170

585

11

2,970 29,450

12

960

10

13 14 15

Percentage of Rural Residents with German Mother Tongue

2,925 725 7,055

10

Total Population with German Home Language

1,580 2,935 1,480 360

1,330 5,170 875 650 125 885

6,890 165 740 150

45 71 50 74

4,140

Calgary CMA Edmonton CMA

23,405

0 8

4,305 5,955

Alberta

90,410

34

27,485

17,820

west to Magrath in the east; other towns and surrounding rural areas include Stavely, Claresholm, Granum, Fort Macleod, Cowley, Hillspring, and Glenwood. Census Division 15 consists of the huge area in northwestern Alberta from Grand Cache to the border with the Northwest Territories. Census Division 7, southeast of Edmonton, consists of the counties of Stettler, Flagstaff, Paintearth, Wainwright, and Provost. The predominantly rural census divisions 3 and 5 are very significant for this study because they contain high percentages of Hutterites and Mennonites, who share many characteristics with regard to the use of German in the home, family size and, to a certain extent, attitude towards education. A form of German is the predominant language on the

84


Hutterite colonies, because the Hutterite children are taught German before they are taught English.49 The families tend to have many children who attend school on the colony until the eighth or ninth grade; about 50% continue to Grade 10 by correspondence, and only a very small number continue beyond Grade 10, mostly in the area of agricultural technology. These generalizations cannot be applied to the Mennonites without reservations because they are less homogeneous in outlook and lifestyle. Many Mennonites have moved into the towns of the area and are participating in the everyday life without being as obviously different in dress as are the Hutterites; many are using German less and less, both at home and in church. Their families are not as large as in earlier times, and many Mennonites no longer reject formal education at the school and university level, as most of their more conservative elders did, such as the Old Colony Mennonites.50 Yet it should be clear that in these rural regions of Alberta there will be a concentration of persons who are of German origin, who acquired German as their mother tongue, who are using German as their home language and who are, therefore, explicitly or implicitly, teaching it to their children (of whom there are likely to be many), who have a relatively low level of formal education, and who are involved mainly in primary industries such as farming. These factors are of great significance in determining the maintenance of German as a mother tongue and home language at the present time. Most Hutterite colonies can be found in Census Division 3 around Magrath and Cardston and further north near Fort Macleod and Granum, and near Rockyford, Rosebud, and Vulcan in Census Division 5,51 but also in Census Division 2 (e.g., Warner, Stirling, Milk River, Duchess, and Bassano). Many Mennonites live near and in Pincher Creek, Glenwood, and Cowley in Census Division 3, and near Linden in Census Division 5. Even greater numbers of Mennonites live in Census Division 2 (in and near Lethbridge, Coaldale, Coalhurst, Duchess, Gem, Rosemary, Vauxhall, Brooks, and Grassy Lake). It has been estimated that 60% of the population in the Rosemary district, 20% of the inhabitants of Duchess, and about 40% of the people in Coaldale are Mennonites.52 This census division was not included here, however, because of the predominance of Lethbridge as an urban area; this study restricted itself to those rural areas in which German predominated as the mother tongue.


85

Maintenance of German as a Home Language by Albertans with German Mother Tongue (LM3), by Census Unit and Residence, 1981

Census Unit

Birthplace

Total

Rural

Urban

3

Born abroad Born in Canada Born abroad Born in Canada Born abroad Born in Canada Born abroad Born in Canada Born abroad Born in Canada Born abroad Born in Canada Born abroad Born in Canada

0.23 0.75

0.34 0.85 o.Z5 0.60 0.30 0.54 0.36 0.69 — — 0.32 0.19 0.30 0.49 0.44

0.07 0.03 0.09 0.04

5 7

15 CMA

Calgary CMA

Edmonton Alberta

Total

O.22 0.53 O.22,

0.44 0.28

0.61 0.30 0.08 0.34 0.09 0.30 0.2.7 0.28

O.IO 0.12.

0.18 0.27 0.30 0.08 0.34 0.08 0.30 0.09 0.21

Table 3.4 shows that, province-wide, 2,8% of Albertans with German mother tongue actually used German most often in their home (that is, an LM3 ratio of 0.28). When a distinction is made between urban or rural residence, there was a considerable difference in the Language Maintenance Ratio 3 (the extent to which Albertans with German mother tongue have continued to use this language as their home language) between immigrants living in urban and in rural regions. In urban areas, 21% of German-speaking immigrants are still using it as their home language, and in rural areas 44% spoke German at home. When the additional criterion of "born in Canada or born abroad" is introduced, there was no difference in the language retention between urban and rural residents who were born abroad (0.30). But for those Albertans who were born in Canada and acquired German as their mother tongue, there was a substantial difference between urban and rural residents. In the urban areas, only 9% spoke German at home in 1981, while in the rural areas 49% of those with German mother tongue were still using German in the home as the language spoken most often. The urban LM3 figures for all of Alberta are best exemplified by the

86


Calgary and Edmonton data. In the Calgary (1^3 = 0.30) and the Edmonton CMAs (LM3 = 0.34), about one-third of the immigrants still use German at home. In both cities about 8% of Albertans born in Canada with a German mother tongue still used German as the home language. On the other hand, the four rural census divisions selected for study were quite similar in regard to maintaining German as a home language: for Census Divisions 3, 5, 7, and 15, the LM3 ratios were 0.34, 0.25, 0.30, and 0.36, respectively, for immigrants with German mother tongue. These percentages (about one in three immigrants still uses German as his or her home language) are close to the provincial average. However, being born in Canada made a significant difference in language maintenance: in the four census divisions, the LM3 ratios were 0.85, 0.60, 0.54, and 0.69 in Divisions 3, 5, 7, and 15, respectively. We find, therefore, that the rural/urban distinction does not have an impact on the language maintenance of those Albertans with German mother tongue who were born abroad; but it very strongly affects the continued maintenance of German as the home language among Albertans born in Canada, with those in rural areas vastly exceeding the language maintenance rate of urban residents born in Canada. For the samples selected, the rural Census Division 3 displayed the highest maintenance rate (85%) for persons born in Canada, compared to 8% for the corresponding population in both the Edmonton and Calgary CMAS. Looking at Alberta as a whole, respondents' sex did not have a large differential impact on language maintenance. Table 3.5 shows that slightly more females still speak German in the home than males—30% vs. 27%— after having acquired German as their mother tongue. This difference is somewhat accentuated by the rural/urban distinction: about 46% of females in rural areas who spoke German as their mother tongue (41% of the males) have retained German as their home language. Table 3.5 shows that for the population of Albertans as a whole who speak German at home, there is a consistent relationship between increasing age and decreasing maintenance of German as a home language; only with the 65 + age group members did the rate of those who still use German at home increase again slightly. Of the children between 0 and 4 years of age who had acquired German as their first language, 85% were reported using German in the home; this percentage declined to 74% in the second five-year age group, and to 59% in the third. For the 15 to 19 year-olds, the rate dropped to 40% and further to 28% as the average for


Language Maintenance Ratio 3, Residence and Sex, by Age Groups, 1981 Rural

Alberta (Total) Age Group

0-4 5-9 10—14 15-19 zo-Z4 Z5-Z9 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74

75 +

87

MALE

0.86

0.75 0.59 0.41 0.27 0.23 0.20 0.19 0.18 0.17 0.21

0.20 0.18 o.z6 O.Z7 0.35

FEMALE

TOTAL

MALE

FEMALE

Urban TOTAL

MALE

0.85

0.85

0.95

0.91

0.93

0.55

0.73

0.74

0.85

0.86

0.85

0.40

O.6O

0.59

0.77

0.78

0.78

0.39

0.40

o.z8 o.z6 O.Z4

o.z8 O.Z4 0.22 0.20 0.20 0.19

0.66 0.54 0.50 0.37 0.34 o.Z7 0.18 0.20 0.20 0.20 O.Z5 0.20

O.Z7 0.15 0.14

0.21 0.21

0.22 0.22 O.Z5 0.20 O.Z7 o.3z 0.38

0.21

o.z3 0.19 o.z6 0.30 0.37

0.31

0.66 0.65 0.54 0.51 0.38 o.z8 o.z5 o.Z4 o.Z7 0.20 o.Z4 0.33 o.z8

0.66 0.59 o.5Z 0.44 0.36 O.Z7 0.22 0.22 0.23

0.20 O.Z5 o.z6 O.Z9

FEMALE

TOTAL

0.59

0.57 0.34

o.Z7 o.Z9

0.17 O.II

o.z8 0.16

0.13

0.12

0.15

0.11

O.IZ

O.I2

O.II

0.13

O.I2

0.19 o.zo

0.16 0.18

0.14

0.16

0.14

0.2I

0.21

O.ZI

0.2I

o.Z4 0.20 o.z8 o.3z 0.41

O.Z3 0.18 O.Z7

0.17 o.z6 o.z9 0.36

0.31 0.39

the 20-24 year group. At this point, the rate of language maintenance leveled off to 24%, and remained at about 2o% for persons beween 30 and 64. Subsequently, the LM3 ratio rose to 26% for the 65—69 age group and 30% for the next group. Among Albertans with German mother tongue aged 75 years and older, 37% still reported using German in the home. For urban versus rural speakers of German, this pattern was repeated, although the levels of language maintenance differed sharply from one another. In the urban areas, very young children whose mother tongue was German used it as the home language much less frequently than did their peers in rural areas (57% vs. 93%): for those between 5 and 9 the LM3 decreased dramatically for urban children (35%), compared to a decrease to 85% for rural children. This plunge in the language maintenance ratio continued into the 15—19 year age group for urban dwellers to about 15%, while in the rural areas 66% of those who had acquired German as their mother tongue still used German in the home.

88

FIGURE 3.3


Language maintenance ratio 3 in Alberta census units by age group (1981)

The LM3 rate for rural speakers of German decreased gradually up to the 45—50 group (22.%), then remained at that level and increased only gradually for people 65 years of age and older. Among urban speakers of German, the number of those who still use German as their mother tongue started to rise again gradually with the 40—44 age group, and their rate of language maintenance actually exceeded that observed for rural speakers of German. It may well be that the cultural opportunities available for the maintenance of German in urban areas permitted the older people to retain their use of German as a home language for a longer time than for rural residents. Differences by sex were not substantial although the pattern is quite clear, giving the females a slightly higher rate of language maintenance, especially in the rural areas, than the males (see Table 3.5). The sample data for the Calgary and Edmonton Census Metropolitan Areas (see Table 3.6) confirmed the general pattern. But in the rural sample census divisions selected, the LM3s, while following the general pattern, exceeded the average, sometimes to a substantial degree. Espe-

TABLE 3.6

Language Maintenance 3 Ratios and Date of Immigration by Residence and Birth Place, 1981 Date of Immigration

Criterion

Residence: Alberta (Total) Rural Urban Edmonton CMA Calgary CMA Census Division Census Division Census Division Census Division Birthplace: Germany Total Rural Urban Austria Total Rural Urban Switzerland Total Rural Urban Other Total Rural Urban

3 5 7 15

BEFORE 1945

1946-1950

1951-1956

O.2 I

0.3 I

0.26 0.I 9 0.I 8

0.28 0.32

O.I 2

O.22

0.56 0.I 8 0.29 0.34

— 0.44 0.22

0.53

0.31 0.25 0.32 0.34 0.33 — 0.13 0.09 0.23

0.I 4

O.I4

0.22

0.05

O.I O O.I 2. O.O I 0.I 4

O.I 6

0.38

1977-1981

0.66 0.74 0.63 0.66 0.66 —

0.27

0.41

0.25

0.52

0.28

0.28

0.34

0.39

0.25

0.39

O.24 0.28

— —

1. 00

0.85

— 0.60

0.69

0.25

O.24

0.20

0.17

0.I 5

O.26

0.25

0-35 0.40 0.35

0.64 0.68 0.36

—

O.22

O.24

0.13

O.20

0.23

O.24

0.39 0.34 0.40

0.53 — 0.61

0.32

0.30

0.54 0.19

0.45 0.25

0.46 0.60 0.42

0.66 0.68 0.66

0.43 0.32

0.48

0.45

0.41

0.56 0.75 0.50

0.72 0.85 0.62

— — — —

0.08

—

0.22

1967-1976

— 0.23

0.26

0.23 0.27

1957-1966

Born in Canada

0.38

O.33 0.40

0.42

0.27 0.49 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.85 0.60 0.54 0.69

9O


daily the data for Census Division 3 (southwestern Alberta) showed especially high rates of language maintenance (an average of 79%). For Alberta as a whole, a consistent relationship between recency of immigration and the strength of language maintenance was obtained: those who immigrated more recently retained German as the language of the home more frequently (see Table 3.6). The LM3 ratio rose from 0.2.1 for persons who had immigrated before 1945, to about 0.30 for those who arrived between 1946 and the late sixties, to 0.66 for those who immigrated in the late seventies. In rural areas, the extent to which German was retained as the home language by immigrants since the mid-sixties was substantially higher: 74% of rural dwellers who immigrated between 1977 and 1981 still used German as their home language, compared to 63% of urban dwellers. An inspection of Table 3.6 reveals that the sample census units confirm this pattern, especially the Edmonton and Calgary CMAS. Because of the relatively small numbers of immigrants who have arrived in recent years in the rural census divisions selected, the pattern is less clear for them. The pattern previously observed, a correlation between recency of immigration and stronger maintenance of German as a home language, was observed for immigrants from four categories of birthplace: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and "other" countries. Those born in countries other than Germany, Austria, or Switzerland had consistently higher language retention rates into the seventies (LM 3 = 0.72.). Austrians had a tendency to retain German as a home language to a lesser extent (LM3 = 0.53) than the Germans (LM 3 = 0.64) or the Swiss (LM 3 = 0.66). The rural/urban distinction was not marked and consistent for immigrants born in Germany or Austria, but rural dwellers who had immigrated from Switzerland and "other" countries consistently had the highest language retention rates. For example, 17% of rural dwellers who immigrated from Germany between 1957 and 1966 still used German at home at the time when the Census was taken, compared to 4 5 % for immigrants from Switzerland and 48% from "other" countries (see Table 3.7). Immigrants from Austria had the lowest language maintenance rates throughout, which is especially apparent among the rural residents. A certain relationship was observed repeatedly between the level of education and the extent to which Albertans 15 years of age and above with German mother tongue used this language as their home language: the higher the level of education achieved, the lower the rate of language retention (see Table 3.7). This relationship was not linear, however. Per-

TABLE 3.7

Language Maintenance 3 Ratios for Level of Education by Residence and Occupational Categories, 1981 Level of Education

Criterion LESS THAN GRADE 9

Residence: Alberta (Total) Rural Urban Edmonton CMA (Urban) Calgary CMA (Urban) Census Division 3 (Rural) Census Division 5 (Rural) Census Division 7 (Rural) Census Division 15 (Rural) Occupational Categories Management, administration Teaching and related prof. Medicine and health Technical, social, religious Clerical and related prof. Sales occupations Service occupations Primary occupations Processing occupations Machining occupations Other

GRADES 9 TO 13

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA

SOME TRADE SCHOOL

SOME UNIVERSITY TRAINING

UNIVERSITY DEGREE

0.37 0.50

O.I9

0.15

0.17

0.14

0.10

0.30

0.18

0.15

0.13

O.09

0.21

0.13

0.14

0.17

0.14

0.10

0.29

0.16 0.15 0.76 0.49 0.20 0.30

0.17

0.17

O.I4

0.10

0.17

0.18 0.13 0.07 0.17 0.14

0.17

0.11

0.14 0.26 0.09 0.14 0.14 0.13

0.09

0.20 0.87 0.67 0.56

0.62 0.44 — 0.19 0.46 0.20 0.12 0.26

0.52 0.29 0.27 0.25

0.11

— 0.09 0.12

0.13 0.15 0.14 0.37

0.09 0.28 O.I9 0.31

0.08

o.Z4 — 0.15 0.11

0.06 0.16 0.20

0.10

0.17

0.21

0.21

0.14

0.21

0.21

0.16 o.z8 O.Z4 0.17

— O.I4

0.20

—

0.08 0.12

0.19 0.11

o.z7 0.16 0.14 0.12

— — —

o.Z4 0.10

0.08 0.09 0.13 0.09 0.07 — 0.12

—

0.15

0.12

0.12

0.12

92.


sons with German mother tongue and less than a Grade 9 education displayed a substantially higher rate of using German as the dominant language of the home (0.37) than those with incomplete high school education (0.19) who, in turn, had a slightly higher rate than Albertans with a high school diploma or some university education or a university degree, but the difference was much smaller (0.15, 0.17, 0.14, and 0.I0, respectively). One may assume that the break in the curve occurs at the Grade 9 educational level. This patttern holds very nicely for urban dwellers, where persons with less than Grade 9 education displayed a language maintenance ratio of 0.2.1, while those with the various higher levels of schooling had LM3 ratios of 0.13, 0.14, 0.17, 0.14, and 0.11, respectively. In the rural population, there was also a sharp decrease in language retention from those having less than Grade 9 schooling to those having some high school but no diploma (LM 3 ratios of 0.50 vs. 0.30). It was interesting to note that the rate dropped further with more education to a low of 0.09 for persons with a university degree. However, from the level of the high school diploma onwards, there was little difference in the language retention rate between the urban and the rural populations. This pattern is substantiated by the Edmonton CMA data: speakers with German mother tongue who had less than a Grade 9 education displayed a language maintenance ratio of 0.2.9, while groups with any higher level of schooling had ratios ranging between 0.13 and 0.19. The rural pattern of a two-stage decline in language retention (less than Grade 9 vs. incomplete high school vs. all higher levels of formal education) is visible in Census Divisions 3 and 5 while in the other sample census units the rural pattern varied somewhat. It resembled the pattern for the urban population: a dichotomous difference in the extent to which German was used in the home by persons with less than Grade 9 education and those with any higher education. It may be concluded that people with German mother tongue having less than a Grade 9 education, irrespective of whether they live in a rural or an urban area, are substantially more likely to have retained the mother tongue as the home language than are those who finished high school or had some post-secondary education. Table 3.7 presents the LM3 ratios for 11 categories of occupations. It can be seen that the highest language retention rates were obtained for persons in primary occupations (farming, horticultural, and animal husbandry occupations: LM3 = o.4o). Persons in machining and processing


TABLE 3.8

93

Endogamy among Albertans of German Origin, 1981

Criterion Alberta Total Rural Urban Born in Canada Total Rural Urban Immigrated before 1945

A

B

C

D

E

\

31,085 8,945 2.1,140

45,760 11,525 34,230

45.560 12.375 33,185

25.4% 27.2% 24.7%

40.5% 43-7% 39-3%

40.6% 42.0% 40.0%

20,130 6,535 13,595

40,145 10,360 29,785

38,850 10,930 27,930

20.3% 23.5% 19.1%

33-4% 38.7% 31.3%

34.1% 37-4% 32.7%

2,490

1,290

1,570

46.5%

65.9%

61.3%

NOTES:

(1) The husband's residence (i.e., urban or rural) was chosen as the basis for the classifications (2) A = Both wife and husband are of German origin B = Wife is of German origin, but husband is not C = Husband is of German origin, but wife is not D = Rate of endogamy (percentage of families where both spouses are of German origin out of a total number of families with at least one German-origin spouse) E = Percentage of German-origin women marrying German-origin men F = Percentage of German-origin men marrying German-origin women

occupations and the service industry had substantially lower language retention rates (LM 3 s of 0.23, 0.21, and 0.19, respectively). In the other occupational categories, the extent to which a German mother tongue was still used as the home language varied between 10% and 16%. However, an inspection of the distribution of LM3 by occupational category and level of education reveals that these differences are due to educational level rather than occupational choice: those with less than Grade 9 education, with only minor exceptions, had the highest language retention rates, with a drop in the rate for virtually all higher educational levels, irrespective of occupation.53 Endogamy has a strong influence on the maintenance of the German language. The 1981 census determined that there were 508,730 census families in Alberta (see Table 3.8). In slightly less than a quarter of these families, at least one of the partners was of German ethnic origin, and in about a quarter of these families, both husband and wife were of German origin (endogamous marriages). It should be remembered here that the ethnic origin data include all persons who either indicated either a single

94


or a multiple ethnic origin. Consequently, the pool of Albertans with German origin is larger than that given officially by Statistics Canada, and the computed rate of endogamy is substantially lower. Therefore the present endogamy rates are not directly comparable with previously cited levels. Women of German origin were just as likely to marry men of German origin (about 40%) as vice versa. In rural Alberta, the incidence of endogamous marriages was slightly higher than in urban areas (27% vs. 25%), with rural women being somewhat more likely to have a Germanorigin spouse (44%) than urban women (39%). Rural men of German origin were only slightly more likely to marry women of German background than urban men (42 % vs. 40%). The criterion "birthplace" (Canada vs. abroad) had a substantial impact on endogamy. Only a fifth of all families with at least one Germanorigin spouse where the husband had been born in Canada were endogamous (about 23% for rural families versus 19% for urban areas). Again, there was very little difference in the likelihood with which men and women of German origin selected spouses of German origin (34% vs. 33%), even if their residence in urban or rural areas is considered. However, among the families where the husband had immigrated before 1945, the rate of endogamy was substantially higher, averaging about 47%.

ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE RETENTION AMONG SPEAKERS OF GERMAN

O'Bryan et al. investigated the attitudes displayed by the various ethnic groups towards the retention of their ancestral language in Canada. Among German ethnics, just as with the members of other ethnic groups, there was considerable support for the retention of German as a nonofficial language. Almost 22.% of the sample thought it was "very desirable" to retain German as a nonofficial language, another 44% felt that it was "somewhat desirable"; 25% were indifferent, and only 9% felt that it was "somewhat" or "very" undesirable for German to retain its place in Canada.54 The extent to which the retention of German was considered to be "very desirable" varied little across the five metropolitan centers, ranging from 25% to 17%, with Edmonton occupying last place.55 Generational differences were found to have a significant impact on


95

the extent to which the maintenance of the German language was considered desirable. Of the first-generation ethnic Germans, 26% considered the retention of German to be "very desirable" (compared with 35% for the total sample of ethnic groups); about 11% of the second generation thought it was "very" desirable for German to retain its place in Canada; but a surprising 23% of the third generation rediscovered an interest in retaining German and thought it was "very desirable" for German to be kept alive in Canada. The second generation was the most indifferent towards language retention (39% of the German sample): in the first generation only 18% and in the third generation 26% were indifferent towards retaining German.56 Of those who were indifferent or opposed to the retention of German as an ancestral language in Canada, slightly over half gave "prevents mixing" as the most important reason, with other reasons making up the remainder.57 The respondents' level of education interacted in an interesting manner with their attitudes towards the retention of German in Canada. While 29% of those persons who had eight or fewer years of education considered it "very desirable" to retain German, only 21% of respondents with between nine and twelve years of education, and 18% of people with thirteen or more years of education thought it was "very desirable" to keep German alive.58 The relationship between the parents' attitudes towards the retention of German in Canada and their attitudes towards the retention of German by their own children was predictable. Of those parents of German ethnic origin who thought it was "very desirable" to retain German in Canada, four-fifths felt "very strongly" that their own children should obtain a knowledge of German, and another 15% were "somewhat in favor" of their own children learning German. Of those who thought it was "somewhat desirable" for the language to be retained in Canada, 32% were strongly in favor of their children acquiring German, another 43% were "somewhat in favor," but 25% were already "indifferent." Of those who were "indifferent," only 3% were "strongly" in favor of their children retaining German; 33% were "somewhat in favor," but 58% were "indifferent."59 Among those parents who considered the retention of German in Canada "very desirable," 49% said that German was "useful as a second language" for their children; 25% gave "communication with others" as the reason for encouraging their children to learn German, and 13 % thought that German was necessary for "keeping up customs and traditions."

96


The Germans were exceeded only by the Dutch (63%) and the Polish groups in according their ancestral language mainly "value as a second language." Among the parents who thought it was "somewhat desirable" for German to be maintained as an ancestral language, 64% listed "value as a second language" as the most important reason for wanting their children to retain it.60 Regarding who should be responsible for teaching children German, 49% of the respondents said that the school should be the primary agent for this task.61 It remains to be seen whether this stated parental preference is borne out by the facts.62

THE MAINTENANCE OF GERMAN IN ALBERTAN FAMILIES ACCORDING TO ETHNIC ORIGIN, MOTHER TONGUE OR HOME LANGUAGE OF THE PARENTS

The most important aspect of an analysis of language loss is the determination of the rate of language loss among children. The number of children of school age and below in an ethnic group has previously been claimed as a good predictor of language retention, because the survival of the ethnic group itself is predicated on the number of children who make up part of it. Looking at ethnic origin as the first criterion, census data from 1971 and 1981 reveal a decrease by 42% over the decade in the number of children o to 14 years of age who were of German origin (1971: 71,345 versus 1981: 41,175).63 Of course, German ethnic origin is not identical with knowledge of German as a mother tongue or as the home language. The percentage of children between o and 14 years of age whose mother tongue is German decreased dramatically from 33% in 1936 to 29% in 1941, 18% in 1951, 17% in 1961, 14% in 1971 and, finally, 9% (single and multiple responses) in 1981. Figure 3.4 presents the numbers of persons with German mother tongue who used German as their home language in 1981. While the number of children using German in the home in rural areas, in relation to those who learned it as their first language, is substantial in the lower age groups (some 3,700 between the ages of o to 9), the number of children in urban areas between o and 9 years of age who are using German as their mother tongue is very small (1,090), and those using German as their home language is even smaller (600). Keeping in mind the finding that urban children with German mother tongue are abandoning Ger-


home language

FIGURE 3.4

97

mother tongue

Distribution of Albertans who speak German as their mother tongue or as their home language, by residence and by age groups (1981)

man after early childhood at a much faster rate than rural children, the future of German as a home language, looks bleak, indeed, especially in the urban areas of Alberta. For example, if the rate of home language retention of the 0-4 age group is projected into the future, using the previously computed LM3 ratios for the older age groups (see Table 3.5), the following results are obtained.64 In 1981, there were 2,545 children between the ages of o and 4 who were reported by their parents as acquiring German as their mother tongue; 1,990 of them lived in rural areas, and 550 in urban areas. Figure 3.5 shows the vast discrepancies in language retention and the size of the urban and rural populations who will be speaking German at home. Using an LM3 ratio of 0.34 previously computed for the 5 to 9 year age group for the likelihood of language preservation, it can be projected that only 187 of the 550 urban children spoke German at home

98

FIGURE 3.5


Projected loss of German as a home language in rural and urban Alberta (basis: members of the 0—4 age group in 1981)

by 1986; five years later, this number will further decrease to 154 for all urban areas of Alberta; and by 2016, only 67 members of the original group of 550 will likely be using German in the home. Of course, this estimate does not even take into consideration the effect of exogamous marriages, in which German is highly unlikely to be the home language.65 In the rural areas, of course, the original language retention is greater. Of the 1,990 children between o and 4 years of age with German mother tongue who lived in rural Alberta in 1981, an estimated 1,692. children still spoke German in 1986, 1,552 will do so in 1991, and so on. By 2,016, 717 individuals are still likely to speak German as the dominant home language. The implication of this drastic loss of German as the home language, especially in the urban areas, is that in the future even less German will be spoken in the families and therefore taught in the home. By the time the


99

group who were between o and 4 years of age in 1981 is of child-bearing age, German as a home language in Alberta will be reduced to fewer than a hundred men and women in urban areas. Their children will learn little or no German at home and will not be able to pass it on to the next generation. Unless immigration provides larger numbers of German speakers it is a virtual certainty that, within the next two generations, German as a home language will be virtually extinct in urban Alberta. In the rural areas, German as a home language will continue to exist for much longer. On the Hutterite colonies there is no immediate danger of the German language dying out. The 1981 census data show that 2,980 of 7,395 Hutterites (40%) were less than 15 years of age compared with 18% of all Albertans of German origin, and 24% of the Alberta population at large.66 The corresponding percentage of Mennonites was 29% (of course, not all Mennonites still speak German). In 1971, there had been 20,745 Mennonites and Hutterites, of whom 7,830 were less than 15 years old (38%). 67 By comparison, the total number of Mennonites and Hutterites was 27,940 in 1981, an increase of about 7,200 in 10 years.

CHILDREN'S ACQUISITION OF GERMAN AS A MOTHER TONGUE AND AS THE HOME LANGUAGE IN VARIOUS FAMILY TYPES The following analysis will deal with the use of German as a mother tongue and as a home language by children in "German" families—in families where the parents are of German-German or mixed origin, where German has been acquired as the mother tongue by one or both parents, and where German is actually being used by one or both parents as the home language. This analysis is based on a I % sample of the Alberta population prepared by Statistics Canada for public use. Raw numerical data should therefore be multiplied by 100 to arrive at "true" numbers, which, naturally, will only be estimates. Thus all small data values should be considered with caution: an entry of I would reflect 100 families, but the error probablity in such a case is high. Since this analysis will use percentages almost exclusively, the chances of committing gross errors of estimate are relatively small. Three criteria of family ethnicity were investigated in relation to the children's acquisition of German as a mother tongue and as a home language: the ethnic origin of the parents, their own mother tongue, and their own home language.

IOO


Parental Ethnic Origin and the Acquisition of German as the Children's Mother Tongue and Home Language Five configurations of German origin in the family unit were analyzed: families where both husband and wife were of German origin; families where the husband was not of German origin, but the wife was; oneparent families where the wife was of German origin; one parent-families where the husband was of German origin; and families where the husband was of German origin, but the wife was not. Table 3.9 shows that in families where both parents were of German origin, the likelihood of children acquiring German as their mother tongue was greatest (17%); in mixed marriages, the chance of children learning German as their mother tongue was practically nil: certainly when the husband was of nonGerman origin, and very low (2 %) when the wife was of non-German origin. In the one-parent families where either the father or the mother was of German origin, children learned German as their mother tongue in about 10% of the cases. Let us take the analysis one step further: in how many families did the children subsequently learn German well enough to use it as their home language? In only 9% percent of the families where both parents were of German origin did the children use German as the home language, and in all other family types, German was virtually not used as the home language at all, even in those single-parent families where the children had originally acquired German as their first language. The Family Language Maintenance 3 Ratio (number of family units where the children speak German at home divided by the number of family units where children learned German as their mother tongue) amounted to 0.54. Thus one may conclude that the children acquired German as their home language only in those families where both parents were of German origin; in such cases, the odds were one in two that they would come to use German as the language of the home if they had learned German as their first language in early childhood. Parental Mother Tongue and the Acquisition of German as the Children's Mother Tongue and Home Language When the parents' mother tongue is used as the criterion for establishing the five family types, it can be seen that the overall pattern is very similar (see Table 3.9). In about one-third of the families (34%) where both

TABLE 3.9

Relationships between Parents' Ethnic Origin, Mother Tongue, and Home Language and the Acquisition of German as Their Children's Mother Tongue and Home Language

Parents' Background Ethnic Origin Husband (G)-Wife (G) Husband (NG)-Wife (G) No Husband- Wife (G) Husband (G)-Wife (NG) Husband (G)-No Wife Mother Tongue Husband (G)-Wife (G) Husband (NG)-Wife (G) No Husband-Wife (G) Husband (G)-Wife (NG) Husband (G)-No Wife Home Language Husband (G)-Wife (G) Husband (NG)-Wife (G) No Husband-Wife (G) Husband (G)-Wife (NG) Husband (G)-No Wife

A

B

145

24 0

227

37 229 10

4 4 1

C

D

16.6%

13

E

F

9.0%

0.5

0.0%

0

0.0%

10.8% 1.8%

0 I 0

0.0%

0.0 0.0

0.0%

0.0

10.0%

0.4%

0.3

2

34.4% 23.5% 27.8%

0

0.0%

0.0 0.0 0.0

2.

40.0%

0

0.0%

0.0

76.0%

13

93 72 I7 72 5

32.

25

14

19 I

2

I

4 1

I

0

4

0

0.0%

71.4% 50.0% 25.0% 0.0%

17.2%

0.5

0

0.0%

0

0.0%

16

52.0%

0.7

0

0.0%

0.0

0

0.0%

0.0

100.0%

0.0

I I

25.0%

1.0

NOTES:

(1) The analysis is based on a 1% Census sample; consequently all numerical values have to be multiplied by 100 to supply an estimate of the actual numbers of families. (2) G = German origin, NG = non-German origin (3) A = Total number of families with at least one child in the home B = Number of families in which the children acquired German as their mother tongue C = Percentage of families, in which children acquired German as their mother tongue, of the total number of families D = Number of families where children used German as their home language in 1981 E = Percentage of families, in which children used German as their home language, of total number of families F = Family Language Maintenance Ratio 3 (Percentage of families in which children who had acquired German as their mother tongue actually used German as their home language)

102


parents had learned German as their mother tongue, the children acquired German as their mother tongue as well. Again, in the mixed marriages where one of the parents did not have German as his or her mother tongue, practically none of the children learned German as their mother tongue (certainly not where the husband did not have German as his mother tongue). Children learned German as their first language in 20 to 40% of the one-parent families where the father or the mother had German as the mother tongue. In only half of the families where both father and mother had acquired German as their first language did the children also use German as their home language (Family LM3 = 0.50). In none of the other family types was German used at home by the children. Parental Home Language and the Acquisition of German as the Children's Mother Tongue and Home Language The most interesting of the three criterion conditions is the case where German is used as the home language by one or both parents. In 76% of the families where both parents used German as their home language, the children also acquired it as their mother tongue (see Table 3.9). In families where only one partner spoke German at home, the percentage of children who actually learned German as their first language was very small. Because of the small number of such families it is difficult to make a firm statement, but it appears that in mixed home-language families where the father did not speak German at home, the rate of acquisition of German as the mother tongue was substantially lower than in families where the wife did not speak German in the home. The rate of Family Language Maintenance from mother tongue to home language for the children in families where German was spoken at home by both parents was quite high (0.68), which means that in 68% of the families where both parents spoke German at home when the census was taken, the children also learned it well enough to use it as their own home language. In the other four types of use of German as a home language within the family unit, the likelihood of the children using German in the home was virtually zero. The implication of these data is that the chances for survival of German as a home language into the next generation are greatest in families where both partners speak German in the home; however, the number of such families is relatively small, an estimated 2,500 in all of Alberta.68


103

DEVELOPMENT OF LEVELS OF LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE IN THE FAMILY ENVIRONMENT

The fact that German-speaking parents, on the whole, do not seem to be overly concerned about their children learning English rather than German as their mother tongue and home language and that the children frequently offer strong and vocal resistance to being "forced to learn German" is nothing new in the history of the "German presence" in Alberta. Occasionally, this "problem" has been raised by scholars and even the media. The Alberta Herold, for example, in its edition of October Z9, 1909, offered a little anecdote, coupled with an earnest admonition to its readership. It suggested that Germans who considered English more "fashionable" but spoke it miserably amongst themselves and with their children should be told to "speak German," while those who were equally fluent in both languages should be gently reminded of the fact that they could, and therefore should, speak German. A few years later, a "poem to the editor" exhorted the Germanspeaking youth (particularly the girls) of Alberta to speak German. Why? After all, German was their mother's tongue and did she not always look after her children and wish upon them the very best? Moreover, German, in addition to being taught in school, should unite the speakers of German outside the schools in love and harmony, and was it not a language worth fighting for? In 1938, Gerwin, in her inventory of the "German presence" in Alberta69 made scathing remarks about the maintenance of German in the home. It was true, she noted, that the oldest children usually spoke German in the home and often entered school without knowing any English. But soon they began to speak English among themselves and would use German with parents, neighbors and ministers only when those would insist. She ascribed this development to the fact that in the early twenties, people would not have heard anything but German for weeks on end, isolated as they were, but with the advent of modern means of transportation and communication an exciting new world had been opened up to which the young people felt drawn very strongly. The result was, Gerwin continued, that the children forgot the language of their childhood altogether, would only claim to understand it, or would not be especially interested in learning it in school; nor could they expect the support of their parents or of Albertan society at large in this endeavor. The children considered it hard work, almost an imposition, to learn and

104

THE

GERMAN LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA

maintain German, a language which held no prestige for them and the outside world and which marked their parents as foreigners. Gerwin concluded that the German language, in her time, was very poorly maintained. True, some Hutterites could speak it quite fluently, but only incorrectly, and did not know how to write it correctly. Most parents spoke a terrible dialect and mixed English into their German. The result of all of this was, in her opinion, an embarrassment to both recent immigrants and Alberta German speakers. She continued that the parents would usually leave the instruction of German to the church schools. Although they deplored the loss of German as soon as the children entered school, they did not deplore their acquisition of English. The Effect of Teaching German at Home on the Development of the Children's Proficiency in German It may be hypothesized that, in German-speaking families where the children are encouraged to take German formally in a public or private school, the motivation to maintain and develop the linguistic heritage is much stronger than in families where the language is either taught informally by the parents or only implicitly by the parents's language use with each other and the children, or where it is not used at all. There is some evidence for this assertion. Reitz concluded that the use of the ethnic language in the home was very strongly related to language retention.70 An interesting question is, therefore, whether the children's initial contacts with German in the family are of some importance in developing a set pattern for learning German and whether these contacts predict a certain level of use later on in life. To test this hypothesis, a short questionnaire was developed and administered to 397 students in German classes in public and private elementary and secondary schools in Edmonton and vicinity.71 The questionnaire sought to identify the mode of linguistic functioning in the family used by the students "in their early childhood (ages 3 to 6)" and "at present (ages 6 to 10, and 15 to 17)." Four modes of such linguistic functioning were defined operationally: Levels 2 to 4 represent a hierarchy where the higher-order behaviors include the lower-order: I. The students spoke no or very little German at home, but heard German spoken regularly between the parents or between the parents and other relatives or friends. When spoken to in German, the students would answer in English.


105

2. The parents usually spoke German with each other and the children, and the children would usually respond in German. 3. The parents usually spoke German with each other and the children; the children would usually respond in German and would speak German freely and spontaneously with parents, grandparents, and friends. 4. The parents usually spoke German with each other and the children; the children would usually answer in German, would speak German freely and spontaneously with parents, grandparents, and friends, and would, once in a while, and as their knowledge of German permitted, read German books or newspapers and/or would write short letters to relatives or friends in Germany. The following results were obtained for the elementary and secondary school levels. German at the elementary level is taught in three bilingual schools in Edmonton and vicinity (where it is the language of instruction for up to 50% of class time) as well as in church and other private schools (where German is often taught as the mother tongue [muttersprachlicher Unterricht] or as a second language [Deutsch als Fremdsprache]). In both public and private elementary schools almost 80% of the children enrolled had some German background. In the bilingual classes of the public schools, the distribution of children over the four modes of linguistic functioning in the home was about equal when the children were small, changing only slightly between ages 4 to 6 and the present (see Figure 3.6). About one-quarter of the children in the bilingual program responded to their parents in English, a quarter responded in German, a quarter spoke German freely and on their own initiative with their parents, and a quarter, within the range of their abilities, occasionally read a short book or magazine or wrote a letter to relatives or friends in German. In private schools, the distribution was decidedly skewed (see Figure 3.7). Only about 10% of the students answered their parents in English when they were small, and more than two-thirds used German freely and on their own initiative with them. When compared with their present mode of language use, it appears that children who had used German at home spontaneously and read and wrote in German once in a while still do so at present. For the other three groups, a downward trend could be observed: some who spoke German freely at home when they were small said that they now only respond in German or English, and some who

FIGURE 3.6

Levels of language functioning in early childhood and at elementary and secondary school age (public school students)

FIGURE 3.7

Levels of language functioning in early childhood and at elementary and secondary school age (private school students)


107

had answered in German now state that they answered their parents in English. Clearly, the group of children who used German more or less as a native speaker would use it in a German-speaking country maintained their knowledge of German better than those groups where English intruded to a greater or lesser extent. It is of interest that the distribution patterns of usage of German in the home for the two school populations resemble one another much more at present than when the children were very small. More students in the private school elementary classes now respond to their parents in English than when they were younger. German 10, 2o, and 30, the high school German courses, are offered in the public schools, as well as in some private and church schools in which German is the subject of instruction, although in some classes German is used to a very large extent as the means of communication as well. In the secondary school classrooms, there were substantial differences between public and private schools in the ratio of students with no German family language background to those who had learned some German at home. At the beginners' level, 60% of the students in the public schools had no German family language background, compared with only 15% in the church and private schools. These ratios decreased to 44% and 5%, respectively, by German 30. GERMAN 10 Nearly two-thirds of those students in the public schools who had learned some German at home said that they had usually answered in English at ages 3 to 6 when their parents talked to them in German, and only 10% had responded in German. Equally small numbers of students spoke German at home spontaneously or sometimes read or wrote in German. The change to present modes of linguistic functioning was insubstantial: a few more students who had then answered in English, now respond in German, presumably as a result of learning German in school. There was no change at higher levels of language use. In the private schools, the same pattern prevailed: no change in the top two levels of linguistic functioning and substantially fewer students responding in English now than when they were small. As with elementary students, the percentage of secondary students capable of operating at Levels 3 and 4 is considerably higher in the church and private language schools than in the public schools (70% vs. 25%).

IO8


GERMAN 2o In public school classes, a general trend towards higherlevel use of German could be observed: fewer students who respond to their parents in English, more who respond in German, speak German at home spontaneously, and use it in reading and writing. All students in the private schools who said that they had responded in English to their parents when they were small now said that they answered them in German. This development continues the shift previously observed for private school students. GERMAN 30 In the public schools, the number of those students employing higher-level spontaneous use of German in the family context remained essentially the same since their childhood, while fewer students said that they now used English. In the private schools, previous tendencies are repeated: a high rate of spontaneous use of German and more reading and writing in German than before by those students who had previously responded to their parents in English when they were small. One may conclude from these results that the skill level to which a child is brought at an early age by the parents predicts very strongly the level at which the youngster will be able to function later on in life. There is a high stability in the level of functioning in German over the short as well as the long term, especially on those levels which require the spontaneous oral and written use of the language, but formal instruction may encourage students who had previously responded in English when their parents had used German with them to switch to more frequent—albeit merely responsive—use of German.

THE EFFECT OF MAINTENANCE OF GERMAN BY CHILDREN ON ENROLMENTS IN GERMAN COURSES

How many children are, in fact, learning German as their mother tongue and using it as their home language? The percentage of young people with German mother tongue as an indicator of the strength of the German language among the likely school-age population has declined consistently since 1936, when such data were collected for the first time (see Table 3.10). Not only did the absolute number of Albertans aged 0 to 19 with German mother tongue decrease steadily (with the exception of the time after World War II when immigration brought young persons of German origin to Alberta from Europe) from some 33,000 in 1936 to


Census

1936 1941 1946

1951 1961

1971 1981

109

Albertans between 0 and 19 Years of Age With German Mother Tongue, as a Percentage of Total Number of Albertans with German Mother Tongue

Total Number of Albertans With German Mother Tongue

76,856 62,766 47,707 65, 195 97,666 91,700 90,410

0

Age Group Between and 19 Years

Percentage

32,840 24,160 15,684 17,190 21,761 18,250 12,135

42.73 38.49 32.88 26.37 22.28 19.69 13.42

I 2,000 in 1981, but their share of the total population of Alberta having German mother tongue fell drastically as well, from 43% in 1936 to 13% in 1981. This decline is due to a combination of at least three factors: an aging population where fewer families are in the child-rearing age because of the reduced flow of immigration after the boom of the fifties; a general trend towards smaller families, especially in the urban areas, and consequently a greater preparedness to adopt English as the language of the home. With continued low rates of immigration of German speakers, the percentage of young Albertans with German mother tongue who are or will be of school age is likely to drop even further. The 1981 census reports that according to the custom tabulation by Statistics Canada, 27,485 Albertans used German as their home language (see Table 3.11). Of these, 3,835 were children between 5 and 14 and 1,795 were 15 to 19. The vast majority of them resided in rural Alberta (86% and 83%, respectively). In the four sample rural census divisions selected, the 1,335 young people between 5 and 19 account for about 24% of the total number of young Albertans in this age group who are using German as their home language. If the corresponding figures are added for Census Divisions 2 (715 individuals) and 6 (600 individuals), where the ratio of rural to urban speakers is also high, this percentage rises to 47. The fact that 47% of the school age population with German home language is located in only six, predominantly rural, census divisions testifies to the overwhelming dominance of the rural areas in the matter of retention of German as a mother tongue and home language.

TABLE 3.11

Speakers of German as a Home Language in Selected Census Divisions, by Residence and Age Groups, 1981

Age Group

0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19

Alberta

Edmonton

Calgary

CD.

CD.

CD.

CD.

TOTAL

RURAL

URBAN

CMA

CMA

3

5

7

15

2,340

1,955 1,745 1,545 1,370

385

145 105

135

195

215

115

215

70

145 235

I65

175 145

100

335 435

180 165 180

50 35 45 60

1,960 1,875

1,795

I65

"5

90 90


111

It is well-known that at the elementary level German in public schools is offered exclusively in urban areas, and at the junior and senior high school level predominantly in urban areas. Consequently, most of these children who started to learn German in the home will be unable to study the language formally in a public school: they will either have to continue to learn it informally in the home or in a private or church-sponsored German language school. Conversely, the fact that in 1981 a mere total of 250 children between the ages of 5 and 14 with German home language resided in Edmonton, with another 235 in Calgary, will have a marked effect on the composition of German classes: fewer and fewer students will have either a recognition or a speaking knowledge of German.72

CONCLUSION Several investigations have documented the apparent preparedness of "the Germans" to give up their mother tongue in favor of English as their main language of communication and as their home language. The problem (if, indeed, it is a problem) is not a new one: ever since the immigration of speakers of German to Alberta started about a century ago, concerns have been voiced about the German-speaking parents' relative apathy regarding the future of their mother tongue in Alberta, and whenever changes in Canadian immigration policy slowed the influx of speakers of German to Alberta, dire predictions were made about the survival of German beyond the "present generation."73 Nevertheless, the attitude of "the Germans" towards the future status of their language in Canada has been ambivalent. Not surprisingly, the support for language retention is highest among the immigrants (but even of them, only about a quarter considers it to be very important to ensure the survival of German in Canada—lowest among all ethnic groups surveyed). Among the members of the second generation, such support is even lower. As would be expected, parents who think that the retention of German in Canada is very desirable have a strong positive opinion regarding their children's acquisition of the language while of those who are indifferent about the future of the German language in Canada only a very small number is strongly in favor of their children learning German as well. The fact that the parents were found to have ill-defined reasons for wanting their children to learn German (more than half thought that

Ill


German was "useful" as a second language and only a small number wanted their children to learn German to keep customs and traditions alive) also reflects the uncertain attitude of the German community towards the need to foster the retention and growth of linguistic and cultural traditions. When asked who should be responsible for teaching their children German, almost half the parents surveyed considered the home to be the primary agent. In view of the attitudes expressed and the fact that most Germans tend to marry non-"Germans," in which case German is not spoken at home, it is not surprising that the home, in practice, is not a very effective agent for passing German language and culture on to the next generation. In addition to the fundamental motivational reasons for language retention, language maintenance in the German ethnic group is influenced by a number of factors—recency of immigration, rural or urban residence, level of education and type of occupation, sex, age, the rate of endogamy, and the extent to which German is spoken in the home environment. The use of the German language in Alberta is strongly related to the recency of time of immigration of its speakers. A period of ten years was enough, however, for one third of the immigrants to Alberta between 1971 and 1981 to adopt English as the language of the home, while in an all-Canadian study one third of the immigrants from the Federal Republic of Germany reported that they spoke English as their home language after as little as six months' residence in Canada. By extension, the likelihood of language maintenance among those German-Canadians who were already born in this country is even lower. Whether a person resides in an urban or a rural area of Alberta has had a significant impact on language maintenance from the time when such issues were first investigated. Fifty years ago, the census found persons residing in the rural areas to be twice as likely not to speak either of Canada's official languages when compared to urban dwellers. In 1981, the ratio was about the same: 44% of Albertans with German mother tongue who had settled in rural Alberta still spoke German in the home, compared with 21% of urban Albertans. Among the Canadian-born, the difference in language maintenance is even greater. In Edmonton and Calgary, only 8% still spoke German in the home, compared to up to 85% in certain southern rural census divisions of Alberta with high concentrations of Hutterites. The early Canadian censuses explained this difference by the rural dwellers' lack of contact with the English-speaking


113

world and the vastly greater opportunities for intermingling of the ethnic groups with English speakers in the urban areas. This argument still applies, especially so in the communities which encourage a strict separation of their members from the outside world. A similar observation was made for sex differences in language maintenance. In the first half of the century, there were a number of reports that foreign-born females were slower to learn English than males were; this was attributed to the fact that most speakers of German in those days lived in rural areas and had little contact with the outside world, and among them women remained in the home even more of the time than men did. Recent census data show the effect of sex on language maintenance to be small, but in the same direction as previously observed. Another major factor in the retention of German was found to be the level of education. Persons with less than a Grade 9 education showed a rate of language preservation two to three times higher than the rate of preservation of German by persons with any higher level of schooling. The relationship was not linear in nature, however. It is not possible to maintain that the higher the level of formal schooling, the lower the rate of language retention; instead, a plateau appears to be reached with entry into high school, beyond which there are only small differences in language loss and language retention. Once more, the rural/urban distinction made a significant difference: more than twice as many rural than urban residents with less than a Grade 9 education spoke German in the home in 1981. Occupational criteria are clearly a function of educational background: not surprisingly, persons in the primary occupations, such as farming, and in horticultural and animal husbandry occupations, displayed a higher level of language retention than did persons in any other occupational field. Traditionally, rural residents have tended to value formal education less highly than urban residents. To the present day, certain religious groups, especially the Hutterites, do not generally encourage their children to obtain formal schooling beyond the level of compulsory school attendance. Age is another extremely important predictor for language loss or language retention. While some 85% of small children of German origin are reported to speak German in the home, this rate declines drastically after the age of ten and reaches a plateau of about 25% after the age of 20. Again, the residence criterion plays a major role in determining the rate

114 E GERMAN LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA

of language maintenance: across all age groups, the rural residents use German as their home language considerably more frequently than do urban residents: by age 15, some 15% of the urban residents with German background still speak German as their dominant home language; in the country, as many as two thirds claim German to be the first language of the home. An association between the desire to marry within one's own ethnic group and the rate of language preservation was noted frequently as early as the first part of the century, and it was determined that "the Germans" tended to select a partner outside their own ethnic group more often than most other ethnic groups. This observation holds still today as about three quarters of men and women of German origin marry partners with a different ethnic background; the rate of endogamy is only slightly higher in rural than in urban areas. The rate of endogamy proves to be a significant factor in determining whether German will be used as the dominant language of the home and, consequently, whether the children will learn German as their mother tongue and the language which they use at home. It was found that the chances for children to acquire German as their mother tongue and as their home language was greatest if both parents spoke German in the home. In one-parent families where the father or the mother was either of German origin, had a German mother tongue, or used German as his or her home language, only a small number of children picked up German as their first language, and virtually none learned it long and intensively enough to be able to use it as the home language. In ethnically mixed families where one partner was unable to use German as the home language, virtually no children appeared to acquire German as the mother tongue or to learn and use it as the dominant home language. This finding is of great relevance because another part of the present study determined that the skill level to which a child is brought at an early age predicts very strongly the level at which the youngster is able to function later in life. In particular, those who as small children reached a level of proficiency in German at which they understood and spoke German freely and spontaneously, and also read and wrote German at their level as if they lived in a totally German-speaking environment, retained their original high level of proficiency best. Small wonder that the fluency with which German is spoken by the immigrant generation vs. the second and third generations differs considerably. About two-thirds of the first-generation immigrants considered


115

themselves fluent in the language, but only 5 % of the second generation did so and virtually none in the third generation. In Edmonton, about half of the immigrant population claimed to use German every day; only a quarter of the second and a miniscule I % of the third generation said that they used German every day. The implications of this tremendous rate of language loss are obvious: If fewer children are learning German as their home language, fewer people in the next generation will be able to use German as the home language in endogamous families. Moreover, there will be more families with only one German-speaking partner; at the same time, we know that practically none of the children in ethnically and linguistically mixed families acquire German either as their mother tongue or as the home language. Consequently, unless immigration provides large numbers of German speakers within the foreseeable future, German as a home language will be virtually extinct in the cities and towns of Alberta within two generations; in the rural areas of Alberta, however, German as a home language has a somewhat brighter future.

4

THE ROLE OF THE GERMAN-SPEAKING CHURCHES AND CHURCH SCHOOLS

MANY OF THE German-speaking settlers who came to Alberta around the turn of the century had left their homeland in southcentral and southeastern Europe because they were no longer guaranteed the right to free practice of their religion. However, very few had learned any English before their departure for North America, and even if they had done so, they were certainly more "at home" in standard German or one of its dialects. When they arrived in Alberta, they soon discovered that, because of the pattern of settlement of Alberta's farmland, homesteading meant isolation from other farmers, and that life in the early years of the province meant unexpected hardship.

CHURCHES AND THE COMMUNITY

Understandably, the immigrants yearned for a place where they felt that they belonged, and the churches provided just such a place. Religious beliefs offered the community an emotionally satisfying, common unifying bond; church services were held in the mother tongue, and church activities offered an escape from the toil of the workday.1 The cohesive effect of religion was a facet of pioneer life which profoundly affected the structure and social content of the community;2 it was the opinion among scholars in the 1920s and 1930s—and in fact among many contemporary sociologists—that ... the strongest ties which bind German-speaking people in Alberta together and the strongest active forces encouraging the up-keep of German in the homes lie in their religious adherence.3 116

Role of German-Speaking Churches

117

The ethnic churches were usually the strongest and the most active of all the institutions supporting the survival of distinctive ethnic cultures.4 Moreover, it has been claimed that the churches, and especially their publications, frequently were advocates of national ideology and tended to interpret events occurring in Canada in terms of survival of the interests of the ethnic community.5 The settlers' reminiscences abound with references to their great desire to have a church of their own and to be able to "hear the word of God in their mother tongue."6 The construction of the first church was usually a community enterprise involving five, ten, or even up to forty families, and the first churches were hardly bigger than the average farmhouse of that time. In areas where there were as yet no churches which the faithful could attend, the pastor went out and held services in private homes7 and in schools, services which were often combined with instruction in the German language as well as in religion.8 The traveling pastor was undoubtedly a familiar sight.9 A somewhat romanticized picture of the pastor's role was drawn in a letter to the editor of the Nordwesten, one of the major newspapers published in German: Der deutsche Geistliche fa'hrt in die Wildnis, um deutsche Gemeinden zu grunden, deutsche Schulen einzurichten. Und eben darin liegt seine eminente Bedeutung fur das Deutschtum, dap er der schnell englisch lernenden Jugend die deutsche Sprache erhielt und erhalt, dass er ihr die Wege offnete und offen halt, die zu deutschem Geistesleben fuhren, in die Welt unserer Dichter und Denker. Da er der Jugend die Poesie deutschen Weihnachtsfestes erhalt, die als solche schon so machtig fur die Erhaltung des Deutschtums wirkt, weil sie wohl der reinste und starkste Ausdruck deutschen Familienlebens, um nicht zu sagen, deutschen Gefuhlslebens ist. Man bedenke, die Poesie des Heiligen Abends in diesem Land!10 We read in church histories from around the turn of the century that the pastor of the German Baptist Church in Rabbit Hill walked regularly to Edmonton Whitemud to preach to a few German-speaking communities.11 The Lutheran pastor from Tomahawk travelled periodically to Wildwood, Evansburg, Rocky Rapids, Easyford, and Drayton Valley where he held services, baptised children, and performed marriages.12 Around 1910, the pastor of the Lutheran congregation at Brightview would hold school on Saturdays from 9:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. during which

11 8


the children were instructed in the catechism, Bible history, German reading and writing, and singing.13 In the hamlet of Mecca Glen, the pastor arrived on Friday night and taught Saturday school all day long: he taught the children to read and write German and conducted confirmation lessons.14 Although Alberta school law of the day permitted the last half hour of each day to be used for religious instruction,15 it appears that use was made only infrequently of this provision; as a matter of fact, in 1938 it was stated that there was no public school on record as offering daily instruction at the end of the school day.16 Apparently, the churches preferred instruction in Saturday and Sunday schools or, in the case of the Lutheran Church, in parochial schools. In the early days, German reading and writing was also taught in summer schools, which lasted two to three weeks,17 and in Saturday or Sunday schools.18 Services for the German community were generally held in German for the first generation, except in areas where there were also Albertan anglophones who were perceived as needing access to services in English.19 The Moravian Church held services in English even prior to 1900; its intent was to provide scholastic training for children in the very language of the country in which the brethren lived and worked. Thus Reverend Hoyler, the first missionary of the Moravian Church in Canada, always worked to establish English-speaking schools wherever he went. As well as giving them their English schooling, it is reported that he willingly took time out on Saturdays to teach the children of German-speaking settlers the German language so that they might be bilingual, and so that "no rift might come between parents and children as it so often happens when a younger generation is estranged from its elders by the process of education."20 It is reported, for example, that in 1896, a certain Reverend Schwarze at Heimtal held services for English-speaking settlers who had no nearby church to attend, but there was only a minimal response to his offer. But in 1926, there were at least 100 parishioners in the congregation who did not speak German, and thus a new attempt was made to get English services properly established at Heimtal Moravian Church. English became the official language of the church at all services after World War II.21 In spite of the initial desire to have services offered in German, the churches soon felt the need to offer additional services in English. This was not necessarily due to an increase in the overall anglophone church


Year

119

Percentage of Work Done in English

1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932

29 37

1934 1936

43 46

22 29 36 40 44

membership,22 but mainly because the old people had died, and the young people had learned English and preferred their services in the English language. At first, the churches were reluctant to make the change,23 and in some churches, such as the Mennonite, the change to English, on a regional as well as a local basis, was very controversial.24 The pastors may not have been able to offer services in the English language as well as in German, but when the change-over began, the argument was advanced that English was needed for missionary outreach25 and that the primary purpose of churches was to save souls—if necessary, this work would have to be done in English. However, as has been observed by Millett,26 once the language and church is shared with people of other national origins, the original ethnic identity of the church becomes less important: opening up the church to the faithful of other linguistic backgrounds apparently increases opportunities for voluntary assimilation because the need to retain the mother tongue then is no longer as strong as it was before the community became linguistically heterogenous. According to one church history,27 World War I may also have contributed to a decline in the membership of German-speaking churches as many faithful joined English-speaking congregations. At St. Matthew's in Stony Plain, public worship in German was discontinued at the beginning of the war, but private services could be (and were) held in the homes of members of the congregation.28 The most detailed data regarding the change to English are available for the Lutheran churches. Statistics from 1938 indicate a significant shift towards more and more work in English before World War II. The decrease in the number of services held in German and a corre-

12.0

FIGURE 4.1


Language of services held in the churches of the EvangelicalLutheran Synod of Manitoba and other provinces (1941—1962)

sponding increase in the number of bilingual services can be seen in Figure 4.1. The change-over to English took place at differing times throughout Alberta because the local churches maintained that the second, and especially the third generation, no longer knew sufficient German to receive confirmation lessons in German. This point was reached in many areas of Alberta between the mid-thirties and early forties, and English or bilingual services were frequently introduced at that time. At the First Baptist Church in Leduc, English was introduced in the morning service in 1954; in fact, it was given priority, and only the Scripture lesson and the introduction to the sermon were offered in the German language.30 At Emmaus Lutheran in Brightview, Holy Communion was offered twice yearly in the English language in 194 5.31 At the Central Baptist Church in Edmonton, the church decided to conduct evening services in the English language in I943.32 At St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Rosenthal, an English service was


I2I

offered on the fourth Sunday of each month in 1952. From 1963 to 1967, an English and a German service were held every Sunday during the summer months, and for the rest of the year services alternated between English and German. In 1967, an English service was introduced for each Sunday, and there were also two German services a month plus an additional German service on festival days. In 1968, the church at Rosenthal changed its name to Roily View, and all congregational meetings were held in English and all minutes recorded in English.33 At Trinity Lutheran, in Edmonton, the suggestion to hold services in English was first raised in 1929; in 1935, the first confirmation lessons were given in English, and since 1940 services have been held alternately in the two languages (usually at 9:30 A.M. in German, at 11 A.M. in English).34 At St. Peter's Lutheran in Scapa, English services were inaugurated in 1937. Over the years attendance at English services increased, accompanied by a corresponding decrease in numbers at the German services. German services were discontinued in 1961.35 At St. Matthew's Lutheran in Stony Plain, until 1929, only a few special services were held in both English and German; subsequently, English services were given once a month, then twice a month, and since 1943, every Sunday. In 1969, there were four English Bible classes on Sundays and one German class on Wednesday evenings.36 In Schuler, prayers, sermons and singing were largely carried on in German until the fifties.37 The post-World War II influx of speakers of German brought a revival in the use of German in some churches: At Immanuel Lutheran in Lethbridge, for example, occasional German services were re-introduced for the benefit of German-speaking members, but the influx of immigrants soon presented a problem to the church: In 1951, regular German services were held twice a month, and Sunday school enrolment was up considerably, but by 1956 the non-English groups moved towards minority status again. In 1958, the number of German services was further reduced.38 In Edmonton, the immigration of the fifties led to the founding of new German-speaking Baptist Churches, namely the German Zion Baptist Church, Emanuel Baptist, and McKernan Baptist.39

I22.


In 1965, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod decided that there appeared to be a need for a German-speaking program in Calgary. As a consequence, Resurrection Lutheran was founded in 1965. It maintained a German worship pattern, but by the mid-seventies the language used in Sunday church school and the youth program had been changed to English.40 Parochial Schools The first German parochial school in Alberta was held at St. Matthew's in Stony Plain. In 1894, Pastor Eberhardt taught the catechism, Bible history, and German and English reading and writing in his own home. At first, however, the school was open only irregularly because of the pastor's many other commitments; it was only in 1905 that regular weekday instruction was offered.41 When World War I started, however, there was an outbreak of national feeling and distrust and, in some cases, of hate for the Germans. Because of alleged "inefficiencies" and as a precautionary measure, the Department of Education closed the school.42 In spite of protests, the Department did not allow the school to re-open after the War; it was only after the congregation had taken concrete steps to emigrate en masse to Mexico that the school was allowed to open its doors once again in 1923. A second school was built in 1924, with a total enrolment of 80 children. For 1953, 93 pupils and for 1960, 119 pupils were reported for the two schools in Stony Plain. In 1985/86, 160 children were enrolled in kindergarten through Grade 9; German is neither the language nor the subject of instruction. The 1923 Weekly Programme at St. Matthew's School consisted of the following subjects: on Mondays through Fridays, the first period involved Devotional Exercises, followed by Religion (Morals, Behavior, Citizenship) in the second; between 9:35 and 10:30 Mathematics was taught. After a 15-minute recess, English (Reading, Spelling and Word Study, Grammar, Composition and Literature) was taught. The first period after noon consisted of either History Stories or Nature Stories, and between 1:15 and 2:30 Natural Science (Geography, Nature Study, and Agriculture) was taught on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Art and History on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The 2:45 to 3:05 period consisted of either Music, Penmanship or Hygiene. In the period following, German was offered on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, while History


123

and Citizenship were taught on Wednesdays and Fridays. A brief Devotional Exercise rounded off the school day at St. Matthew's School. Altogether, the teaching of German language accounted for 150 minutes of the weekly 1,650 minutes. In the description of the school's equipment, a point was made of mentioning that it was in excellent condition regarding lighting, heating, and ventilation, that it had patriotic books on its shelves, and that it used the textbooks prescribed by the Department of Education. In addition to excellent playgrounds and a school garden, the visitor would have found a large-sized picture of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen as well as the Union Jack. In 1910, the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lethbridge had begun a Christian day school which had an enrolment of 14 children.43 In 1938, the existence of eight parochial schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri was reported (in Hines Creek, Sexsmith, Wembley, two schools in Stony Plain, Edmonton, Brightview, and Lavesta) plus Concordia College in Edmonton. Religious instruction was given in English and in German. It was claimed that the Alberta curriculum was being followed at these schools, but the qualifying statement was added that all ideas which did not conform to the Synod's official interpretation of the Bible were immediately pointed out as being contrary to Scripture and, therefore, false.44 In 1921, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Manitoba and Other Provinces had recognized the need for training young men for the preaching and teaching ministries and had founded Concordia College in Edmonton. The school books for Religion, German, Latin, Music, and History were to be ordered from Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis; for all other subjects, textbooks prescribed by the Department of Education were to be used. German was taught six hours a week in the lower grades of high school; in the last two grades, German took up four hours per week (History of German Literature 2 hours, Literature 1 hour, and Grammar and Composition one hour weekly).45 Since the 1930S, German has lost more and more ground at the College. At present, German is taught at the high school and first- and second-year university level. Among other private colleges of the day, only Alberta College North offered German, and only in the regular high school unit form. 46 For the first few years, the Minutes of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Manitoba and Other Provinces were written entirely in German, but in the early 1940S, more and more reports were submitted in English, and in

124


1949 the entire Minutes of the Second Biennial Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Western Canada were published in English.47 In 1955, the Synod took up the question of the role of German in the ministry: Although the synod is mainly of German descent, the difference is becoming more and more noticeable between those of the second and third generation and those who have entered Canada more recently. The former usually prefer one out of their own midst as pastor—one who speaks English well and who is naturally fitted to meet the needs of the Canadian people. The latter apparently desire a pastor who is thoroughly conversant in the use of the German language and who can meet the peculiar [sic] needs of the people of that group. Over the past few years more and more students have gone to the Seminary who are more and more removed from the German language. Most of them have inadequate knowledge of the language or none at all. Some have no desire to improve. We suggest that (a) Canadian-born be encouraged to study German and Germanborn students English, at universities preparatory to entrance into the Seminary; (b) that more all-English parishes be created so that Seminary graduates with little or no knowledge of German can find service in church.48 The Status of German among the Hutterites and Mennonites The Hutterite colonies in Alberta represent a very special case of an institution which uses German as its communal language and where children are taught German first and English second. Each colony has its own "German teacher," who is elected by the baptized male members of the Bruderhof, but often his knowledge of the language is only rudimentary as far as accuracy of expression in High German is concerned. He is often unable to write letters in German due to his lack of basic German grammar; thus he is forced to resort to the use of English in his written communication. He teaches the Grade 1 to Grade 9 children from 7:30 to 8:30 A.M. and from 4:00 to 5:15 P.M., and on Sundays he teaches the German Sunday school for the children. The curriculum of


125

the German school consists of learning the German language, reciting Bible passages and hymns from memory and practising the German script.49 The following description of how German is taught was provided by a teacher on one of the colonies in north-central Alberta. When the teacher was contacted in 1983, German had been taught for only three years as one of the junior high school options which that teacher had selected for his students. In the German class (Grades 7 through 9), which are held three times a week, only about ten students were enrolled on that particular colony; the teacher was aided by a German-speaking teacher aide who was a part-time assistant. Since the school is a one-room school comprising Grades I through 9, it was impossible to devote as much time and effort to the teaching of German as the teacher deemed necessary for the teaching of the basics of the language, but he had to make do with what was available to him. He felt it to be very hard work to teach the children German since the community perseveres in communicating in their own version of German (which dates back to the sixteenth century and has absorbed Slavic terms as well as neologisms coined by the Hutterites themselves). Very frequently, the Hutterite spurn the use of High German per se, and, therefore, parental support for learning High German is often missing. On the other hand, all children do speak their own brand of German before they first attend school in Grade I and do not know any English (apart from "swear words and finger signs, which they have learned from the older members of the Bruderhof'); they do know the basics of German grammar and have a reasonable German vocabulary. The English teacher provided this writer with a number of samples of the children's writing. The theme of contentment with life on a Bruderhofruns through these excerpts: contentment with a very closely knit extended family, contentment with the work which needs to be done on the farm, contentment with school work, contentment with the social roles assigned to the women and men—not a single word of complaint or criticism comes from these 10 to 15 year olds. The children's German— although simple in syntax and vocabulary—is quite idiomatic and grammatically correct. Other samples of their work reveal errors due to insufficient knowledge of the case system ("sie schrie in so ein lauter Stimme... [she screamed in such a loud voice... ]"), the word order ("dass ich nicht konnte manche dringende Briefe schreiben [that I could not write some urgent letters]"), or the verbal system ("ich denk [I think],"

126


"er verlierte mehrere Sohne [he lost several sons]"); this is especially true when the children had to translate from English into German. In German school, the children have to study religious verses which must be learned by rote at night and are then recited to the colony's "German teacher" in their own school in the morning. The pupils are not expected to comprehend them until they are ready to be baptized around the age of 22. The colony teacher does not elucidate these verses to them at all; learning them is pure memory work. It is not surprising, therefore, that of the seventeen samples of verses provided by the children, each and every one was followed by a note such as "Ich kann meine Verschen nicht verstehen und ich kann sie nicht ubersetzen" or "I can't translate my verses into English. I don't understand them." Small wonder as their language is so much more difficult than the simple everyday German to which the children are used. A sample from a Grade 5 student's writing follows with all errors as they appear in the original: Mir ist Erbarmung wiederfahren Erbarmung derer ich nicht werth. Das zahl ich zu der wunderbaren. Mein stolzes Herz hat's nie begehrt. Nun wei ich das, ich bin erfreut Und ruhme die Barmherzigkeit. Ich hatte nichts als zorn verdienet Und soll bei Gott in Gnaden sein. Gott hat mich mit sich selbst versienet Und macht durchs Blut des Sohnes mich rein. Wo komm dies her, warum geschieht Erbarmung ist's und weiter nichts. An indication that the verses are learned by heart without comprehension is the fact that there were several marked differences among the four samples of these particular two verses. For example, three actually wrote "nicht" instead of "mich" in line 4 of the second verse; two children had "kann" instead of "komm" in the following line. There were three different spellings of "wert" in line 2 of the first verse: "wert," "werth," and "woerth." At least one of the sentences appears to be incomplete. Regardless of the quality of expression in the verses, it is clear that these children are growing up with a fluent and reasonably accurate com-


127

mand of the German language which they use as the communal language, and in addition, of course, they are being taught the Alberta curriculum in English. Contacts with the outside world require the Hutterites, especially the men who deal with it more than do the women, to know English well. For this reason, it may be safe to assume that most Hutterite children who receive both instruction in English in English school, the communal version of German in German school, and in addition are taught High German as was the case in the school discussed above, will grow up to be functionally bilingual (or actually trilingual if the dialect is counted as a separate language); in all likelihood, they will be coordinate bilinguals because they are using the various languages (vocabulary as well as grammar) in different situations and for different purposes. When a person is asked to use his or her "colony German" to talk about "English" subjects, he will be forced to mix German and English frequently in one sentence because he is not familiar with the vocabulary appropriate to the situation. As one of the boys put it in his little essay: "Wir sprechen deutsch unter einander. Unser Lehrer hat gesagt, das unser Deutsch ist fur die Katze. Unser Deutsch stimmt nicht mit Hochdeutsch. Unser Vater wirft die Sprachen zusammen. Das halbe ist Englisch und das andere halb ist Deutsch." (Grade 6) [We speak German amongst ourselves. Our teacher said that our German is for the birds. Our German is no High German. Our father throws the languages together. Half is English, and the other half is German.] The linguistic situation is rather different for today's Mennonites. In Driedger and Hengstenberg's analysis of language competence, use, and maintenance of High German and various dialects of Low German among various groups of Mennonites, several important conclusions emerged. Of the foreign-born Mennonites, 27% spoke English with their parents (compared to 57% of the Canadian-born); 56% of the foreignborn spoke English to their children (76% of the Canadian-born); 52% of the foreign-born used English in church, compared with 89% of the Canadian-born. Place of residence (rural, town or city) also affected language use among the Mennonites in a systematic manner. While 49% of the rural and town residents used English to their parents, 60% of the city residents did; similarly, residents of rural areas used English less frequently to their children than did town or city residents, respectively

12.8


(63% vs. 70% vs. 86%). But there was relatively little difference concerning the use of German in church: 84% of the rural residents, 76% of town and 82 % of city residents used English in church.50 The authors summed up their findings as follows: German and Low German dialects are still used extensively in speaking to parents, but communication with children is turning increasingly to English as well as church services. However, this varies considerably by Mennonite type. Almost all Conservative Mennonites still used the in-group language at home and over half of them used it in church as well. Very few of the Mennonite Church and Mennonite Brethren use a heritage language or dialect any longer... Significantly more foreign-born Mennonites use their in-group language than later generations. This shift takes place faster with High German than with Low German, which implies that other factors are operating. One of these factors is place of residence. As urbanization increases use of English also increases... Extent of religious orthodoxy is an additional factor which is significant in rural areas. Orthodox beliefs, rural residence and use of heritage language tend to correlate. In an older investigation of the changes in the culture and life style of the Mennonites in Alberta, Friesen came to the following conclusions from the results of a questionnaire which he administered to a sample of 90 Mennonites: 72.2% of the respondents said that Low German should continue to be spoken at home, at work or be employed as a street language and High German for worship. Yet at the same time, 31.3% said that the languages were passed on only as a "second language" or to an insignificant degree (34.2%). Ninety-eight percent agreed that English should be the basic language of the Mennonite community.51 Sixty-six percent preferred public schools for their children, while only 14% preferred private church schools. When the respondents were subdivided by age group, it became clear that it was the older members of the community who preferred their children's education to take place in private schools: 78% of the Mennonites between 0 and 25 years preferred public schools, 4% private schools; 65% of those between 26 and 40 would have their children educated in public, 11 % in private schools. Of those Mennonites 41 years and older, 54% expressed a preference for private schools and 31% for public schools for the children.52 Friesen concluded that "since younger Men-


129

nonites are not as concerned as the older Mennonites are about separate schools for Mennonite pupils, they are more susceptible to assimilative forces than their parents or grandparents."53 The respondents themselves seemed to be sanguine about the future of a separate Mennonite culture: one half of them doubted that total assimilation would ever occur; most said that it would take at least two generations.54 Church-Sponsored Language Schools Individual churches started to offer instruction in the German language very early in their history; the purpose of this was to ensure that the young people of the second and third generations would be able to participate fully in church activities, would become full members of the church, and would carry on its heritage. Thus there was a certain amount of self-interest (albeit legitimate) on the part of the churches when they offered classes in German. Instruction has ranged from kindergarten through the adult level; several churches have offered credit courses in German to provide additional incentives for the students to take German. It may well be that the Department of Education and the church schools did not enjoy cordial relationships at one time because of the church schools' alleged "inefficiency" and the lack of trained teachers and consequent lack of standards; but around the turn of the century, it seems that, at least at the local level, schools and churches enjoyed a good working relationship. In Forestburg, for instance, the English and the German Baptists shared the use of the public school for religious and language instruction.55 In the Brightview of 1910, the children in the public school were always given the entire school day off when Pastor Schmidt arrived on Tuesdays so that they could participate in instruction in the catechism, Bible history, and German reading and writing. On Thursdays, the pastor would hold school in neighboring Peace Hill.56 In 1918, the Stavely local school board found it difficult to obtain a teacher for its Maple Tree School because all the parents were of German descent and their children spoke only German. All the teachers who were offered the position declined because they knew only English. Finally, the local pastor, who happened to be bilingual, volunteered to serve as schoolteacher for one year so that the school might get started.57 For the year 1938, it was reported that the Leduc and Kuhndale school districts were visited once, and Calmar twice per week, by United Lutheran minis-

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ters who gave religious and German language instruction to 5 8 pupils in those three districts.58

THE PRESENT ROLE OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE IN CHURCH AFFAIRS

A four-part questionnaire was devised to ascertain the current level of use of German in churches in the province.59 In the first part, the ministers were asked to indicate to what extent the German language was used in Sunday services, if at all. In the second part, information was sought concerning the amount of church work done in German and concerning any discernible trends in such use of this language. Another question requested an explanation of the reasons for the developments towards more or less use of German, and the ministers were asked if they and their congregation felt that the role of the German language in church affairs should be maintained. In the third part, those surveyed indicated whether provision was made by the church for programs to help young people learn or maintain their knowledge of German, whether social events were held in German for the younger or older members of the congregation, and whether Sunday School was offered in German. In the last part, the ministers were requested to indicate if they offered credit or noncredit courses for the members of their congregation on any level from kindergarten through high school; in connection with that, the ministers were encouraged to give their opinions regarding these trends and to identify possible causes. A list of addresses of churches where German was likely to have been used was compiled from a number of sources, i.e., the Mennonite Central Committee, the Lutheran Information Services, church histories in the Provincial Archives, the 1985 German Interest Conference of the Lutheran Church in America, and newspaper advertisements in which German services were announced. A total of 163 questionnaires was sent out with a covering letter explaining their purpose and place within the larger project. One hundred and eighteen responses were received, a return rate of 73%. Of those, 48 responses indicated no use of German at all.60 In 37 churches, Sunday services were reported to be available in German, whereas another 3 3 churches did not have Sunday worship in German. Those who responded affirmatively indicated the following frequencies:


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Less than once a month: 6 Approximately one service in German per month: 4 Once on Sundays: 20 Twice on Sundays: 4 More than twice on Sundays: 3 Among those churches where worship in German was offered more than once on Sundays were the three German Churches of God and three Lutheran churches. Thirty churches had services in the morning, six both mornings and evenings, and one had a service in the afternoon. In all 37 cases, services were held in German; just one church reported a "bilingual service" where, on special occasions, English was used for the liturgy, and hymns were sung in both English and German. In one church, the sermon was translated into English. Some of the churches included in this survey have a long history, fifteen of them having started with worship in German before 1920; from that time on, German services were introduced much less frequently. The majority of the churches which, at one time or another, had offered services in German and subsequently discontinued them, did so in the period between 1950 and 1970, 12 churches alone in the period between 1961 and 1971.61 Clearly there is a strong trend away from the use of German in most churches. When the ministers were asked if they could see a trend in the use of German in their churches, they responded as follows: 37 of the 70 ministers saw a trend away from German in the last ten years, 11 did not see any change, and only one respondent saw a trend towards increased use of German in his church. Among the reasons given for this trend away from the use of German were the following: a. Children do not learn German and do not speak it in the home: 31 b. Aging and death of parishioners: 14 c. Pastor could not speak German: 6 d. General lack of interest in German: 5 e. More and more non-German speakers have entered the congregration: 5 f. People married non-German speakers and gave up German: 4 g. World War II and the resulting animosity towards German: 3 h. German-speaking parishioners died or moved away and very few German-speaking newcomers moved in: 3 These data show clearly that German is not used as much in services as had earlier been the case. The older people (who did not know English

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well enough and for whom German remained their first language) have died; the young people prefer worship in English because they either do not know enough German to be able to participate fully in the service or simply are not comfortable in the language; more and more nonGerman-speaking parishioners' needs had to be satisfied, and thus English has become the common language for young and old speakers of German, and especially in linguistically heterogeneous congregations.62 Thirty-two ministers believed that the continued existence of German in church was important to them and their congregations, but 3 8 responded that maintenance of German for church affairs was no longer of great importance. Those who thought that German would continue to play a significant role in their church gave the following reasons: a. To serve the old people: 15 b. To serve those who do not speak English well enough: 2 c. For liturgical purposes: 2 d. For festivals and cultural purposes: 1 The justification for the use of German in church given previously appears here as the strongest reason as well: worship in German is offered for the old people and those who have not yet mastered the English language. In the responses given by the ministers, the phrases "lack of interest," "lack of involvement," "gradual decrease of attendance," "vote to cancel the German service" appear again and again. They speak of the young "adapting to the language of the country." "German worshippers are dying, but we keep the service for their sake." "There are no new arrivals," and "the children of the new immigrants prefer English." Will German continue to be important? Responses to this question were as follows: "It will definitely be important for our older members for whom German is the mother tongue." "Personally, I use German in home visitations and in Holy Communion services for German-speaking people in homes or hospitals." "The older members would not give up their language and heritage and should not have to." "We'll offer worship in German until the remaining German worshippers die. It's sad, really." "The old Germans insist on keeping the German, but they are dying off and most do not teach their children the language." "German was important, but this argument is no longer valid." "In the past, German was important to the congregation, but today everyone has accepted English." "I think we feel it is regrettable, but it will play less and less a

Role of German-Speaking Churches TABLE 4.1

133

Estimates of Church Work Done in German

Number of Services

Less than once a month About once a month Once on Sundays Twice on Sundays More than twice on Sundays

N.a.

None

i

3 I I

2

About About About All or Minione one three almost mal quarter half quarters all

2

5

2

I

8

4 I

2

2

I

I

part of our church affairs." "I predict that within the next ten years [German in church] will have vanished from use." The extent to which the German language is being used in the churches varies greatly.63 The responses from the 70 churches which, at one time or another, held services in German, or do so now, were as follows: In 40 churches, no work is done at all in German and in 5 churches only a minimal amount; ministers in 12 churches said that about a quarter of the church work was carried out in German; in 6 others, German was reportedly used in half the work; four more claimed the use of German for three quarters of the church work; and ministers in only two said that all or practically all church business was carried out in German. The latter two, were German Churches of God; of those where about three quarters of the church work is being done in German, two are Lutheran, one is Roman Catholic, and one is the third German Church of God. There was a strong positive correlation between carrying out most church work in German and offering services in German at least twice on Sundays. Those churches which offered more services in German also tended to conduct most or all of their church work in German as well (see Table 4.1). One way of increasing, or at least maintaining the size of the ethnically and linguistically distinct congregations would be to organize programs where the young could learn German so that they would be able, later on, to participate in church affairs in German. However, only seven of the seventy churches surveyed do offer such programs at present. The reasons for this state of affairs can be seen in the comments received: "We

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TABLE 4.2

THE


Availability of Church-Sponsored Events Held in German

Event

Social Events (e.g., women's clubs, supper for old-timers dances, and other cultural events)

Cottage prayer Youth programs Choir/band Sunday school

Number

3o/year 3— 4/year 2/year 1— 2/year 1/month 1/month not spec. 1/week 1/month all year all year 1/week 2/month 3/month 1/week 1/week 1/week 1/week not spec. not spec.

Est. Number of Participants 30-150 250 60 20—30 50 40 300—500 12-15 15 30-45 30-40 25

65 n.a. 12

40-50 12 20 12

20—50

noticed that more and more people no longer sent their children to German school, not because they did not like it or want it, but because it was inconvenient, since classes were held on Saturdays. I also noticed that few parents were willing to commit themselves to teaching on Saturdays." "We tried a German lesson; it lasted for ONE semester." "We have memorization for those in German Sunday School and in confirmation class. Members support the German language school of the German Canadian Club in Lethbridge." "Some have taken German at Red Deer College or high school by correspondence." "Individuals go elsewhere for tutoring in German." Clearly, most churches have given up (in frustration?) in their efforts to reach the youngsters through the German language. Those which do offer language programs do so in a variety of ways: two churches offer high school credit courses, and five churches offer noncredit German programs at the kindergarten and elementary levels. In some cases, registrations are good (35 to 40 students), in others they are very low (3 to 4 elementary and kindergarten children).


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Of the seven churches which offer German language instruction in one form or another, four were of the opinion that, in the future, registrations will be "lower" or even "much lower"; none believed that the enrolment will remain the same or will increase. What are the perceived reasons for this dismal development? Fewer children in the parish (4 responses); little need for German (3); the children are taking German at the local schools (3); and no volunteer teacher was available (1). The seven schools offering classes in German again comprise the German Churches of God, the Roman Catholic, and three Lutheran churches. Church-sponsored activities at which German is being used include social events (such as Frauenvereine [ladies' auxiliaries], suppers for oldtimers, advent suppers, dances, and other cultural events), Sunday School, and a variety of youth programs. All of these activities appear to be well-attended (see Table 4.2): As can be expected, there is a strong relationship between the belief that it is important for German to continue to be maintained and the provision of programs conducted in German. Of the 14 churches in which such activities were held, 12 ministers felt that it was important that German continue to be maintained; of the 5 5 churches where such programs did not exist, 36 did not consider the continuation of German in the future to be crucial (see Table 4.3).

CONCLUSION

This chapter has traced the role of the churches in the history of Alberta's German-speaking communities from the turn of the century to the present. In the early days of the province, churches represented a central focus not only for those groups which came to Alberta in search of religious freedom, but also for the immigrants who had not yet deep-down become fully Canadian, but would not or could not return to their homeland. The German language represented, for many of them, the last tie to that which they had left behind, and the church was a secure and safe haven for men and women in psychological and physical need. Yet the demands of the "foreign" culture soon began to take their toll. The youngsters, especially in the less isolated areas and the less linguistically homogeneous communities, no longer wanted to learn German, and as they were unable or unwilling to participate in German services, more

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TABLE 4.3


Relationship between Availability of Church-Sponsored Events in German and Perception that Maintenance of German Is Important Are there social events where German is used?

Does church perceive the maintenance of German to be important?

YES

NO

(N =14)

(N = 55)

YES (N = 31)

12

N o ( N = 38)

2

19 36

and more churches had to drop first one, then two, then even more German services, until worship in English became the rule, and worship in German the exception. This process of anglicization of worship began as early as the 1930s as the first generation of German-speaking immigrants began to die out, and has continued up to the present. German is still being used for at least one Sunday service in a large number of churches, and social and other events are being organized for speakers of German (especially where the maintenance of German is considered to be important), but— as evidenced by the ministers' comments—the position of the German language in the churches of Alberta is in jeopardy. With few exceptions, the churches have apparently abandoned efforts to retain the children in the church by encouraging the parents to send them to Saturday schoolin many cases, the numbers may no longer warrant this effort; but it is likely that in the next decade, as the immigrants of the fifties and early sixties pass away, there will be less and less need for worship in German. At present, only seven churches offer language instruction on a regular basis, ranging from kindergarten and noncredit courses to courses approved by Alberta Education. Here a downward trend is perceived as well by the ministers responsible. In the past, instruction carried out in the church schools was frequently quite old-fashioned in terms of the materials and methods used; often the teachers did not have the professional qualifications for teaching and, therefore, were not permitted to teach credit courses. However, since about 1980 more and more churches have accepted the offer from the government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the provision of up-to-date textbooks; the Alberta and Cana-


137

dian governments have contributed large amounts of money to upgrade instruction in these "heritage language" schools. Now, there are more and more teachers in these church schools with formal professional qualifications and others who have improved and modernized their teaching skills in workshops and lectures organized by the Canadian government as well as by organizations, such as the Alberta Ethnic Language Teachers' Association. This is indeed good news as these churches fulfill an important supplementary role both for small children and students in the junior and senior high schools. Unfortunately, most if not all small church schools which operated in the rural areas of the province have closed; they would represent an important part of the network of institutions offering German language instruction where courses in the public schools are not available. Even in the traditionally German-speaking Mennonite communities, linguistic assimilation is taking its toll. The only religious group where German is firmly entrenched, with little prospect of its disappearance in the near future, are the Hutterites. They remain largely isolated from the surrounding world and continue to follow their religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions as they have for hundreds of years. There a dialect of German is learned first in the family and is then taught to the children as their mother tongue—of course, solely for religious purposes before and after English school. In schools on a few colonies, German is also taught as an academic subject in junior high school in the English school. Evidence shows that in these cases, the children are acquiring a quite satisfactory level of proficiency in German, even if it is limited in the topics and vocabulary selected in the classes. Where such formal instruction is not available, children only learn the old dialect (often without understanding what they are saying when they are reciting verses until later on in their lives) and frequently speak an odd mixture of English and German. The "German teacher" who teaches the children the Biblical German is virtually never professionally qualified (he is usually one of the church elders), and the children learn nothing about way-of-life or high culture in the German-speaking countries. In Manitoba, instruction in German on the Hutterite colonies has greatly improved over the last decade because of the open-mindedness and initiative of several church elders who have welcomed some assistance from professional teachers of German. It is to be hoped that such a development may also take place at some time in Alberta.

5 THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS FOR THE TEACHING OF GERMAN AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

THE FOCUS OF THIS chapter will be on the development of German language programs in Alberta schools from the turn of the century to the present. The objectives set and the methodology employed for the teaching of German have changed substantially yet consistently and organically over the past eighty years. Obviously, second-language teaching methodology in Alberta has not evolved in isolation, but has developed along the lines of educational thought current in other parts of Canada, the United States, and Europe; for this reason, the Alberta school scene has reflected educational trends and controversies debated elsewhere. It may well be to the credit of Alberta's educators and teachers, however, that—at least officially—no radical position which claimed exclusive credit for success has been adopted in Alberta. When the objectives of instruction were to develop reading proficiency and knowledge of German grammar, teachers were exhorted to teach the students the basic rules of pronunciation and the rudiments of speaking as well. Subsequently, the Direct Method, which sought to bring about speaking proficiency by eliminating the tediousness and inefficiency of grammar teaching in favor of a more natural oral approach, was tempered with an exhortation to teach the students to read and write fluently. Later, during the days of the Audio-lingual Approach and pattern practice, "grammar" continued to play a substantial role in instruction; and in the performance-objective oriented, functional syllabus design for the 1980s, "grammar" is still taught, although indirectly and only as a means to an end. Accordingly, a change in emphasis on the various aspects of language teaching over the last eighty years has occurred. The teaching of gram138

Development of Programs

139

mar has evolved from being an end in itself both as an academic discipline and as a tool for acquiring reading skills, to being a means for effective and correct communication. The rationale for instruction in a second language is no longer the disciplining of the mind by rigorous training of the intellectual faculties, nor the fulfilment of university entrance requirements. Other rationales include making the students aware of the fact that we are living in a global village, that understanding one's neighbor is of vital importance to peace and harmony in this village, and that such international understanding can best be brought about by direct mutual understanding of its inhabitants. It has also been said that one can know oneself and one's culture better by understanding others and their culture; tolerance and respect for one's fellow man are claimed to be based on appropriately developed language skills and cultural knowledge. The overall goals of instruction have changed. The development of the receptive and decoding skills of reading and translation for the purpose of gaining access to the literature and other achievements of the high culture of another language group has yielded to the productive skills of speaking in everyday situations and, to a lesser extent, writing in German to satisfy personal needs. Even reading objectives have changed from the mastery of classical literature to comprehension of everyday German and the enjoyment of contemporary literature. In short, there has been less of a revolution than a continuous evolution in the teaching of German in Alberta. There will be many occasions in this chapter where the interested reader may well note, either to his satisfaction or chagrin, that certain objectives and activities can still be encountered in the schools of the eighties; some texts and even test sentences on Departmental Exams of 1903 to 1920 could have been taken straight from the worksheets of some classes in the 1970s and 1980s. A recent example of a fortunate lack of dogmatism in teaching methodology is the 1974 Guide for Teaching German as a Second Language which states explicitly that it does not advocate one methodology or one learning style,1 and the most recently prescribed instructional resources represent two methodologies which differ substantially from one another in their treatment of grammar.2 This should not be interpreted as implying that there has not been significant change in the second language classrooms of Alberta; nothing could be further from the truth. The change has been perceptible and continuous: from grammar-translation via grammar-reading, and from the audio-lingual approach with varying degrees of emphasis on

140


"grammar," to a conversational approach and, most recently, to a functional-communicative approach. In order to provide some time limits for each of these phases, the publication dates of significant, relevant curriculum guides or bulletins published by Alberta Education shall set appropriate boundaries. This does not mean, however, that the new guidelines contained in each new Guide automatically implied a complete and total change in the classroom. Different resources have often been used side by side in the same school system; local autonomy and respect for the professional expertise and integrity of the teacher have precluded legislating a radical reorientation in teaching methodology. Furthermore, the abolition of the school inspectorate eliminated any direct supervisory role for Alberta Education in the classroom. Thus, as is the case with any division of a continuous stream of events into "periods," major events are used simply as markers, but one should remain aware that thoughts which were current in the preceding' period, as well as their effects, may not have disappeared everywhere at the same time.

LEGISLATION GOVERNING THE STATUS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN ALBERTA SCHOOLS

Regarding the legal status of the teaching of a second language in Alberta, a distinction has to be made between the use of the second language as a "subject of instruction" and as a "language of instruction." The former concept refers to the role of a second language in the school curriculum as one academic subject among many others, the latter to its use as the language of communication between teacher and students in the teaching and learning process. The objectives underlying these two uses of a second language differ substantially from each other. The study of a second language has traditionally aimed towards its mastery as a finite body of intellectual knowledge. The subject matter of this body of knowledge has to be acquired in the same way as subject matter in social studies or biology. The teaching profession has repeatedly expressed the intention of providing students with a functional knowledge of the language taught, rather than knowledge about it. Nevertheless, exhortations that students ought to develop a speaking proficiency in the other language have usually remained just that. Only very recently have curricula in second languages3 established by Alberta Education actually provided


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the teacher with a set of functional objectives and linguistic means by which students, in fact, may be able to learn to use the other language appropriately, confidently, and fluently. On the other hand, when a language other than English is used as the language of instruction, students employ it as a means for learning subject matter (e.g., social studies, science, or art). This use implies that they have to become relatively competent in both speaking and listening in the other language as well as in reading and writing it in order to be able to fulfil the academic content requirements of the other subjects. Moreover, they have to acquire a vocabulary appropriate to the various fields of learning in which they are engaged. Students in such programs can and do develop a real (near native-speaker) proficiency in the second language, as well as a level of competence in the subject matter prescribed by the curriculum; furthermore, this competence in subject matter is comparable to that obtained by their peers in English-only classes. In other words, in such bilingual programs, students are expected to learn exactly what they would have learned, had they been registered in an English school. In addition, they acquire control over another language in the process. Consequently, an important issue in the history of second language instruction in Alberta is the time and manner in which it became possible to use a language other than English as the language of instruction during school hours. Second Languages as "Subjects of Instruction" Second languages have occupied an important position in the curriculum of this province and the North-West Territories before Alberta became a province in 19O5.4 In order to gain admission to the so-called "union schools"5 of the late nineteenth century, pupils had to pass a prescribed entrance examination. The "higher branches" of practical English and commercial education, the natural sciences and mathematics were taught at these schools, as were Greek, Latin, French, and German.6 Graduates of these schools certainly accounted for only a small percentage of the total school population, and foreign languages were taken primarily to satisfy the requirements for admission to a university. No statistics are available from the turn of the century which would indicate how many students were actually enrolled in second language classes at that time. It is likely, however, that the number was quite small in relation to the numbers of students attending union schools. Enrolling in a second language

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course, such as Latin, German, or French, in order to satisfy the university entrance requirement remained a major reason for taking a foreign language until the universities abolished it in the late sixties. To be sure, the increase in the percentage of children continuing into and completing high school during the first half of this century also meant an increase in the number of students who took a foreign language for reasons other than gaining the prerequisite standing for admission to the university. Much more practical reasons for the study of a second language have recently been advanced, for example, personal enrichment, career opportunities, improvement in one's competence in the English language, or wanting to learn the language spoken by one's grandparents. Along with the rise in the number of students taking a second language came a change as well as a diversification in the languages offered. Course enrolment statistics reported by the Alberta Department of Education list 1921 as the final year for instruction in Greek,7 and the last reference to Departmental Examinations in Greek can be found in the Annual Report of 1926.8 Therefore, students in a large school district in the 1920s had, at best, the option to choose from three languages, namely French, Latin, and German. Since the 1950s, however, a number of other languages has been introduced in many school systems. Some have been taught on a restricted local basis (Lithuanian, Hungarian), while others have been made available through the Alberta Correspondence School (Latin, Spanish). Unfortunately, smaller (usually rural) schools often have had to content themselves with offering either French only—if they were able to offer courses in a second language at all—or French and German, or French and Ukrainian. In 1985/86 the following languages were taught in Alberta high schools: Cree, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Spanish, and Ukrainian. At one time or another, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Polish, and Russian have also been offered as subjects of instruction at a few high schools in Alberta. It will be shown that German has been taught mainly as a subject of instruction (rather than having been used as a language of instruction) in terms of absolute numbers of students enrolled in such courses and the length of existence of such programs. Second Languages as "Languages of Instruction" Evidence of school activities in the Alberta of the 1850s is scant at best.9 In fact, not even the number of inhabitants of that vast stretch of land between the Red River settlement, which today is metropolitan Winnipeg,


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and the southeastern edge of Vancouver Island can be estimated for the period before 1873. The main centres, among them St. Albert, Lac La Biche, and Lac St. Anne, were inhabited by "half-breeds" of French origin. Before 1873, whites were found in Alberta only at the fur trading posts. In the early 1840s, itinerant missionaries from the east had begun to teach Indian, half-breed and whatever white children there were in and around the trading posts. Roman Catholics and Methodists were the most active as teachers, particularly in northern Alberta, but not until the 186os was schooling institutionalized. In 1859, a school was conducted by the Grey Nuns at Lac St. Anne, in conjunction with their care of orphans, the sick, and the aged. The first school west of Manitoba to do regular work was established in 1862. in the priest's house at Fort Edmonton, where Father Lacombe placed Brother Scollen in charge of English and Scottish clerks and Metis laborers. In 1870, Rev. John McDougall established the first Protestant mission school in Morley in southern Alberta, and, after 1875, Dr. Verey, a medical practitioner, conducted another Protestant school in Edmonton. There is no evidence that any non-Catholic elementary school taught French at that time; conversely, the Catholic schools, which were being taught by priests who were often barely able to express themselves in the English language, offered instruction primarily in French. There is no record of any classes having been taught in German at that time. From the 18705 on, a bitter political battle over the use of either English or French in government and education spread westwards across the prairie provinces. In Manitoba, the ethnic minorities, especially the French, were able to bring about the establishment of so-called bilingual schools which were to guarantee the language rights of these minorities. However, the quality of the schooling in English obtained by the children in these schools was criticized very quickly by certain groups, and in 1916, the government repealed the bilingual clause because of the prevailing negative attitudes towards English-French bilingualism among the majority of the population. From 1916 until 1952, no language other than English was to be used as the language of instruction. In Saskatchewan, bilingual education was considered to be equally suspect in certain quarters, resulting in a limitation of the use of French (and French only; other languages had not qualified for instructional purposes as had been the case in Manitoba) to one hour per day in Grade i by the end of the Great War. In Alberta, French was used in some schools before the 1880s, as

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THEGERMAN LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA

French was also an official language there. However, the Englishspeaking majority prevailed after major political battles and required, in 1888, that all schools were to offer an elementary program in English only; this stipulation was changed four years later, however, to permit local school boards to offer a primary course in French. Again, as in Saskatchewan, no concession to the German-speaking or Ruthenian or any other immigrant groups was made. This provision remained more or less unchanged until the 1950s; French literature, grammar, composition, and reading was to be taught only for one hour per day. But from the early 1960s on, school legislation began to become more and more permissive as French gained increased political stature in the province. It is this increase which, in the end, brought about a change in school legislation governing the use of non-English, non-French-languages as languages of instruction, and it is for this reason that it is instructive to survey briefly the progress made by French towards bilingual and immersion programs and, finally even, to totally francophone schools. Nineteen sixty-four marked the year in which instruction in French could be offered for the first time throughout the twelve grades of school— only for an hour per day from Grade 4 on—while in Grades 1 and 2 at least half the school day was specified to be taught in English, and in Grade 3 not more than 2 hours/day were permitted to be taught in French. But the barrier was broken. Soon regulations stated successively lower minimum required hours for English Language Arts, rather than the maximum amount of French allowed. Finally, in 1982, French was permitted as the sole language of instruction during the entire school day in the first two grades; in Grades 3 through 6, a minimum of at least 300 minutes per week for English Language Arts was stipulated; in junior high school, 150 hours/grade and in high school at least 125 hours/grade for English Language Arts were the prescribed minimum. The Emergence of Bilingual Programs in Languages Other Than French A distinction between instruction in French and "any other language" was made, for the first time, in an amendment to the School Act in 197110 (although it is of some interest that the 1901 Ordinance already provided that "the Board of any district may employ one or more competent persons to give instruction in any language other than English" [emphasis added]). This change in the law authorized the introduction of bilingual programs11 in Ukrainian (1974), Hebrew (1975 ),12 German (1978), Arabic


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(1982), Chinese (1982), and Polish (1984) in Alberta. These programs fall into the category "bilingual program" because an amendment to the School Act in 1979 stipulated that English had to be used as the language of instruction for not less than 50% per day. Furthermore, provision has to be made for the use of English as a language of instruction for all pupils who would normally attend the school and where parents desire such instruction.13 In 1981, the Government amended the School Act to permit parents to enrol their children in an instructional program in a language other than English in another jurisdiction if such a program was not available in their home area.14 In Alberta, the bilingual programs are optional alternatives to the regular all-English program; they offer some parts of the approved Alberta curriculum in English and others in the applicable target language. In kindergarten programs the second language is used almost exclusively (however, in the Chinese kindergarten, 50% percent of instruction is offered in English; in the Hebrew program, 75% of the work is done in English); in grades 1 through 6, up to 50% of the curriculum is taught in the second language. In elementary school, English Language Arts, Science, and Mathematics are given in English; Social Studies, second language Language Arts,15 and Health are generally taught in the second language, and depending on the availability of time and qualified staff, Art, Music, and Physical Education are sometimes offered in the second language as well. At the junior high school level, about 25% to 35% of the curriculum is taught in the second language. While arrangements vary, an 80-minute per day German bilingual program at the junior high school level might consist of about 40 minutes of Language Arts and 40 minutes of units, in German, on art, drama, music, physical education, and cultural studies. The Edmonton Public School Board has the most highly diversified range of bilingual and immersion classes in the province, ranging from kindergarten to, in some cases, Grade 12,; languages taught in bilingual programs are Arabic, Chinese, German, Hebrew, and Ukrainian. For Ukrainian, a senior high school program has been developed, but as of 1985/86 has not been offered because of insufficient enrolment (the Edmonton Separate School Board did, however, offer a complete bilingual program for Ukrainian in high school in that year). The German bilingual program moved into junior high school in the 1985/86 school year. The Edmonton Public School Board is, of course, not the only board in

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the province to offer bilingual and immersion programs. Others are organized by the Edmonton Separate School Board (French, Ukrainian, and Polish), Calgary Public (French) and Calgary Separate (French, Hebrew, and Yiddish), the Public and Separate Boards of the County of Strathcona (French, Ukrainian, German), the County of Lamont (Ukrainian), and the County of Minburn (Ukrainian).

THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

In 1902., Dr. D.J. Goggin, principal of the Regina Normal School and a member of the Council of Public Instruction for the North-West Territories, drew up the first school program used in Alberta; it covered the full range of Grades 1 through 12, but was based on a system of eight "standards." Standards I through V extended over the first eight grades, and Standards VI through VIII corresponded to what would, after 1912., be called Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.16 The reason for dividing the school program into standards rather than grades could be found in student backgrounds, which differed widely in terms of educational experience, knowledge of English, and age. Around the turn of the century, "foreign languages," namely French, German, Greek, and Latin, were taught only at the level of Standards VI to VIII, where students would often take more than three years to complete the final phase of high school. Since they constituted so-called "optionals," second and foreign languages belonged to the same group as bookkeeping, agriculture, and physics in Standard VI; the obligatory subjects in the same standard comprised reading, English composition, English literature, English grammar and rhetoric, history, geography, arithmetic, mensuration, algebra, geometry, botany, and drawing.17 The status of foreign languages as optionals did not imply, however, that low expectations were held for the students in the foreign language courses. For Standard VII, for example, the instructional objectives for German centered around developing the following skills: (a) translating short English sentences into German as a test of the candidate's knowledge of grammatical forms and structure; (b) formation, in German, of sentences embodying certain important grammatical constructions; (c) translating easy passages from English into German; (d) translating passages from "easy" German authors of the following prose texts and poems into English: Grimm's Rotkappchen; Heine's poems Lorelei and


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Du bist wie eine Blume; Uhland's Schdfers Sonntagslied and Das Schlo am Meer; Chamisso's Das Schlo Boncourt; Claudius's Die Sterne; Goethe's Mignon, Erlkonig, and Der Sanger; Schiller's Der Jungling am Bache; Leander's Traumereien; Andersen's Wie's der Alte macht, Das neue Kleid, Venedig, Rothschild, and Der Bar; Ertl's Himmelschlussel; Frommel's Das eiserne Kreuz; and Baumbach's Nicotiana, and Der Goldbaum.18 The Standard VIII objectives also included writing German from dictation.19 While German composition and conversation are mentioned as beginners' objectives,20 they do not appear in the curricular guidelines for Standards VII and VIII. Clearly, the method followed in teaching German in Standards VI to VIII is a representative example of what has been called the "grammartranslation method," in which emphasis is placed on the development of a student's ability to recognize and manipulate grammatical structures and to translate literary texts from the target language into the mother tongue.21 The characteristic features of the Grammar-Translation Method can be described as follows: its ultimate purpose is to train and discipline the students' mind for formal, logical thinking and to teach the other language so that it may serve as the key to opening the doors to a great literature and a great civilization. It aims at developing an understanding of the grammar of the language and trains the learner to write the language accurately by regular practice in translation from his native tongue, and it seeks to provide the student with a wide literary vocabulary, so that he might be prepared to read and understand selections from the literature of the foreign culture. The student is supposed to extract meaning from the foreign language text by translation into the native language and, at advanced stages, is expected to appreciate the literary significance and value of what has been read. The structure of the target language is described in meticulous detail, based on the traditional categories of Latin and Greek grammar; using this description, the students define parts of speech and memorize conjugation, declension, and grammar rules. Written exercises predominate in language practice, and lengthy bilingual vocabulary lists have to be compiled with which the students are expected to develop a comprehensive recognition vocabulary, usually of words and expressions from literary works. Extracts from the writings of great authors are chosen for translation exercises, usually for their intellectual content, with little regard to the interests and needs of the adolescent learner. If any oral work is done at all, it consists of questions

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about the subject matter, which are often perfunctory in nature because of time pressure. The answers to the questions are usually drawn directly from the text because—due to lack of practice in this skill—the students have difficulty paraphrasing the text or forming original responses in the spoken language. When oral work is attempted at all, students often fail, because of the enormous range of the vocabulary learned and because of the character of and the difficulties presented by the literary texts. Since the students generally find it hard to understand the spoken language, they become easily embarrassed when they are asked to read aloud or to speak the foreign language. Not surprisingly, the learners are often frustrated by work in the foreign language and are bored by the tedium involved in reading texts and doing exercises which have little relationship to reality. Consequently, the method succeeds well only with students of high intellectual aptitude and interest in abstract reasoning; it is unsuccessful with the less intellectual learner who muddles through, makes mistakes again and again, and finds the work excruciatingly difficult and dull. He will often drop out as soon as he is given permission to do so.22 With the Grammar-Translation Method, successful students of German developed highly efficient reading and translating skills with little or no competence in oral work, because the dominant educational thought concerning the learning of second languages stressed the development of a student's ability to read the foreign language over the other language skills. Classes were held almost exclusively in English, with German to be used only to read out texts and recite exercises. It is unlikely that a student without German family language background would have developed an appreciable degree of proficiency in the spoken language.23 The first German textbook used in the Province of Alberta was van der Smissen and Fraser's High School German Grammar and Reader. It consists of a Grammar Part with 49 lessons, a lengthy section with Supplementary Exercises, and a collection of 21 Readings. Composition exercises (translations based on the vocabulary and the structures occurring in the German readings) appear at the very end of the text. Lesson 19 has been chosen as an example of the organization of this textbook. The main subject of Lesson 19 is the relative pronoun. The chapter starts with an exposition of the relative pronouns in German, a paradigm, observations on the forms of the relative pronoun, notes on the use of der [who] and welcher [which], on the use of wer [who] and was [what] as relative pronouns, and finally a discussion of the construction of relative clauses. Following the grammar exposition, there is a sec-


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tion of German sentences, with relative clauses to be translated into English (for example, Wer nicht fur mich ist, ist wider mich. Die Leute, bei denen ich auf Besuch gewesen bin, sind Schotten [Whoever is not for me is against me. The people with whom I visited are Scots]) and English sentences to be translated into German (e.g., Do you hear what I say to you? My father always burnt the letters which were no longer useful). A very brief section called "Oral Exercise" concludes the grammar presentation and practice in this chapter.24 Another recommended resource from 1911 on was Collar's First Year German. In this book consisting of sixty two-page lessons, German grammar is broken down into short segments. Lesson 4, for example, deals with the Dative Case: Indirect Object. The lesson starts with two German sentences and their translation (1. Mein Vetter hat seinem Freund einen Hund gegeben [My cousin has given his friend a dog, or has given a dog to his friend]; 2.. Er hat ihn seinem Freund gekauft [He bought it for his friend]). These sentences are immediately commented upon: In the above model sentences seinem Freund is in the dative case and denotes the person to or for whom the act of giving or buying is done; such a dative is called the indirect object. Note also that in 1 the indirect object precedes the direct; in 2 the direct object, ihn, precedes the indirect. These explanations are summarized in two rules: 75. Rule.—The indirect object is in the dative. 76. Rule.—The indirect object usually precedes the direct, except when the direct object is a personal pronoun. A note immediately thereafter comments upon these two rules: If both objects are personal pronouns, the shorter usually precedes. If they are of the same length, the direct precedes the indirect; but dir and mir may come first or second in order. After a brief bilingual vocabulary list, the personal pronouns are translated, and paradigms of the pronouns are given. The exercises consist of questions and answers (11 items with several sentences each) and transla-

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tions (4 items with several sentences each). At the end of the book, there is a grammar appendix and a collection of various literary readings as well as additional practice passages, based on the German readings, for translation into German.25 University Matriculation and Departmental Examinations Each Standard was concluded with an examination which was identical for all students of German in Alberta. Because exams reflect the real objectives of instruction (as compared to professed objectives that might be found in curriculum guides, bulletins, and suggestions to the teacher) extensive quotations from them will be provided in order to show the development of curricular objectives from 1902. to 1972., when this system of centrally set examinations was abolished. In each case, the school-leaving exam is chosen as a sample of what was required of final-year students of German. The earliest available Departmental Exam (see Appendix 3 for a sample) dates back to 1903; it consisted of two parts, namely German Authors, and German Grammar and Composition. The student had three hours for each paper. The first part required the student to translate six excerpts from known texts into English and to respond to grammar questions about words or constructions contained in the text. As the examinees did not have access to a dictionary, they had to have acquired a sizeable recognition vocabulary as a result of studying the text in class and at home. The grammar questions attempted to sample the student's knowledge of certain linguistic forms (such as the principal parts of verbs occurring in the text; gender, case and plural endings of nouns); furthermore, an explanation of the grammatical rule underlying specified constructions had to be provided (for example, "Explain the position of the verb in the German sentence. Illustrate by reference to the above extract.") The German Grammar, Composition, and Sight Translation part also required an ability to manipulate structures, to give explanations and to translate a set of sentences which were thought to contain important difficulties of German grammar (the use of the possessive adjective versus the possessive pronoun: "Where are your books? I have mine here.") The format of the university matriculation or Departmental Examinations remained essentially unchanged until the late 1950s; for example, in 1906, the Standard VII exam contained instructions to quote two


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stanzas from any one of the following poems: Lorelei, Mignon, or Das Schlo am Meer.26 In 1908, a dictation was added to the Grammar and Composition section of Standard VIII.27 The Grade XII Exam in 1913, in addition, contained a composition to be written in German with not less than 100 words, outlining the story of either Keller's Das Fahnlein der sieben Aufrechten or von Ebner-Eschenbach's Die Freiherren von Gemperlein.28 The 1919 Departmental Examination, in addition to the customary translations and grammar items, required the students to write a composition in German of not less than one hundred words on the following theme: "Das Ende des Gro en Krieges [The end of the Great War]."29 The reader who is familiar with the present curriculum and the materials used in Alberta may have found the samples of exams given above quite difficult for a high school student in his or her final year. A few reflections on the nature of the Departmental Exams are, therefore, in order. Departmental Exams were intended to ensure uniformity of standards of achievement across the province, in the cities and towns as well as in the rural areas. They guaranteed that teachers were unable "to teach to" a particular test; subjectivity in marking, for better or worse, was eliminated; and school boards, teachers, parents, and students had a yardstick by which to measure the quality of instruction which the students received. Of course, Departmental Exams also had negative effects, for example, the fact that the students' proficiency in German was measured on the basis of a three- or six-hour test. Was it fair to ignore the students' day-to-day work in the classroom altogether? What if the students had had a "bad day" when they took the exam? What if the teacher had neglected to emphasize certain vocabulary or certain items of the grammar which would then occur on the exam? Was the teacher not in a better position to know how much the students really knew? Departmental Exams also took away virtually all creativity on the part of the students and the teacher; they left little room or time for students' personal interests or local conditions. They penalized students who had the misfortune to work with an ineffective teacher, and they tended to favor the students in rich urban school districts over those in less affluent rural school districts. These shortcomings of Departmental Exams were wellrecognized, and they were the reason why the Department of Education abolished Departmental Exams in 1972,773. In 1983, after eleven years of having no such exam, the Minister of Education reintroduced a system of

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TABLE 5.1 Date

June 1926 Sept. 1926


Failure Rates at the 1926 Departmental Exams Course

1

Latin French German Latin French German

50% 36% 26% — — —

2

3

17%

14%

12%

10%

22%

15% 67% 26%

55% 65% 80%

100%

SOURCE: Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1926, p. 20.

centralized assessment for four major subjects, but not for any of the second languages. In 1985, the Alberta Education considered—and then rejected—the possibility of introducing Departmentals for at least French, if not for the other second languages taught in high school. The difficulty of the early Departmental Exams is reflected in the fact that only about three-quarters of the students ever passed them. For example, in I926, 30 the first year for which these data are available, 72% completed the exams with a pass mark. In the same year, 3,187 of 4,641 candidates of French 1, 2,, and 3 passed the Departmentals (69%), and only 60% of the 1,769 candidates in Latin 1, 2, and 3 completed the courses successfully. But these percentages are somewhat deceptive. Table 5.1 shows that the failure rate was highest in the first year of each language (50% for Latin, 36% for French, and 26% for German 1); by the final year, the respective percentages of students having failed the Departmental Exam decreased to 14%, 10%, and 15%. Students who had failed the June Departmental Exam had little chance to pass the exam in September when they had an opportunity to sit it again: failure rates often exceeded 50%. These failure rates remained relatively stable over the years. For example, the percentages of passes on the academic examinations for the years 1928 to 1932. were as follows: 1928: 76%; 1929: 74%; 1930: 75%; 1931: 73%; and 1932.: 71%.31 In 1935/36, the percentage of passes was, after "a careful measurement of the intelligence of Alberta students" set for 75%, and the marks were transmuted accordingly to accomplish this result.32 Considering the fact that the pass mark for a Departmental Exam was


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40% on each paper and 50% of the total, and keeping in mind the above failure rates, the standard of achievement was appallingly low (or else the expectations were unrealistically high).33 One may conclude from the data in Table 5.1 that—in spite of wide divergencies in the annual success rate in German 1, 2, and 3—about 20% of the students failed to reach their year's achievement objective at the end of the course. Unfortunately it is not possible to determine exactly the number of students who were able to pass the course a few months later at the supplemental exam, as the statistics compiled by the Department of Education made no distinction between those students who had actually failed at the main sitting and those who had not, for whatever reason, taken the exam then. A good guess would be that, on the average, at least 15 % of the students actually failed their course each year. If this is the case, only about two thirds of the students who started with German 1 actually passed German 3. Actually, the number of pass marks is likely to be far lower, because of the number of students who came directly into German 2 or German 3 on the basis of advanced placement for prior knowledge of the language. Again, however, no separate records were kept for those students. The officials in the Department of Education were aware of the low standard of achievement in second languages in Alberta. Repeated references to this fact can be found in the Annual Reports of the Department of Education. In 1919, for example, the Inspector of High Schools reported that a beginning had been made in the teaching of modern languages. A standard of achievement was established, which could only be satisfied when the students were able to speak and write in the French language.34 But teachers were said to be poorly equipped professionally for the teaching of a foreign language.35 It was only in the late 1920s that an inspector's comment was to be found that ... teachers were receiving better preparatory training and were doing better work. They seldom left their school in the middle of a term, and quite frequently remained for two or more years in a school, with many consequent advantages for both pupils and teachers.36 In particular, the smaller high schools in the rural areas constituted a problem. In 1922., Inspectors Smith and McKee were able to state that in many of the small high schools it had been possible to make provision for the teaching of one foreign language and that the students in Grade 9 and

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THE


10 were encouraged to take advantage of this provision.37 A demand for the language subjects was, in fact, seen by Inspector Smith in 1927.38 The situation was fortunately somewhat different in the larger urban high schools. As early as 1920, the Edmonton Board was able to enrich the program of the senior grades of the public school through the introduction of languages.39 Even Grade 7 and 8 pupils were beginning to have the opportunity to study a foreign language.40

THE CURRICULAR REFORM OF 1922:

A DIRECT METHOD FOR SECONDARY

SCHOOLS?

The year 1922 represented a landmark in the teaching of second languages in Alberta, because in that year the role of foreign languages, both classical and modern, was examined in the light of current experimental work in psychology and pedagogy. The 1922 Handbook for Secondary Schools41 is especially interesting, because the arguments in the defense of the usefulness of the Classics, which are being advanced in it, have been and are being made for the teaching and learning of modern languages. The writers pointed out that the traditional reasons for the study of the classical languages (and indeed the modern languages) did no longer apply and that much energy had gone into the teaching of Latin, Greek, French, and German with relatively few students actually benefitting from such instruction. Neither their minds, in general, nor their abilities to work in another language had sustained great improvement. Instead, it was suggested, the curriculum should provide reading selections so simple that all would be able to gather meaning from it, and these reading selections should be of such intrinsic interest to the student (because they should reflect the life style of the target language culture) that he would want to read such selections on his own. If such a curriculum could be fashioned, it was maintained, the student of foreign languages would draw lifelong benefits from the study of these languages. The Handbook concluded with a recommendation to all foreign language teachers to use a modified form of the Direct Method. Although the pure Direct Method had, apparently, been used with good results in those schools which specialized in language (preparatory and private schools), where teacher specialists were employed, where a great deal of time could be devoted to languages, where the class size did not exceed


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twenty and where a "superior grade" of student could be found, the Handbook concludes that it is doubtful that such a method could be generally successful in Alberta. The following hints were given for effective teaching and learning of the classical languages in Alberta when using the modifed Direct Method. The grammatical part of a foreign language course should be confined to a minimum of accidence, and to the bare essentials of syntax. To facilitate the acquisition of grammar, the study of English grammar and of the target language grammar should proceed concomitantly. Maxims and mottoes could be recited, short stories and stanzas or poetry read aloud and memorized, short plays acted, and songs and rounds sung. If sufficient time was available, attention should be given to the social, political, and religious institutions of the culture of the other language and to the main features of its literature. Some definite knowledge of the target language culture, literature, and history was suggested to be an integral part of the new foreign-language course. Where possible, the work of the foreign language department in the high school should be correlated with that of the history department. Where a portion of a foreign-language work was read in the original, the remainder should be presented to the student in the form of an English translation, or of a summary. From the point of view of methodology, the use of sight translation should be continued as a means of testing the power to read the foreign language, and the memorization of short passages in the foreign language of special excellence and literary merit was to be given regular attention.42 Concerning the purposes of instruction in the modern languages, the Handbook had the following to say: The systematic introduction of Modern Languages into secondary school curricula has been of comparatively recent date, but in all systems these languages are rapidly receiving the recognition due them. Their value is unquestionable. From the practical point of view, they are of tremendous importance in business and in public service.... The war has demonstrated the interdependence of nations, and the need for a more intimate acquaintance, in this country, with the history, policies, and ideals of the leading European peoples. A knowledge of the language of a country makes possible a much more complete and more accurate interpretation of the political, social, industrial and scientific developments in that land. The extensive use of

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French and German in this country gives further evidence of the value of these languages from the point of view of our own national unity. For a more limited group, a mastery of languages is a pre-requisite to historical and scientific research.43 Which characteristics did the Direct Method display and why did it seem to be so attractive to many progressive teachers in Alberta schools? After all, in spite of the criticism lodged against it, the Direct Method resurfaced about fifteen years later; in the 1936 Oral French course, the Direct Method will be the foundation on which the course itself is built. The Direct Method is intended to teach the students to speak the other language, not just to read, write or translate it. It tries to imitate the process by which the child learns his native language, not by memorization, translation and the learning of grammar. Teachers operate on the belief that students learn to understand a language by listening to it a great deal, and that they learn to speak it by speaking. Adherents of the Direct Method advocate learning by directly associating foreign words and phrases with objects and actions, without use of the native language by the teacher or the student. As speech precedes reading, students are even encouraged to establish a direct link between the printed word and an understanding of it without mediation by the mother tongue. The ultimate aim of the Direct Method is to develop in the learner the ability to "think in" the other language whether speaking, reading or writing it. Accordingly, classes are conducted orally and directly in the foreign language without grammar explanation, translation, or deductive thinking; instead, the teacher and the student concentrate on communicative practice. From the beginning, the teacher insists on correct pronunciation; students often have to learn phonetic notation to avoid mispronouncing the foreign words because of misleading similarities in the writing systems of the native and the target language. After the students have been taught words and phrases for objects and actions directly observable in the classroom, the scene usually shifts to common settings of everyday life in the country where the language is spoken. Where concrete representations are insufficient to explain the meaning of new words, the teacher resorts to miming, sketching or explanation in the foreign language; he will never supply a native-language translation. From the beginning, students become used to hearing complete and meaningful sentences in the target language and are encouraged to speak the language as early as possible.


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Grammar is not taught explicitly and deductively, but learned largely through practice. The students are expected to draw their own structural generalizations from what they had been practising. When it comes to reading, the teacher introduces the text orally first, especially new words, phrases and situations. Texts are read aloud; the learners are taught to seek direct comprehension of the text by inferring the meaning of an unknown word or phrase from the context in which it occurs rather than getting it from a bilingual word list. Even when the students' comprehension is tested, they do not translate: instead, understanding is ascertained by questioning in the target language and by discussion. The writing skill is developed first by transcription of what has been spoken; subsequently, students prepare summaries of what is known to them already. Clearly, the Direct Method is an exciting and interesting way to learn another language; especially significant is the fact that the learner is likely to overcome any inhibitions about speaking the other language very early. However, unless proper structure is provided, the students develop a glib but inaccurate fluency, clothing native-language structures with foreign vocabulary. Often they lack a clear idea of what they are learning and trying to do, and make haphazard progress. As can be expected, the highly intelligent student with well-developed powers of induction profits most from the Direct Method, but it is discouraging and bewildering for the less talented. It has been found that the greatest success can be obtained by this method if it is used in situations where the students can hear and practise the language outside the classroom.44 An example of the use of the Direct Method in a German language course is Manfred's Ein praktischer Anfang.45 In the Preface (see Appendix 4), the author provides a detailed description of the organization of the book and the suggested methodology. In addition to displaying the characteristics of the Direct Method surveyed above, Ein Praktischer Anfang incorporated an unusual methodological device, the so-called series. A series breaks down an action from everyday life into sequential statements which are first presented by the teacher to be repeated by the students chorally and individually. Subsequently, these "model sentences" are varied in questions and answers, in tense and in person. Throughout, the emphasis is on interaction between teacher and students, with heavy stress on the productive skills in a highly controlled linguistic environment. The following is an example of a series called "Das Aufstehen [Getting Up]."

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.


Ich liege im Bett und schlafe. Ich wache auf. Ich sehe nach der Uhr. Es ist sieben Uhr. Ich stehe auf. Ich gehe ins Badezimmer. Ich bade mich. Ich putze mir die Zahne. Ich komme ins Schlafzimmer zuruck. Ich ziehe mich an. Ich kamme mir das Haar. Es klingelt. Ich gehe ins E zimmer. Ich esse das Fruhstuck. Es ist acht Uhr. Ich nehme meine Bucher. Ich gehe in die Schule.46

Excerpts from Lesson 11 will give an impression of the organization of the book. The main grammatical objectives in this lesson are the prepositions which may require either the dative or the accusative. The lesson starts out with a Lesestuck. Das Schulzimmer. Das Schulzimmer hat eine Decke, einen Fu boden und vier Wande. Die Decke ist uber dem Fu boden. Der Fu boden ist unter der Decke. Die Wande sind zwischen der Decke und dem Fu boden. Die Tafeln sind an den Wanden. An den Wanden sind auch Bilder. Die Tur und die Fenster sind in den Wa'nden. Die Wischer, die Kreide, der Zeigestock und das Lineal liegen in dem Troge unter den Tafeln... 47 (The total length of this reading selection is two pages). Following the reading selection there is a grammar section which explains, in German, the use of the dative and accusative as a function of the verb's denoting motion or no motion; a number of example sentences in which the concept of motion or no motion is pointed out explicitly follows (for example, Wohin gehe ich? Sie gehen an den Schrank. (Bewegung] [Where am I going? You are going to the cupboard. (motion)]). Subsequently, there are six paradigms illustrating the use of a preposition


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in singular and plural, each one of them labeled as being Accusative or Dative; for example: Accusative: Ich gehe an den Schrank. die Tur. das Fenster. Wir gehen an die Schranke. die Turen. die Fenster.48 Then three pattern sentences are given with questions and answers about them (Satz: Der Schuler geht an den Schrank) FRAGE

Wohin geht der Schuler? Was tut der Schuler? Wer geht an den Schrank?

ANTWORT

Er geht an den Schrank. Er geht an den Schrank. Der Schuler geht an den Schrank. Geht der Schuler an die Tur? Nein, er geht nicht an die Tur, sondern an den Schrank. Geht der Schuler an das Nein, er geht nicht an das Fenster? Fenster, sondern an den Schrank.49 In the final section of the lesson (about two pages), traditional grammar exercises are presented; for example, filling in the correct form of the definite article (Wir stehen vor Tafel [We are standing in front of blackboard]), transforming sentences into the singular and the plural (Stellen Sie die Stuhle hinter die Pulte. Der Schuler geht an die Tur und macht sie zu. [Put the chairs behind the desks. The pupil is going to the door and closing it]), supplying articles in blanks ( Schuler geht an Tafel und schreibt Satz. [ pupil is going to blackboard and writing sentence]). Thirteen questions based on the reading selection follow; then there are nine sentences based on the reading selection with regard to which the students should ask as many questions as possible. Thirteen sentences to be translated into German (the vocabulary is based on the reading selection) conclude the lesson.50 At the end of the book there is a Grammar Appendix which explains in detail, in English, the grammatical points raised in each of the lessons. Clearly, the textbook represented a clean break with traditional teaching methodology in practically all respects. Unfortunately, not a single

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reference can be found about the extent to which the book was used after it was approved officially in 1918. The Annual Reports after this date do not mention the book again, and in 1924 a different, more traditional textbook, Ball's A German Grammar, appears as the new textbook for Grades 9 and 10. One may wonder whether the suggestions contained in the Handbook regarding the teaching of classical and modern languages, especially regarding the use of the Direct Method, and the expectations held for Ein Praktischer Anfang bore the expected results. As early as 1922., Inspectors Smith and McKee pointed out that the Direct Method of teaching the French language was not proving satisfactory. Because of the burdensome program, it was apparently not possible to allot sufficient time for oral and conversational work, and at the same time to give students the required training in reading and writing.51 And in 1925, the Handbook for Secondary Schools criticized the use of the Direct Method for its lack of success and suggested a return to a greater emphasis on "linguistic and literary factors, with a view to training the pupils to read and write fluently."52 It was pointed out that—although this method could claim certain theoretical advantages—the results produced were on the whole disappointing. This may be traced to four or five factors, none of which were entirely under the control of educational authorities, namely, large class size, insufficient time given to the second languages in the curriculum, lack of opportunity for students to use the language outside of class for reinforcement and consequent disinterest on the part of the students to try to learn to speak the language, and lack of sufficiently well trained language specialists and of sufficiently proficient teachers of the second languages. Consequently, the oral examination in these courses was abolished, although it was expected that the teacher would continue to give a part of his instruction in the foreign tongue and to give pupils some practice in oral expression. Teachers were exhorted to encourage their pupils to learn short memory gems, and to carry on short dialogues in the foreign tongue. More stress was to be laid in the future, however, on the linguistic and literary factors, with a view to training the pupils to read and write fluently.53 There is no evidence that instruction in German, in this phase, ever really underwent a large-scale change in teaching methodology. The textbook for Grade 11 approved for 1922 is identical to the one used in 1911. Moreover, the book approved in 1924 remained approved until 1929, and a similarly "traditional" resource was approved in 1937 and remained as the main grammar until 1962!


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Course of Studies of 1922 is quite revealing: the optional subjects for Grades 9 to 11 were Agriculture, Latin, French, German, or Greek.54 The most significant provision of the new Course of Studies, however, was that languages were to be offered over three years rather than four (in Grades 9 through 11), but that the time per subject per week was to be increased by "eliminating all useless material and intensifying the teaching."55 Only two years later, Inspector Smith stated with satisfaction that the introduction of the new Course had rejuvenated the study of the language subjects as could be seen by a very marked increase in the language options.56 The enrolment figures do not, however, justify this satisfaction. The German enrolment decreased from 74 to 59 students in city and town schools over the two years; Latin from 2,6o6 to 2,317; Oral French from 3,123 to 2.5729; and non-Oral French dropped from 3,305 to 2,973 students. In the private schools, however, the German enrolment rose to z68 from 10.57 The revised Course of Studies was again credited in 1927 with giving an impetus to the study of languages. Inspector Smith noted that the demand for foreign languages, as well as the provision made for the teaching of these subjects in the high schools by the various school boards of the Province, had increased greatly over 1926.58

THE TRANSITION FROM THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION TO THE READING METHOD

In 1936, the Social Credit government instituted major revisions in the school curriculum (most notably the "enterprise" or "activity system"),59 but for the languages, the effect of the changes in the curriculum—except for the beginning of an entrenchment of Oral French in a few of the Intermediate Schools (Grades 7 to 9) 60 —was largely cosmetic. The chief result of the revision of courses in modern languages was considered to be increased interest on the part of the students and increased practice in oral expression. The new textbooks, it was maintained, emphasized speaking and reading facility in the language, at the expense of the more obscure grammatical technicalities.61 Although the new Grade 9 curriculum provided for the introduction of Oral French as an option,62 this course was not given outside the cities, except in the French-speaking communities, and in districts where the teacher had sufficient facility in the use of French to enable him to carry on a lesson altogether in this language. This course, it was stated, required the use of the Direct Method.63 In 1939, it was reported that some of the more skillful teachers used

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French almost exclusively in making explanations, giving directions, and asking questions. Apparently students had become used to spoken French as never before, and they showed increasing facility in pronunciation and use of idioms in actual language situations.64 French was used in classrooms in actual living situations. While a reasonable mastery of vocabulary and grammar would always be necessary in learning a foreign language, it was pointed out, more emphasis than formerly was placed on a conversational facility in French and oral as well as aural proficiency in all three foreign languages.65 Yet again, the implementation of the Direct Method still left much to be desired from the point of view of the school inspectors. They complained that many teachers were unwilling or unable to attempt the simplest pronunciation in class, even though the prescribed texts indicated clearly how this should be done.66 For these reasons, the sub-committee on French of the High School Curriculum Committee suggested the following compromise: ... it has been decided that the best policy is one of steering a course between the Direct Method on the one hand and the Reading Method on the other. Accordingly the basic text for the first two years is one which can be used to advantage by the exponents of either method. Teachers who have had little or no training in pronunciation are earnestly urged to become familiar with the phonetic system of pronunciation... In a French class taught by such a teacher it would be well for both teacher and class to defer any teaching or study of French until this preliminary chapter is thoroughly mastered by both teacher and students. This applies to verb forms, to useful expressions, and to all places in the prescribed text where the correct pronunciation is indicated in phonetics. After three years of high school French every student should have acquired a reasonable facility in simple spoken French, and, at the same time, reasonable skill in reading French. These objectives need not conflict with each other; in fact there is evidence to indicate that progress in learning to speak accelerates progress in learning to read and vice versa.67 Suggested methodologies for German have always followed the French, and, therefore, the compromise also applied to German. Although German had been offered in Grade 9 since 1933/34, an Oral German course was not formally introduced until 1938:68 one student in Alberta was enrolled in it compared to 2,906 in the Oral French course. No


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documentation is available on the further fate of this German course, but since the Annual Report statistics do not mention an Oral German course again until I963/64,69 it must be assumed that the foray into Oral German in Intermediate School lasted but one year. In any case, it would be wrong to assume that the Direct Method was adopted in all or even the majority of the intermediate and high schools. Certainly in German, the Direct Method, because of the insignificant number of schools offering this course, played a very minor role indeed. On the high school level, the teaching of German in the period between the early 1940s and the late 1950s is characterized by a slow, but perceptible shift in the objectives of instruction from an emphasis on the development of translation skills to reading comprehension and to a more active use of the language.70 Certainly, translation of sentences and passages still played an important role, but the grammar sections, in which the students had to manipulate structures in German, assumed a greater importance within the course, as evidenced by the Departmental Exams; questions in English and/or German on the content of reading texts also became more frequent. On the 1941 Departmental Examination in German, for example, translations of a text and of sentences counted for some 34% of the total exam, grammar exercises (transformations and completions) for 36%, questions about a reading text for 19%, and a composition for 11%. On the 1919 Departmental Examination, translations of a text and grammar items had accounted for 83% of the exam, and a composition in German for 17%. After World War I, the Coleman Report of 1929 concluded that because of the paucity of class time available for second-language study at school and university, it was patently impossible for students to acquire even a minimal competency in another language, especially in all four skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Consequently, the Report recommended that schools and universities concentrate on reading as a reasonable, attainable goal. The graduates of such a program should be able to continue with independent reading on their own after the formal study of the other language ended. The aim of the Reading Method is to help students acquire the ability to apprehend meaning without resorting to conscious translation. Grammar is regarded as an aid to reading comprehension rather than as an end in itself. The students are taught to recognize important verbal forms, tenses, or negations quickly; an active production of these forms is not considered to be important, however. In the Reading Method, oral work

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is by no means excluded; on the contrary, students are taught the correct pronunciation of what they have to read; they are also expected to learn to comprehend uncomplicated spoken language and are trained in the use of simple speech patterns. After an initial oral phase, the students read the text aloud and answer questions about it. Writing is limited to exercises intended to help the student remember the vocabulary and structures which are deemed essential to the comprehension of a text. Two types of reading activity may be distinguished: during intensive reading, the learners study a text very carefully and analytically; it serves as the source of material for grammatical study, for the acquisition of vocabulary and for training in reading complete sentences without overt translation. When unknown words or phrases are encountered, the student is expected to use the context to infer their meaning. Extensive reading, on the other hand, involves the student in reading texts that are suitable to his level of reading proficiency; special readers are devised which conform to certain levels of word frequency counts and idiom counts. In this way, the student is guided by the teacher in developing his reading comprehension, and is expected to develop a large reading vocabulary. Comprehension of what has been read is tested by questions on the content, not by translation. Often the teacher will ask the students to research the background of a cultural or literary figure, which, of course, will involve more reading. Extensive reading certainly increases the ability of the better students to read in the foreign language, but the system of using guided readers could provide a false sense of achievement which may quickly dissipate when the student is confronted with ungraded and unedited material. Extensive reading, furthermore, is a burden on those students who experience reading difficulty in their native language. Yet, the Reading Method gives the students an opportunity to work at their own pace as learners at differing reading proficiency levels can work with different readers in the same class. It can also arouse an interest in the people who speak the language and curiosity about their way of life which is brought about by the background research. Because of the limited objectives, students do not learn to write in the other language nor are they able to comprehend and speak the language beyond the very simplest of exchanges.71 The textbook First Book in German was an immensely popular book in Alberta high schools from 1939 to 1962. According to the Preface, it is actually two books in one: a complete presentation of the essentials of German grammar and a collection of carefully graded reading material,


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placed immediately after the grammatical treatment in each lesson. Each lesson in the first part consisted of a model passage in German, with questions in German based on this passage; a list of the vocabulary used in the model followed immediately thereafter. After this reading passage, came a discussion of grammatical forms and syntax. Direct-method exercises as well as English sentences for translation into German rounded off the first part. The reading material in the second part was carefully graded according to content and linguistic difficulty; it included a number of poems and songs. Difficult passages were explained in detail or translated into English. Lesson VII may serve as an illustration of a typical lesson.72 NACH DEM ABENDESSEN Um sechs Uhr i t die Familie zu Abend. Sie haben Kase, Wurst, Brot, Butter und Obst. Der Vater trinkt eine Tasse Kaffee, Karl und seine Schwester trinken Milch, die Mutter nur Wasser. Die Familie geht nach dem Abendessen ins Wohnzimmer. Dort bleiben alle bis neun Uhr. Die Mutter naht, Marie spielt Klavier, und Karl lernt Englisch. Der Vater sitzt am Pulte und rechnet oder zeichnet. Zu House hat er kein Arbeitszimmer, denn er arbeitet meistens im Geschdft. Um neun Uhr gehen Karl und Marie zu Bett. Die Mutter geht nach oben und offnet die Fenster der Schlafzimmer. Karl geht ins Badezimmer. Er badet jeden Abend kalt, Marie aber nicht. Sie badet morgens warm. Nach dem Bade geht Karl gleich zu Bett. Manchmal redet er in der Nacht im Traume. Der Vater sagt, der Tag ist nicht lang genug fur Karl. FRAGEN:

i. Wann i t Karl zu Abend? 2. Wohin gehen alle nach dem Abendessen? 3. Was machen sie im Wohnzimmer? 4. Hat der Voter zu House ein Arbeitszimmer? 5. Wo arbeitet er meistens? 6. Wann gehen Karl und Marie zu Bett? 7. Was macht die Mutter oben? 8. Wann und wie badet Karl? 9. Wann redet er manchmal?73 A bilingual vocabulary list containing about 40 words and expressions follows. The Grammar section discusses the Present Indicative of or-

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beiten [to work], Normal and Inverted Word Order, and Expressions of Measure. In the third part, Grammar Practice, students conjugate sentences (Ich bade morgens kalt [I take a cold bath in the morning]), decline in the singular and plural (der Abend [the evening]), fill blanks in sentences (Du rechn und zeichn jeden Abend bis neun Uhr [You calculate and draw each evening until nine o'clock]); furthermore, they restate the following sentences, beginning with the underlined words (Ich gehe gleich nach dem Bade zu Bett [I go to bed right after the bath]). In the next exercises they practise the case selection of verbs and the contraction of articles and prepositions (Der Lehrer steht an Tische vor Klasse [The teacher stands at table in front of class]). In Exercise Six, students give the genitive singular and nominative plural of phrases (ihre Tochter, sein Sohn [her daughter, his son]). And finally, students are expected to translate sentences into German (At nine o'clock, their father goes upstairs and opens the windows of the bedrooms. Mary and Charles then go to bed). In the Reading Part, there is a short selection on Germany's location in Europe, and another selection on animals and animal verses. Lesson 7 concludes with a few "Ratsel [puzzles]" and "Sprichworter [proverbs]." The First Book in German consists of a total of 3 3 lessons. To the modern reader, the text sounds old-fashioned and stereotyped. Such reactions should not detract, however, from the overall quality of the book as exhibited by these features: carefully graded readings focussing on themes which might be of interest to the learner (In the school; At home; A Visit; Christmas; Sports; A Housewife; In the Restaurant; German schools, etc.); the grammar explanations are clear, detailed and lucidly written; the vocabulary is controlled and consists of not more than 1,100 words, 90% of which appear on standard word lists; the grammar exercises are clearly labeled and tie in very closely with the readings in both structure and vocabulary, and the optional readings provide additional practice with the language on a variety of topics. All in all, First Book in German represents very good text material for the grammar translation or the grammar-reading methods: the material is concise, well-organized, clear, and efficient. There can be no doubt that a gifted, motivated student would have been able to learn to read and translate a German text very well; he would also have had a very good abstract knowledge of the language. The 1946 Programme of Studies for the Highschool recognizes—for


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the first time explicitly—the role which students from German-speaking families play in a German high school program. It points out that the high school courses in German were designed for the student who approached the language as a newcomer, knowing little or nothing about it. For such students, the three-year course could be considered adequate in content and pace. However, many, possibly the majority of the students wishing to study German in high school, came from communities where German is spoken and were, therefore, familiar with the language. For these students the course had to be amplified and enriched by introducing material from the supplementary references.74 The statement of methodology suggested a change from a prior emphasis on grammar and translation to a productive as well as a receptive command of the language. Grammar was to be taught through work with the language itself rather than as a set of rules to be memorized: again we find the Direct Method suggested as being the most appropriate. A class of students with a knowledge of oral German presents the ideal situation for the use of the direct method of instruction. For a class of beginners a modified form of the Direct Method may be used which will introduce the language to the pupils with emphasis on language experience, vocabulary building and pronunciation rather than on translation and rules of grammar. The language course is no longer merely a preparation for a written examination at the end of the year. Classroom instruction is no longer dominated by the burning question, What is required for the examination? Efficient, intelligent and interesting classroom practice will give the pupil a productive as well as a receptive command of the language, enabling him not only to understand the language by acquiring a reasonable mastery of verb forms, grammatical constructions, and fundamental vocabulary which a written examination can test, but also the power to express himself simply and correctly in the living language. Rules of grammar should grow out of his early experiences with the language and not by the parrot-like repetition of unrelated formulas, such as "durch," "fur," "gegen," "ohne," "um" and "wider [through, for, against, without, around, against]." Reading in a foreign language must not be treated as an exercise in translation. The student should be trained to read in order to understand the content of what he is reading with a minimum of translation.75

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Of significant interest is also the rationale for the study of German and the subsequent political statement: A language cannot be dissociated from its native land and from its people. It is a key which will open many treasures for the student, a new literature and a closer and more intimate acquaintance with the daily life, manners, customs, traditions and culture of a people. The resultant breadth of understanding was never more important or more necessary than it is today, for the future of the world depends upon international relations. The Germany described in the textbook is the lovely country that was Germany before 1933. Today her beautiful towns and cities lie in ruins, her people are hungry and her land in bondage. The songs, once dear to the hearts of the Germans, are seldom heard. These are the rewards of Nazism.76 Finally, an impassioned plea is made in the Programme to the language teacher to use his classes in German to bring about tolerance and understanding: Understanding and tolerance are now needed to overcome the distrust and hatred which the recent war has stirred up, and to bring about world peace. The language teacher has a great opportunity to stimulate and develop that breadth of vision and knowledge which our youth must possess in order to reconstruct our war-torn world on a solid foundation of peace and good-will.77 In spite of the controversy about the Direct Method, an emphasis on oral proficiency, and a discovery of a reading-oriented method without undue emphasis on the manipulation of grammatical structures, the Departmental Exam in 1941 (see Appendix 5) differed, in fact, very little from the 1903 exam: it consisted of grammar items, translation of sentences and paragraphs, and a composition in German. The only concession to innovative methodologies was the inclusion of three reading passages where answers had to be given in German. This format remained more or less unchanged until 1965 when a new methodology introduced in 1962 had exerted its influence on instructional objectives, the curriculum, and, therefore, on the format of the exams. A major reorganization of the high school curriculum began in 1951. It had been recognized that it would be desirable to permit the high


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school student to postpone his decision whether or not to attend university to as late a point in his schooling as possible and to provide the school with greater flexibility, especially for those students who did not want to go to university. In order to achieve this objective, an Articulation Committee, composed of representatives of the Department of Education and the University of Alberta, decided—while insisting that general university standards be maintained—that three rather than four mathematics courses, and two rather than three years of a foreign language would be required in the future for university admission. The University would ensure a close coordination between course content in the final year of high school and in the first year of university. It was decided to require two years of study taken in sequence in Grades XI and XII. This arrangement replaced the existing three-year program extending over Grades X, XI, and XII. The new courses in Grades XI and XII were to concentrate on basic structure and grammar and were aimed at a more careful reading of a few authors rather than a more cursory reading of a variety of authors.78 The immediate result, of course, was that German (and French and Latin) was not offered in Grade 10 at all from 1953 until 1962 The Senior High School Curriculum Guide of 1953 attempted to come to terms with the fact that second languages were only being offered in the final two years of high school. Having established the following as the four objectives which should be constantly kept in mind by all teachers of a modern language—a good knowledge of the basic grammar of the language, the ability to read easily without continual mental translation, an ability to speak the language, and an ability to translate back and forth from one language to another—the Guide pointed out that it was, of course, impossible to attain all these objectives in a two-year language course in high school. However, an enthusiastic teacher with a good knowledge of the language, it was contended, could bring students to the point where they would feel that they were dealing with a living language and would be encouraged to continue the study of the language, either privately after leaving high school or at the university.79 An eloquent statement of the rationale for the study of a second language accompanies the Guide for German: A knowledge of at least one language in addition to one's own is to be most strongly recommended. Such knowledge helps the student to a better understanding of his or her own native language. Goethe said:

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"He who does not know foreign languages knows nothing of his own." Knowledge of a foreign language makes it possible to read the literature and scientific works of another people and can in this way greatly enrich the cultural life of the individual; it also promotes understanding and tolerance for people who have come to Canada from other countries where other languages are spoken and where different customs prevail. This is of especial importance today when the future of Western civilization depends upon better international relations. And a more extensive knowledge of how other people live and think will play an important role in the establishing of better relations between peoples.80 Methodological suggestions in the Guide illustrate the steps which the teacher should follow in teaching students to read German. A text should be read three times. During the first reading, students should learn to read German fluently, to pronounce it carefully and correctly and to absorb thought directly from the printed German. There should be no attempt to translate from German into English. The aim of the second reading is to get a thorough understanding of the thoughts of each sentence and of the meaning of each word and idiom. Starting again at the beginning of the chapter or paragraph, individual students should then be asked to read each sentence and translate it into good English. The teacher's task is to explain difficult grammatical constructions, and the meaning of words and idioms wherever such explanations are necessary for the proper understanding of the passage being translated. The third reading was proposed to give students a sense of accomplishment and interest; students were to read the paragraph a third time and to concentrate on absorbing thought directly from German, on pronouncing correctly, and on reading with that lively expression which comes with a full understanding. After the class had finished a chapter or paragraph of a book, the Guide continued, the teacher should form simple German questions on the content of the unit, using the vocabulary which was still fresh in the minds of his pupils; students would then either be encouraged to ask each other questions, or to prepare short summaries to be presented to the class from memory. For the study of a foreign language to be successful, the Guide asserted, the students have to do a fair amount of writing in that language.81 Meanings, constructions, spellings, and idioms which were encountered in the units could thus be fixed quite firmly in the students' minds


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through the exactness required in written exercises. But oral exercises were not to be neglected;82 without them the student would not experience the full joy of learning a living language. They were also an important means, it was maintained, for developing in the student the courage to express himself and a German Sprachgefuhl. For oral work, the Guide recommended memorization of poems, singing and conversation. In particular, it was suggested that five to ten minutes at the beginning of each period be devoted to conversational practice. Phonograph recordings with German songs and speech were to be used in the classroom to enliven the learning atmosphere. Prior to the mid-fifties, German does not appear to have been offered in nonurban high schools in the province.83 In 1955/56, however, eight nonurban schools offered German 20, and four offered German 30; in 1956/57, this number had increased to eleven and ten, respectively. A drop to six and three schools in rural areas was then recorded for 1957/58; in 1958/59, the last time that such separate statistics were kept, nine nonurban schools offered German 20 and five offered German 30. Public and professional dissatisfaction with the current state of education in the Province in the mid-fifties led to the establishment of a Royal Commission on Education in Alberta under the chairmanship of Senator Donald Cameron. The Commission, after having held public hearings for two years, presented a comprehensive report containing 280 recommendations, several of which had to do with the teaching of second languages. The Commission established that the setback of the introduction of second languages to Grade 11 was due to "a shortage of qualified teachers, the unsuitablity of a 'foreign' language for academic study by many nonmatriculant students, and program problems in smaller schools."84 It had also been hoped, the Commission pointed out, that the reduction of time spent in a single language might facilitate the study of a second language in high school; but after having evaluated the available evidence, the Commission came to the conclusion that the two-year sequence did not provide the value anticipated. Certain advantages were outweighed by clearly demonstrated disadvantages and the mass of disapproving opinions. The Commission concluded, therefore, that there seemed to be no valid reason to perpetuate the two-year sequence in French (and the other foreign languages) and recommended that in its place a three-year sequence again be provided for matriculation students.85 While some recommendations made by the Cameron Commission

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were not implemented at all, and some relating to instruction in French only years later, a subcommittee of the Senior High School Curriculum Committee was established in 1961 to prepare a three-year program in German and Latin for introduction in September 1962.86 A French 10 course had already been offered in 1961.

A NEW KEY TO LANGUAGE STUDIES: THE AUDIO-LINGUAL APPROACH

The 1962. Senior High School Curriculum Guide87 perceived a new trend in the study of languages in North America, a trend to start teaching languages earlier (in elementary school) and longer (for more than two years), to teach them orally, and to emphasize the development of the audio-lingual skills. The greater emphasis on the development of audio-lingual skills was attributed to increased mobility and increased use of the mass media for communication. Furthermore, research findings in the linguistic sciences were claimed to have been major factors in the trend to attach greater importance to the acquisition of the new language through the ear, especially in the early years of language learning. The development of audio-lingual skills was made possible by the provision of large numbers of audiovisual aids for the language teacher, for example, film strips, films, charts, and recordings. In the early 1960s, the language laboratory was adding a new dimension to language learning, while the possible use of television was just being explored.88 The shift in the emphasis from the receptive skills, especially reading comprehension, towards the productive skills can be seen in the objectives as stated in the 1962. Guide: The modern language teacher is concerned from day to day with the primary objectives of teaching a modern language: he wants his pupils to understand, to speak, to read and to write the language as well as they can in the instruction time available. To this end he uses dictees, pronunciation drill with mirrors, dramatiziation, and conversations stimulated with questions and picture study. The student's mastery of the language involves, among other factors, a thorough knowledge of the grammar and sentence structure of the language and habits of accurate pronunciation and good intonation. Modern language teachers, though, look beyond the study of a lan-


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guage as a language only, as a "required" subject. They realize that the study of a language is the study of a culture as it is revealed in a people's history and in their present customs and traditions. Hence secondary school work in a language ought to proceed far beyond the covers of an authorized textbook. As much as possible, the text should be supplemented by tapes, records, pictures, readers, film strips, moving pictures, radio, television, language clubs, and visiting speakers. Such depth in study helps pupils to assimilate a second language and the culture more thoroughly. It helps them to see some aspects of their own language and culture as though they were seeing them for the first time. It may stimulate some pupils' interest in using the second language in business, travel or leisure activities. There is increasing awareness that our young people must be equipped to live in a world in which there is need for them to be able to communicate with others who speak different languages. The study of languages can help develop the desired skills and attitudes.89 The Guide then made some suggestions for those wishing to purchase a language laboratory. Teachers should know the function which the language laboratory would fulfil in their second language teaching program, because using a lab meant a new approach to teaching a language by emphasizing the spoken word and by programming material to be used, in addition to the ordinary classroom teaching. While the handling of the equipment was simple, the Guide said, the teachers would have to know the teaching procedures which applied in the language laboratory. Therefore they should spend some time studying the lab, getting information about it and the methodology required, and should ask themselves whether they were prepared to use these methods. Only then, the Guide concluded, could the lab perform those functions for which it was intended. The following reasons were given by the Guide as advantages of the use of tape recordings: (a) they give students an opportunity to listen to native speakers of German who provide a variety of voices which cannot normally be offered in the classroom, (b) they present lively, stimulating aural-oral practice (with music and sound effects) and facilitate oral tests on the materials presented in the textbook; and (c) last but not least, tape recordings relieve the classroom teacher to some extent of the strain of continuous speaking which an audio-lingual course demands. It had been reported in 1960 already that a few language laboratories had been in-

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stalled in the province,90 and by 1963 a relatively large number of schools used them on a regular basis for auditory training as one of the components of the Audio-Lingual Approach.91 Rivers92 has characterized the Audio-Lingual Approach in the following manner: in the 1920s and 30s, linguists tried to describe the sound and structural patterns of languages as they observed them in each corpus of data rather than fitting them into a framework dictated by Latin and Greek grammar. This led to a nonprescriptive study of the way in which people actually use their language rather than how they ought to use it. Based on animal experiments by psychologists, the belief arose that language use is a set of behavioral habits whose acquisition follows the principles of conditioning and reinforcement. The methodological realization of this theory is the Audiolingual Approach or Method. Its aim is, primarily, to teach students to understand and speak the language as it is being spoken by its native speakers, then to read and write it, with the formal study of grammar and literature left to advanced stages of learning. Because understanding and speaking precede reading and writing in first language acquisition and because second langugage acquisition is supposed to resemble the acquisition of one's native language, the Audio-Lingual Method requires that each portion of the language under study must be mastered first aurally and orally before it is read or written. Correct pronunciation is stressed from the very beginning; because the written representation of the other language might cause the students to impose native language pronunciation habits on the target language the written word is often withheld for varying lengths of time; for younger learners this might mean months and even years without reading or writing. With this approach, complete utterances are learned from the beginning, which incorporate the colloquial forms of speech used in the foreign country by person of an age and situation similar to that of the learner. The students are encouraged to listen to and repeat these utterances at normal native language speed after the model (the teacher or a record or tape) with the usual elision and liaison of the native speaker. Language use is supposed to become automatic after sufficient practice, and habit formation, the process by which unconscious use of structural patterns is brought about, is achieved in the form of mimicry and memorization of dialogues (where high-frequency phrases and conversational exchanges from everyday situations are presented in a natural context) and by pattern drilling (where the students learn to manipulate a structure to the point of an automatic response to a language stimulus).


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This process is intended to lead the learner to the stage where he can concentrate on the content of a communication rather than on its form. For the audio-lingual second language teacher, grammar is a means to an end: that which is most useful and frequent is stressed and practised thoroughly, but a detailed intellectual analysis of structure is regarded as inhibiting to the beginner and is, therefore, reserved for the advanced learner as an end in itself. Explicit knowlege of the grammar is considered inessential to the learner whose main aim is to use the language for communication. Major points of difficulty are expected where the two languages differ markedly from each other. Theorists of the AudioLingual Method thought that a contrasting analysis of the sounds and structures would allow the prediction, and therefore prevention, of potential errors; audio-lingual exercises are then presented to allow intensive drilling of these contrasting features. Translation exercises are largely avoided because they might encourage the learner to look for oneto-one equivalences between the two languages; consequently, translation as a specialized skill is reserved for advanced stages of language learning. The vocabulary is drawn from high-frequency every-day situations; it is kept to a useful minimum so that students can concentrate on establishing a solid control over the structure of the target language. The classroom procedure involves the following steps: the students learn sections of the dialogue by heart, concentrating on pronunciation and intonation, listening for difficult sounds and trying to imitate the model. Then they repeat the model (chorally, in small groups or individually) as many times as is required to pronounce it accurately and fluently. Subsequently, the dialogue is role-read and role-played in small and large groups. Variations of the dialogue are introduced to allow the student to relate new material to his personal situation and to give opportunities for more flexible use of the target language. Pattern drills follow dialogue practice; they are exercises which, by minimal variation from sentence to sentence, permit the student to focus on the crucial item to be learned. When the student has achieved fluency in manipulating a structure, he is given a generalization about the material which he has practised. The student may have an opportunity for further practice in the language laboratory, where such is available, so that s/he might develop automatic control over sounds, structures, and vocabulary. The Guide suggested the use of a completely aural-oral approach for the first few weeks of instruction and beyond in German 10: the lessons were to be presented without recourse to any printed material. Basic

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dialogue sentences and pattern practice were supposed to be used for intensive oral drill, and the conversations were to be read to students for comprehension practice. The purpose of introducing the new material without the support of the printed word was to establish the sound system of German without interference by the orthographic symbols which would remind the students of their English sound values. Writing is, at first, imitative, then proceeds to variation and recombination of known elements. Care is taken not to let the student make mistakes by keeping him within the bounds of known vocabulary and structures. At more advanced levels, students learn to read texts which are selected for their cultural authenticity and their difficulty. Even at this stage, the student reads the text aloud and discusses the content presented. Written composition based on what has been read consolidates the student's knowledge of content as well as of structure and vocabulary. Student motivation in audio-lingual classes is usually high because the learners enjoy using the language from the very first day and are constantly and actively involved with it. Especially students of medium and lower levels of giftedness as well as the younger learners appear to learn well by mimicry and memorization, while the older or more intellectual students tend to get bored easily by the need for frequent repetition. Students trained by the Audio-Lingual Method may act like well-trained parrots who can perform well in recitation and repetition (often without understanding what they are saying), but who are frustrated when they need to express novel ideas which have not been practised in patterns before. Furthermore, students may not get a clear, coherent and complete picture of the structures which they are supposed to acquire. For the gifted student, this vagueness of knowledge may be frustrating; for those with lesser skill, it may be difficult to remember particular structures and use them correctly after some time has elapsed subsequent to their first introduction. The emphasis on oral work in the new curriculum brought about the introduction of a Grade 9 Oral German course in 1963/64 and an Oral Ukrainian course in 1964/65; registration figures were comparatively small, however; in 1963/64, there were 28 students taking Oral German. One year later, there were 13,958 students registered in Oral French, 182. in Oral German, and 37 in Oral Ukrainian. The implementation of the new curriculum necessitated the introduction of a new learning resource: for German, this was Verstehen und


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Sprechen, a textbook which implemented the audio-lingual approach and which differed markedly from previous books. A few excerpts from Verstehen und Sprechen may serve to give the reader an impression of the radical departure from traditional methodology represented by this book. Unit 9 has been chosen to decribe its organization in detail. The title of the lesson is Sport und Spiel [Sports and Games]. First, the student encounters several short dialogues incorporating important situational vocabulary and the desired structures (in this case the modal auxiliaries): "Was tut ihr heute abend? Wollt ihr nicht bei uns fernsehen?" "Nein, leider durfen wir das nicht. Wir mussen zu Hause bleiben und arbeiten." "Ach, warum wollt ihr immer arbeiten?" "Hast du nicht Lust, Ski zu laufen?" "Das kann ich leider noch nicht." "Was! Du kannst nicht Ski laufen? Das solltest du eigentlich lernen." "Kannst du Schach spielen?" "Nein, dafur hab ich nicht viel ubrig. Aber mein Bruder Karl kann sehr gut spielen. Er hat neulich einen Preis gewonnen."93 Immediately following these dialogues, students practise the significant structures and the vocabulary in questions and answers modeled after the dialogues. HERMANN: Hast du Lust, heute abend Schach zu spielen? GUNTHER: Nein, ich will zu Hause bleiben und fernsehen. HERMANN: Ach, warum willst du immer fernsehen? GUNTHER: Na, fur Schach babe ich nicht viel ubrig. HERMANN: Kannst du gut spielen? GUNTHER: Nein, aber mein Bruder kann sehr gut spielen. Er hat neulich einen Preis gewonnen. HERMANN: Kannst du Ski laufen?

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GUNTHER: Nein, das kann ich leider noch nicht. Ich sollte es eigentlich lernen.94 Then patterns follow which require the learner to practice the various forms of the modal auxiliaries, for example, Willst du heute abend bei uns fernsehen, Sabine? Melanie? Manfred?95 Six pages with nine dialogues follow the pattern practice, some of them only a few lines long, others almost a page. All dialogues represent variations on the basic situation and the utilized vocabulary and grammar. By reading the dialogues silently and aloud, individually and chorally, and by reciting memorized dialogues the student would lay a foundation for learning the required vocabulary and grammar. Questions and answers, role playing, inventing skits and varying the dialogues as well as retelling the stories in the third person would provide ample opportunity for the acquisition of this material. At the end of the lesson there is a section entitled "Topics for Reports." By using the frame outlines given in these topics, the student can invent his very own dialogue. Ubermorgen werde ich Ski laufen. (Kannst du schon gut Ski laufen?... Seit ivann kannst du das?... Wohin gehst du, um Ski zu laufen?... 1st das weit von hier?... Wie lange wirst du unterwegs sein?... Wirst du mit dem Autobus oder mit dem Zug fahren?... Wer geht mit dir?... )96 The textbook is supported by a set of tapes, a workbook, and pattern drills.97 For German 10 and 20, Verstehen und Sprechen and Sprechen und Lesen9* were to be used, while in German 30 Foundation Course in German provided for the maintenance and extension of the oral competence acquired in the preceding two years by pronunciation drills, questions and answers, pattern practice, and live situations. But this book was also intended to aid students in learning to read and write German in the final year of their studies. It was recommended for German 30 that in addition to general grammar coverage, the students' ability to write short paragraphs should be developed on the basis of material or experiences similar to those contained in the textbook, In einem deutschen Restaurant; Ein Ausflug; Hans geht Skilaufen; Ein Brief an einen deutschen Freund iiber unsere Schule.99 Foundation Course in German may be regarded as a typical example of most American textbooks of German of the 1960s (and also of the ma-


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jority of those published in the 1970s) in that it attempts to combine a traditional approach to the grammar with dialogues and readings selections which are intended to help the students acquire some oral proficiency. Lesson 9,100 for example, consists of a one-page reading selection on towns and houses in Germany, and a brief dialogue between a male and a female student on the disappointment of not having received any mail AGAIN, with the obligatory humorous ending (Vera will send Walter a letter to console him; he responds: "Danke, Vera, Sie sind sehr lieb. Aber schreiben Sie bitte keinen deutschen Brief; sonst verstehe ich ihn nicht."101 An unusual feature is the bilingual vocabulary list which is organized in semantic fields (In der Stadt; die Wohnung; der Briefwechsel [In town; the apartment; an exchange of letters]). The students' attention is then drawn to idiomatic uses of modals and words, the meaning of which can be easily confused (Er kann das Lied versus Er kennt das Lied; Er kam gleich versus Deutsch und Englisch sind gleich schwer102). The section on grammar discusses the endings of "preceded" adjectives, adjectives used as nouns, and the names of cities used as adjectives. Next comes a long section in which the students practise pronunciation and intonation and supply the endings of adjectives in fill-the-blank exercises. A review practice exercise with the past tense follows. At the end of the lesson, there is a section with questions about the reading selection and the dialogue, many of which are "personalized" (Was bringt der Brieftrager? Was brachte er gestern? Bekommen Sie Post aus Deutschland? Bekommen Sie aucb Postkarten? Bekamen Sie gestern einen Brief? Schreiben Sie viele Briefe? etc.103). As the final section is relatively long and can easily be expanded, students were able to develop a certain degree of proficiency in responding to questions about known topics. Following the introduction of a new curriculum, a new methodology, and a new textbook, changes also had to be made in the format of the Departmental Exam; among others, aural tests were prepared for German as part of the exam which were to count for about 10% of the marks on the Grade 12 Departmental Exam.104 Several other features distinguished the new Departmental Exam from the traditional. Grammatical knowledge was tested in the form of more than 40 multiple choice items which required the correct recognition of the one correct form among the three alternatives given: 1. Sag mal, ist das ein Freund von duldirldich? 2. Ich kenne ihm/ihr/ihn nicht.105

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The students' reading comprehension of a text was tested by having them answer ten questions in German.106 Next, the examinees had to compose a letter incorporating the given clues. You have just received a letter from your friend in Germany. After having come home from your last long weekend at the lake you are preparing to go back to school to complete your high school. Write a letter to your friend telling him about your outing and your program for your last year of studies before entering university. Your letter will be in German in accepted letter style. The body of your letter should consist of ten sentences. Subsequently, the students had to identify ten famous German names by writing an English sentence about each: Write out an English sentence for each of the following, indicating that each of the items means something to you: Eichendorff; Max Planck; Buddenbrooks; Pestalozzi; Theodor Storm; Willi Brandt; Heinrich Heine; die Mosel; Franz Schubert; Goethe. Then another reading text was presented, followed by ten questions to be answered in English.107 The final part of the written exam required students to manipulate grammatical structures (40 sentences): for example, (a) Fill in the correct German words, endings or missing elements as required by the context: Das ist (a) Bein. (His) Vater kenne ich nicht. (Whom) hast du es gesagt? (b) Put into the present perfect tense: Er bleibt heute zu Hause. (c) Put into the past tense: Er bricht das Brot. (d) Put the following sentences into indirect discourse using the subjunctive: Er sagte mir: "Deine Freundin sieht mude aus."108 A radical departure from previous practice was the introduction of an Aural Comprehension Exam which was designed to test the students' ability to understand spoken German. It consisted of four parts: First, the students marked that item on their response sheet which they had heard (10 items), for example, A. Ich gehe zu Hause. B. Ich gehe nach Hause. C. Ich gehe zu Hose. D. Ich gehe zu Hauser.


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Since "Ich gehe nach Hause" was read from the tape, the student would have had to mark "B." In the second part, Sound-Symbol Association, the students heard four pronunciations of the items on a list of words which were spelled out for them; they marked the letter on their answer sheet which corresponded to the pronunciation which they considered most correct: The words f on, f o:n, wo :n were spoken on the tape for the written equivalent of von. Subsequently, the students were given sentences with a choice of four possible responses each. They marked the one answer which they considered to be the correct answer to the question (7 items). For example, they heard: Sie kommen um dreiviertel acht vorbei. As responses they could choose among the following: A. Sie kommen um acht vorbei. B. Sie kommen um viertel vor neun vorbei. C. Sie kommen um viertel vor acht vorbei. D. Sie kommen in der Nacht vorbei.109 In the final part of the aural comprehension exam, the examinees heard four sentences; they marked the letter of that sentence which they thought to be correct according to word order and intonation (4 items). For example, A. Ich gehe gleich in die Schule. B. In die Schule gehe ich gleich. C. In die Schule gehe gleich ich. The trend towards increased machine scoreability continued until the abolition of the Departmental Exams in 1972/73. For example, the 1970 Exam consisted of no machine-scored items which tested the students' knowledge of the grammar, vocabulary, and understanding of a text. For example, 81. "Musik wird oft nicht schon empfunden, zumal sie mit Gerausch verbunden." Dieses Zitat bedeutet: A. Ich kann keine schone Musik finden. B. Man hat Musik lieber, wenn sie nicht so laut ist. C. Mit Gerausch ist Musik verbunden. D. Musik ist ein schones Gerausch.110 The fact that oral proficiency in German was a teaching objective, but did not appear on the Departmental Exams, was a concern for teachers and officials of the Department of Education. The logistics involved in

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administering an oral exam to thousands of students and marking them fairly, objectively, and quickly in a relatively short time surely was the reason for the long hesitation in incorporating such a section in a Departmental Exam. Consequently, the introduction of an oral, tape-recorded test was a major innovation in 1970. In it, students read words on tape which contained certain difficult German sounds (e.g., Mann, hat, zwei, spielen); recorded a passage from which twenty words were scored for accuracy of pronunciation; described four pictures in their own words; and responded to questions of a personalized as well as a general nature. The new format of the Departmental Exams represented a sharp break with the past because not only were the aural-oral skills objectives of instruction, they were also tested. No longer did students receive their oral marks, if any, on the basis of class participation or brief recitations; oral proficiency was now a complex of skills in their own right. This new status of the oral skills was based on the insight from psycho-linguistics that automatic transfer of learning from one skill to another cannot be expected to occur and that, therefore, the new skills needed to be tested separately. Although many manhours were required to test Grade 12, students from all over Alberta, considerable time and effort was saved by including a large section on grammar in machine-scoreable format. This trend was by no means welcomed by all teachers and parents because multiple choice exams had a reputation for being amenable to guessing and were said not to test the integrated skills properly. Certainly they did not test a student's ability to express himself in German. On the other hand, multiple choice and true-false items allowed a greater number of skills and sub-skills to be tested efficiently, such as listening comprehension, vocabulary, and sound discrimination. Consequently, the overall assessment of a student's proficiency in German was more balanced than had been the case on earlier exams where students were virtually limited to their translation skills.

RETURNING TO GREATER COGNITIVE CONTROL OVER LINGUISTIC STRUCTURES: A "COGNITIVE HABIT-FORMATION APPROACH"

The early seventies represented a transitional stage in the evolution of the methodology of second-language teaching. Students, parents, teachers and administrators had become disenchanted with the promises of audiolingualism which were realized by only a few, and yet a return to the


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grammar-translation methodology or a reading method was considered to be unthinkable. This period of uncertainty reflects the professional discussions about educational researchers' inability to demonstrate that method A was superior to method B in effectiveness and efficiency. The tenets of audiolingualism had been shattered by rationalist psychologists, and the profession was looking for a new theoretical base for the methodology of second language teaching. It is no wonder that teachers, in the meantime, eclectically sought the security of time-proven techniques and did not worry about the ideological purity of the method or approach employed. The dominant "eclectic method" was Carroll's cognitive-code theory which accommodates both the behaviorist and the cognitive theories of learning, but each one separately for specified tasks. [The cognitive-code learning theory has] the merit of trying to give the student a knowledge and comprehension of the facts and formal rules of the language—a knowledge that can indeed be of help in guiding the formation of appropriate language habits, but only when appropriate opportunities are given to form those habits.. . The presentation of the "facts of language" must take account of the student's readiness to absorb them; also it must be done with an awareness that a variety of concrete examples must be given to illustrate and reinforce abstract rules. Research on inductive vs. deductive teaching methods indicates that neither method alone is adequate; for effective teaching, there must be considerable alternation between rules and examples. It hardly matters whether one starts with the rule or the example, as long as this alternation exists... In the teaching of phonology, a cognitive habit-formation theory would recommend: "Do as much explanation and coaching as you can as to how the foreign sounds are to be recognized, discriminated, and articulated, but at the same time keep shaping the responses by feedback, correction, and practice procedures... "111 Textbooks authorized by the Department of Education in this period cover the spectrum from a purely audio-lingual resource (Verstehen und Sprechen), to a strongly audio-lingual text with ample grammar support (Contemporary German), to an audio-lingual text with a strong emphasis on cognitive mastery of the language (A-LM: German), to a book which tried to get along without explicit grammar altogether (Deutsch

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2000), although in a manner totally different from the pure audio-lingual approach. The latter resource anticipates some of the features of the communicative approach of the eighties in its subordination of grammar to the functional linguistic needs of the learner and its attempt to embed structural patterns into meaningful situations. This transitional approach might be characterized as follows. The student is expected to learn the structure of the language by examples and subsequent practice. Cognitive knowledge of the form, use and distribution of the language is desired as a way of classifying generalizations which had been previously acquired by deduction. This approach is also seen as a means of providing ideas which form a basis for the efficient use of the cognitive operations involved in meaningful concept learning. Language is taught and learned from a functional point of view, that is an emphasis on competence in the language rather than knowledge about it. Language is learned as a means to an end, namely to enable the learner to establish effective communication in culturally significant situations. In practice, this means that the student proceeds from (semi-)memorized dialogues to dialogue variations and questions about the dialogue to manipulative, mechanical drills, in which certain desired linguistic forms are practised. In personalized questions and role play the student learns to adapt the linguistic forms presented in the book for his own use. Meaningful exercises are presented where structures are cued by the requirements of the stimulus (for example, Nehmen Sie noch ein Stuck Kuchen? Nein, ich habe schon zwei Stuck genommen.) With this approach, the teacher attempts to ensure that the student's knowledge of the language does not remain solely at the knowledge level but that s/he acquires automatic command of the structures which had been learned cognitively. For this purpose, students work in small groups, engage in conversations about themselves and their personal lives, the ultimate aim being to become "situationally proficient." This aim involves a good knowledge of the cultural elements of a given situation, not only the relevant phonological, structural and semantic components. Landeskunde, therefore, played an important role in giving students the backdrop against which they acted out their roles in the restaurant, in the office, at a party, or in a hotel. The 1970 Program of Studies for Senior High Schools of Alberta and the 1970 Curriculum Guide (Secondary): German were landmark documents in the development of the German curriculum for high schools in


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both scope and depth. They gave the following as the objectives of instruction in a language other than English: The long range goals in the study of modern languages other than English are effective communication and cultural understanding. The specific goals are: 1. To understand the language when spoken at normal speed on a subject within the range of a student's experience. 2,. To speak well enough to communicate with a native speaker on a subject within the range of a student's experience. 3. To write, using authentic patterns of the language. 4. To read with direct understanding, without recourse to English translation, material on a general subject. 5. To understand linguistic concepts, such as the nature of language and how it functions through its structural system. 6. To understand, through the language, the contemporary values and behavior patterns of the people whose language is being studied. 7. To acquire an understanding of the significant relationships between the features of the area or country (geographic, political, historical) and the language itself. 8. To develop an understanding of the literary and cultural heritage of the people whose language is being studied.112 In order to implement these long-range goals, the 1974 Curriculum Guide for German as a Second Language (which is an expanded version of the 1970 Guide) was the first ever to define the expected linguistic and attitudinal behaviors and the language content selected for each of three proposed levels of second-language learning. In this way, it was hoped, the introduction of German as a second language in junior high school and a better coordination between junior and senior high school would be facilitated. Level One was defined as an initial learning experience in German 9, as Grade 10 German or as a two- or three-year sequence in junior high school. Level Two was to be an intermediate learning experience comprising the last two years of high school study (German 20 and German 30); and Level Three was described as an advanced learning experience in which students were encouraged to increase their proficiency as well as

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their cultural understanding in German to a functional level (German 31, see below). The introduction to the Guide gave a rationale for the study of second languages (namely as a tool for communication, as advances in communication and transportation will make most Canadians citizens of the global community; as a way of appreciating other cultures; as a means of developing insights into sociological and cultural attitudes as reflected by the language) and for learning German, in particular: namely, to facilitate access that students might want to gain to the accomplishments of the German people in philosophy, psychology, theology, music and physics. It was considered important that German as a major language is spoken internationally by 100 million people, and that Germans represent the third largest ethnic group in Canada and the second largest in Alberta; another reason mentioned for the study of German was that it is a living language which is still used for everyday communication in many parts of Canada; therefore the student would be able to get to know the historical and cultural background of German-Canadians.113 The primacy of the spoken language was explained in the Guide as follows: as man learns to communicate first in an oral fashion and only later through the written word, second language teaching must recognize phonetic and structural differences between English and German so that the problem of interference of English in learning German could be avoided.114 The Guide then distinguishes between cultural and linguistic objectives of instruction; the former state that the student should develop an awareness of the values and behavior patterns of the Germanspeaking people as well as an appreciation of the contributions made to civilization. Using the long range goals given before as the frame of reference, the following linguistic objectives are posited for the teaching of German: The student should be able 1. to understand the structure and functioning of the target language. 2.. to apply this knowledge for the acquisition of skills needed a. to understand the language when spoken at normal speed on a subject within the range of the student's linguistic experience and areas of interest. b. to speak the language well enough to communicate within the student's range of linguistic experience and interest. c. to read in the target language for information and enjoyment. d. to write with reasonable ease what he can verbally express.115


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In an extended section, the Guide indicates the language content for each level of instruction, making a distinction between mastery (where the student can use forms functionally in an active oral form of communication and to a lesser degree in written forms) and recognition in listening and reading activities. Recognition content would be reviewed in later stages of language learning so that mastery could be achieved. Regarding the vocabulary to be learned, the Guide suggested a high rate of active vocabulary presentation so that the student would have the opportunity to communicate in a variety of real situations, but left the selection of vocabulary items to students and teachers; criteria for their selection were usefulness and frequency of occurrence in real communication situations in which students and teachers might operate. With regard to culture, the Guide suggested topics such as festivals, fairs, legends, folklore, music, current events, letter writing, geography of German-speaking countries, historical highlights, the educational system, and aspects of the German influence in Canada.116 The Guide then addressed the topic of the teaching of culture. German culture, it is maintained, should be an integral and natural part of the curriculum, but should not take the place of teaching the language. The students' interest could be stimulated by learning about topics, such as German names, forms of address, the German school day and school year, travel in Germany, typical foods, dress customs, sports, housing, songs and music as well as holidays.117 In the final section on expected linguistic and attitudinal behaviors, the Guide attempts to specify skills and attitudes to be achieved at the end of the three levels. While the specifications for Level One are quite well defined, specifications for second and third levels remain rather diffuse and and global. Using the Speaking Skill as an example, the following provides a survey of the expected progression of the three levels of learning: SKILL: SPEAKING

Level One (German 10) Expressing meaningful utterances with reasonably acceptable pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, and speed in activities (e.g., responses to questions about content studied; asking questions; narrations; descriptions; participation in skits, games, and discussions; engaging in conversations with a variety of German speakers; using greetings, introductions, etc.)

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Level Two (German 20 and 30) Improving speaking skills to enable the student to function effectively and independently in a variety of life situations. Level Three (German 31) Oral fluency in discussing every-day life topics and current events.118 Contemporary German, basically an audio-lingual textbook, was introduced towards the end of the period of pure audio-lingualism. It is distinguished from the books used previously by a greater emphasis on cognitive control of the language; therefore, it represents a product of the transition from a behavioristic to a more cognitive psychology of teaching and learning. It attempts to provide students with the ability to comprehend the spoken language and its written representation, together with the ability to express themselves in speaking and writing. Its ultimate goal is to enable students to communicate in the foreign language. The German language is approached as a network of habits—habits of perception, habits of articulation, habits of inflection, and habits of order. The student's first task is to master these habits. Once they have become automatic, however, and can be accomplished without conscious thought, analysis, or recall, the student is led towards relatively free and fluent expression. The dialogues introduce the basic audio-lingual material which, according to the theory, must be memorized by the students and "performed" aloud. New grammatical patterns are dealt with initially as spoken exercises. Audio-lingual work continues in the reading units in the form of simple questions and answers and in a systematic review of German phonology. The presentation of the grammar in each lesson is quite traditional. What characterizes this book is its strong emphasis on pronunciation and intonation (involving long and detailed explanations, intonation curves and practice in exercises), and the large number of lengthy pattern drills. The following example is taken from Unit 6: Substitute the new element as indicated: Er sieht meine Geige. ein Er sieht eine Geige. Licht Er sieht ein Licht. kein Er sieht kein Licht. Zug Er sieht keinen Zug. sein Er sieht seinen Zug. Frau Er sieht seine Frau. dein Er sieht deine Frau. Milchmann


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Er sieht deinen Milchmann. ihr Er sieht ihren Milchmann. Freundin Er sieht ihre Freundin. unser Er sieht unsere Freundin. Kind Er sieht unser Kind. euer Er sieht euer Kind. Strabe Er sieht eure Strabe. ihr Er sieht ihre Strabe. Bruder Er sieht ihren Bruder. mein Er sieht meinen Bruder.119 A pattern drill such as this does involve the student in a great deal of oral practice and also requires careful selection of certain grammatical features. However, it also produces a pervading sense of boredom and mental fatigue among students and the teacher alike. There are other, more traditional exercises in each of the Units, but it is hard to see how the students could achieve the freedom of expression which the authors set as an objective before them. The size of the book (735 Pa8es) is in itself forbidding. One of the most popular textbooks ever written for the high school market is A-LM German, prepared under the supervision of a committee of practising teachers and linguists in the early 1960s. It is audio-lingual in nature, which means that new features are introduced and varied in dialogues to be memorized by the students; the structural objectives are then practised in a variety of oral exercises which lead the learner from simple mechanical repetition to complex free responses, such as rejoinders. The book offers grammar explanations in the form of brief generalizations, which are intended mainly as a reference after practice rather than as a teaching and learning aid before practice. Lesson 12 is composed of the following elements:12° a basic dialogue on "Wir fahren in die Stadt [We are going to the city]" followed by a short dialogue variation introduces the lesson with high-frequency structures, vocabulary and phraseology. The structure drills following the dialogue variations require practice of verbs in the present tense with vowel changes and the command forms in a variety of formats, among them repetition drills, vergessen [to forget] Wir vergessen die Kamera. [We forget the camera.] Rolf vergi die Kamera. [Rolf forgets the camera.] etc. substitution drills,

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Nehmen Sie die Flatten mit! [Take the records along] du transformation drills, Gisela gibt Rudolf ein Geschenk. [Gisela is giving Rudolf a present.] Gisela, geben Sie Rudolf ein Geschenk! [Gisela, give Rudolf a present!] directed drills, Sagen Sie mir, da ich Peter das Heft kaufen soll! [Tell me that I should buy Peter the notebook.] recombination response drills, Miissen Achim und Rudolf nicht zur Schule gehen? [Don't Achim and Rudolf have to go to school?] Nein, sie haben schulfrei. [No, there is no school today.] and a conversation stimulus, Gertrud will mit dem Rad zu ihrer Freundin fahren. Ihre Mutter sagt ihr, da sie vorsichtig sein soll. MUTTER: Wohin fahrst du, Gertrud? GERTRUD:

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A Recombination Reading Narrative on "Der Muttertag" pulls together various grammar points and vocabulary and allows the students to ask questions and give answers. Although AL-M German uses many pattern drills, it does so with a relatively small number of items each (about seven or eight) which can easily be performed before boredom sets in; furthermore, each lesson offers a good deal of variety in the exercises provided. A tape program, flash cards for vocabulary practice, readers, workbooks, and test booklets offer the teacher a complete, well-rounded set of materials from which s/he may choose items according to preferences. Because of the emphasis on oral work with accompanying teaching of grammar, because of the use of high-frequency situations and vocabulary, and because of the variety of exercises, AL-M German remained a favorite with many teachers for a long time. Deutsch 2000 was among the first of a new generation of textbooks for German as a foreign language originating in the Federal Republic of Germany and based on the premise that an excessive emphasis on explicit grammatical knowledge (knowledge about the language) inhibits the acquisition of a native-speaker fluency and proficiency in the target language. This does not mean, of course, that the authors did not have a


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grammatical concept in mind when they designed such a textbook; their "pedagogical grammar" differs from the traditional "scientific grammar" in that it introduces structures and vocabulary on the basis of their frequency and usefulness. Where a traditional grammar would present a clear and complete picture of all aspects of a structure (for example, the adjective endings in all cases, genders, and numbers with or without preceding definite or indefinite articles—a complex system which can baffle and frustrate a beginner), a pedagogical grammar would focus on the most frequent usage first (nominative and accusative in all genders after der-words) and teach it to near-perfection, returning to the same structural system again and again over the next few lessons, a concentric circle approach. Deutsch 2000 is designed in such a way that the entire lesson can be carried on in German: pictures provide visual stimuli which help convey the meanings of German words and phrases; introductory patterns draw the students' attention to those structures which will subsequently be practised; example sentences at the beginning of each exercise (without grammatical labels, such as "Transform the verbs in the following sentences into the Present Perfect") are intended to serve as models for oral practice; the exercises are, as far as this is possible, communicative in character (there is no transformation for the sake of the practice of a grammatical point; instead, situations are presented which require the communicatively appropriate use of that particular structure: I du noch ein Stuck Torte? Nein, danke, ich habe schon zwei Stuck Torte gegessen [Would you like another piece of cake? No, thank you, I have already eaten two pieces of cake.]). The textbook may be complemented by a concisely written grammar and a bilingual glossary for those classes and target groups which desire a more cognitive approach. Lesson 4 provides a good illustration of the approach followed by Deutsch 2000.122 Its title is "Im Supermarkt"; 10 drawings serve to make the accompanying text quite readily accessible without translations and bilingual word lists; in addition to introducing a lesson with the help of the pictures, the instructor may also use them throughout the course to practise and vary certain structures taught in this lesson and others, thus assuring continuity and recycling of vocabulary and grammatical structures. The illustrative patterns draw the students' attention to the use of the definite article and the personal pronoun in the plural (Hier sind die Zigaretten. Sie kosten zwei Mark [Here are the cigarettes. They cost two marks.]), the first person singular and plural of verbs in the present (Ich

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brauche ein Wei brot. Wir brauchen noch Bier [I need some white bread. We still need beer.]), the indefinite article and its negation (Ich brauche noch ein Schwarzbrot. Wir haben kein Schwarzbrot mehr [I still need some dark bread. We don't have any anymore.]), the particle "noch [still]" (Haben wir noch Rotwein? ]a, wir haben noch Rotwein [Do we still have red wine? Yes, we do still have red wine.]), the numbers up to 100, and, finally, the question pattern "Was kostet... ? Was kosten... ?" [How much i s . . . ? How much a r e . . . ?] After the students have focussed their attention on a given pattern ("die—sie"), they are given the following exercise: Wo sind die Damen? (im Studio)—Sie sind im Studio. [Where are the ladies? (in the studio)—They are in the studio.] This example is followed by six practice sentences, for example, b. Wo wohnen Hans und Eva Kaufmann? (in Nurnberg) c. Wo wohnen Herr und Frau Berg? (in Koln)123 There are usually between ten and fifteen such exercises per lesson, starting with simple questions and becoming more complex by the end: For example, Wir haben kein Bier mehr. Wir brauchen noch fiinf Flaschen. b. Wurst (zwei Pfund) c. Weip brot (zwei Weip brote).124 Deutsch 2000, when it was first introduced in Alberta, was extremely popular because it seemed to offer the students the opportunity to learn to speak German with a minimum emphasis on grammar, memorization, and stultifying pattern practice. The situations in the textbook seemed topical, the vocabulary of high frequency, the grammar coverage adequate. Teachers found out very soon, however, that they had to supplement the textbook with a great deal of additional practice material; some students (and many teachers) wanted more explicit knowlege of the grammar because they wanted to know what they were doing; it was felt that a more systematic presentation of the grammar would have facilitated its acquisition; and the situations selected (the book was intended for adults) held really very little interest for the average 15 to 17-year-old (In the office; guests and visitors; looking for a room; in a concert; working in a hotel). While students apparently did learn to speak German quite fluently with Deutsch 2000 (at least in comparison with other, more traditional textbooks), teachers often complained that the accuracy of their students' expression suffered significantly. Frequently teachers introduced a strong


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grammar orientation which was to compensate for the lack of an explicit grammar treatment in the material. GERMAN 31 The 1970 and 1974 Curriculum Guides to German as a Second Language designated a new course, German 31, for Level Three (Advanced) students. This course was intended to develop further the objectives for the learning of modern languages, namely, effective communication and cultural understanding. It is distinguished from German 30, for example, by a greater concern for content, cultural understanding, and an appreciation of the German way of life than for the exclusive development of linguistic skills. The German 31 course description125 outlines a number of areas for the development of instructional materials, but encourages students as well as teachers to develop units of study which they might consider more suitable for their class. In order that the instructional materials might meet students' needs and interests, an interest inventory of students should be taken and classes should be divided into groups according to interests expressed; each group would then develop a program of studies and suggest activities; the teacher would be available for assistance and resource purposes; each activity, the Supplement suggests, should allow adequate coverage of the topic in terms of available time, and students should be given the opportunity to report the results of their group projects to the rest of the class. Curricular activities suggested include organizing the class into a German Club, monthly outings by the group to a German restaurant, etc. and staging one-act plays and discussions of newspaper items. Topics for such projects would include the following: contemporary life in Germany and/or the German-speaking communities of Canada; studies in classical and modern literature; studies in the use of German as a language of everyday communication in such areas as business, science, recreation, and education; studies of German-language newspapers and periodicals; and leisure reading in the field of adventure, mystery and suspense. In spite of the high expectations for German 31, this course has never been offered widely because of insufficient enrolments. From 1972/73, when students took German 31 for the first time, until 1979/80 there were never more than twelve students enrolled in this course throughout Alberta. In subsequent years, registrations peaked at twenty-one and have recently dropped to about fourteen students again. At present, only

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schools organized by ethnic clubs and associations are in a position to put German 31 on regularly. Practically all of these students have German family language background and tend to be highly motivated; consequently, the achievement level reached in German 31 is very high.

TOWARDS A COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

The Communicative Approach to second language teaching recognizes, for the first time, the entire sociolinguistic context in which the second language is being used. The role is stated which the language user has to play (waiter, travel agent, curious onlooker, parent, or teenager), the setting in which the role is to be played (in a restaurant, a travel agency, at a construction site, etc.), and the topic which will be dealt with (ordering food, stating travel plans, presenting a poor report card). Specification of the context in which the second language is used is important because we know that we use different language forms when talking to our peers, our superior, or our children. We realize that "Why can't you close the door?" may well be a question used to enquire about a person's inability to close doors, but, in a certain context, such a question may be a request or even a command to close that door. Van Ek et al. have established a model of second language learning which may be readily modified to serve as a model of the elements comprising the Communicative Approach to language teaching. It specifies the situation in which the second language will have to be used (for example, two i5-year old boys talking to each other), including the topics discussed (leisure time activities during the summer holidays); it specifies the language activities in which the learner will have to engage (listening, discussing the pictures in a travel brochure); and it specifies the language functions which the learner will have to fulfil (asking for information, agreeing exuberantly, expressing reservations, hiding envy). The model also determines what the learner will have to do with respect to each topic (compare prices, extrapolate from his own vacation, imagine a sunset in southern California), the general notions which the learner will have to handle (pastness, futureness, enthusiasm, politeness), the specific (topic-related) notions which the learner will have to be able to handle (talk about travel by plane, make hotel reservations, rent something at the beach, buy souvenirs), and finally the language forms which the


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learner will have to use to realize his speech intentions (verb forms to express pastness, futureness, modal auxiliaries, vocabulary related to traveling, question words, question intonation).126 Clearly, this model is superior to previous descriptions of language use because the learner acquires the skill to choose linguistic structures which are suitable to one communication situation but not to another. A second language learner who can communicate effectively will, consciously or unconsciously, attune his linguistic and extralinguistic behavior to the requirements of the communication situation. No longer does he simply learn the past participles of verbs because they just need to be learned; he learns to use them because he wants to communicate with another speaker about past events. Consequently, the justification for learning linguistic structures, vocabulary, etc. in the Communicative Approach is not extrinsic to the learner ("because that's what it says in Lesson 21"), but is firmly based on the student's self-motivated need to communicate with another person about a certain topic.127 In 1984, a new Program of Studies and a new Curriculum Guide came into effect.128 This program is based on the premise that communication involves the realization of a speaker's speech intentions (e.g., giving personal information or expressing a desire to do something) through the use of those linguistic structures and vocabulary items which are appropriate to the social context of a situation. In such an approach, the grammar of a language is a means to an end, i.e., communication, rather than an end in itself, i.e., the complete coverage of the structural system of the language, because the selection of the structural features for cognitive understanding, practice, and free usage is based on meaningful themes about which the student should learn to communicate. This approach is in contrast to the methodology used in traditional grammar-based resources which— although exhaustive and well-organized in their presentation of structural features within a given lesson—often lack a direct relationship to actual language usage that would be apparent to the student (e.g., "Why do I have to learn the genitive?"). The communicative approach to learning and teaching a second language does not exclude the explicit and deliberate treatment of grammar, but subordinates it to the needs of a particular communication situation. While practising a particular language structure, a student would be thinking in terms of ex-

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pressing an idea rather than in terms of learning an abstract grammatical form.129 The Three-Year German Program for German 10, 20 and 30 contains detailed statements about the goals of the three-year program whose main categories are acquiring basic communication skills, broadening personal perspectives and developing cultural sensitivity, developing originality and creativity in language use, acquiring additional concepts and generalizations about language and language learning, and finally, developing a desire in the learner to extend or improve his proficiency in languages through further language study. These program goals are realized in the minimum expectations for development of the skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing and for the development of cultural understanding which must be fulfilled by the end of German 30. Because they are quite detailed, only those given for the speaking skill are given here for purposes of illustration: With the successful completion of this program, the student will have developed the ability to: 1. produce comprehensible German sounds, intonation, rhythm, stress, and elision with reasonable accuracy; 2. respond to cues which require the use of basic linguistic elements of the program; 3. produce meaningful utterances by recombining known elements; 4. describe a familiar situation; 5. relate a sequence of actions; 6. ask for information; 7. interview someone using the basic elements of language; 8. speak with prior preparation on a selected topic; 9. participate in simple conversation or discussion on a familiar topic; 10. express some personal ideas, feelings, and attitudes.130 The cultural component plays an important part in this curriculum. While it should be integrated into the overall teaching process so that it may provide a sociolinguistic context for language acquisition and the consequent acquisition of communication skills in German, the teaching of culture must not be allowed to predominate. An overemphasis on Landeskunde can, because of the students' limited knowledge of


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vocabulary and speech structures, lead to the formation of stereotypes. Therefore, instruction should be limited to the provision of necessary and accurate cultural information, but no attempt should be made to convince the language learners of the merits of German culture. On the basis of this openness, it is hoped, students will eventually develop an understanding and acceptance of cultural differences.131 The major cultural themes from which the teacher may select examples comprise the following: the physical geography of Germany and the other German-speaking countries; the human geography of Germany and other German-speaking countries; the German ethnic communities in Canada; holidays and festivals; customs and traditions; social institutions and services, such as educational and political systems and housing; cultural aspects, such as literature, music and the arts, architecture; and contributions to modern civilization that speakers of German have made (such as inventors, manufacturers, statesmen, persons in the areas of social legislation and the university system).132 Having assigned each of these major cultural themes to a suggested grade level, the Guide then gives examples of topics from each of them. For example, II. Human geography: Sie nehmen am deutsch-kanadischen Schiileraustausch teil. Welche Besonderheiten erwarten Sie in einer deutschsprachigen Familie? [Assume that you are participating in the German-Canadian student exchange. What do you expect to be unusual in a German speaking family?] VI. Customs and Traditions: Wann sage ich "du" and wann sage ich "Sie"? [When do I use the informal and when the formal address?] VII. Social Institutions and Services: Der Schulsport in Deutschland. [School sports in Germany.] VIII. Contributions to Modern Civilization: Beschreiben Sie den Beitrag eines deutschsprachigen Erfinders zur modernen Zivilisation. [Describe the contribution made by a German-speaking inventor to modern culture and civilization.] Language use in social situations has been divided in this Guide into ten broad categories each of which encompasses a number of specific

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themes or speech intentions (a total of 63 for the entire three-year program) which the students are expected to master by the end of German 30. The ten categories are Social Conventions; Identification of Persons, Animals and Things; Expressing Actions; Expressing Location; Expressing Time; Expressing Possession; Expressing Manner and Means; Expressing Modes of Action; Expressing Emotions and Attitudes; and Expressing Cause and Effect.133 Examples of the themes comprising the category "Expressing Actions" appropriate to German 10 are: The student will be able to: 1. describe current actions; 2. narrate the events of one's day; 3. relate a past event or action; 4. describe future actions; and 5. understand commands.134 The Guide clearly identifies the grade level at which a certain theme is to be taught. Specification of the linguistic content is the next step up in the ladder towards concretization; this process aims at the identification of the minimum language structures, sentence patterns, and vocabulary which the students are expected to master. An example follows of a theme which occurs in German 10 and 30, and the linguistic content realizing it on the two levels is also given: To describe future actions: GERMAN 10: Wann besuchen Sie Ihre Tante?—Wir besuchen sie ndchste Woche.135 GERMAN 30: Wirwerden nachstes Jahrnach Deutschland fahren.136 Teachers are able to identify the themes in which certain desired grammatical constructions occur on a grammmatical focus/theme cross reference chart. For the above example, the following would be found: THEME: To describe future actions. GERMAN 10: present tense to express future actions; present tense of irregular verbs (the second person plural familiar for recognition only) GERMAN 30: future tense (recognition only).137 As this example shows, the Guide identifies those structures which do not have to be mastered by the students for active use. Another chart provides information at a glance as to when a certain linguistic structure should be mastered (or recognized) in the total threeyear sequence.138 A number of appendices (on German phonology, word formation, prediction of gender and noun plurals, and a list of useful


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classroom expressions) round off the Guide. A novel feature of this Guide is the provision of a suggested core vocabulary list containing some 925 items for the three-year course which is based on standard frequency counts. All items which were used to give examples of required linguistic content realizing specified speech intentions can be found on this list. It is, therefore, particularly useful to the teacher for determining whether his students have acquired the high-frequency vocabulary items considered to be necessary for effective everyday communication. As of 1984, two resources have been authorized for use in the classroom. The first, the two volume series Unsere Freunde and Die Welt der Jugend is more traditional inasmuch as it emphasizes conscious control of grammatical structures, while attempting to lead the student to communicative proficiency. The other text, Vorwdrts, stresses actual immediate language use in real communication situations over knowledge of and skill in using linguistic structures. In this resource, structures are taught and practised in a natural context, and "grammar" is used only to reinforce those students who feel that they need to know the systems of language use in German. Unsere Freunde and Die Welt der Jugend replaced the AL-M German textbooks in 1978. These books, which are intended to serve three or four years of high school, are characterized by a large number of lavish, colorful and up-to-date illustrations, each of which may serve as a culture capsule as well as the basis for descriptive language work. Lesson 5 is a representative sample from this book. In an introductory section, the learner is made familiar with the overall theme of the lesson "Musik, Musik" and important words relating to the theme are introduced pictorially as well as in a reading text. Immediately thereafter, the students have to ask and respond to personalized questions about which instrument they are playing. The accusative personal pronouns form the grammatical focus of the lesson: example sentences are given first (Kennst du den Schlagzeuger? Ja, ich kenne ihn), illustrating the distribution of the pronouns, and they are followed by a brief grammatical explanation and a paradigm chart. In pattern drills (for example, Kennst du den Schlagzeuger? Ja, ich kenne ihn. Kennst du die Gruppe? Ja, ich kenne sie. Kennst du den Gitarristen? Ja, ich kenne ihn) 139 the students practise the accusative pronouns in exercises which require their correct selection by gender and number. A listening exercise as well as a writing exercise carry on the work with accusative personal pronouns. This is the end of the first section.

2OO


Two more mini-units on related topics (Dialog: Im Plattenladen, Jorgs Lieblingsstar [In the record store, Jorg's favorite star]) with different grammatical foci (possessive adjectives in the accusative, verbs with separable prefixes) follow. The following is the second mini-dialogue: Im Plattenladen JORG: Schau mall Toll! MICHAEL: Die Platte kauf ich. Ich frag mal, wieviel sie kostet. MICHAEL: 28 Mark fur die Platte ist ein bi chen zu viel Geld. JORG: Ja, zu teuer.'-Hier! Sonderangebote von 9 bis 12 Mark. Hans Schwarz vielleicht? MICHAEL: Ach, ich hab' seine Stimme nicht so gern. JORG: Die Rockgruppe aus England ist nicht schlecht. MICHAEL: Komm! Wir horen die Platte an.140 Each of these mini-units is organized according to the pattern described before. At the end of the entire lesson, there are suggested topics for conversation (Du hist im Plattenladen. Dein Freund oder deine Freundin ist auch da. Ihr seht eine Platte und hort sie an. Die Platte ist gut aber zu teuer. Dann siehst du die Sonderangebote141}; photos of German pop singers and disc jockeys, and translations of the dialogues conclude Lesson 5.142 Later lessons follow a similar organizational pattern, of course, with longer and more sophisticated dialogues and readings. The colorful, attractive layout is maintained throughout. The main textbook is accompanied by a workbook, readers, slides, filmstrips, tapes and a complete testing program. Vorwarts, the other recommended resource, is a textbook which emphasizes very strongly meaningful communicative practice embedded in culturally authentic material. In tone and selection of topics, it is intended for the junior and possibly senior high school clientele. It is similar in its organization to Deutsch 2.000 in that it relies heavily on drawings, slides and tapes. The dialogues in each lesson introduce important communicative situations which, using the cues given, can be varied creatively by the students. Boxes with patterns highlight the grammatical objective without labeling it as such. Taped material, as well as reading selections, add more source material for questions and answers, discussions, role play, and the like. In written exercises, the students fix their abstract knowedge of the grammar more firmly in their minds. The


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vocabulary is explained in German in the context of a real stuation used in the lesson. Copious pictures and culturally significant reading selections serve as stimuli for language as well as cultural learning. Lesson 16 has the following components.143 The title of the lesson is "Lieselotte im Krankenhaus [Lieselotte in the hospital]." Eleven pictures introduce the situation and make the accompanying dialogue readily understandable. Questions about the dialogue which can be asked by the teacher or a student allow intensive practice of the linguistic material contained in the dialogue; three dialogue variations broaden the situation and introduce target structures again and again (for example, personal pronouns in the accusative with and without prepositions); additional open-ended oral practice is offered by a series of pictures. A diagram shows how to make a mobile, and another one illustrates how to make potato soup; in each case, the students are expected to describe the procedures in German. Readers, workbooks, maps, slides, tapes, transparencies, worksheets, and puppets accompany the basic textbook. Initial experience in Alberta and several years of use in B.C. and Saskatchewan indicate that students as well as teachers like the book for its liveliness and the communicative proficiency which it allows the learners to achieve. Frequently, remarks can be heard that Vorwarts has a tremendous effect on student motivation and involvement, with accompanying low drop-out rates; although fluency appears to be achieved at the expense of accuracy, most teachers feel that the lack of grammatical accuracy is not a serious problem, especially in view of the positive effects achieved otherwise. The most recent arrival on the Alberta high school scene for German courses (but as of 1989 unapproved) is Deutsch konkret. Objectives and methodology in this text book are communicatively oriented and are based on the conviction that learning a second language can indeed be fun, and if it is, the learner will want to play with it and will—almost incidentally—learn it. The book de-emphasizes formal grammar presentations (although it summarizes important grammar generalizations in tables whose lay-out is in itself supposed to be didactically effective) in favor of supplying situations in which certain speech intentions can be realized, such as "Sagen, was man gemacht hat; sagen, was man noch machen will." The layout of each chapter is heavily visual; there is hardly any continuous text, pages and pages of which characterize the typical traditional textbook. The learner is given fragments of conversations which he is expected to continue with a partner; there are

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charts, tables, posters, drawings, games, comic strips, etc. all of which can readily be "turned into" language by the individual student, or by a small group of learners, and which require the use of the intended structure without overburdening the situation with it artificially: its use flows logically and naturally from the requirements of a given situation. In each exercise, the learner is challenged to take an active part in the learning process; almost all learning modules are open-ended so that there is a great deal of freedom for individual creativity. Slides, transparencies and taped material provide authenticity and permit the virtually exclusive use of the target language. Grammar is learned almost incidentally. The language used in this book is the informal conversational language spoken by the vast majority of young Germans; it is unrestrained and casual and certainly not bookish. The themes and situations selected are probably of great interest to Canadian students of German (Jeans as school uniform? Setting up a youth drop-in center; Friendships; Pocket money and what one can/may do with it; What's on TV tonight?). This resource most ideally realizes the principles on which the new German 10-20-30 curriculum is based; it may be expected that a large number of teachers will adopt this book for their classes. Experience will show whether high motivation, good oral proficiency, and vocabulary control as well as a reasonable grammatical accuracy can all be achieved at the same time.

A RECOMMENDED CURRICULUM FOR GERMAN IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Before 1984, there had never existed a fully articulated curriculum for German in junior high school. Either teachers were left to their own devices and used whatever written or oral material was on hand, or they simply adjusted their German 10 resource to the time available and the characteristics of their student population. For example, in the 1974 Curriculum Guide, A-LM: Level One or Verstehen und Sprechen were, without further explanation, suggested as the resources appropriate for junior high school.144 The comment could frequently be heard from parents and students, as well as teachers, that this "introduction to German" represented little more than a glorified German cultural baby-sitting experience—a deplorable situation, especially in view of the fact that the numbers of


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students enrolled in German in junior high school have been significant: from a high of about 1,300 registrations in 1975/76, numbers dropped slightly to 1,200 by 1981/82 and to approximately 1,000 students by 1982/83. It is for this reason that a Two-Year Junior High School Program for Grades 7 and 8 (or 8 and 9, respectively)145 patterned after the German 102.0-30 Program was developed in 1984. As is the case with the curriculum for the high school, linguistic material has been organized into a system of major themes based on categories of language use. The major emphasis in the Junior High German Curriculum is on the expression of ideas, rather than on learning abstract grammatical forms. An approach to learning German as a second language is employed, in which students explore a great variety of linguistic and cultural concepts appropriate to students at the junior high school age level and to their life experiences. It is an approach which is likely to rouse their curiosity and interest in a second language and a different culture. The focus of instruction is on the way of life of German-speaking people; therefore, a strongly communicative approach is considered to be the most suitable and effective for developing an awareness of other cultures and an interest in another language which might motivate a junior high school student to continue his or her study of German at the high school level. Yet this program is neither a prerequisite for German 20 nor an equivalent of German 10; it is a program in its own right. Students who complete this program may, however, be placed directly into German 20 at the discretion of the school involved. The recommended resource is Wer? Wie? Was?,146 the introductory phase of Vorwdrts. It consists of a textbook, a workbook, tapes, slides, and the hand puppet Tanja. Each lesson consists of a great number of pictures which make the comprehension of the accompanying text, literally, child's play. Stories are presented in comic strip form which integrate previously learned vocabulary and structures for reading comprehension and speaking practice. At the end of each lesson, there is a grammar section which summarizes, in table and box form, the structural principles taught in a particular lesson. An extensive teacher's manual gives many very useful ideas on the use of the various materials. For instance, the puppet may be used to explain the meaning of words, to introduce new texts, vary well-known ones, etc. Experience shows that students, even older ones, take very well to such a hand puppet because it is

204 THE GERMAN LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA

a being that can be given many different personalities; it may also use language and express ideas which students might not be allowed to express.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH-GERMAN BILINGUAL PROGRAMS

The establishment of the policy of multiculturalism in Canada in the early 1970s brought about, and at the same time reinforced, a broader public acceptance of non-British ethnicity. Public displays of the heritage of the various ethnocultural groups in the Province of Alberta became a matter of pride for some and a matter of curiosity for others who wondered what characterized the folkloristic heritage of the Ukrainians, the "Germans," the Indians, or the Chileans. Provincial school legislation was changed so as to enable school boards to offer so-called bilingual programs in which up to 50% percent of instruction could be given in a language other than English, and progressive boards of education across the province established bilingual programs where the parents could demonstrate a substantial interest in such a program. Although many members of the public at large, educators, and parents were initially skeptical about the long-range viability and quality of the bilingual programs (the lack of materials and experienced teachers as well as low enrolments in the first few years of such programs) feared a Balkanization of the school system, and warned of increased costs, they have become firmly established and well-supported components of courses of study offered by many public and separate schools in the province. Moreover, evaluation studies have demonstrated repeatedly that parental anxiety about their children's progress in English and the other academic subjects was not justified. In terms of the variety of languages taught in bilingual programs and in terms of enrolments (during 1985/86, about 2.,300 children were registered in bilingual programs in seven languages), Alberta's school systems are Canadian leaders in second-language education where the language of instruction is the target language itself, and are indeed a source of pride for school officials and ethnic groups alike. As a matter of fact, several such groups have perceived bilingual programs to be major instruments for the maintenance of traditional language and culture, and they have high hopes to slow down or even turn around the losses experienced by all major ancestral languages. Indeed, although children with any


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background may, and in fact do, enter any bilingual program, it is quite clear that they serve predominantly the respective ethnocultural groups. In the German bilingual program, there are always several children with absolutely no German family language background whatsoever; many more come from families where German is either not spoken frequently or at all because one of the parents is not of "German" descent or because both parents' knowledge of German is uncertain. However, the great majority of the children come from homes where German is spoken between the parents and/or to the children on a fairly regular basis, or where at least one parent is actively supporting and encouraging the child to acquire the language of the parents or grandparents. While the bilingual schools have been perceived by some private language schools as direct competition for eligible children, it has become obvious that—from an Alberta perspective—they cannot constitute a real threat and, moreover, that they cannot turn the tide in favor of increased language maintenance. In 1985/86, 250 children in seven grades in three schools (all in Edmonton and vicinity) were registered in German bilingual programs. Although there was an attempt in the late 1970s to establish such a program in Calgary as well, nothing has come of it as yet, and as of 1986, no other German bilingual program appears to be planned for Alberta schools. As a matter of fact, some members of the "German" community in Alberta have deplored the apparent lack of support of and interest in the bilingual school. To a degree, they are quite correct; however, there are several problems which have beset the establishment and maintenance of German bilingual programs, over which the parents have no direct control: high transportation costs which, to a large extent, have to be borne by the parents; excessively long travel times for many children on school buses because there are so few schools offering a bilingual program; and a perceived, but not necessarily real, lack of qualifications in German held by the teachers in the programs. Finally, a most important problem is the age structure of the "German" community in the province: virtually all members of the massive immigration of speakers of German during the fifties and early sixties have already sent their children through the schools, and many of their children have an insufficiently strong commitment to German themselves to send their own children to a German bilingual program (French immersion programs appear to be considerably more popular among these parents than the English-German bilingual program). This leaves the children of immigrants who came to Canada after the immigration boom, namely in

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the late sixties, seventies, and eighties. Their number is relatively small, but among them, the interest exhibited for a bilingual education in English and German for their children is fairly strong. The method employed in teaching children German in the bilingual programs resembles greatly the Direct Method in that the teacher uses the world around the children for object lessons in which they, in a playful manner, hear and use language and infer meaning from the context in which the language is being used. Songs and games play an important role where meaning is readily inferred and where repetition would be natural. Grammar is taught explicitly, for the first time, in the higher elementary grades. In the English-German Bilingual Programs operated by the Edmonton Public School Board (which are chosen here as examples because they are the best-developed and supported in the province), German is taught via subjects such as Art, Physical Education, Music, and Social Studies as well as in a special subject, German Language Arts. It is in the latter that the German language and its phonology and structure are the focus of the teacher's and students' deliberate attention, while in the first-mentioned subjects German is merely the tool—albeit an important one—by means of which content is to be acquired. The objectives set for the English-German Bilingual Program are based on guidelines set out in the Objectives K—6 of the language arts curriculum of the Edmonton Public School Board and on the Language Arts Objectives for Bilingual (English-French) and Immersion Programs which, in turn, are based on the more general English Language Arts objectives. Setting up a bilingual program requires—in addition to children and enthusiastic, helpful parents—qualified teachers and suitable materials. The provision of the latter has presented some difficulties. It has been the practice of Alberta Education to require that at least a hundred children in a bilingual program be enrolled at a given grade level throughout the province in order to trigger provincial assistance for the funding of curricular development. In only one case (Ukrainian) was this number, in fact, reached. Alberta Education was then able to provide consultants and writers for the preparation of materials, but local school boards had to be prepared to develop suitable programs locally with their own resources. In German, a curriculum writer was provided by the Edmonton Public School Board from the beginning; for at least one year, the parents' association raised considerable amounts of money on its own to


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defray some of the costs incurred by the continuing need for a curriculum writer. Handbooks have been developed by curricular writers and teachers in the Program for the various grades which detail performance objectives, general goals, and linguistic (phonological, structural, and semantic) content. The general methodological basis for instruction in the bilingual program is the Direct Method, combined with some "tricks" from second-language teaching. The teachers use German for general classroom management as well as for explanations of structure. Of course, in the early grades, there is very little explicit formal instruction in "grammar," and students really learn by imitating examples in their workbooks, followed by application of principles learned. Spelling is taught in special spelling units, in which the regularities and irregularities of German orthography are pointed out and practised. Based on the findings from the French bilingual and immersion programs, the introduction of English language arts and reading is delayed until the second half of Grade i. Thus students learn the basics of reading German first and become reasonably secure with them before they are confronted with English orthography. Because of the dominance of English outside the classroom, reading skills in English do not lag far behind reading achievement in German. If the sequence of introduction of the two language arts subjects were to be reversed, the German reading skills would take much longer to develop because they would be overwhelmed by English from the beginning. Frequently, the reading materials in the German bilingual program are texts which have been imported from the Federal Republic of Germany, and the method employed in working with them is, therefore, a firstlanguage method of teaching reading. In the lower grades, the students read at about the same level as their German counterparts, but, for obvious reasons, they do not progress as fast as the German students do. Thus, after about two grades, the Edmonton students lag approximately one grade level behind their German peers—which is still a considerable feat, considering the vast difference in exposure to German experienced by the two groups. The reading texts comprise an attractive variety of short stories, adventure stories, animal stories, tall stories, anecdotes, songs, poems, games, and expository prose, interspersed with many color pictures and comic strips, all of which lend themselves to extended and sensitive Ian-

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guage practice. The students are expected to be able to read these stories silently as well as aloud—with comprehension—and to talk and write about the content. In questions and answers as well as in derived linguistic activities, they learn new structures and vocabulary. Vocabulary is also taught by a thematic approach (for example, festivals, sports), and it is noteworthy of the method used that no bilingual vocabulary lists are handed out to the students. In the other subjects, the curriculum writer, in cooperation with the teachers and the second language consultant, translates and adapts units for the bilingual program; for example, in the German program, students learn about their American neighbors in a Social Studies unit ("Sollten die Kanadier die Amerikaner imitieren oder ihre eigene Identitdt entwickeln?" [Should the Canadians imitate the Americans or should they develop their own identity?]), about Alberta's wealth ("Alberta: Eine reiche Provinz" [Alberta: A rich province]), and about Alberta's communities ("Drei Gemeinden in Alberta" [Three communities in Alberta]) in German. Although there was initial apprehension that bilingual programs would only be suitable to the academically gifted, that the acquisition of proper English language skills would suffer, and that students would fall behind in their knowledge of required subject matter, several evaluation studies have indicated that there is no foundation for such concerns. The Edmonton Public School Board has carefully monitored the effectiveness of the various bilingual programs within its jurisdiction, and the results have displayed a similar pattern for all languages: i.e., students in bilingual programs often are inferior to their unilingual peers in English language arts in the first two grades; but they catch up and sometimes even exceed their unilingual counterparts' achievement in language arts by Grade 3. Achievement in mathematics and overall cognitive development do not seem to be affected negatively by bilingual instruction. If there is any effect at all, it tends to be positive, allowing students to exceed the accomplishments of their English-only peers. The first evaluation of the German bilingual program took place in the 1980/81 school year.147 A questionnaire revealed that 32% of the parents "almost always" or "often" spoke German in the home, while 56% "never" or "occasionally" spoke German; about 80% of the parents reported that they could speak, understand, and read or write German fairly well. When the achievement of the students in Grade 1 of the bilingual program in English Language Arts and Mathematics was com-


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pared to that of their monolingual peers, no significant differences were found between the two groups. Ninety-one percent of the parents indicated that they were either "happy" or "very happy" about their child's participation in the bilingual program; the same evaluation was also given by the principals and the teachers in the two schools. In the second year of the program, the following results were obtained: Grade 1 program students scored significantly lower in English Language Arts than their unilingual peers, but there were no differences in mathematics achievement scores between the Grade 1 program students and their unilingual counterparts. In English Language Arts and in Mathematics, there were no differences between Grade 2 program students and their controls.148 The evaluation of the third year of the program149 involved a more comprehensive review of the aims, objectives, and outcomes of the program. No significant differences in English Language Arts between Grade 3 program students and their unilingual controls were observed, but in Mathematics achievement they scored significantly higher than their English-only peers. Grade 2 students did not differ in Mathematics achievement from their controls, but Grade 2 students were markedly worse in English Language Arts achievement. It was determined that this result applied to one school only, however; this result may, therefore, be caused by local conditions. No statistically significant difference was found between program students and their unilingual controls on their I.Q. test scores and their self-esteem scores. The program students scored about 75% average on both a German language skills test and a test of their knowledge of German culture; furthermore, students expressed a positive response to learning German. In general, teachers, principals, and parents were satisfied with the operation of the program. Apart from these formal evaluations, experience has shown that, as a rule of thumb, students understand German by the end of Grade 1 (at a limited level, of course), speak German with their teacher when asked a question by the end of Grade 2, speak German with the teacher spontaneously by Grade 3, and thereafter often use German spontaneously with their classmates. Experience has shown that most children, especially those who did not speak much German in the home before being enrolled in the bilingual program, take up to three years until they speak German with confidence and at an acceptable level of accuracy. Certainly by the end of elementary school, virtually all students are quite fluent in the everyday use of German and display little timidity in its use with peers,

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teachers and relatives. Yet, some parents and teachers are disappointed that the children are not truly bilingual by the end of elementary school in the sense that they speak and write German as well as they speak and write English: the German of many children is marred by anglicisms in the choice of vocabulary and linguistic structures, and the endings are frequently not what they ought to be. Some teachers and parents are afraid that these errors will be very difficult to eradicate if they can ever be, but most students, parents, administrators, and teachers prefer the children to become communicatively proficient while they are workingmore or less successfully—at the accuracy of their expression. Defenders of the program argue that the students have, in fact, learned German on the side while completing the regular English curriculum; that they are more fluent than most high school students will ever be; that it is unreasonable to expect total accuracy in expression when instruction in German only occupies at most half the school day and only a quarter of the children's waking hours. Both sides will agree, however, that the quality of the output will increase as the programs gains in maturity and the teachers in experience. After all, standards, methods, and materials had to be developed as the program went along, and it may well be possible to emphasize accuracy more at an earlier stage than has been the case in the early years of the program. Initial criticism that the teachers hired for the bilingual program had only limited competence in German, which was founded in one or two cases, was the result of a decision to employ first-class teachers who would be able to instill in the children a desire for learning, with excellent competence in German being a secondary criterion if necessary, although in the ideal world, the teachers would be excellent in their methods and excellent in their command of German. Moreover, it took the university some time to develop a suitable program of courses for instruction in bilingual schools. In the middle eighties, a sufficient pool of highly qualified and dedicated teachers became available from which the school authorities were able to draw. For the foreseeable future, bilingual education in German will be available only in metropolitan Edmonton. In the remainder of the province, German will continue to be taught only as an academic subject and only in the junior high school and high schools of the public school system. Although the curriculum in German has become increasingly communication-oriented over the last two decades, students in these German courses cannot reasonably expect fluency in German in the course of


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two or three years. Fortunately, educational exchange programs have become available in recent years which enable more and more students to spend approximately three months at school in Germany, during which time many students (anglophone as well as German-speaking) do, in fact, acquire an admirable degree of fluency in the German language and a satisfactory knowledge of present-day German culture.

CONCLUSION This chapter has described the development of programs for the teaching of German as a second language at the elementary, junior high, and senior high school levels from the beginning of the century to the present. Excerpts from curriculum guides, textbooks as well as examinations should have given the reader an impression of the phases through which professional opinion and teaching methodology have passed over the years. Second language learning, and the learning of German in particular, started out as a mental activity performed almost for its own sake (with the expectation that disciplining the mind by means of learning the intricacies of the grammar of another language would transfer to the ability to handle other complex subject areas as well or even better). In addition, the learning of German as a subject was open only to a chosen few students, who appeared to be gifted for the task of acquiring sufficient linguistic competence to read and translate German, mostly in order to gain access to the masterpieces of German culture and literature. Thus the rationale for providing instruction in German and the other foreign languages was not to foster and develop students' proficiency in an ancestral language; instead, knowledge of a foreign language was, first and foremost, considered to be the hallmark of an educated person who would apply this knowledge to read the classical literature (and, in the case of French and German, the literature of the modern age as well) for the purpose of aesthetic appreciation of the thoughts and achievements of the great minds which the foreign culture had produced. The aim of equipping the learner with some semblance of conversational fluency for every-day use was to receive some prominence in the Alberta curriculum only in the 1960s. Consequently, the formal study of German having been restricted to the senior grades of high school (which were located in the urban regions), the vast majority of immigrant children from

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"German" families (who lived primarily in the rural areas of Alberta) had no access to German in the public school system. Yet, at the same time, another methodology struggled for recognition, the Direct Method, which was based on the notion that a second language is best learned in a manner similar to first language acquisition. Under this method, German was the subject taught as well as the language of instruction, and oral proficiency as well as grammatical accuracy were to be co-equal aims. However, according to the available evidence, the Direct Method in German courses at the junior and senior high school levels never really caught on. This is probably because it may have appeared too undisciplined for an academic subject, too inefficient in the time-frame available to students and teachers for the amount of material to be "covered," too irrelevant to the needs of the then landlocked student population, and too demanding for the teacher who was not fluent in the language. Thus the teachers were admonished to give grammar its proper place in the teaching process. Again and again, a strong emphasis on the explicit teaching of German grammar won over the teaching of competence in the use of the German language. The Reading Method, sensibly, sought to narrow the objectives for second language instruction to fluent comprehension of a written text on the basis of previously learned grammar, and later the pure Audio-Lingual Approach (which opened up the study of German to thousands of students who, in earlier times, would not have been able to take German) was modified to accommodate both teachers (and students) who claimed to "need to teach" ("to know") the regularities of German structure. The controversy over the proper role of Grammar in teaching German (intellectual knowledge of the grammar versus proficiency in the actual use of the language) has been, of course, the result of an artificial dichotomy. The modern Communicative Approach has shown that the use of linguistic structures flows directly from the learner's need or desire to express a language function or a speech intention, such as asking for information, expressing pastness or possession, or supporting or refuting arguments. Grammar, in modern teaching methodology, is not eliminated from the curriculum but is perceived as, and taught as a means to an end, namely, effective interpersonal communication. Some communicative approaches emphasize strongly the use of discovery learning (rather than expository instruction by the teacher or the textbook) and learning in groups, where the teacher has only a guiding or


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consulting function; they make use of what the student knows already and of man's innate curiosity. An important feature in these methods is the acquisition, and practice, of language forms which permit the learner to express opinions that he actually holds about a text or a topic rather than requiring him to act out a situation which everyone knows to be contrived or to respond to a question from the teacher for which the student knows that the teacher knows the answer anyhow; why ask it then? In short, the communicative approaches emphasize the almost playful acquisition of language in communication situations in which real, authentic meaning is expressed, comprehended, and exchanged. Supporters of communicative approaches are enthusiastic about the results achieved and the motivational effects which the methods seem to have on the students. Critics have suggested, however, that the acquisition of language proceeds too informally; that students do not learn to express themselves correctly (fluency and authenticity of meaning being considered more important than accuracy); that their errors, once learned, are hard to eliminate; that some students find it difficult to generalize from language forms encountered without a cognitive structure to guide them; that they appear to reach a plateau in language proficiency beyond which they seem unable to rise; that the method is extremely time-consuming and does not permit coverage of materials which, it is maintained, ought to be covered in a three-year sequence; that low achievers or irregular attenders find it almost impossible to catch up with the class because the class (in the extreme versions of the communicative approach) virtually makes up its own textbook as it goes along; that objective testing and marking are virtually impossible, and so forth. These are weighty criticisms, and although the method's proponents simply point to what they believe to be successful language acquisition, long-term experience will be the final arbiter. Because Alberta Education recognizes that not all teachers are able to work with a strongly communicative method, it has approved a somewhat more traditional textbook with a more systematic presentation of language forms as well, although the ultimate goal in the curriculum and in both textbooks remains communicative proficiency.

6 ENROLMENT IN GERMAN IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

ENROLMENTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE courses reflect—albeit imperfectly—the degree of interest in these subjects, and enrolment figures are, therefore, a good indicator of the perceived usefulness of second language courses or of the prestige value accorded to them. However, the actual number of students registered in academic courses in second languages at school is the result of the interaction of a variety of attitudinal and financial considerations on the part of parents, students, the school authorities, and society as a whole. For these reasons, enrolment data may underestimate the true level of interest displayed in a given second language. A second language may, for example, be a true "heritage language" where the principal justification for offering it in school is the linguistic and ethno-cultural maintenance of a certain ethnic group (Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Italian, Hungarian, Blackfoot, Cree, Polish). For others, their role in trade, diplomacy, and for future employment in international positions may be major motivating factors for students although factors such as linguistic or cultural maintenance may also play a strong role (Chinese, Arabic). In such programs, the number of "nonnative speakers" enrolled is likely to be quite small. In comparison with other regions, certain languages may be underrepresented in Alberta because of socio-political reasons (Russian). A third group of languages comprises those which serve as a means to gain access to institutions of higher learning, or which may be required for professional or self-motivated reading and study (Greek, Latin). In such cases, the perceived prestige value of such languages may be higher than their actual utility value, as knowledge of these languages is regarded as a hallmark of education and 214

Enrolment in German

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culture. Another second language may be popular with some segments of society because its knowledge is seen as a modern social status symbol, as a prerequisite for obtaining a position with the government, or as a means of understanding Canada's other founding nation (French). Finally, some languages may be perceived to be "academic" in nature, as in the case of "scientific languages" (German). Clearly, the prestige value of each language will vary, depending on the time period, the region, and the ethnic group concerned. Moreover, it will, in most cases, be the result of a combination of motivational and attitudinal factors, rather than the direct result of any single one. For example, German as a second language before the Second World War was underrepresented in the high schools of Alberta because, on the one hand, it was perceived to be merely an "ethnic" language by anglophones (for although German could be used to satisfy the university entrance requirement, Latin was still considered to be the most important language for admission). On the other hand, the number of potential "native speakers" attending such courses should have been high if the number of Albertans of German ethnic origin or having German as their mother tongue had been the criterion. In reality, however, their number was limited, due to the fact that the great majority of these native speakers lived in rural areas where either the subject was not available (as late as 1954/55, only one nonurban school offered German in Grade 121) or where the aspirations of the speakers of German did not usually include attending high school. Certainly, there was some interest in German across Alberta, but a certain minimum number of students is required for any course to be offered in a school, and it is still true today that, in the rural areas, students often have to learn German by correspondence. The period between 1938 and 1945 saw a steady decline in enrolment in German and, finally, its complete disappearance, obviously for political reasons. Even after the War, German was not offered for a number of years, because of the overt and covert antagonism to speakers of German in Canadian society. In the early fifties, speakers of German did not want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves by insisting that German courses be offered for their children. This desire to submerge in the mainstream of society is evidenced by the fact that post-war census figures relating to German ethnic origin are thought to underestimate actual numbers. This had also been the case after World War I. The immigration wave which began in I951/52 and peaked in the middle to late fifties, and the increase in respect given to German

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speakers provided both the students and also the acceptant social atmosphere which would allow an open display of interest in German as an academic subject and as a heritage language. This combination of factors resulted in the beginning of the enrolment boom in the 1960s. Moreover, German became a viable alternative to French for those who disliked that language for one reason or another, and it also gained credibility in the eyes of anglophone students and parents as a world language, a language spoken by a cultured, industrious, organized, efficient and increasingly important people. With the ebbing of immigration in the seventies, the number of anglophone students of German, in relation to the number of "native speakers," has risen steadily. If present population trends continue, the composition of a typical German class of the eighties and nineties will differ significantly from that of the sixties and seventies. Clearly, the motivation and the language skills brought along by the new student clientele will change as well, requiring a reorientation in the design of teaching materials and teaching methodology. In this section on enrolment figures in second languages, it should be kept in mind, therefore, that changing social, political, financial, administrative, and personal variables may exert a strong influence on the actual numbers of students enrolled in a given second language.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENROLMENT TRENDS IN SECOND LANGUAGES

The Early Period The earliest registration figures in modern and classical languages (unreliable as they may be) date back to the 1920s (see Table 6.1). For 1921/22, a total of 4,476 registrations in second languages was reported for the Province of Alberta, with 3,204 (or 72%) being accounted for by French. Enrolments in Latin, which then was one of the languages eligible to satisfy the entrance requirement to a university, numbered 1,215 (27%), and German ran a distant third with 57 registrations (1%). Greek was no longer offered in the schools at that time. Clearly, German played only a very minor role as an academic subject in the upper grades of high school, although following the massive immigration waves to pre-World-War I Canada it should have been much

Enrolment in German TABLE 6.1 Year 1921/22

1922/23

1923/24

217

Enrolment in Second Languages (Grades 10 to 12) in the 1920s German

Latin

French

Total

57 52 59

1,215 877 1,134

3,204 2,240

4,476 3,169 4,638

3,445

SOURCE: Alberta Department of Education, Annual Reports, 1922—1924.

more attractive and popular, if only for students with family language background. Four factors may have been responsible for this low enrolment. There was the hatred of foreign elements during and after the War and, in particular, the hostility towards speakers of German which caused German-speaking Albertans to hide their ethnic origin under names such as "Russian-Canadian" or "German-Canadian." This attitude may also have reduced the enrolments of anglophone and German speakers in German courses. Furthermore, most German-speaking immigrants settled in rural areas, where access to secondary schools was extremely restricted because the schools were located far from the homestead, and no busing in the present-day sense of the word was available. Thirdly, it may also have been the case that the educational aspirations of the new settlers did not include attendance and completion of high school, as high school represented, for all intents and purposes, preparation for admission to normal school (teacher training) or university. And fourthly, enrolment in the upper grades was, across the board, much lower than it is today. In 1918/19, for example, only 3% of the student population was registered in Grades 10 through 12 while the corresponding percentage was 23% in 1981/82. Consequently, in the early years the pool of students eligible to take a second or foreign language in high school was much smaller in terms of actual numbers as well as in terms of percentage of the student population than it is today. The Period between 1933 to 1953 No enrolment statistics are available from the middle twenties until the school year 1933/34. Throughout the thirties, the total number of students taking a second language hovered around 7,500, dropped slightly in the war years and—due to the needs of the war situation and to

218


psychological reasons—picked up dramatically towards the end of the War (see Appendix 9, Table 4). Latin, over this period, lost steadily in popularity and suffered a drop from a share of 40% of the enrolment in second languages in 1933/34 to 24% six years later. Enrolment in German increased steadily through 1938 to about 3.5% and leveled off in 1939 at 2.6%. Between 1940 and 1954, less than 1% of the second language enrolment was accounted for by German. In the two post-war years, there were no students reported to have taken German at all in high school. The decline in both Latin and German helped French in its steady rise, from about 60% of the enrolment in 1933/1934, to 76% ten years later, and to 88% in 1953/1954, an increase in actual numbers from 4,500 to 7,000 in 1943/1944 and to 10,000 in 1945/1946; after having maintained a plateau for some seven years, the number of students taking French courses declined to some 7,700 by 1953/1954. Actually, the enrolment figures after 1951 are deceptively low because, following the curricular reform of 1951, the first year of a threeyear sequence in second languages was abolished. The Decade between 1953 and 1963 The academic year 1953/1954 was the first year in a period of tremendous growth in second language enrolments (partly fuelled by a reintroduction of the three-year program in French in 1961 and in Latin and German in 1962.) as well as in the variety of the languages offered. In those ten years, second language registrations rose from 8,700 in 1953 to 36,000 in 1962., the lion's share to be attributed to enrolments in French: its proportion of the total continued to rise from about 88% in 1954 until it reached 92% in 1961/1962, the highest percentage of the total number of second language enrolments for French ever. Latin, during this period, continued to lose ground: between 1953/1954 and 1961/1962, its share of the second language enrolments dropped from 11% to about 4%. Spanish was introduced in the high schools in 1955/1956, but in both absolute numbers and percentages of total second language registrations, its share has been miniscule. Ukrainian, too, which was offered for the first time in 1959/60, remained, at first, a subject taken by only relatively few students. Throughout the sixties, a very slow and gradual increase could be observed: ten years after the introduction of Ukrainian as an academic subject with 322 students, some 600 students were enrolled. German, on the other hand, experienced a substantial increase in num-

Enrolment in German

219

bers from 23 in 1953/1954 to almost 1,500 ten years later, which meant that, in 1963, 4% of all students taking another language were enrolled in German. 1963 to the Present Enrolments in second languages remained at a plateau between 1963 and 1970; the total enrolment increased by only 0.5% from 36,060 to 37,776. From 1970 onwards, enrolments in the modern languages (Latin dropped under the 1% mark in 1971) began a decline, which at first was as steep as the increase had been before: registrations in the traditional 10, 20, and 30 level courses dropped from some 38,000 in 1969/1970 to 26,000 just five years later. Subsequently, a leveling-off has been followed by a downward trend, with registrations reaching a low of less than 25,000 in 1982/83; since that time, enrolments have increased again to some 31,000 students by 1986/87. Since the high point in enrolments in 1970, a number of other modern languages have been introduced on a provincial as well as a local basis (Blackfoot, Cree, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Lithuanian, Hebrew, Japanese, and Chinese), but none of them have ever garnered much more than 1% of the enrolment total in second languages; most of these courses have been limited to only one school district each in the Province. French has, of course, continued to dominate the second language enrolments. From a high in 1969/70, when 91% of all second language students at high school were enrolled in a French course, its share declined to 86% by 1973 and has only very recently risen again to 88%. The Ukrainian enrolment hovered around the 2.5% mark of total second language enrolment for years, but recently has declined steadily towards the 1 % mark, in spite of the recent introduction of a six-year program in Ukrainian and of Ukrainian Language Arts in high school subsequent to the Ukrainian bilingual program. German, over this time period, has experienced dramatic growth. Between 1953/1954 and 1969/1970, German had languished at about 4% to 5% of the total second language enrolment, with absolute numbers ranging between 1,100 and 1,500 students, but a steep increase followed in the years after 1970. In 1972/1973, the highest number of students of German ever was recorded (3,407); in the two succeeding years, almost 12% of all second language students were taking German courses. This percentage has decreased slowly to about 8% in 1986/87. In that year,

220


German was clearly the second-most important second language in Alberta (8%) after French (88%), with Ukrainian and Italian just exceeding the 1% level.

THE RATE OF STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN A SECOND-LANGUAGE COURSE

Of course, the absolute number of students taking one or another second language can tell only part of the story. Over the last fifty years, the population of the province has risen from 731,605 in 1936 to 2,237,724 in 1981, and the number of students attending high school has increased tremendously from about 20,000 in 1933/1934 to about 106,000 in 1986/1987. The question must be raised, therefore, whether second language enrolments have kept pace with the explosive growth in the secondary school population. A good indicator of actual growth in secondlanguage enrolment is the second language participation rate. This rate is defined as the number of students in Grades 10 to 12 taking a second language, divided by the total number of students in secondary classrooms. Figure 6.1 illustrates the development: there was an almost perfect parallelism in the absolute numbers of students in second languages and secondary classrooms between 1933/1934 and 1962/1963, but, as we have seen, the second language registrations have leveled off and have actually dropped since 1969/1970, whereas the actual number of students in high school continued to increase in absolute terms until the late 1970s. If we look at the participation rate, we can see a sharp rise in the percentage of secondary students taking a modern or classical language during the War years (as we have seen, this increase is due mostly to a rise in French registrations caused by the requirements of the war and by psycho-emotional reasons), and this rise extended to the early fifties. In 1933/1934, 40% of all secondary students had been enrolled in a second language; by 1945/1946 that percentage had increased to 60%; then the rate dropped slightly and rose again to its all-time high in 1962/1963, when 69% of all secondary students were enrolled in a second language course. The dip in the post-1952 enrolment and the participation rate is, however, wholly artificial. It will be remembered that the Department of Education reduced the second language curriculum to two years from three in 1951. Neither German 1 nor Latin I was offered between the aca-

Enrolment in German

221

FIGURE 6. 1 Ratio of high school enrolments in second language core courses to total high school enrolments

demic years 1953/54 and 1962/63, nor was French 1 between 1952/53 and 1960/61 inclusive. The three-year sequences were reinstituted again in 1961 and 1962, respectively. The numbers lost by the elimination of a Grade 10 second language course are substantial. If it could be assumed that all students who took the two-year sequence would also have taken the three-year program, the number of Grade 10 second language students who would have to be added to the statistics would be in the thousands. Since any estimate is likely to be unreliable, it can only be concluded that the rate at which second languages became popular in Alberta would have increased sooner than is indicated on the graph, and that the 1963 plateau would have been reached several years earlier. It may well be, then, that the extent to which students opted for second languages paralleled closely the growth in the number of students in high school. In 1963, the participation rate began to plummet from a high of 69% to the 1982 low of 25%. This means that over the past twenty years, when high schools experienced unprecedented growth, the number of students taking a second language in any given year has decreased from 2 in 3 to 1 in 4: Only circa one out of four senior high school students is, at present, enrolled in a second language course. The decline seems to have been halted because, since the mid-seventies, the participation rate has remained stable at about 25%, even taking into account falling language

2.22.


enrolments and a falling number of students in secondary schools. Recent increases in the number of students in high school have been accompanied by a slight rise in second-language enrolments, resulting in a participation rate of 29%. What might be the reasons for this dramatic decrease in the interest shown in second languages? One might have suspected that the increasing popularity of vocational subjects since the Second World War might have drawn students away from the academic subjects and from second languages. This might indeed be the case if only to a limited extent. Academic enrolment in high school programs has increased from 155,281 to 728,680 (by 369%) over the past twenty years, second language enrolment from 5,985 to 24,931 (by 317%), and registrations in vocational subjects from 10,2,09 to 68,643 (by 572%). Thus the second language enrolment, over the past two decades, has not even kept pace with the enrolment in all academic courses in the province. As a matter of fact, if 1969 is chosen as an intermediate point, it can be seen that the percentage of second language registrations, in relationship to overall academic enrolment (or in relationship to the combined academic and vocational enrolment), almost doubled between 1952/53 and 1969 from 3.9% to 6.7% (and from 3.6% to 6.3%, respectively) and declined to even lower levels by 1982/83 than had existed in 1952/53 (down to 3.4% of the total academic enrolment and 3.1% of the combined enrolment). The year 1969 was chosen as dividing point because that was the year when the abolition of the language requirement for admission to university (which went into effect in the late 1960s in the various Alberta institutions) must have shown some effect. Considering the fact that overall academic enrolment has increased by 30% since 1969, the decrease by 34% in second language registrations must be ascribed to other factors. The growth in vocational programs may have been one of the reasons, but it is suggested that the abolition of the language requirement for university admission has been a major factor in this decline. Clearly, it was more convenient for students to satisfy their admission requirement in one year at university rather than over two or three, and it made sense for high school students who had planned to go to university to take a second language there. It will be shown in a later section that the enrolments in the 100-level courses at the University of Alberta (with which students were able to make up a matriculation deficiency for credit) ballooned in the 1970s to such an extent that the enrolment in the beginners' course German 100 has climbed from 55 students in 1969/70 to some 250 stu-

Enrolment in German

223

dents in 1986/87. The rising numbers of students in high school second language courses in recent years may well be due to the re-introduction of the language requirement at the University of Alberta. The recent popularity of French immersion programs and the continuation of the Ukrainian and German bilingual programs into high school, in one form or another, certainly have been important factors in the recovery of second language enrolments. According to Alberta Education, more than 22,000 students were registered in French immersion programs in 1986/87.

ENROLMENTS IN GERMAN

German in High Schools It has been shown that during the thirties and forties German played only a very insignificant role in the curriculum of Alberta high schools: the total enrolment increased from 122 in 1933/1934 to 238 in 1937/1938 and dropped to 6 in 1942/1943 (see Appendix 9, Table 5). In 1945/1946 and 1946/1947, no German at all was offered. The first tentative signs of a renewal of interest in German can be observed in the late forties and early fifties. The aforementioned curricular reform of the middle fifties, following which modern languages and Latin were offered only for two rather than three years, must also have had a significant masking effect on real interest in the language. Table 6.2 shows a virtual explosion of student enrolment in 1962/63, when German 10 was offered for the first time: 475 signed up for this course in the first year. German 20 attracted 589 students, and in German 30 there were 407 students. After 1962/63, annual rates of increase in the student numbers, especially in the firstlevel course, amounted to 10% or more. Enrolment in German 10 more than quadrupled from 1962/63 (475) to 1973 (1,841 students). The second-level course doubled in size in this time period, while the German 30 registrations increased by 50% (after having suffered a severe drop in the middle sixties). Clearly, the immigration of the 1950s had a significant impact on overall enrolment in German and its acceptability as an academic subject. Since 1972/73, numbers in all three courses have declined by about 30% to a relatively stable level of about 2,500 students. The reasons for the considerable differences in enrolments in Grades

224 TABLE 6.2


German Enrolments in German 10, 20, 30, 31, 36, and 3ox German

Year 1955/56 1956/57 1957/58 1958/59 1959/60 1960/61 1961/62 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 1965/66 1966/67 1967/68 1968/69 1969/70 1970/71 1971/72 1972/73 1973/74 1974/75 1975/76 1976/77 1977/78 1978/79 1979/80 1980/81 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84 1984/85 1985/86 1986/87

10

German 20

314 335 420 529 628 475 588 768 666 697 991 n.a. 1 157 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

437 742 841 682 604 626 525 509 423 460 362 243 175 293 285 303 458

583 589 313 404 319 402

German 30

German 31

German 3 ox

Total

185 225 237 253

185 539 572 673 843 971

314 343 428 407 389 285

I 011

1 471 1 290 1 457 1 196

211 244

479

405

562 649 854

447 432 570 603

939 1 046 888 871 900 790 810 802 792 689 661 697 699 722 742

German 36

587 631 585 605 509

1 343 1 875

3 7 7 10

2 169 2 525

12 3 11 8

9 7 12

11

3 3 3 3 3

185 407 326 131 091

3 037 2 820

9 8

2 755

21

2 702

18 14 15 3 20

2 442

513 535 527 492 492 427 478 472 519

M

SOURCE: Alberta Department of Education, Annual Reports.

2 805

2 342 2 432 2 465 2 517

2 733

Enrolment in German

225

10, 11, and 12 are not entirely clear. The German 30 population certainly seems to represent the "hard core" of interest in German among the anglophone and the German-speaking population. It may well be that parents pushed their children into German 10, but when the students found out that German was not as easy a course as they had expected, they did not continue with German (some students may, of course, have quit school after Grade 10 and German 10), but for example in 1974, 1,600 students took German 10; and in 1975, only 888 (56%) students were enrolled in German 20, and in 1975/76 585 (66% of the German 20 population of the preceding year and 37% of the original number of students in German 10 two years earlier) completed German 30. The figures may be somewhat misleading because of the introduction of the semester system, which enabled students to take both German 20 and German 30 in the same year, while other students may have entered the program only in the second or third year because of family language background. Yet it is worth noting from the pedagogical point of view that, on the average, only about one out of three students actually completes the full three-year course in German. This success rate has remained relatively stable over the last few years. In 1981/82, 492 (or 34% of the 1979/80 German 10 population) completed German 30. Such a large dropout rate must give rise to concern about the incongruence of expectations held by teachers and students as to the demands and objectives set for the German course. In addition to course- and language-related reasons, there are other academic reasons as well, over some of which students have only limited control. For example, they may abandon second-language course in Grades 11 and 12 if they realize that it is not required for a high school diploma or for post-secondary entrance (of course, the latter regulation changed with the 1986/87 academic year at the University of Alberta, when the Faculty of Arts again required a language other than English as both an entrance and an exit requirement); students may also need the time in their schedules to do "required" subjects, such as Mathematics 31 or three sciences if they plan to enter certain faculties; alternatively, they may choose to take options which can give them better marks for scholarships and better chances for entrance to university; naturally, a combination of these various factors may account for the large drop in second language enrolments after the first year. The records of Alberta Education confirm the dramatic increase in the availability of German programs at Alberta high schools after 1962/63.

226


Some 50 schools have offered German 10, and about 40 have offered German 20 and German 30. The majority of the German high school programs is located in Calgary (14) and Edmonton (11) and the larger towns of Alberta. This number has remained stable over the last ten years, especially in the cities, although enrolments have declined, forcing some schools to abandon their German program. Nevertheless, the high school programs in German are well-established. Using 1982/83 as the base year, 39 high schools had offered German consecutively for the three preceding years. Looking at the period from 1975/76 to 1982/83, 53 of the 72 high schools which had ever offered German had programs which were in existence for at least three consecutive years. German in Junior High Schools Alberta has a long tradition of offering a second language as an option in what today is junior high school. French, of course, has been the most popular language option at that level. In the earliest statistics (1921/22), the Oral French option for Grade 9 showed 1,657 registrations; this number increased to some 3,100 in 1936/37. In 1939, the Oral French option was extended to the middle grades, so that, by 1950, 270 students took French in Grade 7; 7,799 in Grade 8, and 4,768 students in Grade 9 took French in one form or another. German, too, had a few registrations in Grade 9 in the twenties and thirties (for example, 39 in 1935/36). In the 1960s, both Latin and Ukrainian offered a Grade 9 option, but the numbers were always very low. At present, there are some twenty schools in Alberta in which German is taught as a junior high school option. This compares with about 17 for Ukrainian and approximately 300 schools which offer French in Grades 7 through 9. The trend in the three languages has been for more schools to offer such an option. On the one hand, this is encouraging because many of these schools are located in rural areas (Bonanza, Buffalo Head, LaCrete, High River, and Castle School near Fort Saskatchewan) where financial resources for second languages are not always available; on the other, it is doubtful whether the trend will continue, because enrolment figures are pointing to a decline. French has increased strongly, with some 45,000 youngsters per year taking French in junior high school in 1986/87, while the Ukrainian registrations at this level have plummeted from a high of 1,657 in 1975/76 to 589 students in 1982/83 and further

Enrolment in German TABLE 6.3

227

Number of Junior High School German Classes with Certain Levels of Enrolment Number of Students in Junior High School German Classes

YEAR

1-5

6-9

10-14

1981/82 1982/83

15 16

6 7

13 6

15-19

6 7

20-24

25-29

30 +

4 10

6 5

16 8

to 364 in 1986/87. Enrolments in German in junior high school have also declined dramatically from ca. 1,300 students in 1981/82 to 540 in 1986/87. Some of the programs may be marginal, because of the small class size. Table 6.3 indicates that in the 28 junior high schools which offered one or more grades of junior high German (only 9 schools offered German in all three years), 16 classes had fewer than five students, and another 20 had between 6 and 19 students. An indicator of the viability of junior high school programs may be the extent to which they were able to offer German for at least three consecutive years (it is true, though, that many schools deliberately offer only a two-year sequence to allow their students a greater choice among options). Among all junior high schools which have offered German since 1975/76 in Grades 7 through 9, 24 had at least three years of junior high German at one time or another during this time. But only 11 schools offered a consecutive three-year program in the period 1980/81 through 1982/83. Another six schools had been offering German for two successive years. Clearly, there is a tremendous turnover among the schools which are able to offer German as an option. This is often due to the lack of a qualified and interested teacher, the extent of the interest of students and parents in German, and the adequacy and availability of a suitable text and related curricular materials. German in Bilingual Schools In 1978/79, a German bilingual program was established in the Edmonton Public Schools as the result of a request by a group of Germanspeaking parents, who wanted their children to be taught in both English

2.2.8

TABLE 6.4


Total Enrolment in English-German Bilingual Programs (Kindergarten to Grade 6) in three elementary schools

Year

German

1978/79 1979/80 1980/81 1981/82 1981/83 1983/84

58 76 104 143 178 180

1984/85

2O2

1985/86

254

1986/87

311

1987/88

357

and German. They knew of the successes which had been achieved in the Ukrainian and French bilingual programs, and wanted their youngsters to become functionally bilingual in German. The Edmonton Public School Board was very receptive to the idea, and German bilingual programs were set up in two elementary schools. In 1987/88, there were 258 students enrolled in these two schools from kindergarten through Grade 6. Another bilingual program had been established in Sherwood Park; during 1987/88, there were 99 children in that program (see Table 6.4). Despite extensive planning, a similar program has not been realised in Calgary, due to consideration of those problems which had plagued the Edmonton and Sherwood Park schools—problems with transporting the children from all over the city to one centrally located school, and the associated costs. In the middle eighties, only Winnipeg had a similar German bilingual program in Canada. In the United States, such a program operated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After the lead class students in the German bilingual program left Grade 6, a modified bilingual program was established in one Edmonton junior high school (with enrolments of altogether about 40 students per year in Grades 7 through 9). In 1988/89, a maintenance program in German, different from the regular high school German courses, was set up at a centrally located high school.

Enrolment in German

229

German by Correspondence Alberta students who do not have access to certain subjects in their own school, who cannot fit it into their time table, or who want to upgrade their qualifications may register with the Correspondence Branch of Alberta Education and obtain credit for the course in this manner. When German is taken by correspondence, the student will enrol in either German 10, 20 or 30; he is then sent a copy of the textbook (with accompanying tapes) currently approved and used in this course as well as a set of written and oral assignments. He may work at his own pace and return as many assignments over a given period of time as he manages to complete. Teacher/tutors mark the assignments and return them to the learner. At the end of the course, a written and an oral exam have to be passed for successful completion of the course. Long-term registration figures are not available for German, but the 1982/83 figures may be considered to be representative of recent levels of enrolment. Out of a total of some 30,000 registrations during that year, 471 were in German: 301 in German 10, 81 in German 20, and 89 in German 30. According to the Branch, about 30% of the students who attempt a course by correspondence will actually complete it. In 1986/87, 425 students were enrolled in a correspondence course. Clearly, the numbers are not overwhelming, but there is no doubt that German by correspondence will become a more important factor in the school system of Alberta in the future as the enrolment in the high school German classes declines, and schools with marginal enrolment—after having coped for a while with split classes—decide to drop German 30 first, perhaps 20 as well, and sooner or later the German program altogether.

THE RATE OF STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN GERMAN COURSES

In spite of increasing enrolments in Alberta secondary schools, the number of students in second languages has actually been dropping in absolute terms since 1969/70. Furthermore, the share of enrolments in second languages as a percentage of high school enrolments has decreased even more drastically from a high of almost 70% in 1970 to some 24% by 1982/83.

TABLE 6.5

Enrolment in German Courses in Junior High Schools as a Percentage of Total Second Language Enrolment (1982/83)

Total German Enrolment

Total Second Language Enrolment

7

428

1 101

8 9

358 223

765 581

Grade

Total Grade Enrolment

Percentage of Second Language Enrolment

German as Percentage of Grade Enrolment

All Second Languages as Percentage of Grade Enrolment

I 572 I 446 I 179

28.89 46.80 38.38

27.23 24.76 18.91

70.04 52.91 49.28

Enrolment in German

231

Of interest, then, is the percentage of second language enrolments which is accounted for by German in those schools where it is offered. These data will demonstrate how competitive German is with other second languages at that particular school. Tables 6.5 and 6.6 present the findings. In 1982/83, about 40% of the second language enrolments in Grades 7 through 9 in those schools where German was offered as an option were German enrolments, the remainder to be attributed to French and Ukrainian. This high share is evidence of the fact that German, when offered as a junior high school option, can indeed be a competitive and viable course. When the share of German in the total junior high school enrolment in second languages is compared over the three grades, it can be seen that 27% of Grade 7 students in those schools where German was offered did, in fact, take German; in Grade 8, this percentage dropped slightly to 25%, and in Grade 9, 19% of the students attending a junior high school where German was offered were enrolled in this language. This means that, in the junior high schools of the Province which offer German as an option, between one out of four to one out of five students took German—a very respectable percentage, indeed, for the junior high school level. It seems that many students and parents start junior high school second languages with good intentions, which, however, soon evaporate. Table 6.5 shows that 70% of all junior high school students in 1982/83 attending schools where German was offered were enrolled in one of the three second language options. However, in Grades 8 and 9, only about half the students were still taking such a course. Clearly, the problem of retaining students from the first to the third year of second-language instruction is a challenge which needs to be faced. On the high school level, in 1982/83, the enrolment in German in Grades 10, 11, and 12 (Table 6.6) accounted for about 20% of the total second language enrolment in those schools where German was offered; this participation rate represents a substantial drop from the junior high school levels of around 40%. What is worse, there is a rather substantial decline in the percentage of all students in Grade 10 who took German (10%) to the respective figure in Grade 11 (6%); by Grade 12, only 4.5% of all students in those schools which offered high school German were still enrolled in this second language.

TABLE 6.6

Grade 10 11 12

Enrolment in German Courses in High School as a Percentage of Total Second Language Enrolment (1982/83)

Total German Enrolment 1 425 767 624

Total Second Language Enrolment

6 244 3 990 2 815

Total Grade Enrolment

German as Percentage of Second Language Enrolment

German as Percentage of Grade Enrolment

All Second Languages as Percentage of Grade Enrolment

14 038 13 065 13 805

22.82 19.22 22.17

10.15 5.87 4.52

44.48 30.54 20.39

NOTE: These figures are based on estimates by Alberta Education which vary considerably from the figures given in the Annual Reports. "Total Second Language Enrolment" refers to enrolment figures in those schools where German 10, 20, and 30 were offered.

Enrolment in German

233

This drop in the participation rate is not limited to German, however. The table shows that some 45% of the students in Grade 10 took one of the second languages; 30% of the students in Grade 11 were still enrolled in a second language course, and only 20% took a second language in their final year.

CONCLUSION This chapter traced the development of enrolments in second languages in Alberta elementary, junior and senior high schools over the past sixty years. During this time, French has maintained and even increased its dominant position as the most important second language in the province, to the point at which some 96% of all students who are learning a second language in any of the twelve grades, in core courses or in bilingual and immersion programs, are enrolled in French. Even the increased variety of other heritage languages has not affected seriously the enrolment in French. Registrations in German, in conjunction with a general explosion in second language enrolments in the sixties and with the immigration of speakers of German during the fifties and sixties, climbed from an insignificant position to a distant second place behind French, and appear to be maintaining this position. The last fifteen years have seen a general decrease in the rate at which second languages are being chosen by students in high school; whereas at one point two out of three students in high school were enrolled in a second language in high school, now only one out of four is taking a second language at that level. The expansion of high school vocational programs, abolition of the second language requirement for admission to university, and the rise of the bilingual and immersion programs may well be the main reasons for the decline in the traditional high school second language programs. In Edmonton and vicinity, bilingual programs in German have been developed successfully alongside those in Ukrainian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Polish. It is indeed possible to have a child take the regular Alberta curriculum and, at the same time, permit that child to acquire a second language without harming his or her overall academic achievement in school. The number of children enrolled in the English-German bilingual programs in Edmonton and vicinity, after some initial difficulties, has increased steadily, making it a well-established and viable

234


part of the offerings of the Edmonton Public School Board and the County of Strathcona. A cause for concern, not only for German, is the fact that the drop-out rate from the beginning to the end of all second language programs at junior and senior high school is quite high: on the average, less than half of the number of students who begin such a program actually carry it through to completion. At the junior high school level, there has been a tremendous turnover in the schools which have offered German over the years in comparison with the well-established German programs in the high schools. Because no officially developed and approved curriculum was available to the teachers until recently (all junior high school programs having been locally developed) and because it was left to the school to decide how much time per year or semester would be allocated to an option like German, there has been a wide variety in the quality of such programs offered, ranging from a rather superficial introduction to German language and culture which had no short- or medium-term objectives and often was not taken seriously by the students (showing corresponding results in the objectives achieved) to solid, goal-oriented explorations of German as an academic subject, taught with methods and an intensity appropriate to that particular age group. The availabiliy of a new curriculum developed by Alberta Education in 1984 and the approval of suitable resources should help motivated teachers and principals establish viable, worthwhile German courses in junior high school, which are self-contained and not merely a preparation for more advanced German in the high school. Such developments should certainly serve to stabilize or even increase enrolments at this level. The Correspondence Branch is often overlooked in terms of its educational impact and significance for students in the outlying areas of the province. It ensures that students in an area where German is not available at all because interest does not warrant it, have an opportunity to learn German and to become familiar with its culture as well. Although the numbers are not large at present, there is the likelihood that enrolments in the courses of the Correspondence Branch will increase as more and more marginal German programs close altogether or reduce the number of courses offered. In the past, the text materials used by the Correspondence Branch have often been outdated in comparison with what was available in the high schools themselves. It is hoped that the recent

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switch to newly approved textbooks in the province will also prompt the adoption of these materials by the Correspondence Branch. Because of the attractiveness and educational soundness of these books, the number of students sufficiently motivated to complete the course in German might well rise substantially.

7 THE TEACHING OF GERMAN IN HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS have been known under a variety of names: ethnic language schools, supplementary language schools, ancestral language schools, or Saturday schools. According to the definition set out by the Cultural Heritage Division of Alberta Culture, heritage language schools are "operated and administered by ethnocultural organizations with instructional classes outside the public or separate school systems." They may offer noncredit as well as credit courses; the former comprise kindergarten classes and classes for elementary school children, classes for junior and senior high school students in languages not taught in the public or separate school systems, and conversation classes for adults. Upon successful completion of credit courses (which must follow guidelines set out by Alberta Education and which are, therefore, equivalent to courses given by the public or separate school boards), students may transfer the credits to their regular school program. While there is no inspection of the quality of instruction by outside agencies in the case of noncredit courses, teachers of credit courses have to be in possession of a valid Alberta teacher's certificate or a letter of authority from the Minister of Education, and the classes are inspected regularly by an official from the Alberta Education.

THE FUNCTION OF HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Heritage language schools play a very important role in the network of educational institutions offering second language instruction in the Prov236

German in Heritage Language Schools

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ince of Alberta—a role well recognized by the ethnic communities as the enrolment figures will show. They offer the following benefits: 1. In these schools, students may study formally their ancestral language which they might have heard (or still hear and speak) in the home in a more or less grammatically correct form. 2. Children in ethnically mixed marriages, where only one partner is of a certain ethnic origin but does not speak the language at home, may acquire some fluency in the ancestral language of their parent and some knowledge of the culture associated with it when they attend a heritage language school. 3. They can get an early start on a language which is offered only in high school or at junior high school. 4. They may learn an additional language at the heritage language school which they would not be able to fit into their regular school timetable. 5. In some regions of Alberta, there may not be enough demand for a given language to be offered in the public or separate schools at all (an exotic language or even a language taught elsewhere in schools); heritage language schools may run courses in a central location which could not be offered by the regular schools because the enrolment in an individual school would be too small and bussing to a central location would be impossible during the regular school day (for example, German 31). 6. Heritage language schools, in accordance with the wishes of the community and their sponsors, may want to combine the teaching of the language with the teaching of a philosophical, cultural, or religious component. What all heritage language schools share is the parents' desire to permit their children to benefit from a systematic and formalized linguistic and/or cultural experience which would not otherwise be available outside the home or even in the home. Indeed, it has been argued that the ethnic schools have been the foremost formal means of transmitting an appreciation for the ethno-cultural heritage because these schools have emphasized the ethnic tongue as the transmitter of cultural ideas and values.1 Parents' organizations, ethnic clubs and organizations, or churches appealing to a certain ethnic group have been responsible for the founding of these schools.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Until 1976, little definitive detail had been known about heritage language schools in Canada: before the official inauguration of multiculturalism on October 8, 1971, when Prime Minister Trudeau made the historic announcement about the Federal Government's Multiculturalism Policy, these schools had not received as much scholarly attention as they deserved. It was only through the work of Krukowski and McKellar,2 who prepared a Working Paper for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, that the beginning was made for a systematic inventory and description of these schools. The Royal Commission subsequently concluded that part-time and full-time ethnic schools have played an important part in the maintenance of languages and cultures.3 Studies carried out in Quebec4 and in Toronto contributed further to a better understanding of the status, characteristics, and role of the schools where the nonofficial languages were being taught. Valuable information about the attitudes of Canadians towards heritage language schools and, in general, towards support for ancestral languages was gained in the examination of nonofficial languages in I976.5 In 1976 as well, a thorough study of a cross-section of heritage language schools in three cities (Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto) in which eight heritage languages were taught, among them German,6 provided a wealth of detailed information about organizational aspects of these schools, the teaching personnel and administrators, enrolments, the sociolinguistic background of the parents, school resources, and the attitudes towards ethnic language schools held by teachers and principals (see Appendix 6 for a summary of the most significant findings obtained for the entire sample of schools, and where available, for German in particular).

ATTITUDES TOWARDS HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

The 1976 study of nonofficial languages in Canada7 raised the issue of the role of educational institutions in language retention. Should a public or private school be involved at all in attempts to keep ancestral languages alive? The majority of the responding parents believed that they had the primary responsibility for teaching the ethnic language (43%); this was especially true of members of the nonimmigrant generations. Yet, almost one quarter believed that the agent responsible for ethnic language reten-


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tion were the schools in a particular area; if none existed, the parents ought to be responsible. Another quarter thought that schools across Canada were the primary agents for teaching the ethnic history, language and culture. In this case, the immigrants, rather than the Canadian-born, were more strongly convinced that schools ought to be the agents for the transmission of the heritage language. Among the various ethnic groups surveyed, the Germans exceeded the average somewhat (49% of the respondents) in the view that it was up to the parents to teach the children the ancestral language; and they considered the ethnic language schools to be less important for this purpose than did the average ethnic.8 If the educational system was to be responsible for teaching the ancestral language, which level should bear the major responsibility? Primary schools were mentioned most often by the total group (32%), followed by secondary schools (25%); ethnic language schools and church schools occupied the next rank (together 20%). Only 10% of the parents thought that the universities and colleges were the appropriate place to teach the ancestral language, history, and culture. There was a substantial difference in opinion regarding the importance of the ethnic language schools between members of the immigrant and first generation Canadian-born respondents and the older families: 32% of the older group assigned greater importance to the ethnic language and church schools compared with 18% for the Canadian-born generation. The same pattern held for the Germans in particular: the immigrant generation placed the major responsibility for teaching the children the heritage language on the primary and secondary schools (56%) compared with 20% of the Canadian-born parents who thought that ethnic language and church schools should offer this type of instruction. Approximately 32% of the respondents of the third generation would give the heritage and church language schools the task of teaching German language, history, and culture, but a little more than 60% would have German taught in the elementary and secondary school systems.9 It follows that, at most, only one third of parents of German ethnic origin would assign the responsibility for teaching their mother tongue to the heritage and church language schools. In this respect, German ranks near the top among the various ethnic groups in terms of support of ethnic and church language schools, although there was substantial variation across generations and ethnic groups. When it came to discover who would foot the bill for such heritage language education, those who favored language retention most strongly, in general, placed substantially

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more burden on the general public (rather than one's own ethnic group) than did those who had a less pronounced commitment to language retention. Among the ethnic German respondents, 40% of the first generation wanted the parents to pay for such instruction (compared with an overall average of 31% for all ethnic groups taken together), 17% wanted the ethnic group to be responsible for the expenses of teaching the heritage language (average: 15%), but only 33% (compared with 43% for all ethnic groups together) would call on the Canadian taxpayer to defray the costs of instruction in German.10 When the question was asked how strongly the parents would support their children taking a course in German (where German would be the language of instruction as is the case in most ethnic language schools), 10% of the first-generation German parents said that they would "insist," 44% would "encourage," about 9% did not care, and only 2% would actively discourage their children from taking such a course. The percentage of those German parents who would "insist" was substantially lower than the overall ethnic average (18%) and much lower than, for example, the corresponding percentage of parents of Ukrainian origin (29%); on the other hand, only 2% of Dutch-origin parents would "insist" on their children taking a functional language course. It makes sense that the immigrant generation among the German respondents would insist more strongly on their children taking a course in German than the second and third generation respondents (3% and approx. 2%, respectively).11 Regarding the degree of importance assigned to more ethnic schools in Canada as a means of language retention, 16% of the German-origin respondents felt that this was "very important" (compared with the overall average of 27%), 20% considered it to be "important" (vs. 24% for the average), and 42% thought it "unimportant" that there be more ethnic language schools in Canada (32% for the total group). As before, among the major ethnic groups, German ranked right before Scandinavian and Dutch respondents in the degree to which they felt more ethnic language schools were "unimportant" (51% and 51%, respectively); on the other hand, they ranked considerably behind on this parameter among groups such as the Ukrainians, 29% of whom thought that it was "very important" and 25% of whom considered it to be "unimportant."12 When the question was asked how important it was to have "better" ethnic language schools in Canada, the distribution for German was very


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similar to the one observed for "more" schools: only 14% (compared with 26% for the total group) considered it to be "very important" to have better ethnic language schools; 42% were either indifferent or considered it unimportant. Not surprisingly, a greater percentage of those respondents who were "fluent" in German thought it was "very important" to have better ethnic language schools (21%) than those who only had "some knowledge" (10%). Observations previously made regarding the attitudes of Scandinavian and Dutch-origin respondents compared to Ukrainian-origin parents held here as well: the former two groups were even less impressed than the Germans by the need to have "better" ethnic language schools.13 Composite Picture of a Heritage Language School Around 1976 The following composite, with an emphasis on the German language schools, emerges from this historical snapshot of the heritage language schools. Their primary objective was perceived to consist of providing instruction in the basics of the heritage language (especially emphasizing conversational ability over reading and writing, but not neglecting the teaching of grammar) as long as public and private schools did not provide such instruction, and of assisting in the maintenance and preservation of ethnic customs and traditions. Many of the heritage language schools had been in existence for more than ten years, presumably because instruction in second languages, especially the less frequent ones, was not widely available before the early 1970s.14 Churches, which are frequently assigned an important role in the maintenance of ethnic language, customs and traditions, had been the original sponsors of these schools most often, followed by ethno-cultural organizations and by parent groups. Over the years, however, many church schools had disappeared and private schools were set up in their place. Although the schools varied greatly in size, German language schools in these days tended to be quite small, having about five to six teachers each who would teach about 12. students in each of the classes—clearly a very good size for effective teaching; however, the size of the enrolment, already in 1976, had become a concern for many schools, and German schools as well as many other ethnic language schools reported steady decreases in the number of students attending. In the German ethnic group, it was most often families in the lower

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and lower-middle socioeconomic strata who supported the schools and sent their children to them. They tended to have been born outside of Canada, they spoke German in the home (or at least would have been able to) and obviously wanted to keep the German language alive among the young generation growing up in Canada. A significant number of ethnic language school principals thought that the recruitment of effective teachers constituted a major problem, and it may well have been: among the teachers in German language schools, very few if any had any professional training in second-language instruction (many had not even finished high school), and few had taken any courses in German language, culture or history. On the other hand, the great majority of the teachers were "native speakers" of the language and, therefore, were probably fluent in it. Once hired, however, the principals tended to be highly satisfied with their teachers, and the teachers, in turn, reported high job satisfaction and good professional relationships among themselves as a group and with their principal. Both teachers and principals displayed a high commitment to the ethnic group by joining many of its activities, by cultivating German-speaking friends, and preferring endogamous marriages for their children, other factors being equal. Although they saw their role as an important one in the preservation of the German heritage in Canada, they did assign major responsibility for teaching the children German to the parents (presumably because there was so little class time per week which could be used for teaching and learning), and indeed, almost half of the German-origin parents surveyed thought that they ought to have the primary responsibility for teaching their children German. This was especially true of Canadian-born parents; immigrant parents tended to assign this responsibility to schools, in particular the public schools. Support for ethnic language and church schools was limited to about one third of the parents sampled. Furthermore, although the teachers and principals considered it important for the children to learn German, the majority thought that English (but not necessarily French) was certainly more important than German for the children's future, and they rejected quite strongly the idea of setting up separate German-only elementary schools for fear that the children would be left outside the mainstream Canadian culture. In 1976, many teachers and principals complained about a lack of adequate facilities and adequate textbooks; they could spend only very


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little money on school provisions and often had to rely on embassies and consulates for books and magazines. The schools were limited in their funding, which, at that time, was limited to private support and to school fees. The prevailing sentiment also ran against government funding of heritage language schools: German-origin parents believed that they and ethnic organizations should pay for most of the expenses incurred. Compared with other ethnic groups, German-origin parents in 1976 were not as firm in their conviction of the value of the heritage laguage schools: only ten percent (most of them from the immigrant generation) would have "insisted" on their children taking German, with another 44% "encouraging" them. This relative lack of strong desire for German-language education was reflected in the parents' attitudes towards increasing the availability and quality of German language schools. About one third of the German-origin parents surveyed considered it to be "very important" or "important" that there be "more" and "better" schools in Canada; almost half was either "indifferent" or thought that this aim was "unimportant." While the parents were generally supportive of the teacher's work, the students' attitude towards having to learn German was often ambivalent: they complained about the extra work load, lack of free time, and apparently, a number of them would rather not have taken German because they thought that their parents forced them to attend German school. Nevertheless, the attrition rate throughout a school year was low, and most students returned to the heritage language school year after year.15

HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN ALBERTA

Enrolments In 1985/86, according to the records of Alberta Education, 10,425 students were enrolled in 126 heritage language schools in Alberta which received some sort of program support by the Government. Thirty-seven languages were taught in Alberta in that year (most of them in Calgary and Edmonton, especially the exotic languages); they ranged from Arabic, Bengali, and Cambodian, to Japanese, Korean, and Lao, to Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese, with others such as German, Italian, Spanish, and Swahili in between. This high level of enrolment is in sharp

Z44


contrast with a total of only 4,859 students during 1978/79 in 74 schools across the province. Edmonton with 4,606 students and Calgary with 5,337 students accounted for the lion's share of the total enrolment (almost 96%). In Fort McMurray and district, for example, 153 students were studying a heritage language, in the Lake Land 83 students. In southwestern Alberta, a total of 170 students were registered in the heritage language schools; southeastern Alberta and central Alberta had 38 students each. Of the 37 languages, 28 were taught in Edmonton and 30 in Calgary, while in the smaller centers classes were held in one (southeastern Alberta) to seven (southwestern Alberta) languages. A total of 933 teachers were involved in this educational enterprise. There are no reliable historical data regarding the development of German heritage language schools in Alberta. Thiessen claimed the existence of 29 language schools in Alberta between 1964 and 1966, 27 during 1966/67, and 20 such schools during 1972/73.16 The author of a brochure commemorating the tenth anniversary of the German Language School of Calgary reported in 1968 that 41 language schools taught German in Alberta in 1964.17 The Heritage Language Education Study of 198118 reported the existence of 12, "supplementary" German schools. According to the files of Alberta Education, there were eight German heritage language schools in Alberta in 1982/83 which received financial support from the Provincial Government, of whom five were located in Edmonton and two in Calgary. By 1985/86, the number of German language schools applying for a provincial grant had increased to ten, six of them in Edmonton, two in Calgary, one in Lethbridge, and one in Milk River (on a Hutterite Colony) with a combined enrolment of 713 students during 1985/86.19 These schools varied considerably in the size of their enrolments: from 7 in one of the schools in Edmonton to 196 for one the Calgary schools and 233 for the largest German heritage language school in Edmonton. Of the ten schools, eight enrolled 60 students or less. Present trends in the German language schools are perceived quite differently by different groups: officials in the Secretary of State's office and in Alberta Education speak of a leveling off or even a slight decline in the number of students studying German at heritage language schools (and these assertions are borne out by individual schools' enrolment data), while some school principals (especially in the church schools) contend that more parents than before are insisting that their children acquire the ancestral language.


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Financial Support for Heritage Language Schools Teaching students, no matter how simple the instructional program, costs money—money for renting a building or a room; materials, such as textbooks, songbooks, note books, paper and other supplies have to be purchased; the teachers must be paid at least a token amount.20 Yet, school fees must not be excessive in order not to discriminate against those who might not be able to afford them. Volunteer help is needed for cleaning the premises, supervising the students, organizing special events and festivities and supplying the necessary cakes, cookies, and drinks for these occasions. There is money to be spent on awards and prizes handed out at the end of the year to reward the diligent. And, of course, the parents have to make a great sacrifice of their own free time because there is no school bus to pick up and deliver the children. In many ways, a heritage language school is a true community school, a school which can only exist because a common purpose and a common bond unite the parents, the more or less willing students, and the school officials and teachers. No wonder, then, that the churches—which often served as a community center for the immigrants—willingly took on the task of teaching the children of the immigrants their parents' language—not always for purely altruistic reasons, of course: they did want to ensure that there were faithful who could follow services in the ancestral language after the immigrants themselves had died. Sometimes, the government of the country in which a particular language was spoken, contributed some funds. For example, when the heritage language school Deutsche Sonnabendschule in Calgary set up classes in 1956/57, the German Consulate supported the school with four dollars per child per two-hour class for the duration of the course; a similar amount (50 cents per month and child) was contributed by the parents. Over the years, the financial support given to the various heritage language schools, in particular, the German language schools, has increased substantially. The German language schools which were eligible for funding could apply for the following amounts in 1985/86: first of all, for a grant from the Canadian Federal Government (Department of the Secretary of State for Multicultural Affairs), staggered by enrolments: $55 each for the first twenty students, $35 each for the next forty students, and $20 each for the remaining students; secondly, for a grant from the Cultural Heritage Division of Alberta Culture which, during

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1985/86, amounted to $25 per child provided (a) that the heritage language school offered a minimum of fifty instructional hours per school year, (b) that the registered students attended at least 60% of the total number of classes, and (c) that the school did not already receive assistance from other departments of the Provincal Government (Early Childhood Services, Department of Education); and thirdly, for funds to "cover deficits incurred," the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, through the Consulate General in Edmonton, subsidized each child in eligible schools which applied for such assistance to a maximum of almost $52 per year. The parents' contribution varied, but annual school fees of $50 to $60, during the mid-eighties, were the norm (often, a reduced rate or even free attendance was offered to the third and any further children from one family). In several cases, private individuals and German clubs or other organizations made donations towards the operation of the school or offered money for awards, scholarships, and prizes (for example, Club Austria offered funds towards establishing a scholarship for the study of German at the University of Calgary). A Brief History of Selected German Language Schools in Alberta Establishing a German language school involves a great deal of work, time, patience, and perseverance. The developmental history of the German Language School in Calgary may serve to illustrate this point.21 This school was founded in 1956/57, and the first class was held, in rather primitive conditions, on May 4, 1957 with six students, but soon 35 children were enrolled in the program. Teaching materials as well as direct financial assistance were provided by the German Consulate. Classes went well and word got around. In the fall of 1957, 40 students were registered; in 1958, the school was incorporated as the German Language School of Calgary, and two years later, another school was set up in Bowness. For a while, enrolments remained steady, in spite of earnest recruitment efforts. In 1962 there were 50 children; 1963 saw a decline to 41 students. The plan to introduce credit courses, in addition to the noncredit classes for elementary children, increased the registrations substantially (1965: 96 children, 1966: 103 children). In 1966, the German Language School of Calgary was the first private heritage language school in the Province to be accredited by the Alberta Department of Education. On May 26, 1966 a letter was received informing school officials that credits


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had been given to one of the students for his work in German 10; interestingly enough, this student came from a non-German-speaking home. The German Consulate had begun to give generous assistance with book prizes, films, and scholarship support for teachers to attend in-service courses at Goethe Institutes in Germany. In 1966 as well, an extra class was introduced for children of non-German-speaking parents (in 1983, it was reported by the principal that about one quarter of the students did not have any previous knowledge of German upon entry). Although it took five years for the children in the German Language School to reach the standard expected by the Department of Education for German 10 (this was explained by school officials as the result of the teachers' attempts to teach not only German grammar, but to teach the children to speak the language as well), provincial officials were satisfied with the children's achievements, and in 1967, the German Language School in Calgary was given permission to add German 20 and German 30 to its course offerings. Enrolments increased further to more than 200 students, and consequently the school had to keep moving to bigger and bigger quarters. Since 1958, the German Language School of Calgary has taught more than 3,500 students; about 10% have successfully completed German 30 and have consequently obtained 15 high school credits—quite an achievement considering that the students attended German classes either in the evening after regular school hours or on Saturdays when their peers watched television or did whatever else they liked. Since 1977, a prestigious German speech contest for German 30 students from the German Language School and other public schools in Calgary has met with a considerable response, not the least because of the scholarhips awarded and the book prizes donated by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Goethe Institutes. Judges for the contest have been representatives from the Consulate General, the Universities of Calgary and Alberta, and from the Departments of Education and Culture. At present, the total enrolment in the German Language School of Calgary is approximately 100 students. The other large German school in Calgary, the Language School of The German Canadian Club of Calgary, was started in 1958.22 During the school year 1985/86, 196 students were registered in eleven different courses, including preschool and adult classes, with several students having been put on a waiting list for the coming year because of limited space. Children in Grades 4 or 5 in elementary school may enrol in the be-

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ginners' classes; on that level, they are taught German folk songs in addition to receiving formal instruction in the language. On the fourth level in German school, a special component on German culture and civilization is introduced, while in the upper grades (credit courses), the students learn about the Berlin question, the division of Germany, and about the other German-speaking countries. In German 31, they review the grammar, study aspects of German history, read excerpts from the works of classical and modern authors, discuss aspects of the economy and the political life in Germany, research the lives of famous German personalities, write a term paper, and finish the course with the international schoolleaving certificate in German. Throughout the school year, the students on all levels are engaged in a variety of activities, such as singing in old-age homes, participating in skiing trips and speech contests, and entertaining their parents twice a year with recitals. The enrolment in the school seems to have stabilized around 200 students per year after some rather significant increases. The annual fee at the Language School amounts to $100 per child, with reductions of ten dollars for additional children from the same family. The German Language School Edelweiss in Edmonton was founded in 1968 under the patronage of the German-Canadian Association of Alberta.23 One hundred and five students (most of whom came from the schools organized by the Salem Baptist Church and the Bonifatius Church which had been dissolved) began in the first year of the school's existence. In that year, four elementary classes and one German 10 class were held; but numbers rose substantially: by 1977/78, there were six elementary classes, five credit courses, as well as a conversation class for a total of 204 students. The highest enrolment so far was reached in 1980/81 when German was taught in ten elementary classes, eight credit courses, and three conversation courses; a total of 324 students was registered in these courses during that school year. As time went on, the enrolment decreased to 280 students in 1982/83 and to 233 in 1985/86. A recent innovation at this school is the introduction of parallel course sequences, one of them following the prescribed curriculum with prescribed materials for German 10 through German 30; the other sequence (which is intended for students who have attended several years of German classes previously or who have recently immigrated from Germany) follows an accelerated path, starting in German 10 with the book that is being used in German 30 in the regular stream, and continuing through German 20, 30, and 31 with more advanced materials. This sequence leads to the Sprachdiplom I der Standigen Konferenz der Kultusminister


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[Language Diploma Level I of the Permanent Conference of Ministers of Education]. In 1986, nine students from the Edelweiss-Schule were the first in Alberta to take this challenging examination. All three German language schools pride themselves on having very well qualified teachers on their staff who set and achieve high standards. But not only formal instruction is emphasized; throughout the year, cultural films are shown on a regular basis and certain cultural events are discussed and acted out whenever possible. The schools organize various celebrations and festivities over the school year, and awards day at the end of the school year is always a day to remember for students as well as parents and teachers. The German school of the German Church of God in Calgary may serve as a "representative" example of a church school (although it should be remembered that even among the small number of church schools there are considerable differences concerning the number of students, courses offered, materials, fees and so on).24 The school was founded in 1964; all courses have been noncredit courses. The main objective of instruction has been to teach the students listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills starting in Grade I and continuing until Grade Seven. Since the community is almost exclusively German-speaking (all services on Sundays and Wednesdays as well as the youth services and business meetings are conducted in German), it is not surprising that the majority of the students have a strong German background (in 1982/83, only three of the 28 students were anglophones). Student enrolment has varied over the years from approximately 30 to 45 students. There are seven grades with one class in each grade, but two grades (three in the top grades) are always taught in the same classroom by the same teacher. In this school, as in all the church schools, there is a pronounced spirit of community and belonging. Parents support the teachers very strongly in their work, and the annual Christmas celebrations and graduation festivities are attended by all family members who share in the sense of accomplishment felt by the beaming children. Materials and Methods A distinction has to be made between the materials used in credit and in noncredit classes: In the former, only approved books may be used, whereas in the latter, the school may decide what is most suitable for its purposes. Consequently, the materials in German 10, 20, and 30 in the

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German language school credit courses have been the same as those used in the public schools (Verstehen und Sprechen, Verstehen und Lesen, Foundation Course in German, Contemporary German, A-LM Levels 1 and 2, and most recently, Vorwarts and Miteinander for German 31). In the noncredit classes, the Ina und Udo series was widely used (it still is in several church language schools); a great variety of grammar books, workbooks, and readers were in use at various times in the language schools. For the last few years, Komm bitte and Vorwarts have become very popular and have proved to be highly effective teaching materials. All teachers supply their own methodology (often to the chagrin of supervisors and textbook authors who predicate their approach on certain sequences and teaching behaviors) and sometimes their own readings. In some church schools, the methodology employed is "traditional" in nature, emphasizing grammar exercises, translations, essays, and book reports; in a few, traditional "German virtues" are emphasized in class behavior as well as in the readings, whereas other teachers employ the most "modern" of methods, getting the students to communicate in the language and emphasizing a perception of German culture which is up-todate and factually correct. A project undertaken by the German-Canadian Congress ("Auf den Spuren der Geschichte") promises to be of considerable assistance to teachers in the heritage language schools across Canada; it involves the collection and didactization of authentic materials from GermanCanadian history (diaries, birth certificates, travelogues, etc.) for use as supplementary learning kits in classrooms from kindergarten through secondary school age. It is hoped that the materials will eventually also be approved for use in the public schools. Professional Development The Alberta Ethnic Language Teachers' Association was specifically founded to assist teachers in the heritage language schools in upgrading their teaching skills and providing a forum for the exchange of ideas. The teachers are usually very dedicated and enthusiastic about their classes, even if they do not have the formal qualifications for second-language teaching, and they like to attend local workshops on teaching methodology given by the universities. For more than ten years, a national conference has brought teachers in the German language schools together once a year so that they could benefit from the experiences of others in the


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field. The conference has been heavily subsidized by the Canadian government; more than 250 teachers from across Canada usually attend the conference. In May 1981, the Federal Government organized a national conference on heritage language education in Saskatoon which brought together specialists in second- and third-language education from all over the country. Those who attended the conference had been hand-picked by the office of the Secretary of State for Multicultural Affairs because of their potential role as multiplyers of knowledge gained during the conference. Teachers of credit courses in the German language schools, of course, may attend the annual meetings of the Modern Language Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association. Many do prefer, however, to participate in the conferences specifically organized for teachers in the heritage language schools.25 After all, some of the problems encountered in that teaching context are unique to it, e.g., the role of the heritage language as a language of instruction, the question of teaching German using the methodology of Deutsch als Fremdsprache [German as a foreign language] versus the approach followed in the muttersprachlicher Unterricht [instruction for children with German as their mother tongue], the special difficulties involved in meeting the students only once a week, or the question of methodology for teaching German to kindergarten and elementary students—issues not usually faced by junior and senior high school teachers.

CONCLUSION Heritage language schools were first founded in the 1950s in response to the need felt by the recent immigrants to have their children learn German; often there was no local school which would offer German in high school. These schools taught German to kindergarten and elementary children (later on to adults as well) because there was no provision for German courses for these age groups. The very young and adults have remained the most important clientele, although most schools have, in the meantime, acquired the right to give credit courses as well. In recent years, they have also offered more and more courses for German as a foreign language in addition to courses where German is taught to students who have some family language background.

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Several studies of the heritage language schools in Canada have pointed out the important role which these schools have played as supplementary schools over the last thirty years, in spite of sometimes mediocre facilities. In today's network of schools in Alberta, they are serving as focus schools which can offer specialized or advanced courses and exams that the public schools cannot afford, such as German 31 for students with excellent language background or the German Language Certificate. Relatively generous grants from the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Provincial as well as the Federal Government have made it possible to keep tuition low and yet offer highquality instruction. While a few years ago the textbooks used tended to be out-of-date, the teachers largely unqualified, and the learning facilities unsophisticated, the remaining heritage language schools in Alberta can take pride in a loyal clientele and first-rate instruction. In many cases, the teachers of the credit courses are more progressive and show more initiative than some teachers in the public school system. For those teachers who do not have a teaching certificate, workshops and local, regional, and national conferences offer many opportunities for up-grading their teaching skills. No longer do heritage language school teachers have to be "only housewives." Students in the heritage language schools, because of the commitment to German language and culture shown by their parents as well as by their teachers, are more likely to regard German not only as an academic subject, but as a means of accessing German culture in Europe and in Canada. They will also be more likely—if they achieve sufficient proficiency—to consider German their second (or even first) tongue than students in the public schools where the language is taught as a subject. Most heritage language schools have fallen on hard times in terms of enrolments, as have the public schools. The shrinkage of the Germanspeaking population in Alberta and parents' apathy have affected registrations in the various classes for children of school age and adults. Although there seems to be a trend developing for anglophone students to attend German classes in the heritage language schools because the availability of instruction in German at the elementary schools is essentially restricted to three or four schools in and around Edmonton and Calgary and because these parents consider it important for their children to learn German at a young age, prospects are for smaller enrolments. This development will be particularly hazardous for the smaller schools as support by the Canadian federal government is tied to the


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number of students attending school, and it is questionable whether the other granting agencies will be able or willing to increase their support to cover all losses incurred. Principals of the heritage language schools face hard choices as they try to reduce costs (for example, by increasing class size and closing unprofitable classes) without reducing the quality of instruction. Furthermore, considering the fact that German is spoken as a mother tongue to a much higher degree in the rural compared to the urban areas, German will likely be taught only in the home, with corresponding effects on the accuracy and proficiency achieved by the children. As the number of children with German language background continues to decrease, more effort will have to be expended on attracting the anglophone students. This change in the clientele will require a shift in the methodology of teaching German in these schools. It is difficult to predict what the future will hold for the German language schools in Alberta as several conflicting trends may be observed to operate. On the one hand, the increasing qualifications of teachers, the better physical and financial conditions under which German is being taught, and the decrease in the enrolments in German in the public schools (and the consequent closure of some high school German courses or even entire high school German programs) should serve to increase the attractiveness of German heritage language schools.26 On the other hand, the aging of the German-speaking population in Alberta and the resulting lack of school-age children who might attend such schools, the small number of immigrants entering Canada and Alberta from the Germanspeaking countries, the increasing indifference to German language and culture as part of life in the towns and cities of the Province which accompanies the passing away of the older generation, the fact that German has not been taught as a mother tongue in many German-speaking families and thus cannot become a home language for the next generation, the Canada-wide trend towards assimilation of all heritage languages by English, all surely imply a serious decline in student registrations in German language schools over the next decade and beyond. A decisive factor will be the extent to which the German language schools will be able to appeal increasingly to the anglophone community of Alberta, and thus the principals' and teachers' energy with which the cause of German language education outside the ethnic milieu is presented will be of crucial importance.

8 THE TEACHING OF GERMAN AT UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES IN ALBERTA

THE STUDY OF GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA in Edmonton is the senior post-secondary educational institution in the province. It is the oldest among the four Alberta universities, it offers the greatest variety of programs and courses, and it has by far the largest enrolment. The other universities were founded relatively late (the University of Calgary as an autonomous university in 1966, the University of Lethbridge in 1967, and Athabasca University in 1978), although a southern campus of the University of Alberta at Calgary and colleges elsewhere had existed for many years before they gained status as independent universities. Athabasca University is the only truly "new" university; it specializes in distance education and has no campus of its own in the conventional sense of the word. The Department of Modern (later Germanic) Languages at the University of Alberta in Edmonton has had a substantial impact on the other post-secondary institutions in terms of standardization of available programs, course offerings, and academic standards (to the present, affiliated and other colleges in Alberta pattern certain of their courses after the University of Alberta model to allow their students ready transfer of course credits). 254

German at Universities & Colleges

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The Status of German as a Matriculation Subject and as a University Subject at the Time of the Founding of the University Since the University of Alberta was founded in 1908, courses in German language and literature have been integral parts of its admission requirements as well as of its programs of study. In 1909, in order to be admitted to the university, a prospective student intending to obtain a B.A. degree had to choose, among other matriculation examination subjects, Latin or Greek as well as one of French, German or Latin or Greek (the one not already chosen); candidates who desired to proceed to the B.Sc. degree in Arts had to choose French and German and one of Physics, Chemistry, or Latin; and students who wanted to obtain a B.Sc. degree in Applied Science needed to present one of French, German, or Latin as one of their matriculation subjects. The following body of knowledge of grammar and literature was required for the matriculation examination in German: Grammar: Accidence and Syntax including translation of simple English sentences to test the Candidate's familiarity with Elementary Grammar. Sight translation from Modern German Authors. Special study of the following selections: Grimm, Rotkappchen; Anderson, Wie's der Alte macht, Das neue Kleid, Venedig, Rothschild, Der Bar; Ertl, Himmelschlussel; Frommel, Das eiserne Kreuz; Baumbach, Nicotiana, Der Goldbaum; Heine, Lorelei, Du bist wie eine Blume; Uhland, Schafers Sonntagslied, Das Schlo am Meere; Chamisso, Das Schlo Boncourt; Claudius, Die Sterne, Der Riese Goliath; Goethe, Mignon, Erlkonig, Der Sanger; Schiller, Der Jungling am Bache; Baumbach, Waldnovellen.1 These works represented the prescribed subject matter for Standards VII and VIII of the high schools, indicating that the senior grades of high school were indeed intended directly as preparation for university admission. But knowledge of at least one foreign language was not only required for admission. The courses offered at the university were divided into Junior Courses (First and Second Year)2 and Senior Courses (Third and Fourth Year). Among the five junior courses taken in the first year of a B.A. program, two of them had to be languages, namely, Greek or Latin

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and one of Greek or Latin (the one not already chosen) or French or German. In second year, students had to continue with Greek or Latin as their first foreign language and were allowed to choose two subjects from the following group: Greek or Latin (the one not already chosen), French, German, Mathematics, Logic and Psychology, and Chemistry. The Senior Courses were divided into Literary and Philosophical Subjects (English, Latin, Greek, French, German, Philosophy, and History) and Scientific Subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Astronomy, and Mathematics), from which six had to be chosen. Students working towards a B.Sc. in Arts degree had to take French and German in first year as well as in second year, and again six courses, of which French and German were two, had to be chosen from a total of ten. Students proceeding towards a B.Sc. in Applied Science did not need to study a foreign language in either their first or second year; their program was designed exclusively to prepare them for specialization in the various branches of engineering in the third and fourth years.3 The course content in the various Junior and Senior courses in German (three hours per week for the duration of a full academic year) was the following: COURSE I: The High School German Grammar; Horning, German Composition; Goethe, The Vicar of Sesenheim; Freytag, Die Journalisten; Schiller, Maria Stuart, and a collection of poems. Hoffman's Historische Erzahlungen was used as supplementary reading material. COURSE II: Horning, German Composition; Keller, Bilder der Deutschen Literatur; Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm; Goethe, Egmont; and Stifter, Das Heidedorf. Schiller's Die Piccolomini represented supplementary reading material. COURSE III: In this Senior Course, composition continued to be practised, and students had to study the history of German literature from its beginnings to the death of Schiller (1805). The following works were required reading: Lessing, Emilia Galotti; Goethe, Torquato Tasso; Schiller, Wallensteins Tod, as well as a collection of German poems. Supplementary reading material consisted of Freytag, Karl der Grof ; Grillparzer, Der Traum, ein Leben; and Goethe, Faust, Part I.


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In COURSE IV, the students studied the history of German literature in the nineteenth century and read the following works: Eichendorff, Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts; Grillparzer, Der arme Spielmann, Sappho; Sudermann, Teja; Hauptmann, Die Versunkene Glocke, and a collection of German poems. Sudermann's Katzensteg and Lessing's Nathan der Weise represented supplementary reading material for the final course in German.4 The earliest enrolment data in the languages are available for the academic year 1910/11 (see Appendix 9, Table 6). One hundred and twentynine students were registered at the University of Alberta; 45 students were enrolled in four French courses and 10 students in three Greek courses; in German A (an introductory course for students entering the university with a matriculation deficiency in German), 8 students were registered, 8 in German I and 5 in German II. No students were as yet enrolled in the senior courses. Latin had by far the highest enrolment of the languages: 17 students took Latin A, 15 Latin I, 13 Latin II, and 66 students were enrolled in Latin III. Two years later, the German enrolment amounted to 27 students: 5 in German A, II in German I, 7 in German II, and 4 in German HI. The expectations held for the students at that time are reflected in the final examinations which they had to take—and they were high (see Appendix 7 for a sample of an exam in the second-year course), requiring the learners to translate difficult passages from and into German, to write essays on literary topics, and to manipulate items of advanced German grammar. In 1912/13, the course content was restructured, and new courses were offered. In German I, the language component was increased with practice in colloquial German, dictations, and prose versions; furthermore, the "classical" literature was replaced by three comedies (Benedix, Gunstige Vorzeichen, Der Proze : Wilhelmi, Einer mu heiraten), legends (Keller, Legenden), and Freytag's Karl der Gro . German II continued with practice in colloquial German, prose versions, and reports in German on collateral reading. The reading texts for this course were of a historical nature and either depicted some period of German civilization or illustrated the German method of dealing with historical themes (e.g., Scheffel, Der Trompeter von Sackingen; Meyer, Jurg Jenatsch; Schiller, Maria Stuart).

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German III focussed on the history of German drama in the nineteenth century. In the first term, the works of Kleist (Der Prinz von Hamburg) and Grillparzer (Sappho; Weh dem, der lugt) were given prominence, and their connection with the classicial period was indicated; in the second term, the beginnings of modern movements in drama were considered in the work of Hebbel (Agnes Bernauer and Herodes und Mariamne), Ludwig (Der Erbforster) and their successors, with some attention to Wagner (Die Meistersinger) and the development of the musicdrama. German IV comprised a general study of Goethe's works. As far as was possible, the author's activity in varied fields was illustrated (Lyrics and ballads, Iphigenie auf Tauris, Torquato Tasso, Hermann und Dorothea, Faust I, and Dichtung und Wahrheit). In 1911/12, two courses in Honors (extending over two years) had been introduced as well, in Germanic Philology (Historical Grammar, Reading of Old and Middle High German texts) and in German Literature (study in a special field with thesis, discussions and report). For 1911/12, the topic of the Philology course was Historical Grammar and the reading of Old and Middle High German texts; the topic for the Literature honors course was Schiller's Relations to Sturm und Drang. In the following year, the subjects of the Honors course in literature were Faust II and Wilhelm Meister. The final examinations for German II and German III were essentially the equivalent to the exams for the second-year course (see Appendix 8 for a summary of the content of an Honors exam for third- and fourthyear students). Undoubtedly, these exams presented a challenge even to those students who had studied the history of the German language intensively. While expectations and standards for admission and completion of a university program were high, enrolments were low. Considering the small percentage of Albertans who finished Standard VIII at that time, it must be concluded that the university programs in honors as well as the general programs were attended mostly by gifted students who had the good fortune to have been able to attend and matriculate at an urban high school in Alberta or by students from the East. The 1914/15 President's Report stated that only 33 of the 439 students attending the University of Alberta had been born in Alberta. Five years later, more than half of the Albertan students came from the four largest urban centers:


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30 students from Edmonton, 16 from Medicine Hat, 13 from Lacombe, and 12 students from Calgary. The Foreign Language Requirement at the University In the early years of the University of Alberta, there was no debate of the question whether or not a university education should entail advanced work in a foreign language; the study of another language was thought to benefit the development of a disciplined mind versed in all modes of thought, and knowledge of one or more foreign languages was simply considered the hallmark of an educated person. Accordingly, the University required all incoming students to present at least one foreign language for admission to a B.A. or B.Sc. program, and all students in a B.A. and a B.Sc. in Arts program had to engage in advanced work in these languages for several years as part of their program of studies. Over the last thirty years, the entrance requirement as well as the exit requirement for one or more foreign languages has lost its perceived importance, with the result that in 1984/85 there existed no general second language admission requirement (except for students entering the Faculty of Arts) and no exit language requirement (except for a few departments in the Faculty of Arts which required a knowledge of a second language of their students, usually students in Honours). The following is a brief summary of the University's movement towards the abolition of the matriculation and university language requirements; it is by no means complete because university, faculty, and departmental regulations governing the language requirement have changed in highly complex and divergent patterns. As has been pointed out, the entrance as well as the exit language requirements were most stringent at the time of the founding of the University. In 1910/11, a classical language and French or German were required of all incoming B.A. students, French and German of all B.Sc. in Arts students, and all prospective B.Sc. students in Applied Science needed to present high school courses in one of French, German, or Latin. When at the university, B.A. students had to take two years of Latin and two years of either French or German in their first two years; further courses in the third and fourth years were not required. Students who were unable to present the required languages for admission were given an opportunity to remove their matriculation deficiency at the uni-

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versity by taking a make-up course. The 1909/10 Calendar stated that "special courses would be arranged at the beginning of the session for students conditioned in French or German [having a matriculation deficiency]," and indeed from 1910/11 on, German A, a three-hour/week course was offered for such students. This course could not be credited towards a degree and was planned simply to enable the students to make up deficiencies in matriculation. In the first year of its existence, there were 8 students enrolled in German A (out of the total university enrolment of 129 students), in 1912, 5 students, in 1916, 11 students. It should be noted that these figures represented a major share of the total enrolment in German, which amounted to 21 in 1910/11, 27 in 1911/12., and 36 in 1915/16. Clearly, there must have been some students who did not have an opportunity to learn German in high school and who wanted to begin this language at the university; thus, in 1916/17, an Introductory German course sequence 31/32, was introduced which, after satisfactory completion, admitted students who selected German as their language option to the regular courses of the second year. In 1917/18, 12 of 33 students of German were enrolled in this beginners course; and in 1918 and 1919, 7 and 9 students, respectively, took this course. But in 1920/21, the 31/32 course sequence was abandoned again, was amalgamated with the former German A course, and was called "Introductory German." Students "having no training in German" were permitted to enrol in this course; no explicit mention was made of the possibility to make up a "condition" in German with or without university credit. In 1921, the course was described as covering the common inflections and the elementary rules of syntax; it aimed at giving the students a reading knowledge of easy German, yet required oral work and composition based on authors whose works were read in the course as well. Sixteen students were enrolled in this course in 1920/21. From 1921/22 on, students deficient in German or French who entered the Faculties of Applied Science and Medicine were allowed, after completing the A course with a minimum of 65%, to read the course work in the Scientific German course during the summer and to "write it off" at the time of the supplemental exams in September. A very similar arrangement came into existence for other students deficient in languages in 1922/23. Anyone entering the university deficient in a language could take German A in the first year and, given a minimum mark of 65% in this course, could read the authors of the First-Year University course


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during the summer and write these off at the supplemental examinations in the fall. However, no credit was granted until the second-year work in the language had been successfully completed. In 1921/22, 28 of 52 students were enrolled in the A course, in 1923 49 out of 72, and in 1923/24 68 out of 107 students, and so on. Clearly, the enrolment in the Introductory German course then dominated Departmental enrolments in German as it does today. The situation was somewhat different in the other languages: In French, in 1932/33, for example, only 15 students, out of a total enrolment of 353, were registered in French A; in Greek, 18 of 55 students took Greek A-1, and 26 students out of a total of 223 studied Latin in Latin A. In the mid-twenties, the universal language requirement began to crumble: B.A. and B.Sc. students were still required to do two languages in first year, but only one language was compulsory in second year. In a B.Sc. in Engineering program, only one specially designed course in German or French was required for the first year; no requirements existed thereafter; similar arrangements began to be made for Medicine and other faculties. While by 1936/37 French or German or Latin was still required as a matriculation subject in practically all faculties (except, for example, in Agriculture), the two-year language requirement at the university for B.A. and B.Sc. students in Arts and most other faculties had been reduced to a one-year requirement. It took until 1933/34 to remove the stigma of nonuniversity level work from German A, Introductory German. In that year, this German course was added as German 1 to the Junior courses; starting in 1939/40, it could be counted for first-year credit towards a degree if the requirement of the follow-up course German 2 was subsequently satisfied. In 1947, the German A course was brought back one more time; while it was identical in content to German 1 (which was intended for students with complete matriculation who wanted to begin the language at the university), German A could be offered for matriculation credit only. This regulation was in force until 1962/63 when German A was eliminated altogether. Instead, students were permitted to remove a matriculation deficiency by taking German 100 at the university, although such a course did not, at that time, count towards a degree. It was only from 1974/75 on that a loo-level second-language course taken to remove a matriculation deficiency was eligible to be applied towards a degree in the Faculty of Arts But let us return to 1953/54 as a sample year of further changes in the

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language requirement legislation. In that year, only B.A., B.Sc., Dentistry, Agriculture, and Engineering students required a second language for admission; moreover, the status of the university language requirement was reduced further. Another year at the university was needed by B.A. students in English, Foreign Languages, Art and Music, but not in History, Political Economy, Political Science or Philosophy-Psychology. B.Sc. students and students in Dentistry did not have to take a second language any more at the university, although it could be counted as an option. A few years later, in 1965/66, two foreign languages or two sciences were compulsory for admission in Arts and Science and Household Economics, but a second language at the university level was no longer universally required in the B.A. and B.Sc. programs, except for the B.F.A. In 1968/69, only Arts required one foreign language for admission, and only selected departments in the Faculty required (e.g., Honors in English and History, the B.F.A in Art program, and several other B.F.A specializations) or recommended strongly (e.g., Honors in Classics) a second language of their students. In 1984/85, the Faculty of Arts was the only faculty for which knowledge of a second language was compulsory as an entrance requirement to a B.A. and a B.Mus. program; very few selected Honors programs (e.g., English and History) required their students to submit proof of a working knowledge of another language. The steady decline of the status of second languages in faculties and departments other than in Arts can be attributed to the belief that a second language is not as important in the modern world as it was in earlier times because, it is maintained, much of the technical literature in foreign countries is either written in English in the original or is translated into English subsequently; because the language most frequently spoken at conferences is English, and translation facilities are provided by the organizers where necessary; because students tend to forget their knowledge of a second language very quickly and do not use it for research purposes anyhow, and finally, because courses in statistics or computing science, it is claimed, have become much more "relevant" for today's students in most disciplines than a second language could ever be. Reasons for the study of a second language, such as for personal enrichment or increasing one's intellectual horizon, do not appear in such discussions. In the early to middle eighties, various bodies at the University of Alberta discussed the issue of the re-introduction of a universal secondlanguage entrance requirement and, beyond that, the introduction of a


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second language exit requirement in the Faculty of Arts. The Senate, after long deliberations, finally came out against re-introducing the second language entrance requirement for all students entering university; the Faculty of Arts, in its revised curriculum, however, did introduce a oneyear exit requirement in a second language: All students entering the new four-year B.A. program either had to continue with a second language at the 200-level (First-Year University German or French, etc.) if they had had French in high school or elsewhere, or could start another language at the 100-level if they preferred to do so. Although this new regulation was intended to strengthen the undergraduate program by "increasing the students' intellectual horizons," the side effect was a sharp increase in the number of students who had to take a second language, although they had little interest, motivation, time, and maybe also talent, for another language. More directly, class size increased sharply with the addition of these students because compensatory funding was not available to hire more instructors. Evidently, the status of the value of knowing one or more "foreign" languages, which formerly was accepted by the university community without question, has been steadily eroded over the years, and second languages, as program requirements, are playing only a minor role in the university at large, and in the Faculty of Arts, in particular. Furthermore, Alberta Education (and, therefore, the high schools) is not considering a change in present policy which allows high school students to graduate without a required second language at the Grade 12 level. Course Content of Language Courses In the first several decades of existence of the University of Alberta, the German A course was the only one in which the development of language competence was the primary aim; in all other junior and senior courses, literary content and the skill to read, understand, and appreciate literature in English and/or German, received major emphasis; composition represented a secondary objective in all these courses. Accordingly, it is often difficult to label a given course as being either a "language" or a "literature" course. In 1915/16, the composition component of the junior and senior literature courses was removed as a course objective, and new one-hour/week courses or tutorials were designed to help the students acquire some competence in colloquial German, prose versions, and free composition; they

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were intended to accompany the two-hour/week junior literature courses. From 1919/20 on, these courses provided a grammatical review, dictations and compositions based on authors read in the main literature course. The new Introductory German courses for beginners emphasized the study of elementary forms, elementary syntax, oral work and the reading of easy prose passages. In the Senior courses, students were expected to write critical reports in English, and summaries in German, of the works read. In 1925/16, a senior course was introduced which, in one form or another, has continued to exist until the present, "Advanced Grammar and Composition," in which the students spent one hour out of three per week on writing German essays; syntactical and stylistic problems were discussed, and emphasis and rhythm, etc. were practised. This course was required of all students taking honors and majoring in German. Interestingly enough, two senior courses were the prerequisites for this course. In 1926/27, the first year in which this course was actually given, 4 students were enrolled. The basic language courses were designed to give the students a reading knowledge of German, supplemented by some oral work and composition, with frequent review of grammatical forms. Every so often, a reference to "practice in German conversation" can be found in course descriptions, but there is no doubt that the main emphasis was on receptive learning and mastery of content. In 1954/55, an honors course was offered for the first time ("Practical Study of the German Language"), which aimed at giving the students practical training in the use of the German language. It included phonetics, intensive oral practice using the facilities of the language laboratory, and systematic vocabulary building. Students in the second, third, and fourth years of the honors program in German were required to take this one-hour/week tutorial as part of their course load. Two years later, the Advanced Grammar course was re-organized to include composition and conversation. According to the course description, the course was designed to enable students to read the German language fluently and intelligently, to understand it as a spoken language, and to speak it with some facility. Work consisted of conversation and exercises in composition related to topics of common interest, reading of difficult literary material, discussion of problems of German grammar,


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drill in pronunciation and intonation, and expansion of the students' German vocabulary. In 1959/60, a major re-organization of the program took place in the Division of Germanic Languages and General Linguistics of the Department of Modern Languages, and the course numbers used then are, to a large extent, the same as they are today. While in the preceding years the reading approach, with some oral work, was employed in the junior courses, the new approach in German 100 as well as in German 200 stressed the oral approach. In the beginners course, material from everyday situations was to be the resource material; easy cultural readers, slides, charts, maps, etc. were to be used. The resources in the secondyear course consisted of modern short stories, cultural readers, and visual aids. In both courses, the language laboratory was to be used for drill practice in German grammar. This philosophy is, in general, still being followed in the mid-1980s. The overall approach required students to understand, know and use German grammar correctly; however, this grammatical knowledge was not supposed to be an end in itself, but was intended to serve as a cognitive tool for acquiring fluent as well as correct competence in spoken and written German. Accordingly, students on all three levels were encouraged to use German as much as possible in class as well as outside, to participate in skits, to present brief slide lectures, to report on interesting newspaper articles to the class, to join other students and professors at the daily brown bag lunches where German was used informally for small talk and discussion, and to participate in the activities of the German Club. In the intermediate course, the oral emphasis was maintained, but more and more stress was laid on the development of the writing skill; essays as well as a term paper had to be written in German, and in addition to the texts from everyday life in Germany, Switzerland or Austria, students read literary texts of increasing difficulty, culminating in the reading of a modern German drama at which time the language used for all discussions, writing practice as well as all exams was German. The third-year course continued these emphases on a higher level. Clearly, the development of linguistic skills, rather than the acquisition of literary content, represented the primary objectives on these three levels of language courses. In 1973/74, the Department of Germanic Languages introduced special courses for first- and second-year students (German 101 and German

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201) which were designed mainly for Honors students, for students with a concentration in German, and for students who had some previous knowledge of German, but not enough to allow their placement in the next highest course level. The rationale for their introduction was, on the one hand, that students with family language or other "native-speaker" background would not be able to frustrate anglophone students who have a harder time learning to speak German; on the other hand, assembling these students in such special classes would permit a higher standard of work for them rather than be "easy credit," and would make it possible for the instructor to work on special linguistic problems that "native speakers" often have, e.g., inadequate knowledge of German grammar, concepts and terms, faulty spelling, and dialect coloring of their spoken German. The seventies also saw the re-introduction of an advanced language course in which stress was placed on the continued development of the students' command of the language in speaking and writing; resource materials were short stories, newspaper articles, films, video-tapes, and the like. A fourth-year course in translation was introduced in which students were expected to begin to develop a feeling for semantically equivalent structures in English and German; moreover, they were supposed to refine their receptive and productive knowledge of German by the translation of general texts from German into English and from English into German. Over the years, enrolments in the language courses have increased dramatically, especially since 1973/74 when students began to be permitted to make up a matriculation deficiency for credit. In the first half of the century, the enrolment in the beginners as well as the more advanced German courses increased only slowly as the university grew in size. From 1920 to 1940, about 60 to 70 students per year took such a language course. Following a brief surge in enrolment at the end of World War II, the number of students in language courses slumped to a low of some 20 students in the early fifties and recovered again to about a 100 by 1960. Subsequently, enrolments rose sharply to 240 by 1974, declined to about 200 again after a few years, and started another increase in 1984/85 when some 330 students took a beginners, intermediate, or advanced language course in the Department of Germanic Languages. In 1984/85, approximately 170 students were enrolled in the German 100/101 courses, either because they were genuinely interested in German and wanted to begin the study of this language with a view to


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developing a concentration in it; because they wanted to take German, out of personal interest, as an Arts option while pursuing a program of studies in other departments of the Faculty of Arts and other faculties; or because they needed to make up a matriculation deficiency in a second language. It is estimated that at least one third of the student population in these junior courses belonged to the latter category. In the second-, third-, and fourth-year language courses, about 95, 45, and 15 students, respectively, were enrolled. Differentiation

of Course Content on the Senior Level

The raison d'etre for a Department of Modern Languages or a Department of German, in particular, in the early history of the University, and to a large extent today, is the study and teaching of German literature. It aims at helping students understand, linguistically as well as philosophically, a piece of literature as a work of art which either reflects certain social conditions, makes a personal statement, or addresses the general human condition; it seeks to assist the learner to proceed from intuitive, unreflected "liking" of a piece of writing to a conscious understanding of its meaning and its message. Literary analysis, therefore, requires an excellent command of the language in which the piece of literature has been written so that all nuances of expression intended by the author are fully grasped; it requires a good knowledge of the author's life and work and that of his contemporaries as well as of others from whom he may have drawn some inspiration; it requires a familiarity with the craft of producing literature, the ways and means in which language can be used to express thoughts or feelings. Analyzing a work of literature also requires the scholar to know the socio-political background, the Zeitgeist for which or against which the author produced his work; it necessitates a good knowledge of the way in which man behaves and an understanding of what motivates him to action; and, of course, it requires a sense for what is commonly perceived to be "beautiful," as well as an independent sense of beauty and truth. Literary analysis, therefore, is a highly intellectual craft, a science, a Wissenschaft as it is called in German, and it has as its object the entire corpus of the writings of a people or a nation. Obviously, it is impossible in the university context to acquaint the student with all the details of the literary heritage of another people; consequently, selections have to be made which allow the detailed treatment of some "important" periods,

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themes, authors, or events to the exclusion of others considered to be "less important." This section will discuss in some detail how the Department of Modern Languages, and later the Department of Germanic Languages, has sought to achieve this selection of content for the literature courses—aiming for a broad as well as a specialized knowledge at the same time. Clearly, the student must be given a broad intellectual and literary background against which s/he can study individual works and authors in order to relate them, both synchronically and diachronically, to developments occurring at the time of the writing of particular work as well as to earlier developments. Where possible, cross-connections among national literatures ought to be pointed out. At the same time, a student will want to specialize his knowledge in a period or genre to such an extent that he may reasonably claim to be an expert in a certain field. This aim of increasing specialization against the backdrop of a general education is at the basis of the hierarchical system of a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. program. Another argument for a balanced approach to specialization in a small second-language department are enrolment figures in the higher-level courses and associated costs. Offering only four courses, such as was the case around 1910, more or less guarantees satisfactory enrolment (and, therefore, low cost per student), but increases the danger that some students are not attracted to these courses because they are simply not interested in them. Offering more courses probably draws more students who would otherwise not consider taking German at all; at the same time, the traditional clientele which would have taken the four literature courses may be scattered over the entire range of old and new courses; resulting enrolments in the literature courses are then likely to be lower in spite of an overall increase of registrations in all courses. There are obvious financial problems associated with such a development. In the history of the Division of Germanic Languages and General Linguistics of the Department of Modern Languages, we can observe several times an attempt to branch out into new areas and a subsequent reconsolidation of the program when the enrolments did not make the new course a viable addition—viable in the sense that a Department can, literally, afford to offer courses with only two or three students enrolled in them. While such a practice is easier to justify on the graduate level because, presumably, an intellectual elite—having a first-class professional expertise—is being trained, courses with low enrolments on the un-


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dergraduate level are much more difficult to maintain, even though the courses might cover "important" periods and authors. Many professors have deplored the cafeteria-style of offering courses in a modern university which students might find "interesting," yet it is a fact of modern life that students do "shop around" until they find what they "like." As has been shown previously, the Division, for the first five years, offered German literature in two junior and two senior courses. Here we find works by the "classical authors," Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Heine, and Grillparzer, as well as works by some more "modern" authors, such as Freytag, Stifter, Hauptmann, and Sudermann. Of some, more than one work was chosen, of others one sample seemed to be sufficient. An analysis of the authors selected for the four courses does not reveal any obvious principle of selection by chronology, a unifying theme or a certain literary concept. Yet, students majoring in German as well as those who took junior courses in German as part of the university language requirement, would have received a reasonable overview of a few works of classical and modern German literature which should not have offered too many linguistic and intellectual difficulties. The senior courses certainly required a great deal more background knowledge and thought, as has been shown earlier in the sample exams for second-year and honours students. Enrolments in the literature courses were small: for example, in 1910/11, 8 students were enrolled in Course I, 8 students in Course II, and 5 students in Course III; in 1911/12, the corresponding numbers were 11, 7, and 4. In 1917/18, three students took German I, 12 took German II, and five students were registered in one of the senior literature courses. The selection of works read changed several times during the first decade, resulting in less and less emphasis on classical literature in the junior literature courses. By 1915/16, the readings in the first two years consisted of comedies, short stories, novellas and poems, with associated practice in composition. In 1921/22, the literature courses were re-organized as follows, using chronology as the guiding principle: one course on German life and literature in the nineteenth century prior to the formation of the Empire; a course on German life and literature in the eighteenth century prior to Goethe and Schiller (Klopstock, Anacreontics, Lessing, Wieland, Herder), with special reference to the influence of English and Romance literatures. A third course was given on German life and literature in the nine-

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teenth century since the formation of the Empire (Nationalism, Naturalism, Symbolism); and finally, a course was offered on German life and literature from the French Revolution to the Napoleonic Wars (Classicism, Goethe and Schiller; Romanticism, Fichte). The latter two courses were intended for very senior students only. In this period, one of these courses was given every year, and enrolments ranged between one and six students. In 1925/26, the readings in the first course were "modern short stories graded in respect to syntactical difficulties," in the second-year course, students read nineteenth century novellas as an introduction to the study of German Literature. The senior course offerings were re-organized again as well, resulting in three distinct literature courses: one course on German Literary Classicism (its development and chief characteristics, with some reference to Greek and Roman antiquity and the cultural background of the eighteenth century (study of the masterpieces of Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller); a Modern German Literature course (Romantic drama, Kleist, Grillparzer, Hebbel and Ludwig plus one hour weekly of lyric poetry or prose fiction); and, thirdly, Modern German Literature II (Realistic Drama, Ibsen, Hauptmann, Sudermann, Schnitzler plus one hour weekly of prose fiction or lyric poetry). A new course was introduced, Advanced Grammar and Composition (consisting of an introduction to Germanic philology and Der deutsche Aufsatz). The range of Honours courses was also expanded to include Old High German as a separate course and a Study in Some Early Period of German Literature. In 1930/31, 125 students took German; 13 were enrolled in the Advanced Grammar and Composition course, 10 students took "German Literary Classicism," 7 students were registered in the course on Romantic drama, Kleist, Grillparzer, Hebbel, and Ludwig, and there was 1 student enrolled in each of two Honours courses. In 1935/36, the senior courses were once more re-organized into "Eighteenth Century," the "Romantic Period," and "Realistic, Naturalistic and Contemporary Literature." In the first, 14 students were enrolled, in the second 5 students, and the last was not given. A separate category "Conference Course" was offered for Honours and Graduate courses for the first time in the 1939/40 Calendar. Students were able to select from titles such as Goethe's Faust, Schiller's Dramatic Works, The German Lyric, The Development of the German Drama, the Development of German Prose Fiction, and Germanic Philology. These


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courses formed the basis for a highly differentiated graduate curriculum which aims at achieving a considerable degree of content specialization; at this stage, however, the conference courses were simply designed to meet the individual needs and interests of senior students of German literature and, increasingly, Germanic philology. After the increase in the numbers of courses given in German literature in the thirties, a drastic reduction in the range of courses offered in the Department of Modern Languages took place in 1941/42. Two junior courses were given, the first one covering the common inflections and the elementary rules of syntax and aiming to give students a reading knowledge of easy German; it also involved some oral work and composition. The second junior course was intended to develop, through the use of graded texts, a rapid and accurate reading knowledge of German. The grammar was reviewed and students received practice in speaking and writing German. An Intermediate course combined the study of Novellen of the nineteenth and twentieth century and some poetry with grammar review and expansion, and practice in German conversation and writing. Readings in scientific German were optional. The number of senior courses in German Literature was reduced to two, a course in Eighteenth Century Literature and a course in German Literature of the Nineteenth Century. The Honors courses and conference courses were not touched, however. By 1951/52, the range of conference courses had been greatly expanded and included a study of the German language, the Nibelungenlied, German Antiquities, Deutsche Wortkunde, Gothic, the life and work of Friedrich Hebbel, and others. An undergraduate honours course, called Main Trends of German Literature since Naturalism (literary movements and writers since the 1890s), was introduced with the notation that this course was given in German. In 1959/60, the three undergraduate literature courses in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century were preceded by a general survey course in which selected periods and selected major works of German literature were to be studied. The former Seminar courses for honours and graduate students were increased in number and range, and separate honours tutorial hours were introduced for the honours students. A total of 25 courses on the 500 and 600 level (M.A. and Ph.D. level) appear in the Calendar for 1959/60, not all of which were given at any one time, of course. A further differentiation of the literature and philology courses took

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place in 1962/63 (e.g., splitting off a course on the Age of Goethe from the previous course on literature of the eighteenth century), and a new course on German language and culture was introduced which was supposed to acquaint the student with German life, literature and civilization, together with a continued study of German phonology, grammar and style. A second-year German Authors course sought to develop the students' competence in composition and conversation on the advanced level. The year 1962/63 is also very important because it was then that the Ph.D. degree in German was introduced at the University of Alberta, for which 20 literature and linguistics courses were available to graduate students. Since 1964/65, there has been a moderate number of changes in the courses offered by the Department of Germanic Languages. The 1984/85 literature and philology course is structured as follows: after a very brief exposure to some samples from German literature in the First-Year University German course (which is conceived mainly as a language skills course), students with literary interests usually proceed to a survey course of German literature where they read and discuss selected works from the Old High German period to the present. In this course, they are given the general intellectual background for each period, detailed discussion of one work and also some practice in the use of methods of literary analysis. Subsequent to this survey course, students may proceed to senior undergraduate courses in the following literary periods: Middle High German Language and Literature, Renaissance, Reformation, and Baroque Literature, Enlightenment and Sturm und Drang, German Classicism, German Romanticism, German Literature of the "Restoration Period," German Literature of Poetic Realism, Modern German Literature from Impressionism up to 1945, Contemporary German Prose and Contemporary German Drama since 1945. A course on German Prose and German Drama in English translation was available for students without any background in German. Altogether, the program in German literature consisted of ten full-year period courses, most of which were given in two-year cycles. Enrolments in individual literature and philology courses as well as in the literature and philology programs as such have varied widely over the past twenty years. Individual literature courses with as many as 3 6 and as few as 2 students have been given; in the recent past, individual course


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enrolments have been between 5 and 15 students each. The highest program enrolment was 113 registrations in German literature and philology courses in 1971/72; it was followed by a rather sharp decline to about 55 students in the early eighties. Recently, the registrations in senior undergraduate courses have been on the increase again with numbers between 60 and 65 per year. The first reference to graduate study can be found in the 1913/14 Calendar: "The requirements for the Master's degree will be identical with those for full work in Honors for the current year... "5 The first Master's Degree in German was awarded in 1931. Subsequently, the Reports of the Board of Governors reveal that an M.A. in German was awarded in 1937/38, and two more each in 1940/41 and 1941/42. The enrolment in the "graduate program" in its early stages of development was quite small until the 1930s. From that time on, registrations varied between 5 and 15 per year. As late as the early sixties, there were hardly any more students taking graduate courses in literature and philology. From the mid-sixties on, the annual number of registrations in M.A. and Ph.D. level seminars increased to more than 30 per year (the equivalent of ten full-time graduate students), but since about 1970 registrations have varied between 15 and 30, with a general declining trend, which is due, in large measure, to the lack of teaching positions for new graduates at universities in Canada and elsewhere. In 1984/85, the University of Alberta offered the only Ph.D. program in German literature or philology between British Columbia and Ontario; it customarily draws its students from Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and other countries. The graduate calendar in German literature, in 1984/85, listed some 35 courses (not all of which are given even every other year), ranging from genre to period and author courses. At the time of this writing, students have the following choices in linguistics or philology. After a course on German-English Comparative Phonology and Grammar, students can take an introduction to German Linguistics and a history of New High German; they can also learn Middle High German on the undergraduate level. Graduate students in Germanic philology may take courses in the history of the German Language, Old High German, Gothic, Old Saxon, and Old Norse. Including the language courses on all levels, the Department of Germanic Languages, in 1984/85, offered 18 full-year (and their equivalent)

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undergraduate courses and 8 full-year graduate courses. This variety of choices available to the students ranks with the very best in Canada and the United States. The Role of Service Courses It has been pointed out that, at the turn of the century, all students entering the University of Alberta had to fulfill both an entrance and an exit language requirement. This meant that students enrolled in a B.Sc. in Arts program, for example, had to take a course in German or French or Latin language and literature where they read Goethe, Schiller, Moliere, Voltaire, Balzac, Cicero, Sallust, Virgil, Livy, or Horace. It is quite conceivable that the argument was advanced that students in Science, in order to get the most benefit from a language requirement, should develop skill in reading texts in their own special field, rather than spend time reading literary texts which had no direct relationship to their training. Indeed, the 1912/13 Calendar stated that the junior course German I involved reading certain works of literature (comedies, poems, and historical texts), composition (practice in colloquial German, dictations, prose versions), and Scientific German for Engineers. This is the first reference to a special interest service course given by the Department of Modern Languages, and their history of existence in the Department of Modern Languages has by no means been secure and uninterrupted. It will be seen that special-interest courses or sections of existing courses were introduced, re-organized, abolished and re-incarnated in a slightly different form some time later. It is probable that the Department was of a divided mind about these Reading courses as their enrolment was usually very small and their existence taxed the resources of the Department without offering it specific "benefits" in return. After all, engineers or dentists did not major or "honor" in German, and their commitment to learning German often was less than total. And yet, the Department had to provide service courses in the university community as a matter of course. It is uncertain which learning activities took place in the 1912/13 course, but clearly there was some pressure to design separate reading/translation courses for nonmajors. In 1914/15, two junior courses were introduced to meet the demand: German 41 involved reading of elementary texts and an introduction to scientific German; among the resources used was a book called Grundzuge der Naturlehre. German 42 was described as "requiring the reading of general and scientific texts, in-


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eluding the study of chosen articles from current scientific journals." In this course, one of the books was the "German Scientific Reader." The first course was to be taken after German A or with matriculation German, while German 42 was designed as a second-year university German course. It should be noted that, in comparison with the present situation, the Scientific Reading course for beginners was actually an intermediate course following one year of introductory German, while today Science students start reading German on a first-year level. The enrolment in these courses was small: in 1915/16, 2 students took the introductory course, the advanced course was not given in this period at all, and in 1923, there were 5 students registered in the introductory Scientific German course. In 1925/26, the advanced Scientific reading course was formally abolished; instead, two parallel courses were offered, the first of which sought "to develop skill in the reading of scientific texts selected with a view to the needs of students in Applied Science," while the other one was designed for students in Medicine. Both required extensive experience in reading scientific literature. Two students took the former, I the latter. A high point for this period was reached in 1928/29 when 7 students completed the Scientific Reading courses. This system of parallel scientific reading courses for students in Science and Medicine remained in place until 1932/33 when the two were collapsed again into "Scientific German" without explicit specialization; the Calendar stated that the course was open only to "students honoring or doing graduate work in the various sciences and to students in the professional faculties." Again, this system was short-lived. In the following year already, the scientific reading course was abolished, and in its stead a junior course, German I, aimed "to give the students a reading knowledge of easy German." The development of reading skills for Science students was not mentioned. In 1941/42 the introduction of an Intermediate German course (second-year university German) allowed "optional readings in Scientific German"; the Calendar stated that this course required two years of German (German 1 and German 2) as prerequisites and could be taken as a senior course. In 1949/50, special sections were arranged of the first-year course German 1 and A for students from Science Departments, while the Intermediate course continued to provide an "introduction to general scientific

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German." An honors course, Advanced German Grammar, Composition and Conversation, apparently also dealt, amongst others, with "troublemakers" in German scientific literature, but it is unclear how much room this component actually occupied in the course. In 1951/52, two entirely separate streams of language courses were designed. A separate section of German 1 (first-year course) was designated "to meet the needs of Honor students from Science Departments, students of the Faculty of Agriculture and Engineering of any year, and graduate students." This course could be followed up by a separate section ("Science Section") of the Intermediate German course. Its description reads as follows: An introduction to the reading of scientific texts, supplemented by a systematic and thorough discussion of grammatical difficulties and "trouble makers" in German scientific literature. The use of the dictionary. Analyzing compound words into their component parts. Technical terms. Abbreviations, reading of general texts and articles from the fields of chemistry, physics, engineering, medicine and dentistry. Graduate students who require a reading knowlege of Scientific German should consider this course. In 1959/60, German no (Scientific German, one year later to be called German 210) and German 310 (Advanced Scientific German) appeared in the University Calendar. This course sequence must have met with the approval of the science departments; in 1959/60, the Calendar stated that [. .. ] students who pass German 310 [the Advanced Scientific German course] with a mark of 65% or better were considered by the Department to have fulfilled the reading requirement in German for the Ph.D.6 In the same year, a graduate reading course, German 500, was introduced as well which was open only to graduate students and brought the students in one year, rather than two, to a level considered adequate for the Ph.D. language requirement. This sequence has remained in place until the present. When the general Beginners German course German 100 started to emphasize a conversational approach to German, the Department of Germanic Languages introduced a parallel Reading German course se-


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quence (German 211 and 311) for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences who needed a reading knowledge of German for their course of study or their chosen profession; in these courses, they were taught general German grammar from the point of view of what is necessary for efficient reading of specialized texts; furthermore, they had to translate excerpts from books and journals in their own chosen field in order to develop both a specialized vocabulary and a feeling for the type of style of expression characteristic of their field. While the first-year course remained viable in terms of enrolment over the life span of the Reading sequence in the humanities and social sciences, the enrolment in the second-year course was always very small. In a typical year, there were some 130 students registered in the conversation-oriented course German 100 and 9 in the reading course German 211; on the intermediate level, 55 students enrolled in German 200/201, but no students took German 311 at all. Clearly, the target student clientele preferred the oral emphasis courses to the translationoriented courses. Consequently, this sequence was abolished and replaced by German 102/202 which aimed at giving the students practice in listening comprehension and the fluent reading of general German texts. Again, the introductory course was viable (enrolments between 20 and 30 students per year), but the second-year course never drew more than 8 students. For this reason, the parallel reading sequences in the Humanities and Social Sciences and in the Natural and Physical Sciences were abolished, and a new sequence German 215/315 was established in 1983/84 in which, where possible, the students were assigned to an Arts or a Science section, respectively, in first year; in the second year, the students in the Sciences received assignments for projects different from those in the Humanities and Social Sciences. In 1984/85, 28 students enrolled in the introductory course and 17 in the second-year course. The decline of the status of the language requirement on campus has caused great difficulties for these service courses over the seventies and eighties. Where in the sixties and early seventies, there were some 70 students registered in German 210 and 7 to 10 in German 310, one section of the beginners course seems to be sufficient in the eighties. The reason for this decline in enrolment can be seen in the fact that fewer and fewer science departments have required a foreign language of their students, and foreign students, especially those from Hong Kong who had faithfully studied Scientific German in the sixties and early seventies, were given permission to take Chinese, Japanese, or English as a Second Language instead.

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A similar development took place in the Graduate Reading course. In the sixties and seventies it was not unusal to have about 40 students in this course; in the eighties, about ten were enrolled each year and attended class regularly. German 500 had fallen victim to declining graduate enrolments, and to courses in statistics and computing science which have been perceived to be more relevant to the modern fields of study. German as a Language of Instruction An issue that has divided Germanisten on this continent for decades is the question of the extent to which German should be used not only as the object, but also as the language of instruction. The argument in favor of requiring as much German in written and oral work as possible has been that students, after all, have chosen to study German language and German literature; consequently, they could be expected to learn to function in the target language both on the undergraduate as well as on the graduate levels. Some students agree with this rationale and take potentially lower marks on expression and content in stride; others feel that they would be able to express themselves much more adequately in their native tongue in discussions and in essays, theses and dissertations, and many professors tend to agree. A further complicating factor is the issue of the language competence of professors in Canada and the United States, some of whom either speak and write imperfect German and consequently prefer to write and lecture in English. Depending on the fervor with which one position or the other is defended, the German language has assumed a position of greater or lesser importance as the language of instruction. There is the British tradition according to which all reading is done in German while discussions are, in general, held in English, and papers and theses are, almost always, written in English. British Germanisten who are not native speakers of German have also preferred to publish in their native tongue, and it is likely that the British tradition dominated practices at the turn of the century in regard to the use of German in class. On the other end of the continuum, we find the position that all language instruction should proceed in German ("Natural Method") and that, logically, all higher-level courses should be given in German as well. Students and professors defending this stand would accept potentially lower-quality content during the initial phases of the learning process as a trade-off against eventual mastery of the target language.


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It is impossible to determine exactly from existing records to what extent German was used in practice as the language of instruction in the early years of the Department of Modern Languages. However, we do get some clues from Calendar statements. The introductory statement to the section "Modern Languages" in the 1909/10 Calendar, for example, read that [.. . in] the Junior Courses, the central aim will be the practical acquisition of the languages concerned. Special emphasis will be laid upon pronunciation, dictation and conversation. Passages of dictation and original composition in the Foreign Languages—such as answers to questions or the discussion of themes—will form part of all tests and final examinations. . . In the Senior Courses the students of the Third and Fourth Years will take their work together. This work will be done as much as possible in the foreign language. Dictation and composition will continue to be required of all students... 7 In 1915/16, the Calendar stated that in the junior courses 25% of the total mark was to be allotted to oral proficiency. The first explicit statement regarding the use of German in senior courses can be found in the calendar for 1950/51 and several subsequent years: MAIN TRENDS OF GERMAN LITERATURE SINCE NATURALISM. The important literary movements and writers of the last six decades will be studied and discussed. This course will be given in German. The same notation also appears in the description of another senior course taught by the same professor, the "Literature of the Nineteenth Century," but apparently none of the other senior, honors, or graduate courses were given in German. It may be concluded that there was no Departmental consensus on the use of German as a language of instruction until 1960/61 when the Calendar stated that all senior courses from German 370 on, all honors, and graduate courses were to be conducted in German. In the past twenty years, the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Alberta has repeatedly discussed the question of the use of German; the result has been a slow but steady decrease in the extent to which German is used as the language of instruction in undergraduate

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and graduate courses or the language in which essays, theses, and dissertations are written. In 1984/85, the following regulations were in force: a. In the language courses, instructors and students are encouraged to use "as much German as possible" from the first day of classes on; in practice, this means that classroom routine is managed in German while grammar explanations are given in English. In the second-year course, all discussions, with the exception of the first presentation of a difficult grammar chapter, are supposed to be held in German wherever possible. In the third-year course, German is used almost exclusively, and in the fourth-year translation course both English and German are used as required by the text and the issue under consideration. b. In the senior courses (courses with a 300- or a 400- number), instruction is, in principle, in German; only if it is not possible to get the intended meaning across should students and instructor take recourse to English. Naturally, all readings are in German. Students majoring in German in Arts and Education have to write one substantial essay in German in each German course taken; others who are registered in a senior course as an Arts option may write their essays and exams in English. c. In the graduate courses, all readings are in German and so are practically all discussions. However, students on the M.A. as well as the Ph.D. level have the choice of writing essays and theses or dissertations in either English or German. This regulation was introduced in recognition of the fact that many Canadian and American students' background in German is inadequate for the enforcement of a German-only rule. It is suggested to the students, however, that they write at least one paper per year in German and that they write their Ph.D. dissertation in German because proof of such language ability would probably increase the students' chances of finding employment at a college or university.

THE STUDY OF GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE

When Edmonton was given the University of Alberta in 1908, many Calgarians felt betrayed; they thought that there had been an understanding


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that a provincial university would be established in Calgary if Edmonton became the provincial capital. For a number of years, groups of citizens and businessmen lobbied the Provincial Government, but to no avail. University classes were held in Calgary in 1912, but they lasted for only one year. A short-lived University of Calgary announced German I, II, and HI courses in its calendar which resembled closely those given at the University of Alberta in Edmonton: grammar, dictation, composition, and "Modern German Readings" in the first course; the second course consisted of a continuation of the language component and required readings of Freytag's Die Journalisten and Keller's Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe. Works by Klopstock, Herder, and Lessing formed the basis of readings for the third level.8 It was only in 1945 that a "Faculty of Education, Calgary Branch" of the University of Alberta was born out of the Normal School. In 1946/47, a two-year teacher training program was put in place, and in 1951/52 Calgary was authorized to give the first year in arts and science in addition. By 1960, the university was called "The University of Alberta, Calgary," and in 1966 it finally gained full autonomy as The University of Calgary. In the early years, the course offerings of the Department of Modern Languages in Calgary were identical to those of the University of Alberta. For example, in 1960, the German courses given were: German 100 or A, German zoo (First-Year German), German 300 (Intermediate German), and German 350 (Survey of German Literature). In the years following, Calgary added more specialized courses in German literature and philology in accordance with Edmonton's model, and by the time that the University became independent of the University of Alberta, the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Calgary was able to offer a full range of language and literature courses on the senior level as well as honors and graduate courses. The beginnings of an M.A. program also date back to this period. After 1966, the Department added more undergraduate and graduate courses in literature and philology, including several which did not exist at the University of Alberta (e.g., courses on Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Hermann Hesse, and Bertolt Brecht in translation, and a course on Modern German Thought). The Reading courses have proved to be very popular and successful at the University of Calgary as has a fourthyear translation course. The 1985/86 Calendar listed 21 senior semester courses in German

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literature plus five courses in literature and culture that were offered in English and for which no knowledge of German was required. In accordance with a de-emphasis of the graduate program at the University of Calgary, only two topics courses in German literature are listed which, however, can be designed to meet the needs of individual students. The Department perceives its main role as offering language courses to students majoring in other departments and faculties. In recent years, several innovations have been successfully introduced, such as the use of strongly communication-oriented teaching materials on the beginners and intermediate course levels; the use of computer-assisted language instruction, on an optional basis, for beginning students of German; and the development of computer-assisted instruction materials for a very popular and effective sequence in Reading German. In the mid-eighties, enrolments in the language courses increased steadily to about 300 full-year registrations and about 140 registrations in the reading courses. The Department is generally satisfied with the numbers of students in the senior literature courses although it has had to reduce the range of courses offered to arrive at higher enrolments in each of them; about 30 students, on a full-year basis, have been enrolled in these courses. This type of consolidation was not possible in the graduate program, and, therefore, course registrations in these courses have been very low. At the University of Lethbridge, German has been taught since 1967/68. The courses given have included elementary, intermediate, and advanced language courses as well as an introduction to German literature, a Culture and Civilization course, and an Independent Study course in a chosen aspect of Culture and Civilization or Literature. Enrolments in the first-year course have ranged between 7 to 10 students in the early years to about 30 students in 1984/85; in the higher-level courses enrolments vary a great deal from 3 to more than 10 students per semester. At present, the curriculum consists of four semesters of Language (with all courses being taught every year), two semesters of Culture and Civilization and two semesters of Literature (alternating every other year), and the Independent Study Course. In 1984/85, there were 71 enrolments in six semester courses plus the independent study course. Athabasca University came into existence as an undergraduate degreegranting institution in 1970, and it gained permanent status as a selfgoverning post-secondary institution in 1978. The only language taught there at present is French: courses are delivered, via radio, television, and


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tutors, in beginning, intermediate, and advanced French language. Athabasca University also offers more advanced courses in French composition and an introduction to French and Canadian literature.

THE STUDY AND TEACHING OF GERMAN AT ALBERTA COLLEGES

The colleges, by their very nature, are limited in the range of courses which they can offer, and it often depends on the initiative of individual instructors to organize a certain course and keep it going. At Grande Prairie Regional College, for example, German 100 has been offered off and on for local students depending on how much time a certain instructor who happens to be a native speaker of German had available for "extra" work. At four other colleges, Medicine Hat College, Mount Royal College in Calgary, Camrose Lutheran, and Concordia College in Edmonton, German programs are more firmly established. At Medicine Hat, German was first offered in 1965 for students who had Grade 12 German. The enrolment in this course and others which have been offered since, has been quite low, however. Until 1974, no class drew more than 10 students, and in some years as few as four students were registered in German. In the last ten years, class size has occasionally exceeded 10 students, but on several occasions, at least two levels of German have been taught in the same classroom at the same time. In one instance, four courses generated a total of 10 students (1982/83: Beginners German for students with or without a language deficiency, a Reading course for the Natural Sciences and Engineering, and a Reading course for the Humanities and Social Sciences). Although other courses are listed in the College Calendar, none of them, except the First-Year University German course, has been offered separately. It can be concluded that German is offered at the College only because of the goodwill of the College administration and the energy and initiative of the instructor. Mount Royal College began operations in 1911 as an elementary and secondary school; over the years, it has developed into a community college and is at present affiliated with the University of Calgary. German is offered at the beginners and intermediate levels, and provision is made for Directed Readings in specialized areas as required. Camrose Lutheran College was founded in 1910; it was the first private college to receive degree-granting status from the government of Al-

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berta. In addition to a variety of French courses, the College has been offering a beginning and intermediate German course sequence patterned after that developed at the University of Alberta. German at Concordia College in Edmonton has a long and distinguished history. It will be remembered that, after the founding of the College, German played a very important role in the training of future Lutheran pastors and the general student population. In the recent past, Concordia College has offered both high school German and universitylevel German, in particular German 100 and German 200. Once in a while, a course on German culture and civilization has been available as part of the German program. Enrolments in the first-year course usually range between 15 and 30, while in the intermediate course, when it is given, registrations of more than 10 students have been rare. It appears to be college policy, however, to keep German in a high-profile position both for historical and academic reasons.

THE ROLE OF FACULTIES OF EXTENSION IN PROVIDING LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION

The Department of Extension at the University of Alberta was founded in 1912; its responsibility was described by the first president of the University, Dr. Henry Marshall Tory, as "... finding out from the people what the university can do for them beyond the classroom and the laboratory."9 In practice, this has meant that the Department has offered a tremendous variety of courses (with topics ranging from municipal administration, music appreciation, comparative religions, commercial law to rock-hounding and a host of others); it has organized conferences, provided series of radio talks on CKUA, has sent traveling libraries through the province, has compiled a huge visual resources library, and has established certificate programs for realtors and computer programmers. In 1982/83, for example, the Faculty of Extension had an enrolment of more than 31,144 with 2,134 students taking modern languages and literature in evening noncredit courses. The teaching of foreign languages represented a significant area of responsibility relatively late in the history of the Department. In 1928, two university lecturers in Romance Languages organized a series of French lessons on CKUA 10 which met with considerable success. A few years later, in 1935/36, an experimental program was run in which an estimated 500


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students learned conversational French by Linguaphone recordings via CKUA, and the course was established on a sound footing in the following year. Ninety-one students actually enrolled and sent for materials. A similar course in German drew an estimated 60 students. In 1937/38, the numbers rose to 409 for French and 131 for German, but dropped in the subsequent year to 131 in the Linguaphone French course and to 51 in the German course. The further decline in enrolment was explained by Extension by the speculation that all Albertans who wanted to learn French or German and whom the CKUA brodcasts could reach had already completed the course. In 1940/41, no language courses were offered anymore via CKUA because of the low number of registrations in the preceding year. An attempt to start up French conversation classes on the radio again met with only limited success; the half-hour series begun in I942/43 lasted barely two years. In the meantime, the Banff Oral French Summer Schol had been founded by the Department of Extension, which proved to be very successful. It was open to teachers, students, and others who wanted to improve their competence in spoken French. The participants lived in "French houses" where no English was to be spoken at all so that the students would have the fullest opportunity to "become part of French atmosphere." Every year, between 40 and 50 students from across Canada and the United States participated in this summer school. Although French had been taught in small groups in Calgary and in Edmonton since 1939 and in Lethbridge since 1940, the academic year 1950/51 was an important year for the Faculty of Extension because Conversational French was offered for the first time, on a regular basis, as an evening course. The first course drew 39 students. In the following year, the Department of Extension offered a conversational course in German and in Ukrainian as well. The enrolments were encouraging: 31 in Conversational French, 17 in German, and 13 in Beginners Ukrainian. Just one year later, there were 40 students in Conversational French, 36 in Beginning Ukrainian, 39 in Intermediate Ukrainian, and 60 students in Ukrainian literature. German, however, was not offered again. In 1953/54, Russian was added to the range of language courses, and two sections of conversational French had to be organized. By 1958, further courses expanded the program, among them Ukrainian literature of the twentieth century, Hebrew Heritage, and Conversational Spanish, but still no German. In 1958/59, Extension offered evening courses at Edmonton, Calgary,

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and Lethbridge and added Italian to the list of languages taught. German appeared on the educational scene as well: in Edmonton, German A drew II students and German B 28 students. Elementary German was also available at Lethbridge College. In 1959/60, courses in Polish and English as a Second Language were organized for the first time, and, it was reported, the language laboratory was used in these courses. Three levels of German courses in Edmonton attracted between 11 and 18 students each; Lethbridge had 13 students in the Elementary German course. The German program grew steadily after that, and in 1962/63, 37 students were enrolled in the elementary courses in Edmonton, 13 in the intermediate, and 12 in the advanced course. Calgary registered 26 students in Elementary German and 10 in Intermediate German. In 1965/66, 66 evening classes were held in Edmonton and Calgary in English, French, Spanish, Ukrainian, Italian, Russian, and Norwegian. Since the early 1970s, the Department (later the Faculty) of Extension has offered at least two sections of Elementary German each year (a minimum of 40 students), and at least one of the Intermediate and the Advanced German courses, sometimes both. In addition, various other course formats have been tried successfully, e.g., an intensive fourhour/week course and a course in Elementary German given in the early summer. In an average year, approximately 80 students have been registered in the German courses of the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta. The rationale for the existence of Extension language courses is the belief that many students in the population at large would be frightened off by the competition, the demands, major assignments, the time commitment, and the examinations in regular academic courses (this philosophy is shared, incidentally, by the adult education programs of the various school boards in the province, and German, among many other second languages, is being taught for the general public in two-hour/week classes across the province). The teaching objective in these courses differs from that in the credit day courses in that conversational ability is emphasized much more strongly; the textbook is selected accordingly to allow students to reach this objective. The rather heterogeneous student population has, on occasion, been a problem inasmuch one part of the class may have wanted explicit instruction in grammar, while the other preferred to learn German by imitation and practice only. Some students also tend to get discouraged by the fact that some homework is required for success


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ful acquisition of the language, and, therefore, usually only about half to three quarters of the class actually finish an Extension language course. In Calgary, the Extension Department has offered German on the elementary and intermediate levels for about fifteen years. Occasionally, a second section of German I is opened when demand is high. The intermediate course usually draws around 15 students. A third-level course has been given in the past, but has been dropped recently because of a lack of registrations. At Medicine Hat College, a conversational German course for adults has been taught since 1974. In addition, an attempt was made to teach German on Saturdays to school-age children in grades 1 through 9. In the first year, 1979/80, 27 children were enrolled in the class, in the second year 16. Subsequently, the course had to dropped because of low enrolments which, the parents claimed, were due to the high cost of these classes.

ISSUES IN TEACHING GERMAN AT UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES

From the beginning of university-level education in the province in 1909, German qualified as one of the languages required for admission next to French, Latin, or Greek, and in a number of faculties and departments German was also a required subject for graduation. Over the years, however, one faculty after another and one department after another at the University of Alberta in Edmonton rescinded first the exit requirement and then the entrance requirement, except for the Faculty of Arts, and often replaced the language requirement with a required course in statistics or computing science. Even at the graduate level, the foreign languages lost the importance which they had had at one time. It was only in 1986 that the Faculty of Arts, after long deliberations, reintroduced the requirement that all incoming students present a language other than English for admission (which students could no longer make up for credit) as well as an exit requirement (which meant that Arts students had to take at least one more year of the language which they had studied at the 30-level or at least one year of another language at the beginner's level). The rationale for the re-introduction of a strengthened language requirement was the belief that students in the liberal arts should have to know at least one second language well because, it was believed, the study of a second language broadens one's education and opens up op-

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portunities for accessing another culture directly rather than through a translation. It remains to be seen whether the effects will be as salutary as everyone seems to hope. It may well be that students who, before the reintroduction of the language requirement, did not take another language because they did not have to or did not want to for a variety of reasons, will form a large body of resentful, ill-motivated, and apathetic learners who will study just enough to pass the course. On purely pedgagogical grounds one could well argue that the study of a language at the beginning, and even at the intermediate level, does not broaden the mind and does not open it for greater and higher things; for most students, work at that level requires a great deal of rote memory work and frustration as they confront a new linguistic system. The desired liberalizing effect can probably be observed for the first time at the end of the intermediate course. A long-standing controversy is the issue whether a university should teach a beginning course in a second language at all (at least in the commonly available languages) or whether this task should not be best left totally to the high schools and colleges. The issue arose because the dramatically increasing enrolments in the seventies saw a veritable explosion of enrolments in the beginning language courses, following which very few students continued with a second or third year. Language departments were faced with vast expenses for service courses (a language as an arts option for Arts students as well as for students from other faculties; make-up courses for Arts students who could not present a language other than English at the 30-level; reading courses for students in other faculties) without getting the benefit of increased enrolments at the senior course level in courses in language, translation, literature and philology for which the universities are uniquely qualified. Eliminating these courses altogether has not been a viable option because some languages are simply not taught at the high school level and others only in the large urban centers. Furthermore, beginning language courses are usually taught by the language departments' own graduate students, and if there were no opportunity for these teaching assistants to earn money for living expenses by teaching one or two sections of a beginning course, many would be unable to work towards a M.A. or a Ph.D., which in turn would have implications for the work done by the senior professors in these departments. It is hoped, however, that the revised language requirement which forces students to complete the admission requirement


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at the high school or to take a make-up course at the university without credit will remove some enrolment pressure from these courses. Since the beginning of university education in Alberta, the study of German literature, the history of the language or of linguistics has been the main focus of the Department of Germanic Languages (or the German section of the Department of Modern Languages until 1959/60 as it was known then) as can be seen from an analysis of course content. Over the last seventy years, the courses have become more and more specialized, with an accompanying increase in the variety of courses available to the interested student who wanted to major in German or do an honour's degree or a graduate degree in German literature or philology. This development has certainly contributed to raising the level of professional knowledge of graduating students who have had to take up to ten fullyear courses in German; at the same time, the Germanic Languages Department at the University of Alberta as well as the department at the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge have had to face the need to give courses with very small enrolments (as low as 3 or 4 students per course) in order to guarantee a full and diversified program, while some language courses have kept increasing in size, for financial reasons, until they reached the magical limit of 30, the number of students which most classrooms and laboratories can hold. In the history of the Department of Germanic Languages, there have been many attempts to phase out low-enrolment courses and consolidate others. In recent years, the teaching staff has often accepted a higher than average course load in order to be able to offer this wide variety of courses, which, in the opinion of many, is unequalled at other instituitions of the same size. With constantly shrinking budgets, the time may come, however, when some less popular courses cannot be given any longer at all or only every three rather than every two years. A problem peculiar to the University of Alberta has been the fact that the general degree taken by virtually all non-Honors students only required three years until 1986. In practice, this meant that students have been able to obtain a major in German with as few as three full-year courses (five courses being the maximum allowed), of which none needed to be a senior literature, culture, or philology course. With the curricular revision of 1986, which makes the general B.A. a four-year degree and which requires a certain number of senior courses for each major, in addition to increasing the number required for majors and minors, it may

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be expected that a substantially higher number of students will enrol in the third- and fourth-year courses, which will make them more costeffective. Every so often, the question arises whether the students in a secondlanguage department should or could be expected to do all their advanced work in the target language. Proponents of this idea have argued that graduates ought to be able to reach these levels of proficiency as a matter of course; critics, however, have argued forcefully that for most nonnative speakers of German, for example, German will always remain a foreign language in which they will have less power of expression than in their mother tongue, and that such a rule gives an unfair advantage to students from Germany for whom the course language requirement is no problem. While on the graduate level the solution for this problem has long been to allow the students to write their thesis or dissertation (and even most course papers) in the language of their choice, approaches have differed considerably at the undergraduate level. Some departments have increased the number of literature courses taught in English, have relaxed the language requirement to the point where students only need to do their reading in German (if they do not use an English translation of the work being discussed in the course) while the professors lecture in English most of the time, and the students are permitted to write their papers and exams in English. In other courses, professors require virtually all work to be done in German. None of these approaches has been totally satisfactory from the point of increasing the students' general proficiency in the language or guaranteeing that anglophone students are not disadvantaged vis-a-vis those who have family language background or come from a German-speaking country. Even requiring only majors in Arts or Education to do at least half their work in German while others may choose the language in which they write papers or exams is a compromise solution at best. Somewhat related is the "problem" of the "native speaker"—the student who, having acquired a certain amount of spoken German either in the home, on a trip, during a work experience or an extended holiday in Germany, does not fit neatly into any of the courses designed primarily for anglophone Canadians. Most of these students are, of course, serious and do their best to improve their knowledge of German beyond the level at which they entered the course; but then there are always a few who consider German an easy option in which a good grade ought to be obtainable with minimum work. Because these students frequently are quite


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proficient in speaking they tend to intimidate the anglophone students (who find it considerably harder to learn to speak German), yet they are often deficient in their accuracy of expression, be it that they speak a strong dialect or have little grammatical knowledge. The Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Alberta has placed students with "native-speaker" background into special courses open only to them in which they are challenged orally, in which they have to do work appropriate to their level of knowledge of German and the difficulties which they are having with German, but frequently a total separation is not possible because of time table conflicts. Fortunately, it usually works out in such a way that the anglophones who are usually less fluent in German tend to get higher marks on written work than the "native speakers," which often makes the latter quite unhappy as they maintain, quite correctly, that they could make themselves understood without difficulty in Germany if necessary and that the Germans do not care whether all words are in the right place or all endings are correct. As long as there are children with German background in this province, the problem of the "pseudo-native speaker" who does not want to use his linguistic background to his advantage, but rather tries to minimize his work as much as possible, will be encountered in the schools as well as the postsecondary institutions. The 1970s saw the rise of the pragmatic student who took courses only if he thought he needed them; in German and other second languages this attitude has meant that the vast majority of the general students has shied away from the senior courses in literature and philology while crowding into courses in advanced language work, translation, and culture and civilization. Although this trend is highly regrettable from the point of view of the professors teaching the senior courses in these areas, there has been little that could have been done about it, given the fact that students could organize their program so as not to have to take a literature course. The revised curriculum introduced in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta in 1986 should, however, increase substantially the number of students in literature courses, which ought to give their programs the breadth and depth desired by these professors. Because of a de-emphasis on the knowledge of formal English grammar in the high schools of the seventies, many students in German language courses have had great difficulties coping with the terminology and the concepts used in the traditional first- and second-year language courses; some students have gone so far as to complain that they had

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come to the German department to learn the German language, not this frustratingy difficult and complex German grammar! The problem of fluency versus accuracy in language expression previously discussed also has had to be faced by the colleges and universities. Whereas the University of Alberta and most colleges have remained with an eclectic approach which emphasizes both communicative competence in German and cognitive control over the grammar of the language, the University of Calgary has made very innovative and quite successful changes in the way in which first- and second-year language is taught, apparently, however, at the expense of material covered in the limited time available and at the expense of accuracy of expression. While some may deplore this development, there can be no doubt that these courses are highly popular with the students because they appear to learn to speak the language rather well, and for most general students who are taking German as an option this functional level of knowledge may well be sufficient. At higher levels of instruction, the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies at Calgary, of course, requires the students to be accurate in their expression as is expected of students at the University of Alberta. Instruction in German at the smallest university in the province, the University of Lethbridge, and at the colleges, is hampered by the relatively small numbers of students who are taking German. The low enrolments have affected the variety of courses which could be offered there; in at least one regional college, the instructor has had to give three courses at the same time in a classroom—a system comparable to the split-grades in the school system. For extensive senior work, students of German at the colleges have had to transfer to the University of Alberta or the University of Calgary.

CONCLUSION The study and teaching of German language and literature at colleges and universities in Alberta has been a significant component of the university curriculum for more than seventy years. Although the status of German as a requirement for university admission and as a compulsory subject for students in the Faculty of Arts and other faculties has dwindled over the years, the numbers of students who have taken courses in German language, literature, and culture—voluntarily rather than as the result of an imposed requirement—have increased steadily. In an


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average year in the eighties, about 700 students per year are studying the German language for credit at colleges and universities, and another 150 in evening noncredit courses; zoo students are learning to read and translate German every year. About 100 students are registered in undergraduate culture, literature, and linguistics courses at Alberta universities, and every year about 5 students are awarded an M.A. and 1 to 2 students a Ph.D. in German. It is true that more and more undergraduate students are taking a pragmatic interest in the language; many prefer becoming proficient in the language and knowledgeable in German culture to studying German literature; consequently, the enrolment in the literature courses has not grown at the same pace as language course enrolments. And yet, there are dozens of students every year who show a keen interest in German literature of the twentieth century and earlier periods and who graduate with a concentration in German having a very good knowledge of both language and literature. Thus, the post-secondary system of the eighties appears to be able to satisfy both traditional and contemporary teaching and learning objectives.

9 SUPPORT FOR THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF GERMAN IN ALBERTA

IN CHAPTER 1, it was established that speakers of German in Alberta, especially in the cities, have access to a large number of German clubs and associations and to events which they organize for their members; moreover, a considerable number of print and broadcast media are available to those who would like to be informed or entertained in the German language. In spite of the observation that the second generation of German-speaking immigrants has not displayed tremendous enthusiasm for keeping German customs, traditions, and the German language itself alive in Alberta—particularly in the urban areas of the Province— the very existence of these opportunities where German may be heard and spoken is an important factor assisting the teaching and learning of German in schools, colleges and universities. The fact that speakers of German (at least in the cities) can listen to a German program on the radio, listen to the five o'clock news direct from Bonn, pick up GermanCanadian or German newspapers and magazines from the local import store, visit German-speaking doctors, lawyers and dentists, buy their food in stores specializing in imported or Canadian-German foods, eat in German-style restaurants, go to music recitals featuring German composers and German artists, borrow German books from the public or the university libraries, see German films in the local movie theater or at the university, congregate with other speakers of German in various clubs and associations—all this creates a German ambience in Alberta's towns and cities which can only help support children and students alike in their efforts to learn German. For them, German is not a dead language spoken by only by a few professors and advanced students at the univer-

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Support for Teaching & Learning

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sity; for those who are aware of these opportunities, German is all around them. Teachers and professors are usually well-informed about the German community in Alberta and make use of what it has to offer the learner in terms of cultural enrichment, entertainment, and information. In addition to this German ambience, the teaching and learning of German is also supported actively and directly by governmental agencies (Canadian as well as European) which help teachers and students improve their language skills as well as increase their knowledge of contemporary and historical German culture in a variety of ways. Their support, financial, professional, and moral, represents an essential ingredient in the process of maintaining and improving the quality of the instructional process.

SUPPORT FOR THE INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN BY CANADIAN AUTHORITIES

All three levels of government in Canada contribute materially to the success of the teaching of German. The Federal Government The Canadian Government, through the Secretary of State for Multicultural Affairs, has assisted materially in the maintenance and development of activities carried out by the various ethnic groups in Canada by sponsoring research, and the publication of such research, on their history and present status in the multicultural mosaic, by organizing conferences on their ancestry and the problems of adaptation in Canada and conferences on the teaching of the ancestral or heritage languages. Moreover, the Federal Government has committed itself to supporting the actual teaching of these languages in the so-called "heritage language schools" by contributing a certain amount of money per student enrolled, namely $55 per student for the first twenty students in a given school, $35 each for the next forty students, and $20 each for the remaining students. During 1985/86, 10,425 students in 37 languages and 126 schools received this measure of support in Alberta, of whom 713 were students in German language schools.

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Departments of the Provincial Government Three government departments in Alberta are involved in the financing of instruction in German. Through Alberta Education, the Provincial Government is funding the teaching of German in the elementary and secondary public and separate schools (and the Correspondence Branch) in the form of a per-pupil grant which, however, is not directly tied to a particular course chosen by the students. It does make monies available directly for the development of teaching materials in the bilingual programs as well as for curricular development (but only when at least 100 students are enrolled province-wide per grade) and, since the inception of the English-German bilingual program in Edmonton in 1978, has provided a Special Program Needs grant for each child in the program to the school boards concerned (1985/86: $116.00). This grant is paid out in full for all children receiving instruction in the German language for at least 25% and at most 50% of the total instructional time. The Provincial government has also assisted the parents of students in the English-German bilingual program in helping to defray the costs of transportation of the children to and from school; without these funds these programs would, in all certainty, not exist. For several years until 1985, it provided a transportation grant of $389 per eligible child per year. The formula was changed, however, in that year, resulting in a reduction to $ 2 2 8. In 1985/86, however, it cost about $60 per eligible child per month in Edmonton to bus a child to and from school; the provincial grant accounted for about $ 24 , the parents' contribution was $23 for the first child, $17 for the second, and $12 for the third; the Edmonton Public School Board picked up the difference between actual cost and provincial grant over a five-year phase-in period in order to help the parents' transportation committees adjust to the higher contributions expected of them. Alberta Education was also financially involved in assisting the high school exchange program with Germany, and in 1986, took over full coordination and administration of this valuable program. Alberta Education assists German teachers in the province directly by housing the Fachberater fur Deutsch [German Consultant] supplied by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and enabling the consultant to work with teachers in schools across Alberta and, to a lesser extent, British Columbia.


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Furthermore, Alberta Education provides professional services by updating and developing regularly the curriculum for German in accordance with which the teaching of German in public and separate schools in the Province must proceed. Alberta Culture, through its Cultural Heritage Division, has offered a variety of services to the German ethnic community: it provides grants to cultural groups (such as folk dance groups and choirs) for travel and cultural exchange and supports conferences, workshops and training programs in drama, music, and dance. Furthermore, groups may apply for research grants in support of projects which deal with aspects of German language or culture in the province. A relatively new program, the Multilingual Biblioservice, which is offered by the Library Services Branch of Alberta Culture, has proved to be very successful. Qualified staff purchase books in French and 28 other languages, among them German, and make these books available to local libraries throughout the Province. Depending on the demand, local libraries are able to satisfy many different tastes with hundreds of books, ranging from classical and modern literature to cookbooks, adventure and children's books. Last but not least, the Alberta Cultural Heritage Division plays a very significant role in the maintenance and operation of the ethnic language schools previously mentioned. In 1985/86, ten such German language schools across the province, with a total enrolment of 713 students, received a per capita grant of $25 dollars each. The teaching of German at Alberta colleges and universities is financed by grants from the Department of Advanced Education. Considering the number of students enrolled in beginners, intermediate, and advanced courses, and in professional degree programs, the commitment to German as an academic subject leading to the B.A., the M.A., and the Ph.D. is substantial and amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. The Government is committed not only to the support of language instruction, but also to the teaching of linguistics, culture, and literature on the undergraduate as well as the graduate levels. The University of Alberta can boast of having the only program leading to a Ph.D. in German Literature or Philology between British Columbia and Ontario— a fact which, deservedly, adds great prestige to the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Alberta. This program has attracted students not only from across Canada, but from the United States, Great Britain, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Austra-

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lia, and China. At the University of Calgary, students may obtain a B.A. as well as an M.A. in German, whereas at the University of Lethbridge only the undergraduate degree is available. Colleges offer predominantly first- and second-year language courses and only occasionally a survey course of German literature or culture. Local School Authorities The school boards throughout the Province are responsible for the funding of programs of German instruction at the elementary and secondary levels; they do so by raising money through the local education taxes, which are supplemented by provincial grants of various sizes, depending on the relative wealth of a given school district (an average of $3,942.10 for all schools in Alberta during 1983/84).l School boards hire the teachers, support their professional development in permitting and encouraging them to participate in professional development days, immersion days, and local as well as regional and national conferences. In some instances, principals in those schools where the German programs have become marginal have played a leadership role in maintaining these programs, even if the program was not "cost-effective" anymore. School boards responsible for English-German bilingual programs have also contributed significantly by providing the expertise, staff and financial resources to develop the necessary curricular materials which, in practically their entirety, had to be produced from scratch. More directly, the Continuing Education divisions in a number of school districts offer evening courses to the general public which do not require an academic background, in Beginning to Intermediate German. In Edmonton, for example, in 1985/86, four beginning and two intermediate evening courses in German with about 15 students each were given. Moreover, Continuing Education put on two courses for high school students intending to go to Germany on a three-month exchange visit, in which these students may acquire additional fluency in the language, as well as the every-day vocabulary and phraseology needed for their stay with German families. These courses were also open to the parents of these students.


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SUPPORT BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

For the Federal Republic of Germany, the maintenance and development of the status of the German language abroad is the central principle on which its foreign cultural policy is based. In 1983, the German government announced increased support for German schools abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschulen) and an intensification of the effort to assist educational authorities in other countries to teach the German language. The cultural part of the budget of the Foreign office for 1986, amounting to DM 820 million, actually increased over the previous year, while many other departments of the government had to sustain substantial cuts in their budgets. The director of the Cultural Section of the Foreign Office summarized the objectives, rationale, and the activities for the strong emphasis on teaching German more extensively and effectively all over the world as follows: 1. The Government is supporting the concept of international cultural exchange as an objective in its own right because this exchange enriches man. 2. A cultural policy directed towards other countries is the third dimension of foreign policy; it contributes to peace in the world by bringing the peoples of the world closer together. 3. In doing so, it is a particularly modern and democratic form of foreign policy.2 In practice, this noble aim is realized by the support of German language teaching programs all over the world and by the dissemination of cultural information about present-day Germany. Consequently, huge sums of money are being spent every year to help maintain and develop German language schools and programs of all kinds and at all levels and to distribute, in large quantities, newspapers, booklets, books, magazines, and integrated teaching materials which are intended to provide the teacher and learner of German with an accurate, up-to-date, unstereotyped image of the Federal Republic. Moreover, thousands of high school and university students, teachers, scholars, and professionals are given an opportunity every year to visit the country and to bring back first-hand reports to their own people at the end of their stay. The governments of the other German-speaking countries do not put as much emphasis on this kind of intensive Kulturarbeit [support for Ger-

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man language and culture]; moreover, they do not have the same resources with which to perform their Selbstdarstellung [projection of their self-image]. The Republic of Austria The government of the Republic of Austria, through its Embassy in Ottawa, has assisted the teaching and learning of German in Alberta in a number of ways. Each year it awards a number of book prizes to outstanding students at colleges and universities; it also offers a full-year study scholarship at an Austrian university, for which all qualified students at Albertan universities are eligible. Clubs, schools, and universities may borrow cultural films about various aspects of Austria, past and present, from its holdings in Ottawa; in additition, the Embassy will also order feature films from Vienna directly, if such a request is made for a sizeable audience. A plethora of print materials can be obtained from the Embassy in individual copies or in larger numbers as were required, for example, for the introduction of a new culture and civilization course at the University of Alberta. A newsletter from the Federal Chancellery (Informationen aus Osterreich) and the glossy magazine Austria Today keep the interested reader abreast of political, economic, social, and cultural developments in Austria. Recently, Austria has made a large donation of books by Austrian authors to the library of the University of Alberta, has arranged poster exhibitions, and has sponsored several visits by Austrian artists and professors to Alberta. The Federal Republic of Germany Of the non-Canadian governments which support the German presence and the teaching of German in Alberta, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany makes by far the greatest contribution. Delivery of support is carried out directly from Germany (e.g., by Internationes, the German Academic Exchange Service), from the Embassy in Ottawa (e.g., location of the Standiger Ausschuss fur Deutsch als Fremdsprache [Standing Committee for German as a Foreign Language] or as the point of origin of German feature films), and, most importantly for Alberta, from the Consulate General in Edmonton (e.g., distribution of cultural films, books and brochures, support of visiting theater groups, the


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sponsorship of Festakte [festive memorial celebrations], the essay contest for high school students of German, to mention just a few). SCHOLARSHIPS AND PRIZES Every year an essay contest is held in Alberta for students of German in Grade 11 who do not come from German-speaking families. The winner, who is determined by a brief, informal oral examination of those three with the best marks on the essay, receives as his or her prize a four-week trip to Germany with all travel expenses, accommodation, and most meals paid for; in addition, he or she receives more than DM 50 per week pocket money. The Goethe Institute, under contract with the German Foreign Office, has offered instruction in German on all levels throughout the world (146 institutes in 66 countries) and in Germany itself (16 institutes). In 1980, some 65,000 students were registered in its language courses, 20,000 of them in the Federal Republic and West-Berlin. There are three such Goethe Institutes in Canada (Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver). The Goethe Institute has offered college and university students eightweek scholarships for summer study in Germany for many years. Alberta universities, in recent years, have been awarded one of these scholarships every other year for qualified students of German in beginners, intermediate, or advanced courses. The scholarship covers tuition, room and most meals on weekdays, DM 400 pocket money per month, DM 500 travel support, and the cost of an insurance policy. A comparatively new scholarship program awarded by the Goethe Institute is directed towards teachers of German. All teachers of German, as well as professors, in the province are eligible to attend in-service courses at selected Goethe Institutes in Germany. The scholarship covers all expenses (and provides some pocket money as well) except travel. Additional special scholarship programs are available for teachers where tuition and fees make up most of the scholarship component. The programs usually last three weeks, with an optional fourth week in Berlin. There is obviously little need for direct, systematic language practice at this level; the programs focus rather on erlebte Landeskunde, experiencing German culture through the medium of interviews with "real" Germans. But teachers always do come back with increased language competence, plus, of course, the cultural experiences gained while actually living in Germany. The Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst [German Academic

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Exchange Service] has offered two kinds of scholarships to Canadians: one permits a student with a completed degree in any field to pursue fulltime studies (for ten months with an opportunity for renewal) at any German university. It pays the successful applicant's return airfare; he is given DM 200 at his arrival in Germany, and DM 100 each semester for books. Depending on the field of study, he will receive between DM 800 to DM 1,440 per month and, of course, remission of tuition and fees. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, which is charged with the Canada-wide administration of this particular scholarship program, awards 16 of these scholarships every year; in addition, practically every university is given one of these scholarships. Every year, at least one student from both the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary (often from the German Departments) is awarded this prestigious scholarship. The DAAD also grants thirty scholarships for summer study at the University of Freiburg to qualified advanced students of German at Canadian universities. The program consists of lectures and practice in German grammar and style, as well as lectures and seminars on aspects of contemporary German culture and literature. This five-week scholarship offers travel support, pocket money, and room and board in Freiburg, and of course, remission of all tuition and fees. Every year between two and three Alberta students receive the DAAD scholarship for summer study in Germany. The Federal Republic also supports the visit of German academics to Canada, and to Alberta in particular, by means of such projects as the DAAD-Lecture Tour, which allows a German "Germanist" to visit and stay for a few days at a series of Canadian universities and to give lectures and hold seminars for advanced students. In the other direction, there are scholarships and fellowships for Canadian professors available through the DAAD and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation which make it possible for them to travel to Germany and spend a summer or a year at one of the German universities. In 1984, for example, four Canadian professors received the prestigious Alexander-von-Humboldt research fellowships. Eighty to a hundred book prizes each are given every year to outstanding students at universities and high schools in the province, and book donations have been made to the bilingual schools in significant numbers.


CULTURAL AUDIO, VIDEO, AND PRINT MATERIALS

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Teachers and

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fessors are very familiar with the enormous amount of audio, video and print material available from Internationes (a section of the cultural division of the West German Foreign Office) and other source materials for use in class, among them integrated slide and audio-tape programs on various aspects of contemporary Germany (most of which can be used directly in class), a large number of audio-tape series (music, literature, culture, and language instruction), and, most recently, videotapes with cultural content. This organization also distributes German feature films and cultural films, which are available in Alberta from the Consulate General, to interested clubs, associations, schools, and universities. Among the feature films, both experimental films of the seventies and eighties as well as film classics, operas, adaptations of plays for films, and youth films are available in large numbers. The Consulate General's film vaults contain approximately 200 short films (ten to forty-five minutes each), about 80% of them in English, the remainder in English and German, on a tremendous variety of aspects of Germany past and present. At the time of writing, a videotape library was established at the Consulate, as it was believed that videotapes, for smaller audiences, are easier to handle than 16 mm films. One of the most informative brochures is the Kulturbrief from Internationes; this monthly publication gives an excellent survey of the arts scene in all areas of Germany and reports on contemporary trends and past achievements. Excellent cultural materials about life in the Federal Republic of Germany are offered by the Jugend Scala, which offers information in readable and readily comprehensible prose on aspects of youth culture and life in Germany, and Scala Magazin, which presents interesting and significant slices of contemporary Germany. Teachers and students will find the regular series Bildung und Wissenschaft a tremendous help in remaining up-to-date about the most recent developments in education in the FRG. Interested persons at schools, colleges, and universities can keep their knowledge of contemporary German affairs up-to-date by reading Deutschland-Nachrichten from the German Embassy in Ottawa, Politik, a newsletter published by the Press and Information Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, or The German Tribune, an independent weekly digest in English of the German press. The monthly newsreel

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films series Deutschlandspiegel presents ten to fifteen-minute vignettes on topical themes (in English or German) in the Federal Republic. Moreover, several books and brochures are published every year and distributed by the Consulate General, on a variety of political, economic, and social issues. Informative fact-books and brochures published by the German government are also available in quantity from the Consulate for use in schools and universities. In short, there is no reason in the world why teachers or professors of German in Alberta could not continually develop and broaden their knowledge of aspects of West Germany's society so that they could pass on accurate and up-to-date information to their students, even though they might have to use a textbook which presents a stereotyped and outdated view of the country. In several instances, there are even hints accompanying materials published by Internationes as to how the material could be used effectively in the classroom. SPONSORSHIP OF CULTURAL EVENTS In Edmonton, the Consulate General has sponsored and organized a number of public Festakte, held in memory of famous German authors, at which the major speech was given by the Chairman of the Department of German Languages. Furthermore, more or less annual visits by traveling theater groups, such as the Deutsches Theater Montreal, and book and poster exhibitions have been sponsored and organized by the Consulate General in Edmonton. These have usually been very successful in attracting a large audience. Important musical events involving German composers have also received support and financial assistance from the representatives of the Federal Republic in Edmonton. EXCHANGE PROGRAMS Five programs have been devised to allow for an interchange of students, teachers, and professors between Germany and Canada, and Alberta in particular. Since 1978, some three hundred high school students from across Alberta have gone to Germany for three months to stay with a German family and to attend school with the host family's child; subsequently, the German boy or girl would come to Alberta, live with his or her Canadian partner's family, and attend the local school. The students selected are practically always in Grade 11 and should have had the first two years of the three-year German curriculum as minimum qualifications in German. Their numbers have increased steadily; in the mid-eighties, about 45 to 50 Albertan students participated in this program each year.


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These exchanges have proved exceedingly useful. The Albertans who have spent these months in Germany, thinking and breathing German 24 hours a day, of course, return to Alberta with a vastly increased proficiency in German and an excellent first-hand knowledge of German culture. In addition, the German students attending school in Alberta often serve as willing native informants in German classes and, as it were, make German, as a subject, "come alive." A very valuable program sponsored by the Pddagogischer Austauschdienst [Pedagogical Exchange Service], an agency of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Culture of the Federal Republic, is the foreign language assistant program in which students with a completed university degree (usually in Education) are given the opportunity to work as language assistants and native informants in a German Gymnasium [matriculation stream in a high school]. Students are usually assigned to a number of classes in English; under the supervision of a teacher they hold discussions, lecture on Canadian culture, and, in general, try to develop their German students' proficiency in the spoken language. They usually work up to twelve hours per week for which they get approximately DM 800 per month. In 1983/84, an exchange of teachers was begun (although the provision for it had existed before) between Alberta and the Federal Republic, in which an Albertan teacher of German exchanges positions with a German teacher of English for an entire school year. Since then, an average of one teacher per year has participated in this exchange program, with interest in the program on both sides rising markedly. Clearly, such a program can assist a teacher of German tremendously to improve his or her fluency in German and his or her knowledge of German culture. On a less academic level, the work student program (which is organized jointly by the Central Labor Office in Frankfurt and the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German and is subsidized by the German Academic Exchange Service) has sent thousands of Canadians to summer jobs in Germany and has brought hundreds of Germans to this country. Although these summer jobs, in most cases, involve a great deal of hard, long manual work in the German tourist industry, with relatively little opportunity to hear High German spoken all the time, students usually return to Canada full of enthusiasm about what they were able to see and do in Germany during their two working months and the month following completion of their work (during which the students may do whatever they like). They can all boast a greatly improved knowledge of the German language—possibly interspersed with some local dialect

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words and phrases—and culture. Every year, about eight Albertans are chosen to go to Germany on this exchange program. A special program of the work-student arrangement has been made available to university students of German who intend to teach German after completion of their studies. In order to help them acquire High German more easily, these students (usually two to three in Alberta) have been given summer jobs in Germany at university libraries, foreign student offices on university campuses, and municipal offices. SUPPORT FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS OF GERMAN The final area of support by the Federal Republic of Germany is assistance for the professional development of teachers. It was mentioned above that Goethe Institute scholarships are available for teachers of German in relatively large numbers (in 1979/80, for example, nine such scholarships were awarded3). A most important authority is the Standing Committee for German as a Foreign Language (Standiger Ausschuss fur Deutsch als Fremdsprache) at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ottawa; it disburses close to fifty thousand dollars every year which are used to organize conferences, workshops, and visits to Canada by German lecturers on educational matters, to support the development of suitable curricular material for Canadian purposes, to assist in holding summer language camps for students of German at the secondary level, and to subsidize the travel of teachers of German to Germany for in-service training. Several Canadian universities have been fortunate enough to have a DAAD-lecturer on their staff for a few years, who was able to bring his or her special expertise to bear on the Canadian educational situation. In Calgary, for example, a DAAD lecturer arrived in 1984 for a visiting lecturership. Clearly, such a person could provide valuable input into improved course and curricular design from a European perspective. One of the most effective ways in which the government of the FRG (in particular, the Zentralstelle fur das Auslandschulwesen [Center for German Schools Abroad]) has been able to assist teachers of German in Alberta is the delegation of a Fachberater fur Deutsch [Consultant for German] to the Language Services Branch of Alberta Education where he is expected to assist individual teachers, teachers' groups, and committees within the Department of Education. While the first consultant for German was responsible for all of Western Canada, his successor was able to concentrate on Alberta and, to a lesser extent, on British Columbia. This consultant was extremely effective in a number of ways: he


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guided and assisted several committees which had been established to rewrite the German curriculum in the high schools and junior high schools; he produced materials for certain communicative German language programs, gave papers and presentations on the most recent language teaching methods and on materials from Germany, visited individual schools and teachers in all corners of the province and helped in the local improvement of teaching, taught part of a methods course for German at the University of Alberta, organized and co-organized conferences and workshops, and did a myriad other things to help improve the quality of instruction in German in the Province. Through his work, he became well-known not only to teachers of German but to teachers of other languages as well. The government of the Federal Republic of Germany has also played a very significant role in support for the private and church language schools which are teaching German in the province. The assistance given consists of monetary subsidies intended to keep student fees down to a reasonable level while allowing the school to hire qualified, effective teachers and to provide modern text materials for these schools. The policy of the FRG has been to attempt to cover any deficit which a language school might incur in its operation. In practice this meant that during 1985/86, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany subsidized four German language schools in the province to a total of $28,900 or an average of $51.70 per student. Because this subsidy is not tailored to enrolment levels as is the case with the grant from the Secretary of State for Multicultural Affairs ($ 5 5 —$ 3 5 —$ 2 0 ), the contribution from the German government exceeds by a substantial amount those provided by the Canadian and Alberta governments. The explicitly stated aim of the Federal Republic of Germany to support the teaching of German all over the world is realized in a generously funded, multi-faceted network of programs. These programs are designed to help educational institutions, as well as individual teachers and students, to acquire a high proficiency in the language and an up-todate knowledge of the culture of the Federal Republic of Germany. The German Democratic Republic The government of the German Democratic Republic has made only small contributions to the improvement of the teaching and learning of German in Alberta. Issues of the series Prisma and Neue Heimat, journals which are intended to inform about life in the GDR, are received reg-

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ularly at the German departments of the universities in Alberta. Additional original material can be ordered reliably from the government of the GDR without cost. There are no other formal contacts between schools, colleges, and universities in Alberta and government offices in the German Democratic Republic. Switzerland Switzerland is also much less generous in the distribution of materials about itself than the Federal Republic of Germany is. A glossy magazine about Switzerland is received irregularly at the universities, and cultural films may be ordered from the Embassy in Ottawa. But the Consulate in Vancouver is always very helpful in supplying a wealth of brochures and books about aspects of contemporary Switzerland when required. Annually, Switzerland also offers a university scholarship to Canadians for which qualified Alberta students are, of course, eligible. The Consulate, like those of the Federal Republic of Germany and of Austria, awards book prizes to outstanding students at the universities in Alberta.

SUPPORT BY CANADIAN NONGOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES AND GROUPS

The support given to the teaching and learning of German by nongovernmental agencies and groups is characterized by varying degrees of explicitness and directness. For example, when a German club offers a scholarship for a qualified student at the University of Alberta to take a summer course in Germany or when a parent group raises money by bake sales and casinos to help defray transportation costs for children in the bilingual program, a high degree of direct support is exhibited. On the other hand, German feature films shown in a local movie theater or at the university may be considered to be only indirect, broad support for instruction in the German language and culture by creating a rich and varied German ambience in which interested students may develop their proficiency. Very important for high-quality German instruction is the professional development of the teachers and professors of German. In Alberta, teachers of German in public and separate schools are required to have a Bachelor of Education degree or its equivalent, such as an after-degree diploma. Only occasionally does a teacher from, say, Germany get permis-


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sion to teach a credit course in German by receiving a ministerial letter of authority. Teachers of noncredit courses in German, of course, do not need professional training in second-language teaching principles and methods, although they are usually very eager to acquire the specialized skills required for effective teaching and participate regularly in special workshops and seminars organized for them. At the colleges and universities, no pedagogical background is required to teach German language, culture, and literature beyond an advanced degree, such as an M.A. or a Ph.D.; however, teaching assistants in the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Alberta who have no previous teaching experience are required to take a methods course especially designed for them. In addition, they are guided and supervised by the coordinator of the language courses; this would also be the case in other language departments. Teacher Education Programs Students who are training to become teachers of German may follow one of two routes: most enrol in the four-year B.Ed, program in Elementary or Secondary Education in the Faculty of Education, where they take the required number of courses in educational philosophy, history, educational administration, methods of instruction in second-language teaching, and educational psychology. In addition, students in Secondary Education (future high school teachers) take six full-year courses in the German Departments if they major in German (or a minimum of three fullyear courses if they choose German as their minor). Students in Elementary Education (usually students who want to teach in the English-German bilingual programs) are not required to take courses in German, although a minor in German is possible (usually with two fullyear courses). The other route to a teaching career leads from an approved degree (such as a Bachelor of Arts) to the Professional Certificate issued by the Alberta Department of Education in an after-degree program of at least three semesters' length. In both programs, students have to complete several rounds of student teaching in a local school with satisfactory results before they graduate. During the student-teaching experience, the teacher candidate is assisted and supervised by the classroom teacher with, or for whom, he is teaching and by the faculty consultant from the university, who provides a theoretical perspective to the practical teaching experience.

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In the elementary program, it is often not possible for students who would like to teach in the English-German bilingual program, to have their field experience and practicum at one of these schools as there are not enough of them. The secondary education program, however, does provide for two professional terms. The first takes place during the second or third year; the last weeks in that term are dedicated to a full-day practicum experience in a school where German is taught. Another two rounds of full-day practicum experience consisting of four weeks each are taken in year three or four. When an opening exists at a school, the candidate is interviewed by a person or persons competent to judge his or her proficiency in the language and general suitability as a teacher. For the first two years, the novice teacher teaches with a provisional certificate, obtaining permanent certification only after two years of satisfactory teaching. The Modern Language Council of the ATA A teacher of German is automatically a member of the Alberta Teachers' Association and may become a member of one of its specialist councils, such as the Modern Language Council of the ATA. This Council advises the ATA on policy and determines such matters as lie within its jurisdiction, such as participation in national projects on second-language teaching or the initiation of experimental teaching projects. It organizes the Annual Conference, which consists of workshops intended to keep the practising teacher up-to-date on professional developments in the field, to provide new ideas for the classroom, and to allow for an interchange of opinion among teachers within and across the various second languages taught in Alberta. The Modern Language Council also publishes a professional journal, the "Alberta Modern Language Journal" which serves as another vehicle for the professional development of secondlanguage teachers. The "Courier," a newsletter published eight times a year by the MLC, publicizes important events to teachers, such as upcoming conferences and meetings and summer courses, and professional books. The Alberta Association of Teachers of German, an affiliate of the Modern Language Council, was founded in 1982. Its membership (1985/86: 40) consists of teachers in the bilingual schools of the province, high school teachers and college and university professors of German, as well as others who have a professional interest in the teaching of


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German. Its main annual meeting is held in conjunction with the annual conference of the Modern Language Council, but, in addition, it organizes local events of professional and social interest on an almost monthly basis. The AATG is the successor to the Southern Alberta Teachers of German (founded in 1972.), an association which drew its memberships mainly from Calgary, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat. It was also a member of the Modern Language Council and organized professional development events in a manner similar to that of the AATG. Professional Development at the Local Level At the local level, second language teachers have an opportunity to upgrade their professional expertise in the annual teachers' conventions, on professional development days and on immersion days. Most of the larger teacher conventions in Alberta have one event specifically directed at teachers of German. On the two or three professional development days to which teachers, depending on available funds, are entitled, modern language supervisors may decide to bring in workshop leaders or speakers; alternatively, the teachers may decide to use this time for curricular development. A very successful event, which was introduced only recently in Edmonton and vicinity, is immersion days in German during which the teachers, for a period of usually two days, have an opportunity to sharpen their language skills and to collect new teaching ideas. Each school district has a certain amount of money available for the purchase of professional books for the teacher's library, and provision is also usually made, finances permitting, for teachers to attend one or more local, regional, or national conferences. However, in many cases teachers have to pay for substitute teachers or travel expenses out of their own pocket when the available funds have been exhausted. The Prairie Council on the Teaching of German A regional association of teachers of German is the Prairie Council on the Teaching of German, founded in 1985, which holds its conference every other year in one of the three prairie provinces. These KONTAKT conferences appeal to all levels of teaching German—from kindergarten and elementary school to high school and university; public as well as private and heritage language school teachers attend this important two-day

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conference. Approximately one hundred teachers and instructors at colleges and universities attend this biennial event which presents speakers from across Canada as well as from the Federal Republic of Germany. The Canadian Council of Teachers of German The national association of German teachers is the Canadian Council of Teachers of German, which was founded in 1983. It coordinates regional and national efforts at improving instruction in German and holds its annual conference at various places in Canada, to allow those teachers who do not have the funds to travel long distances an opportunity to hear highly qualified experts and participate in workshops on pedagogical matters. The Alberta Ethnic Language Teachers' Association The Alberta Ethnic Language Teachers' Association (founded in 1978 and split into a northern and a southern branch several years later) is dedicated to promoting the teaching of ethnic languages and cultures in Alberta through ethnic language schools; it seeks to assist teachers of the ethnic language schools (who usually do not have a teaching certificate) in the improvement of their teaching skills and in discovering ways in which to help the various ethnic groups in the community retain their respective languages and cultures. Anyone associated with the teaching of an ethnic language or with the preservation of an ethnic culture in Alberta may become a member. AELTA fills both a significant professional as well as a psychological role as teachers in the ethnic language schools do not have to have a teaching certificate and are, therefore, not permitted to join the official language teachers' association, the Modern Language Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association. From its inception, AELTA has received practical help and encouragement from several levels of government and from language teaching specialists at the universities and elsewhere. The Northern and the Southern Branch of AELTA have set for themselves the following specific aims: to organize workshops throughout the province, to encourage field workers to visit classes and make suggestions, to keep records and enrolment statistics for ethnic-language schools, to establish and maintain lines of communication between and among teachers of the various heritage languages, to improve classroom facilities and make


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teachers aware of up-to-date teaching materials, to inform the public about the important work that the teachers in these schools are doing for the preservation of the cultural mosaic in the province of Alberta, to create the proper attitude towards multiculturalism in the public mind, and to approach the federal and provincial governments and other organizations to assist language and cultural education. At one time, there was serious talk about the establishment of a central facility, a Multilingual Center to be located in Edmonton, for all or most ethnic language schools, but no definitive results have been obtained as yet. The Canadian Association of University Teachers of German The professional organization for college and university professors in Canada is the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German (although professors may, of course, be members of other professional groups in the United States and Europe as well). The CAUTG'S main activities consist of the holding of its annual conference as part of the meeting of the Learned Societies (at which mostly papers of interest to professors in literature and linguistics are given; papers in language and language acquisition constitute only a small minority, but this distribution reflects the composition of interest among the members of the CAUTG); the publication of the professional journal Seminar for Germanists; the occasional publication of books of interest to Germanists, and the participation in a number of educational ventures, such as organization of the work student-flight and the selection of candidates for the DAAD summer scholarship. Teachers and instructors of German have access to a great number and variety of opportunities for professional development. Ultimately, of course, the responsibility for individual self-improvement for more effective teaching rests with the individual teacher. It is to the credit of most teachers of German that they attempt to take advantage of as many opportunities for professional development as they can.

SUPPORT BY INDIVIDUALS OR PRIVATE GROUPS

At the universities, scholarships are available for intermediate to advanced students of German. The German Language School of Calgary awards $800 to students of German at the University of Calgary in a

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B.Ed, program who have at least a B + average. A former professor in the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Calgary has donated an annual bursary of $500 to a deserving student in second, third, or fourth year. At the University of Alberta, students from second year on may apply for as scholarship of $1000 donated by the GermanCanadian Cultural Association. It is awarded annually, usually to defray part of the costs of taking a German summer course in Germany. The German-Canadian Association, the German-Canadian Business and Professional Association, and the Alberta Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia have also provided awards and scholarships amounting to some two thousand dollars per year. For more than 15 years, the Alberta Cultural and Linguistic Awards have been held in Alberta, an event at which hundreds of students in various languages from across Alberta get together in a speaking contest which is intended to encourage all students in their study of a second language. The atmosphere is noncompetitive and relaxed, and it is most important that everyone have a good time. Students are grouped together according to formal or informal background in the language; they recite poems, do dramatic readings, and hold speeches depending on their level of language proficiency. Cultural events, such as folk dancing and traditional music and joint meals make this event a very desirable one from the pedagogical point of view, because even weaker and less advanced students are able to participate and become accepted as part of the group. In addition, every year, the German Language School Calgary organizes a speech contest for students of German which—although it is not as well attended as the ACLA contest—challenges, motivates, and rewards the students for their efforts with generous prizes. Among the many parents and parents' groups which are active in the support of their school and their children—in particular, the parents' associations in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, and Calgary—must be singled out for special praise. It is because of their efforts that the EnglishGerman bilingual programs in Edmonton and Sherwood Park, respectively, have been established, and there is hope that the German-English Education Society of Calgary will also be successful in helping to establish a bilingual school in that city. From the very beginning, the first of these parents' groups, the Association for English-German Bilingual Education of Edmonton, lobbied the Edmonton School Board and Alberta Education for support in their request to have bilingual programs established in the city. They held public information meetings and appeared


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on community as well as public TV with their message that bilingual education is indeed an effective approach to language learning. The parents held cake sales, organized raffles, held casinos, and approached the German-speaking businesses in the city for donations in order to raise funds to cover the costs of transportation for the children. With the monies raised, the Bilingual Association purchased books and games for the children in the program, and even had enough money to pay a large part of the salary of a curriculum writer for the bilingual program. Without the commitment and dedication of these parents, the flourishing existence of the German bilingual program in Edmonton would not have become a reality. Of course, these efforts would have been in vain if the Edmonton Public School Board, through the Second Language Supervisor's office, had not been prepared from the start to establish such a bilingual program and to support it financially and morally to the fullest extent possible.

CONCLUSION The preceding brief overview has shown a substantial and demonstrable commitment by the people of Alberta—through the Departments of Education, Culture, and Advanced Education of the Provincial Government and the Federal Government as well as through their local education taxes—and by the governments of the German-speaking countries in Europe (particularly the Federal Republic of Germany) to a high standard in the teaching of German in Alberta. While this high level of support may seem perfectly natural to today's parents and students, such a commitment to the development of proficiency in a second language did not always exist in Alberta. In 1922/23, for example, there were 52 students enrolled in German courses in high schools in Alberta, and 72 registrations could be counted at the University. No noncredit evening courses were taught by a continuing education division of a school board or the university, and no German courses were offered by the Correspondence Branch of the Department of Education. There were no ethnic language schools, and only a handful of students in church or church-sponsored schools received instruction in German. No professional organizations for teachers existed in the province; the training of teachers in modern languages was virtually nonexistent. Textbooks were used for decades and thus hardly

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reflected the most up-to-date cultural trends and phenomena, yet no government of a German-speaking country supplied materials to correct outdated and stereotyped cultural perceptions. The official policy of the governments of Canada and Alberta, at that time, was to discourage "bilingualism" (or any level of knowledge of a second language among the school-going population of non-British origin, for that matter) and to use sometimes not so subtle means to compel the youngsters "to learn English and become a good Canadian." The policy of suppression of an ethnic identity and the lack of a permissive environment in which the heritage language and culture could be maintained and developed and in which access to German was limited to only a few lucky students at the large high schools in the cities and at the University of Alberta was to last well into the 1950s, when post-World War II immigration brought large numbers of speakers of German to Canada. Although at that time there was still a lingering suspicion of and resentment towards "the Germans" and although most Germans wanted to become assimilated as quickly as possible into the English-speaking mainstream culture, a certain—even if only local—visibility of persons of German ethnic origin, especially in the cities and towns of Alberta, was achieved and cultivated: German could be heard in the churches and various stores and businesses, German clubs began to spring up in large numbers, and German-language newspapers enjoyed a high level of readership. A German ambience began to develop in Alberta. At least nine factors contributed to the subsequent sharp increase in enrolments in German in the schools and universities of the province: • Higher rate of completion of high school: In the 19508, with heightened educational expectations, a general trend towards a greater rate of completion of high school began to become apparent, which consequently increased the number of students eligible to take German language courses (which were offered only in the last three years of high school). • Increased access to post-secondary education: As secondary education began to become accessible to ever-increasing numbers of students, the enrolment at the colleges and universities began to burgeon as well; the sixties and early seventies saw an unparalleled increase in the number of students entering university; many of them enrolled in German courses.


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•Improved access to second language courses at school: The audiolingual approach to language teaching, which de-emphasized the explicit learning of formal grammar and instead stressed the memorization and highly structured practice of model sentences or patterns, democratized the enrolment in the language courses. No longer were language courses restricted, explicitly or implicitly, to the select few gifted individuals. • Increased perceived usefulness of a second language: Modern methods of teaching a second language stressed the acquisition of a secondlanguage as a means of communication in the real world; grammar (if it was taught explicitly at all) was considered merely as a means to an end. The traditional emphasis on studying grammar for its own sake, and as a means of gaining access to the masterpieces of German literature and thought, was largely discarded. Consequently, students could see more reasons for wanting to study a second language like German. • Increased attractiveness of German courses for anglophone students: The success of the German courses and the increase in the perceived importance and stature of German as a world language of science, trade and culture started to attract students who had neither a strong academic motivation to learn German as a means of gaining access to the works of German literature as had been the case in the past nor had they any connection with German through their family background. German was no longer merely a heritage language; it had become academically acceptable in its own right. • Large numbers of students with German family language background: The massive immigration of German-speakers increased the pool of students with German background who were able to do very well in the audio-lingually oriented courses because of their oral emphasis. For many students, virtually no homework was required to get good or at least satisfactory marks on homework and tests, since they had learned and were still learning enough German in the home. • Increasing acceptance of an ethnically heterogeneous society: Instead of suppressing ethnic identities, it became more and more fashionable (culminating in the official policy of Multiculturalism of the seventies and thereafter) to tolerate and even encourage the maintenance and development of heritage languages and cultures. • Increased support of second-language instruction by the Federal and

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Provincial Governments: Compared to the first half of the century, the governments were willing to spend greater sums on second-language education—even if this meant incurring substantially higher costs caused by the special demands of these programs; and lastly, • Higher levels of support of instruction in German by the governments of German-speaking countries of Europe: The governments of the German-speaking countries (especially the Federal Republic of Germany) took increasing note of the German-speaking population of Canada and started to supply the schools and universities with a great variety of materials which made German classes more interesting to attend and which, therefore, drew students away from the traditional options with which languages had to compete. As the enrolment in German courses in schools, colleges, and the universities began to grow, more and more parents of German origin felt confident enough to request more and better courses for their children in secondary and then in elementary schools; more and more teachers had to be trained, and they required better and more highly organized professional associations. The Provincial Government and the local school boards responded positively to local demands for more and better courses—in short, the enrolment boom fed on its own success and the positive attitude towards instruction in a second language displayed by Canadian society. Although the boom has diminished somewhat since the early seventies, the numbers are still considerable. In 1986, there were some 300 students enrolled in the bilingual programs in elementary school, about 1,100 in junior high school, some 2,300 in high school German courses, and about 700 in the ethnic language schools. About 1,150 students were taking German at the colleges and universities, and about 500 students were enrolled in noncredit evening courses at public schools, colleges, and universities—for a total of almost 6,000 students per year who were stuyding German in Alberta in that year. Parallel with that sharp rise in enrolments at all levels since the end of World War II came increased support for the teaching of German, in quality as well as in quantity, and there can be no doubt that instruction in German in Alberta has been the better for it.

10 THE FUTURE OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE IN ALBERTA

IT HAS BEEN SHOWN that "the Germans" in Canada have demonstrated a considerable readiness to abandon their ancestral language and that immigrants from Germany feel "right at home" in Canada very quickly; many give up German as the language of the home and perceive themselves as German-Canadians, rather than as Germans, very soon after their arrival in Canada. Compared to some other ethnic groups, "the Germans" use their ancestral language less frequently in the second and third generations (where the language is lost, to all intents and purposes), and they restrict their use of German to the family and a circle of close friends. It is true that the attitudes towards the retention of German expressed by parents (especially recent immigrants who are still fluent in the language and have a relatively low level of education) with regard to the desirability for their children to learn and maintain German has been very strong, but this stated attitude is not necessarily translated into practice in real life. The effect of the drastic loss of German among the present generation of supposed speakers of German in Alberta, on the one hand, and the small number of future speakers of German being raised, especially in the cities, has already had profound effects (and will continue to do so) on the type of student taking German at the school and the university level. Enrolments in language schools and public schools have suffered serious declines over the last ten years; there do not seem to be enough children from German-speaking families to attend the bilingual schools; enrolments are shrinking in most church schools: the demographic characteristics of the German ethnic group in Alberta are changing radically, and German—even with increased registrations by anglophone students—will 319

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be unlikely to retain its present share of second language registrations over the medium and long term unless there is an infusion of German mother tongue speakers by increased immigration, or unless there is a drastic change in the attitudes towards language maintenance, particularly by persons in the towns and cities of Alberta, where the schools are located at which German is being taught. It seems that the users of German in the rural areas use the Type A approach to the maintenance of German which was previously postulated: they regularly and seriously participate in various social and ethnocultural events to "preserve" the German heritage in the family and in the province; they preserve a German lifestyle and a German system of values in the home; members of the younger and the older generation use German as the main language of communication in the home and the church; they deliberately seek out the company of German-speaking friends and acquaintances and are forming a "German" island in the anglophone sea. Clearly these speakers of German are able to pass on the German language and their German cultural heritage to their children. In the urban areas, speakers of German have followed either a Type B or Type C approach to the maintenance of the German language and culture. Using the former, they may occasionally participate in ethnocultural activities for nostalgic enjoyment and social mingling; the parents usually speak German to their children when they are small, but switch to English as the children themselves increasingly use English; parents and children follow an increasingly Canadian lifestyle and do not want to appear "different" in dress, language, customs, and traditions; the parents may have German-speaking friends, but they do not seek them out deliberately; the parents may still consider themselves "German" while the youngsters perceive themselves to be Canadians or, at best, GermanCanadians. With this approach, German culture and language in Alberta will disappear with the passing of the immigrant generation. The most extreme willingness to abandon the German language and customs is displayed by persons who follow a Type C pattern to language maintenance. They hardly ever participate in ethnocultural activities; they adopt English quickly as the home language for the entire family; they embrace Canadian social values and the Canadian life style wholeheartedly and raise their children as Canadians; German culture, to them, is something that was left behind in Europe; if they have Germanspeaking friends it is pure coincidence, not the result of a deliberate attempt to cultivate their acquaintance. The members of this group con-

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sider themselves Canadians—certainly the younger people do—while some members of the older generation may still perceive themselves as Canadians of German origin. With this approach to language maintenance, German culture has already been lost by the immigrant generation. Among the reasons for the decline in the use of German in Alberta, we can count the following, some being based on empirical fact, others on intuition only. Certainly, the increasing urbanization of Alberta, and in particular, the urbanization of speakers of German in the province by the immigrants of the 19508 (who settled largely in the towns and cities), and the movement of rural residents to the cities has been one of the most important factors determining the loss of German language and culture in the province. In urban areas, the families are less isolated from the anglophone world; the working world and neighbors have a significantly stronger effect on individuals and families than is the case in a rural area; mass media and entertainment exert constant linguistic pressure on persons whose mother tongue or home language is not English. As more and more formerly German-speaking institutions disappear or switch to English, there is less and less need, as well as opportunity, to continue to use German. There has been a readiness to "become Canadian" ("After all, Canada is our home now!") since the beginnings of Alberta's history, a willingness to adjust to what the immigrants perceived to be expected of them. The two World Wars certainly also had a strong impact on the ethnic consciousness of the German: it is well-known that the census figures collected during or immediately after the Wars, considerably underestimated the actual number of Albertans with German ethnic background. In the inter-War period, it was, after all, official government policy to Canadianize and anglicize the immigrants, and after World War II, the immigrants and their children suffered frequent malignment in public life, which was, of course, a good reason to hide one's ethnic identity. Having emigrated to Canada and having found a new home, many parents did not feel that a knowledge of German by their own children would be useful in Canada; after all, they did not want to return to "Germany," and certainly their children had very little intention of doing so. Consequently, German and German culture became museum pieces, to be dusted off once in a while, but ignored for most of the year. Many

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immigrants, especially those from Eastern Europe, did not want to accept the changes which have occurred in the relationship between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Socialist countries; many of them felt that they had been "sold out" and more than ever before thought of the "real" Germany, as they knew it, as having ceased to exist in the 1970S. Thus the cultural perceptions of the older immigrants have, in fact, become petrified in their memories. The children, for psychological reasons (being "German" made them different, and adolescents do not want to be different from their peers), have resisted their parents' attempts to get them to learn German, steadily undermining their parents' determination and perseverance until they finally gave up. Of course, some parents never had the resolve to teach their children German in the home or the time and energy to drive their children to German school; it certainly was a great deal easier to become simply assimilated into the anglophone mainstream. The fact that Canadians, and particularly western Canadians, tend to be suspicious of the so-called "hyphenated Canadians" and the fact that they have considered foreign languages unnecessary frills (this attitude is certainly still prevalent regarding the teaching of second languages in high school and regarding the imposition of a second language requirement, for all students, for graduation from high school) have assuredly contributed to a weakening of the will power of the German-speaking immigrant to maintain his or her knowledge of language or culture. What can be done about the seemingly inexorable trend towards the virtual disappearance of German in Alberta, particularly in her urban regions? Attitudes would have to change, attitudes towards the usefulness of German in the modern world and towards German language and culture as living entities. Lingering doubts and guilt feelings concerning the role of the Germans during the Second World War would have to be removed once and for all in a cool and rational manner. The resolve would have to increase to insist on the use of German in the home, and parents would have to support very strongly the efforts of their children to learn German in school. There would have to be a greater willingness on the part of the immigrant and the second generation to get to know the German-speaking countries via authentic materials. On the other hand, public attitudes towards second languages and their importance in the modern world would have to improve, with a consequent increase in the stature of German and other second languages in school and in public life. Especially the anglophone Canadian would

The Future of the German Language

32,3

have to be shown that a knowledge of German language and culture in the present world is an asset, both for personal enrichment and professional development and employability. In the educational arena, the following measures should help maintain or even increase the extent to which German will be taught in Alberta: establishment of solid programs in junior high school leading to an attractive syllabus in high school which can hold the students until the end of the three-year program; expansion of the English-German bilingual programs as a result of increased demand by parents and increased support by the educational authorities; increases in funding for second-language programs at all educational levels; introduction of a second language requirement for students graduating from high school with an Advanced Diploma; and continuation of sophistication of programs offered by the heritage language schools. In terms of educational consequences, the plunge in the number of children who have a recognition or speaking knowledge of German because of their family language background will have the following drastic implications for the teaching of German in Alberta: on the one hand, all bilingual programs and most high school programs in German are located in the urban centers of Alberta; on the other hand, the majority of the children with such linguistic background will be found in the rural areas. The implication is that most children who will start to learn German in the home will be unable to study the language formally in a public school; they will either have to continue to learn it informally in the home or in a private or church-sponsored school—which points to the great importance of nonpublic German language instruction in the future. Conversely, the fact that the enrolment in public school classes by students with German language background will decline substantially will lead to the closure of many marginal programs and to a reduction in the range of course offerings in others—which, again, will probably increase the enrolment in the private schools by those children whose parents would like them to acquire a formal knowledge of German. Of course, many students may simply abandon the thought of studying German at school altogether. Because of the shift in the background of the student population, with fewer students being "fluent" at the point of entry into the German class, a change in teaching methodology will have to be contemplated: if the overall objective of language learning of the future is to continue to be "communicative competence," even more emphasis than at present will

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have to be given to the development of these skills by means of one or the other variant of a "communicative method" (with its accompanying deemphasis on the knowledge of formal grammar), or, because it is difficult to reach communicative competence with traditional materials, the objectives will probably change towards more reading and listening comprehension, more writing and conscious control of the grammar of the German language. The days when the audio-lingual method could be given credit for increased student fluency in German when compared with previous periods (while it was actually due to an increase in the number of students with German background stemming from increased immigration from a German-speaking country in the 19505) are clearly over. Both parents and the teaching profession will have to come to terms with this development.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: Ethnic, Social, and Cultural Events in Northern and Southern Alberta (1985) NORTHERN ALBERTA: The New Year's Dance of the Sudeten-Club, a Costume Dance of the German Cultural Association at the Deutsches Haus, the Vienna Ball of Club Austria, dances at the Victoria Club and the Deutsches Haus every Friday, the Johann Strauss Ball, the Prince Gala Evening of the Blaue Funken, Rosenmontag at the Blaue Funken, the 15th Anniversary Ball of the Friends of Stamps and Coins, family evenings at the Sudeten Club, ice fishing and fishing derbies sponsored by the GermanCanadian Cultural Association, gatherings of the Stamp and Coin Collectors, entertainment by Gaby Haas, Richard and His Happy Organ, Herbert "The Entertainer," and others, the Fruhjahrsfest des Edmontoner Schweizer Mdnnerchores, concerts given by the male choir Liederkranz, Hawaiian Night at the Victoria Club, the Summerama of the German-Canadian Business and Professional Association, a Solstice Dance and Steak Party, a Summernight Dance at Lake Isle, one Klondike Dance and Klondike Costume Dances, the Heritage Days at Hawrelak Park, a Kinderfest of the GermanCanadian Cultural Association, a number of Oktoberfeste, the Miss Oktoberfest Pageant, the Winzerfest of the Blaue Funken, a concert given by a music professor from the University of Alberta, a Lowenbrau Evening, several Halloween Dances, a Wiener Heurigen Party organized by the Club Austria, the fall dance of the Damenchor Wildrose, a Skat-tournament and the Alberta Skat Championship, an Eisbeinessen, and a Christmas Dance. SOUTHERN ALBERTA: Kick Off-Tanz der Calgary Kickers, the Fruhlingstanz der Singgemeinschaft of the German-Canadian Club, a Fruhlingstanz im Osterreichischen Klub, a Friihlingsbasar, a Skatturnier, the Bockbierfest des 325

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Appendices

Schiitzenklubs "Diana", the Kirtanz im Osterreichischen Klub, a Bayrische Nacht in der Weinstube des Deutschen Hauses, a concert "A Night in Vienna" sponsored by the ladies group of the Osterreichisch-Kanadische Gemeinschaft Calgarys, a Stampede Barbecue und Stampede Breakfast, a Multicultural Night in Medicine Hat sponsored by the Deutsch-Kanadische Klub Harmonic, a Muttertagessen, the spring dance of the DeutschKanadische Mannerchor Calgary, hikes into the mountains sponsored by the Osterreichische Club, a Sommernachts-Tanz, a Gartenfest im Griinen, several Oktoberfeste in Calgary, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat, a "Rabatz" in the Deutsche Haus in Calgary, a Heurigenabend in the Osterreichische Klub, a Heimattreffen with music and song, a celebration of the Austrian state holiday commemorating the day when the occupation powers left Austria in 1955, several fashion shows at the Osterreichische Klub, a number of Christmas celebrations, such as a Christkindl-Markt and a Weihnachtsmarkt, and a Sylvester-Abend. SOURCE: Alberta Echo, 1985; Kanada Kurier, 1985.

APPENDIX 2: Businesses Catering to Speakers of German in Edmonton and Vicinity (1986) A florist, a window specialist, four auto-repair companies, a car dealership, a chiropractic clinic, two jewellers, five lawyers, eight travel agencies, five bakeries, two photographers, a piano store, a real estate agency, a bedding store, eight delicatessens and foodstores, one funeral home, one stone mason, a blacksmith, a stereo store, an import store, a dress maker, four dental clinics, a clothing store, two butchers, three German bands or individual musicians, a drug store, two pet shops, two sport shops, a roofing company, a physiotherapist, two ladies' fashion stores, a cabinet maker, a car wash, three restaurants, a cafe, a moving company, an art shop, a furnace cleaner, and an investment counselor. SOURCE: Alberta Echo, January 1986.

APPENDIX 3: Sample of a Departmental Exam for German (1903) 1. Translate: Er warfsich heftig in die Kissen zuruck und lag regungslos mit geschlossenen Augen da. Jeanne trat an sein Lager. Ein unendliches Mitleid mit dem Unglucklichen schlich sich in ihr Herz, als sie sab, wie unter seinen geschlossenen Wimpern hervor Thraene auf Thraene iiber seine blasse Wange rann.

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3 27

Weshalb sollte sie ihm das Versprechen nicht geben? Weshalb sollte sie nicht sein Weib werden, machte sie dock einen Menschen dadurch glucklich? Sie selbst hatteja aufjedes Gltick verzichtet. Sie wtirde nicht glucklich, aber auch nicht ungliicklich als das Weib dieses Mannes sein, der sie leidenschaftlicb zu lieben schien. Der andre, den sie mit der Allgewalt ihres Herzens liebte, der da driiben in dem benachbarten Zimmer mit dem Tode rang, ihm konnte sie ja dock niemals angehoren. Niemals—weder im Tode noch im Leben! Es erschien ihr mit einem Male nicht mehr als ein Opfer, Viktor die Hand zu reichen, es erschien ihr vielmehr als eine heilige Pflicht, welche sie ihm, ihrem Volke, ihrem Vaterlande schuldig war. (a) Give the principal parts of: warf, lag, trat, rann, schlich, schien. (b) What is the force of doch (line 6) and ja (line 7)? Translate: Er wird doch kommen. Kommen Sie doch herein. Thun Sie es ja. (c) Give the gender, genitive singular, and nom. plural of: Lager, Herz, Thraene, Gltick, Opfer, Zimmer, Wange. (d) Parse: leidenschaftlich (line 8), driiben (line 10), andre (line 9).1 1. Decline together in singular and plural the German for: (a) This large black horse. (b) Her old knife. (c) What kind of meat. 2. Give the gender, gen. sing., and nom. plu. of the following nouns: Abend, Welt, Leid, Flut, Fenster, Brief, Strafie, Bild, Herz, Nacht. 3. Give the infinitive, the past participle, and the second person singular of the present indicative of the following: kam, lag, sah, wollte, geht, stand, schlief, nahm. 4. Compare: gern, gut, viel, hoch. 5. Write a note on the different uses of: der, welcher, and wer. Give examples in illustration. Note any particularities in the declension of any of them. 6. Show by examples the use of mogen, konnen and lassen.... 1. Give the German corresponding to the following: (a) The day after tomorrow. (b) At half past three. (c) Ten times. (d) In the morning. (e) A week ago today. (f) For the most part. (g) Once upon a time. z. Translate into German: (a) Were you ever in this church? I was never in it. (b) The horses in this field are much larger than those in that.

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(c) In the gardens of the king are many tall trees and also beautiful flowers. (d) The shortest days are in December but in June the days are longest. [... ]2

APPENDIX 4: Preface from Ein Praktischer Anfang The aim of this book is to teach grammar according to the Direct Method by means of an everyday vocabulary. Nouns, adjectives, etc. are taught by means of objects, verb forms by means of action, i.e. by series. It does not, however, aim to take the place of a reader, but simply to give the pupil, in addition to the grammar, the everyday vocabulary that he needs as much as that of the reader. The vocabulary consists of three large groups of words: Die Schule, Das Haus and Die Stadt [The school, the house, and the town]. These groups include the most important words that have to do with daily life from the pupil's standpoint, namely the people with whom he comes into contact, the things that he sees, and also the activities of his daily life. These words together with a Grammatischer Wortschatz [Grammatical Terminology] appear in group form in the appendix. In connection with these groups of words there are a number of series, one of which appears in almost every lesson. These series are in accordance with the Gouin method.... They have to do with the most important acts of daily life and describe the activities of the school, of the home and also of city life. They furnish an excellent means of teaching verbs and grammatical forms of every kind.... A number of Lesestiicke [reading selections] appear in the book. These contain a description of daily life, and together with the series furnish in large measure the vocabulary of the new lesson. Following the Lesestuck is the material for presenting the grammatical point in question. This is generally material that is already familiar to the pupil.... Except for the exercise in translation, English plays no part in the various exercises in each lesson. Certain types of exercises appear in each lesson; for example, German questions to be answered, and typical sentences from which the pupil is to form as many questions as possible. In each lesson the grammatical terms are put into a separate vocabulary. Most teachers will not care to have their pupils do more at first than understand the German grammatical terms. Later the pupils will gradually learn to reproduce them. The grammatical vocabulary will soon be found to be a very small one, the same words recurring over and over again....

Appendices

3 2,9

The success of a book of this nature must depend very largely on the manner in which the new material is presented. Books should generally be closed, of course, while the teacher is explaining the new grammatical point or the new word. All new words should be explained, and in German as far as possible before they are written upon the board by the teacher. This method of procedure will do much to train the pupil's ear. With first-year classes it is helpful and adds interest to have the whole class repeat the new word. Too many new words should not be assigned at one time; a few, well learned and made the pupil's own to such a degree that he can spell them corectly and use them correctly will be of infinitely greater value than a number that are only half learned and quickly forgotten. In teaching the nouns in the schoolroom group, the objects of the classroom can be handled or pointed to and made use of in many ways. Other nouns can be explained very easily in simple German sentences, for example: Das Bureau ist das Zimmer, wo der Vorsteher ist; der Vorsteher dieser Schule ist Herr ... Der Keller ist unter dem House. Das Dach ist tiber dem Hause. Die Mauer ist zwischen dem Dach und dem Keller3... Sometimes a simple drawing or sketch on the board, however crude, if it be suggestive, will make clear the meaning of a word such as die Treppe [the staircase], die Hochbahn [the elevated train], die Untergrundbahn [The subway], or of a series such as "In der Schule ankommen [Arriving at school]." The manner of presenting the series is also very important, as they form such an essential part of the book. All series, as well as new words, should be presented orally before they are seen by the pupil. A series such as "An die Tafel gehen" [Going to the blackboard] can be easily taught by the teacher in the following way: The teacher should go through the series of acts himself, telling the class at each step what he is doing; thus the class will have gained a general idea of the nature of the series. Then the teacher should ask, "Wie hei t das Fiirwort, wenn Sie mir sagen, was ich tue?" [What is the pronoun if you tell me what I am doing?] The class soon learns to answer, "Sie [You]." Let the teacher then ask, "Was ist die Endung des Zeitwortes? [What is the ending of the verb?]" And the class will answer, "en." As the teacher goes through the series the second time let him wait after giving each sentence till the class tells him what he has done; for example: "Ich sitze. Was tue ich, Klasse? [I am sitting. What am I doing, class?]" "Sie sitzen. [You are sitting]." "Ich stehe auf. [I am standing up]." "Sie stehen auf. [You are standing up]." After the series has been gone through in this way, it is helpful to have the whole class go through the series giving the wir [we] form. A pupil should next do the series and another pupil tell at the same time in the third person what the first one is doing at each step. The two pupils would do the series together in order to get the plural forms in the first, second or third person.

330

Appendices

Later on, with the pupils in the second term, the perfect tense (as well as the imperfect) should be given by the pupils, so that there may be no questions as to these forms. In a lesson based on the series, as in any other, practically all oral work should be checked up by board work if good results and any degree of accuracy are to be obtained. The first person singular of the present can be put on the first board and the first person plural on the second, etc., keeping the same sentences in the same line and underlining word forms to show changes in the number or person. More mature pupils should put on the series in different tenses, and it is helpful to have them give synopses of some of the different sentences. All good results in the Direct Method must depend very largely on the method of doing the reader work. It must be very definite and like all other work checked up by board work at every turn. Translation should be only an occasional exercise, for the sake of variety and to test the pupil's accuracy from time to time. The passage assigned for a lesson in conversation should be short enough for the pupil to learn the new words thoroughly and to grasp the facts of the story. Ten lines will probably be enough for beginners. The passage chosen should be read to the class by the teacher when assigned, sentence by sentence, having each sentence repeated by the class. Any difficult words should be explained (always in German if possible), so that the pupil may not have to look up words in preparing the lesson. Question and answer work forms the first step in the direction of free handling of the language. Questions will at first call for the subject matter of only one sentence at a time, or part of a sentence. Later a question will call for the content of more than one sentence, and the pupil that is still more advanced will be able to give the content of a short paragraph rather than answer merely detached questions All conversational work based on reading should, like most oral work, be checked up by board work if it is to be effective. It is well in the beginning at least to have both question and answer put on the board, for example, the first question and answer on the first board, the second on the second, and so on, so as to avoid crowding and delay. If they are carefully numbered and put on in the order in which they are given, the thread of the story can be easily followed in correcting. If the pupil is taught to underline the interrogative word in putting the question on the board, he will soon be able to take the teacher's place and form the questions, and will take keen pleasure in forming the different types of questions as well as in discovering new types. If a different pupil from the one reciting puts the answer on the board, the interest of the class will be much more intense. Sometimes pupils will enjoy putting a sentence on the board and writing under it as many questions and answers as they can base upon it. The reader work offers a fine opportunity for drill on the special gram-

Appendices

331

matical points that are being taught at the particular time, such as the present and imperfect tense of the verb, the singular and plural of nouns, the comparison of adjectives, etc. A whole passage can be changed from the imperfect to the present tense, or the person and number can be changed....

APPENDIX 5: Departmental Examinations, 1941 German 3 Time—3 hours 1. Fill in the blanks with the correct endings: Die drei Mann amiisiert sich koniglich. Jed auf sein Weise. Herr Schmidt stand, obwohl er ein beriihmt Besitzer ein reich Schiffahrtslinie war, freundlich lachelnd hinter d hoh Stuhl, auf d Herr Braun sa , und nannte d arm Kerl, d die Eisbahn hatte kehr mussen, bet fed Gelegenheit "gnadig Herr." 2. Put into the present, past perfect and conditional: (2 sentences) (a) Kulz sah die Miniatur verachtlich an. 3. Complete the following sentences in the tenses indicated: (6 sentences) (a) (present perfect) Maria gefalien. 4. Conjugate fully in the tense given, being careful to change the reflexive pronoun object to agree with the subject: (2. sentences) (a) Ich habe mich rasiert. 5. Combine the following sentences into compound or complex sentences, using the conjunctions given in brackets:(4 sentences) (a) Die Mutter kam nach Hause. Das Kind schlief schon. (als) 6. Rewrite the following sentence, using personal pronouns for the noun objects: Kulz hat der Dame die Miniatur gegeben. 7. In the blanks provided in the following sentences replace the English words with German equivalents:(5 sentences) (a) In (which) Restaurant hatte Herr Kulz gegessen? 8. Write "nicht so viel Ldrm machen" as you would say it to: (3 sentences) your brother John: 9. Change the following sentence into the corresponding tense of the passive voice: (2 sentences) (a) Der Polizist hat den Dieb erschossen. 10. Translate into German: (10 sentences) e.g., You should have seen Mary when she was playing with the children.

332

Appendices

11. Rewrite the following, prefixing "er sagte": Der brave Mann, von dem die Rede ist, kam eines Tages in eine fremde Stadt und lernte dort eine schone Prinzessin kennen, die ihn um Hilfe bat. 12.. Translate the following passage into idiomatic English: Um den Kirchhof lief eine niedrige Matter. Von dieser Mauer aus konnte man das ganze Dorf gut sehen. Arnold vergafi fur den Augenblick alles, was er gerade gesehen hatte und holte schnell Papier und Bleistift aus seiner Ledertasche und zeichnete ein Bild von den Hdusern und der Kirche und der dunklen Wolke iiber der Landschaft. Auch iiber dem Kirchhof lag der wunderliche Erdrauch, aber hinter dem Walde konnte er dock ganz deutlich die Sonne hell und klar auf die Berge scheinen sehen. Sonderbar! Wie war so etwas zu verstehen? 13. Do not translate this passage. Read it carefully and answer in complete sentences in German the questions based on it: (13 lines of text followed by five questions in German) 14. Same format as the preceding part. 15. Same format as preceding two parts. 16. Translate into idiomatic English at sight: (11 lines) 17. Write in German a composition of about 150 words on ONE of the following topics: (a) Reinhard und Elisabeth suchen Erdbeeren. (b) Arnold zeichnet ein Bild von Gertrud. [1. The three men enjoyed themselves royally. Each in his own way. Wearing a friendly smile, Mr. Schmidt—although a famous owner of a rich shipping line—stood behind the high chair on which Mr. Braun sat and called the poor fellow, who had had to sweep the train car, "dear Sir" at every possible opportunity. 2. Kulz looked at the miniature scornfully. 3. Maria fallen. 4. I shaved (myself). 5. Mother came home. The child was already asleep, (when) 6. Kulz gave the lady the miniature. 7. In (which) restaurant had Mr. Kulz eaten? 8. not to make so much noise 9. The policeman shot and killed the thief. 11. Rewrite the following, prefixing "he said": One day, the good man who is being talked about here came to another town, and there he met a beautiful princess who asked him for his help. 12. A low wall surrounded the churchyard, from which the entire village was visible. Momentarily, Arnold forgot everything he had seen and

Appendices

333

swiftly drew out paper and pencil from his leather satchel and sketched the view of the houses and the church and the dark clouds that were looming above the landscape. The mysterious fog hung over the churchyard as well, but wasn't the sun shining brightly and clearly over the mountains behind the woods? Strange! How was such a thing possible? 17. Reinhardt and Elisabeth are looking for strawberries.—Arnold is drawing a picture of Gertrud.]

APPENDIX 6: Characteristics of Heritage Language Schools 1. Many supplementary schools (as they are called in that study) have been in existence for many years; more than 70% of the schools sampled in Edmonton and Toronto indicated that they had been founded before 1965. This generalization applied particularly to German and Ukrainian schools (Pannu and Young, p. 64). 2. The most common sponsor of supplementary schools was found to be an ethnic church (46.2%), followed by ethno-cultural organizations (25.6%), and parents' groups (12.8%). There was some variation as to the location of the schools: in Edmonton, 72.7% of the schools sampled had originally started in church centers, and 50% still were located in churches in 1976. In Toronto, the supplementary schools were more likely to be located in public or separate schools (pp. 64—65). In 1976, 23% of the German schools were not affiliated to or sponsored by organizations at all and were directly under the sponsorship of parents (p. 66). 3. The average German language school in 1976 had 5.5 teachers—which is a small number compared to, for example, Italian schools (32.3 teachers per school); the average German school also had the secondlowest student-teacher ratio, namely 11.9 to 1 (following Chinese with 9.6 student per teacher); in Greek schools the ratio was 47.9 to 1 (pp. 66—67). Among all schools, the German ethnic-language schools had the second-lowest enrolments, after Chinese, with 65 students per school. This compared with 295 students in Jewish and no in Ukrainian schools (p. 69). When the principals were asked to report on the trend in enrolments over the past few years before 1976, 46% of the German and the Ukrainian schools, 40% of the Polish, and 33.3% of the Jewish schools had experienced such a decrease; only Greek and Chinese schools reported no decrease (p. 70). 4. Among the various ethnic schools, the German schools, in 1976, spent

334

5.

6.

7.

8. 9.

10.

11.

Appendices

the smallest amount of money on textbooks and other instructional materials ($2.40 per student), compared with the Ukrainian schools ($14), and the Jewish schools with $27 (p. 68). There were wide divergencies in the extent to which English was used in the classes: in 84.6% of the German schools, English was used regularly, compared with no English at all in Greek schools. Ethnic schools in Edmonton were most likely to use English as a medium of instruction: there, 95.2%, compared with 62.8% in Toronto and 72.7% in Vancouver, employed English as the language of instruction (p. 71). Conversational ability was the area most heavily emphasized as a teaching objective in the supplementary languge schools (56.4% of all schools indicated that this area was the prime objective). Although few in number, the schools reporting the most emphasis on grammar were the Greek, German, and Ukrainian schools (p. 71). Most schools indicated that they used textbooks; in all schools teaching Chinese, German, and Italian the textbooks came from outside Canada (p. 73—74). The most frequent suppliers of newspapers and magazines for the German and Italian schools were reported to be the consulates or the embassies (61.5% and 66.7%, respectively). The student attrition rate for virtually the total sample of schools amounted to less than 20% per year (p. 74). The recruitment of qualified teachers was perceived to be a major problem by most ethnic language schools; 84.6% of the principals of German language schools indicated that this was a problem for their school (compared to some 33% of the Hungarian schools); on the other hand, those teachers who had been hired were considered, in general, to be effective: only 2.6% were described as being ineffective (p. 76). Textbooks were considered to be satisfactory in the great majority of cases by the principals (however, 46% of the German teachers, a rate significantly higher than the average, felt that textbooks were a major problem (p. 88), while the facilities were often found to be inadequate; this feeling was reported most frequently (53.8%) by the principals in German schools (p. 77). While parents were generally supportive of the school's efforts, less enthusiasm towards learning the ethnic language was reported for the students: 58.4% of the school directors felt that the students were only mildly enthusiastic; thirteen percent reported them to be indifferent to the learning of their ethnic language. The directors who reported the highest degree of student indifference were directors of Jewish (28.6%), German (23.1%), and Greek and Polish schools with 20% (pp. 77—78). The social background of the parents sending their children to an ethnic

Appendices

12.

13.

14.

15.

335

language school varied greatly from ethnic group to ethnic group. Only 6% of the children in the Jewish supplementary language schools came from homes where the father/mother was an unskilled or semi-skilled employee—a rate which was 26% lower than the next rank (Chinese with 32%); 45% of the German children came from such an occupational background. 42% of students in German language schools came from families where one or both parents were employed in clerical, sales, and technical occupations as well as in small businesses—the highest rate of the eight ethnic groups surveyed. On the other hand, the parents of only 11% of the students in German schools (followed closely by students in Italian and Hungarian supplementary schools) were business managers, owners of large businesses, or major professionals. As was expected, 65% of the students in the Jewish schools had parents with that particular background (p. 79). These data may be misleading, however, as the spread of ethnic groups over various occupational choices in the population at large was not given. About one half of the school directors reported that none of their students had been born outside Canada; this was especially true in Edmonton (68.2%). The ethnic groups indicating that over 60% of their students were the children of foreign-born parents were the Greek, Hungarian, German, Italian, and Polish (p. 80). More than two thirds of the school directors estimated that at least 80% of the parents spoke the ethnic language; German-origin parents, as well as Greeks, Hungarians, and Poles, were perceived more often to speak the ethnic language than, for example, the parents of children in Jewish schools (p. 80). About 79% of all teachers sampled were women; in the German group, almost half were 40 years of age and older; most teachers had learned to speak, read and write their ethnic language outside Canada. The German teachers were lowest of all (8.7%) with regard to having taken third language classes in Canada. The average number of years of formal education completed by the heritage language teachers was 14.8; German teachers ranked second-lowest behind Chinese with 12.7 years of formal education. Of all teachers, only 26.8% had attended a teacher's college; 17.3% of the German teachers actually had less than the completion of high school (pp. 81—82). The teachers were generally satisfied with the freedom which they had in teaching their classes and appreciated the encouragement provided by their principal. 74.5% of the teachers expressed personal satisfaction with their teaching effort in the schools. The least satisfaction was reported by the Italian (75%), German (45.5%), and Chinese (40%)

336

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

Appendices

teachers. All in all, however, it appeared that teacher morale was relatively high, and no major problems between teachers and principals, and among teachers, seemed to exist (p. 86). Almost 68% of the teachers reported that their students complained about having to attend a supplementary language school. In Chinese and Polish schools all teachers reported such complaints, in Greek and Ukrainian schools the rate was lowest albeit still fairly high (about 60%); German students ranged in between the two extremes. The nature of the complaint was most often that the students lost otherwise free evenings and Saturdays, that they were given an extra workload; 18.7% of the teachers said that their students complained about their parents forcing them to attend the ethnic language school against their will (pp. 87-88). Both principals and teachers felt that the prime purpose of their school was to provide basic knowledge of the ethnic language; the schools' second most important function was perceived to be the maintenance of ethnic customs and traditions. But if public and separate schools were to teach the language, many principals and teachers, especially in German schools, felt that their own school would not be required any more. The corresponding groups in Jewish, Polish, and Greek schools, on the other hand, were still more frequently of the opinion that they would be needed (p. 92). Although the respondents saw a need for their supplementary school, about half of the principals and the teachers felt that parents should shoulder the main responsibility of teaching their children the ethnic language (p. 93). When teachers and principals were asked whether it would be a good idea to establish separate elementary schools, open only to children of their own ethnic group (they had stated that students should begin their third language at the primary level), about half the principals (53.6%) and 62.5% of the teachers rejected this idea. Among the principals and teachers of Greek and Jewish schools, 100% endorsed it, while Poles, Italians (100% each), and Germans (79%) rejected the concept of separate elementary schools. The reason given most often for this attitude was the potential danger of segregating the children from the "mainstream of Canadian education and society." Principals from all ethnic schools had indicated that they thought proficiency in English was more important than proficiency in the ancestral language, but interestingly enough, 56.3% of the teachers felt that French was more important for a child's future than the ethnic language; 46.4% of the principals had the same idea (pp. 93—94). The majority of both teachers and principals (80%) participated in eth-

Appendices

337

nic activities or clubs besides the supplementary language schools; the participation rates exhibited were highest for the Chinese and Jews, and lowest for the Germans (p. 95). 21. Nearly 82% of the principals and 61% of the teachers felt that using the ethnic language in church services served to strengthen the church or synagogue because, it was claimed, it enabled more people to participate (this feeling was less strong among Germans and Ukrainians). Clearly, the view was expressed that the church is a significant factor in the preservation of ethnic language and culture (p. 95). 22.. The extent of commitment to the ethnic group by teachers and principals is revealed by their report that they had considered themselves to be part of the community before they had commenced teaching in the heritage language school; they said that most of their close friends were from their own ethnic group, and about 70% would prefer that their children marry a member of the same ethnic group, other factors being equal. This was most true for Chinese, Greeks, Jews and Poles, and least true for Italians (p. 97.) SOURCE: Pannu and Young (1976)

APPENDIX 7: Second-Year Exam, May 1910 In May 1910, the following papers were set for three two-hour exams in the second-year university German course: A. Dictation, Grammar and Composition I. A lengthy dictation of an excerpt from Egmont. II. Knowledge of German Grammar: 1. What prefixes of verbs may be either separable or inseparable? What distinctions of meaning and use characterize the two classes? Give German examples. 2. State the peculiarities of usage of the German modal auxiliaries and illustrate each. 3. How do you express the passive voice of verbs that govern the dative case? Give several examples and show what other renderings are possible. 4. Give the various uses of the subjunctive in German and illustrate. 5. Make a list of German sentences to show how verbal forms in "-ing" are rendered in German. III. Translations: Translate into German, i.—4. [Incomplete original]

338

Appendices

5. The sun had set and the long and desperate combat was not yet decided. 6. A certain king is said to have died of hunger for fear that he might be poisoned. 7. He said that of us! I should never have believed it. 8. I wrote to H... inviting him to pass the holidays with us and to let me know by return mail. 9. I asked you first as my oldest friend to assist me in this embarrassment. 10. The horses, frightened by the passing train, shied and were at the point of running away. IV. Reiters Morgengesang. Rewrite the thought of this poem in simple German prose. The version given must be somewhat original in diction and contain no fewer than 100 words.4 B. First Paper I. A dictation from Lessing's Hamburgische Dramaturgic. II. A translation of an extract of about 350 words from a discussion of Lessing's Laokoon, which started as follows: Im Jahre 1506 war in Rom in dem Palaste des Kaisers Titus eine Marmorstatue, welche zu den schonsten Kunstwerken des Altertums gehort, entdeckt und im Vatikan aufgestellt warden. Dieselbe stellt den trojanischen Priester Laokoon dar, wie er mit seinen beiden Sohnen von zwei ungeheuren Schlangen auf Poseidon's Befehl ermordet wird, weil er die Trojaner vor dem holzernen Pferde der Griechen gewarnt hatte... [In the year 1506, a marble statue ranking among the most beautiful art works of antiquity was discovered in Rome in the palace of the Emperor Titus and was placed in the Vatican. This statue depicts the Trojan priest Laocoon being killed, along with his two sons, by two enormous snakes upon the orders of Poseidon because he had warned the Trojans about the wooden horse presented as a gift by the Greeks... ]5 III. A translation of about 330 words, into German, of a text on Frederick Barbarossa: The kingdom of Jerusalem had been destroyed by Saladin, and Jerusalem had again fallen into the hands of the infidels. The intelligence of these events awakened in Europe new enthusiasm to go out to the reconquest of the holy city. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa also determined upon a crusade. After he had provided for the peace of the empire and, through ambassadors, had assured himself of the co-operation of the king of Hungary, the emperor of Greece, and the sultan of Iconium, he set out in May 1189 with an army of 50,000 horsemen and as many foot-soldiers... 6

Appendices

339

IV. A translation, into English, of a text of about 280 words from a critical text on Egmont: Egmont ist eine poetische Erscheinung. Er lebt leicht weg und gewinnt alle Herzen. Seine damonische Liebenswurdigkeit entzuckt das Volk, umstrickt ein einfaches Madchen wie Clarchen, gewinnt die Regentin und bezwingt den Sohn seines erbitterten Feindes. Aber in der Person Alba's naht das Verderben; und Egmont geht daran zu Grunde, dass er sich dem poetischen Leichtsinn seiner Natur uberlafBt und die Ratschldge der Klugheit verachtet... [Egmont is a poetic character. His easy way wins many hearts. His innate appeal charms the people, captures so simple a girl as Clara, wins over the princess regent and conquers the son of of his bitter enemy. But in Alba his imminent ruin approaches, and Egmont is brought down because he gives himself over to the poetic carelessness of his character and scorns wise advice... ]7 C. In the Second Paper, the following was required of the second-year students: I. A translation of an excerpt from Egmont consisting of about 370 words: Egmont. Und ist der gute Wille eines Volkes nicht das sicherste, das edelste Pfand? Bei Gott! Wann darf sich ein Konig sicherer halten, als wenn sie alle fur einen, einer fur alle steh'n? Sicherer gegen innere und auBere Feinde?

II. III.

IV.

V.

Alba. Wir werden uns doch nicht iiberreden sollen, daB es jetzt hier so steht?... 8 A translation into English of six strophes of Schiller's Der Taucher. To what trilogy does Die Piccolomini belong? Give a general idea of its character. What parts do the Piccolomini play in the development of the plot? Write about one only of the following in German. Your answer should contain about 150 words. a. Die Erzahlung des Nibelungen-Liedes (des alten Epos). b. Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival. c. Schiller's Kraniche von (sic) Ibykus. d. Richard Wagner und seine Musikdramen. Paragraphs: a. Distinguish the Minnesanger from the Meistersinger. Who were the chief representatives of each? Add a few notes about these. b. Give an account of the origin of the neuhochdeutsche Sprache and of the first work written in it.

340

Appendices

c. What is meant by the Streit der Leipziger und Schweizer? Enter as fully as you can into the details. d. Sketch the life and works of Goethe. What are given as his Hauptverdienste?9

APPENDIX 8: Honors Exam for German: 1912/13 A. Literature: (2 hours) I. Gedicht: UnbewuBt der Freuden, die sie schenket, Nie entzuckt von ihrer Herrlichkeit, Nie gewahr des Geistes, der sie lenket, Sel'ger nie durch meine Seligkeit, Fuhllos selbst fur ihres Kunstlers Ehre, Gleich dem toten Schlag der Pendeluhr Dient sie knechtisch dem Gesetz der Schwere, Die entgotterte Natur. From what poem are these lines taken? Explain its relation to Schiller's conception of Greek culture and illustrate the latter further from his philosophical writings. 2. Compare die Kunstler with the essay entitled Uber den moralischen Nutzen aesthetischer Sitten. To what influence is the author's change of attitude largely due? 3. How does Schiller classsify poetry in his essay Uber naive und sentimentalische Dichtung? Apply the classification to (a) the Iliad of Homer, (b) Kabale und Liebe, (c) the Pickwick Papers, and (d) Tennyson's Idylls. 4. Define and discuss the term Spieltrieb. 5. "Das Pathetische, kann man daher sagen, ist eine Inokulation des unvermeidlichen Schicksals, wodurch es seiner Bosartigkeit beraubt und der Angriff desselben auf die starke Seite des Menschen hingeleitet wird." Explain this statement. B. Philology: (2 hours) i. Translate into modern German: Emmizen nu ubardllih druhtin fergon scal, mit Ion er iu iz firgelte, lioh sines selbes uuort Pdradyses resti Igebe iu zi gilusti (a) Comment on the words in bold print. (b) Discuss the chronology of the Evangelienbuch. 2. Translate into modern German:

Appendices

341

sorgen mac diu sela / unzi diu suona arget, za uuederemo herie/ si gihalot uuerde. uuanta iu sia daz Satanazses /kisindi kiuuinnit, daz leitit sia sar /dar iru leid uuirdit, in fuir enti in finstri: /daz ist rehto uirinlih ding. (a) What is the dialect of this passage? Point out characteristic forms. (b) Compare its metrical form with that of Otfrid. 3. Write historical notes on the following words: vorhanden, Staete, zwei, euch, gar, Herr. 4. Classify according to customary distinctions the verbs: heffen, haltan, suochen, faran, lihan, tuon. Give the complete parts in each case. 5. Estimate the range of Old High German Poetry and give a brief account of representative poems.10

342-

Appendices

APPENDIX 9 TABLE i

Year 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921

Immigration of Persons of Austro-Hungarian, Austrian, German, or Swiss Origin to Canada Austro Hungarian 5,692 8,557 13,095 11,137 10,089 10,170 4,045 21,376 10,798 9,757 16,285 21,651 21,875 28,323 7,150 15 1 — 2

8

Austrian 228 320 781 516 837 1,324 562 1,899 1,758 3,337 8,523 4,987 1,231 3,232 626 14 1i — —

3 25 12

German 984 1,048 1,887

2,985 2,759 1,796 1,889 1,363 1,386 1,405 2,440 4,297 5,025 5,710 3,006 34 17 1 — 1

Swiss 30 17

73 128 150 172 112 195 122 165 304 235 221 291 240

49 29 14 9 861

112

211 205

1922

20

195 177

1923 1924 1925

61

1,258

97 56

2,560

758

6,560

277

1926

1927 1928

1929 1930 1931 1932 1933

10,943 12,689 14,089 13,907 10,602 797 562 389

114 1,527

503

681 473 510 257 37 17 21

Appendices

TABLE I

year

CONTINUED

Austro Hungarian

Austrian

1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

315 541 588 1,071 53

12

21

8

13 II

9 5 9 10 71 148 281

98

449 300

1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952

3,051 5,988 5,825 32,395 28,257

3,574 3,841 1,779 2,948 2,293 905 748 953 583 445 538 671 766 633 780 605 371 303

Swiss 15 38 44 92 50 75

42

1945 1946

1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970

German 304 130

1934 1935 1936

1953 1954 1955 1956

343

35,015 29,845 18,082 26,457 29,564 14,449 10,781 10,792 6,191 5,118 4,906 5,128 8,454 6,447 7,312 5,286 3,311 2,508

294 409 1,061 1,274 826 961 597 1,044 1,294 793 612 742 591 584 588 737 1,100 1,507

2,235 1,808 1,431 1,428

344 TABLE I

Year

1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985

Appendices CONTINUED

Austro Hungarian

Austrian

136 189 213 271 213 195 126

141 136 186 172 n.a. n.a. n.a. 165

German

1,495 1,311 1,659 1,330 1,103 1,859 1,780 1,204 1,116 1,443 1,801 1,906 1,174 1,513 1,451

Swiss

743 541 636 935 787 857 761 636 963 738 742 567 334 305 313

SOURCES: I. For the Austro-Hungarian data: Canada. Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Annual Report 1951. Tables 2—7, pp. 29—31. 2. For the Austrian, German and Swiss data until 1965 inclusive: Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Book IV: The Cultural Contributions of the Other Ethnic Groups (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1969), Table A-1. 3. For the data after 1965: Canada. Department of Manpower and Immigration. Immigration Division. Immigration Statistics, 1966 to 1985. NOTES: 1. The Austro-Hungarian data refer to financial years instead of calendar years, 2. Austrian data are included with those regarding German origin from 1926 to 1952. 3. Until 1967, the data refer to Ethnic Origin, between 1968 and 1984 to "Country of Citizenship" and of "Former Residence," subsequently to "Country of Citizenship" only.

Appendices

TABLE 2

345

Immigrants of Austrian, German, and Swiss Origin with Alberta as their Intended Destination ETHNIC ORIGIN

Year

Austrian

German

Swiss

203 136

2,750

53 53 71 41

1,470

5° 49 38 44 83 38

1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961

3,122

1,338 1,028

637

COUNTRY OF LAST PERMANENT RESIDENCE

Year

Austria

FRG

1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972

62 55 93 105 136 185 n.a. 265 47 32 31 63 133 161 183 128

622 517 482 687 737 1,180 944 530 347 192 190 223 384 512 467 396 253 204 252 358 644 253 161 130

1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985

100

25 38 26 45 21

9 11

GDR

Switzerland 34 35 56 64 99 136 121

0

3 1 1 1

— 5 4 1

— 1

—

118 118 73 62 71 no 123 173 128 69 63 96 118 72 40 25 16

SOURCE: Canada. Department of Manpower and Immigration (Employment and Immigration Canada). Immigration Statistics, 1956—1985. NOTE: Immigration figures for the period of 1962 to 1972 from the Federal Republic of Germany include unspecified numbers of immigrants from the German Democratic Republic.

346 TABLE 3

Appendices Birth Place of Albertans Having German Mother Tongue in 1936

Birth Place

Number

Total population of Alberta Number of Albertans with German Mother Tongue Canadian-born British-born Foreign-born Austria Belgium Czechoslovakia Finland France Germany Holland Hungary Italy Poland Romania Russia Scandinavia Yugoslavia Other European countries Arabic countries United States Other countries

772,782 76,856 40,706 75 36,075 2,235 28 415 2 41 7,267 33 366 13 3,855 1,446 9,566 34 148 784 13 9,667 52

SOURCE: 1936 Census, Vol. I., Table 62.

TABLE 4

Enrolmen t in Seconid Languages and Shares or Individual Langguages in the Total EnroIment

Year

German

1933/34 1934/35 1935/36 1936/37 1937/38 1938/39 1939/40 1940/41 1941/42 1942/43 1943/44 1944/45 1945/46 1946/47 1947/48 1948/49 1949/50 1950/51 1951/52 1952/53 1953/54 1954/55 1955/56 1956/57 1957/58 1958/59

122

128 157 184 238 189 64 74 20

6 14 26 0 0

42. 40 44 46 53 43 23 117 185 539 572 673

%

Latin

1.57 1.71

2 766

2.02 2.29

3.37 2.55 0.83 0.98 0.30

3 3

133 058

2 874 I 983 2 025 I

854

2 027 I

756

0.01

I

0.15 0.28 0.00oo 0.00 0.36

2

574 174 432 461 550 350 860 876 495 502 693 973 196 296 354 254 282

0.34 0.37 0.40 0.46

2 2 2 2 I I I I

0.72 0.26 1. 10

I

1.48

I

3.79 3.59 3.62

I I I

% 40.22 36.91 39.31 35-81 28.04 27.36 24.03 26.81 26.36 25.45 23.50 26.20 19.64 21.12 19.86

16.01

15.69

13.06

12.97 11.58 11.12 11.29 10.34 9.51 7.86 6.90

French

4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 7 6 10

9 9 9 10 9 10 5 7 9 11 12 14

16

534 600 564 967 839 187 796 461 886 605 065 824 073 523 439 717 038 903 024 249 752 283 024 312 099 608

%

58 .21 61 •38 58 .67 61.89 68 •54 70 .09 75 .14 72.22 73 •34 74.45 76 •35 73 .52 80 •37 78 .88 79 .78 83 .65 83 •94 86 •53 86 •57 87 .70 88 .62 87 .61 87 •94 86 .46 88 .38 89 •34

Spanish

%

Total

7 7 7 8 7 ,7 7 7 6 6 9 9 12 12 II II II II II

5 8 10 31

0.25

12

35 28 26

0.25 0.18 0.14

14 15 18

789 494 779 025 060 401 714 562 662 185 252 282 534 073 831 617 958 444 579 985 748 596 536 240 953 589

TABLE 4

CONTINUED

Year

German

1959/60 1960/61 1961/62 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 1965/66 1966/67 1967/68 1968/69 1969/70 1970/71 1971/72 1972/73 1973/74 1974/75 1975/76 1976/77 1977/78 1978/79 1979/80 1980/81 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84 1984/85 1985/86 1986/87

843 971 1

011

471 290 457 196 343 875 n.a. 2 169 1 1 1 1 1 1

2

525

3 3 3 3 3 3

185 407 326 131 091 037

2 820

2 755 2 805 2 702 2 442 2 342 2 432 2 465 2 517

2 473

%

%

Latin

%

3.90 4.14 3.12 4.08 3.61 3.94 3.34 3-79 5.07

1 360 1 432 1 361

1 355 1 081

6.30 6.11 4.20 7.41 6.84 5.71 4.69 3.82 2.92

19 20 29 31 31 32 32 32 33

058 806 773 684 573 841 299 177 377

33.21 88.74 91.95 87.87 88.23 88.90 90.07 90.68 90.21

431 189 180 234 186 113 140 107 127 240 189 214 214 197 163 213 242 220

1.14 0.53 0.54 0.75 0.75 0.43 0.54 0.40 0.47 0.74 0.69 0.81 0.85 0.79 0.64 0.80 0.83 0.70

34 32 29 26 24

496 067 422 656 589

91.32 90.04 87.51 85.51 84.49 84.36 83.27 84.52 85.54 85.56 85.57 85.26 85.65 85.74 85.39 85.89 87.37 88.24

5.74 7.09 9.47 10.93 11.43 11.85 11.83 11.39 10.49 9.97 10.23 10.17 9.71 9.44 9.60 9.20 8.63 7.92

2 671

2 447 2 107 I 682

French

22 284 21 760 22 541

23 000 23 634 23 475 22 651 21 530 21 276 21 631 23 015 25

470

27 565

Spanish

%

23

O.11

22 29

0.09 0.06

41

O.11

43 37 28

0.10

10

0.03

17

O.O5

5 0 7 46 50 28

0.01

21

8 13 46 75

1 20 118 113 160 182 155 241

Hebrew

%

21 29 27

0.08

O.12 0.08

0.09 0.02 0.15 0.17 O.11

0.08 0.03 0.05

0.17 0.27 0.45

0.47 0.46 0.63 0.68 0.53 0.77

31

24 11

0.11 0.11 O.1

2

0.09 0.04

TABLE 4 CONTINUED Year 1959/60 1960/61 1961/62 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 1965/66 1966/67 1967/68 1968/69 1969/70 1970/71 1971/72 1972/73 1973/74 1974/75 1975/76 1976/77 1977/78 1978/79 1979/80 1980/81 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84 1984/85 1985/86 1986/87

Cree

43 30 59 22 36 30

33 59 74 76 74 93 50 80

%

0.15 O.I I

0.23 0.08 O.I I O.II 0.12 0.22 0.29 0.30 0.3O 0.36 0.17 O.26

Polish

%

Italian

44 27 28

0-15 o.io o.n

4 54 235

30

O.II

2OI

24

0.09

165

36

0.09

179

190

236

232 298 302 323

336 339

%

O.OI O.IO

0.90

0.75

0.61 0.65 0.69 0.89 0.92 i. 20 1.19 1. 21 I.I5 1.09

Russian

%

105 74 54

0.29

4

O.OI

3

O.OI

Hungarian

%

O.2I 0.15

21

0.07

9 15 13 13 M

0.03 0.06 0.05 0.05

0.50

49 4* 19 4i 41 20 26 ii 22 21 12 12

0.13 0.12 0.06 O.I3 O.I4 0.08 O.OI

0.04

0.08 0.08 0.04 0.05

8

o.oo

2-5 28

O.IO O.IO

Ukrainian

%

Total

322 214 215 193 43i 499 548 526 594

1.49 0.91 0.66 0.53 1.40 I -35 i-53 1.48 1.61

21 606

622 791 804 768 814 715 758 701 688 728 655 549 499 478 538 456 344 319

1.65 2.22 2.39 2.46 2.80 2.7I 2.90 2.63 2.48 2.64 2.39 2.O7 1.99 1.93 2.12 1.70

1.18 1.02

2-3 3^ 36 35 36 35 35 36

445 379 060 784 941 858 485 998

37 35 33 31 29 26 26 26 26 27 *7 26 25 24 25 26 29 31

776 614 620 173 106 417 131 671 889 623 434 567 138 815 331 796 153 237

n.a.

NOTES: 1. Data include enrolments in high school courses in the French three-, six- and nine-year programs; in Langue et Litterature; in the six-year Ukrainian program and in Ukrainian Language Arts. 2. Low-enrolment courses: Blackfoot (since 1985/86: 22 and 25 students, resp.); Chinese (since 1986/87: 15 students); Japanese (since 1985/86: 43 and 36 students, respectively); Lithuanian (1980/81 only: 3 students) SOURCE: Alberta Department of Education, Annual Reports.

350 TABLE 5

year

Appendices German Enrolments in Grades 9 to 12.

Grade 9

1933/34 1934/35 1935/36 1936/37 1937/38

32 35 39 9

year

German 1

1938/39 1939/40 1940/41 I94I/4Z 1941/43 1943/44 1944/45 1945/46 1946/47 1947/48 1948/49 1949/50 1950/51 1951/51 1952/53 1953/54 1954/55

Grade

10

Grade 12

25 41 70 77 90

37 27

122

42 23

157 184 238

60 60 45 84 83

92 20 27

15 0

13 15

German 2

65

Total

65 33 39

32 11 8

189 64

0

5

3

3 1

0

0

0

0

0

12

20 I 4

10

29

38 38 25

128

German 3

1 0

30

Total (10-12)

Grade 11

9 11 8 13 14 15 114

10

0

0 2

4 8 3

74 20 6 14 26

0 0 42 40 44 46 53 43 23 117

Appendices TABLE 6

Year 1910/11 1911/12. 1912/13 1913/14 1914/15 1915/16 1916/17 1917/18 1918/19 1919/20 1920/21 1921/22 1922/23 1923/24 1924/25 1925/26 1926/27 1927/28 1928/29 1929/30 1930/31 1931/32 1932/33 1933/34 1934/35 1935/36 1936/37 1937/38 1938/39 1939/40 1940/41 1941/42 1942/43 1943/44 1944/45 1945/46

351

Enrolment in German Courses at the University of Alberta

Language Courses

Senior Literature and Linguistics Courses

8

13

5

22

Graduate Courses in Literature and Philology

Undergraduate and Graduate Reading Courses

n.a. n.a. n.a.

11

21

I

2

3

n.a. 12

16

20 19

41 16 28

21

2

18

I

49 68 48

18

39 38

19

5 5

37 43 38 32.

2

6 3

n.a. 45 47 78 93 no 67 65 63 109 108 127 131

49 33 45 32 43 44 42 50 25

23 23

I 2

4 2 15

8 6 3 11 16

22 27

11

97 93 65 72

49 35 26

14 11

25

2

222

22

2

100

7 6

352 TABLE 6

Year

1946/47 1947/48 1948/49 1949/50 1950/51 1951/52 1952/53 1953/54 1954/55 1955/56 1956/57 1957/58 1958/59 1959/60 1960/61 1961/62 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 1965/66 1966/67 1967/68 1968/69 1969/70 1970/71 1971/72 1972/73 1973/74 1974/75 1975/76 1976/77 1977/78 1978/79 1979/80 1980/81 1981/82

Appendices CONTINUED

Language Courses 239 120 98 46 36 22

Senior Literature and Linguistics Courses

Graduate Courses in Literature and Philology

37 53 49 46 37 25

3 5 16 14 5 11 2

21

21

31

21 31

3

54 65 65 108 84 85 99 96

28

2

24

4 13 8 M 18 19 14

36

102 78 IO9 144 12O 129 102 126 130 135 203 241 234 211 228 197 182 189 201

31 35 16 45 59 62 87 95 59 72 75 91 78 97 113 90 52 71 51 65 52 47 58 55 55

12 13

7 31 19 34 39 17 28 25

26 28

Undergraduate and Graduate Reading Courses

79 68 68 78 93 83 81 78 77 75 67 65 61 74 101

24

81 87

20

102

30

75 69 71 53 51

29 28 24

17

Appendices TABLE 6

Year

1982/83 1983/84 1984/85 1985/86 1986/87 1987/88

353

CONTINUED

Language Courses 248 318

333 397 429

419

Senior Literature and Linguistics Courses 54 63 79 117 115 115

Graduate Courses in Literature and Philology 18 13 19 36 29 12

Undergraduate and Graduate Reading Courses 43 48 61 54 53 53

SOURCES: For enrolments between 1910 and 1935: Annual Reports of the Board of Governors of the University of Alberta; 1936/37 to 160/61 University of Alberta Archives; 1960/61-1984/85: Office of Institutional Research, The University of Alberta; subsequent data: Departmental records. NOTES: 1. Enrolments are given in terms of full-year courses; in the case of semestered courses, full-year equivalents were computed. Statistics exclude auditors, incomplete registrations and registrations at Calgary and Mount Royal. 2. Language courses: includes the German A course, the Introductory German courses and the Advanced German Grammar and Composition courses before 1961 as well as German 1, German 100, German 101, German 200, German 201, German 300 before 1962, German 301, and German 441/442. 3. Senior literature and linguistics courses: includes German I through IV and all third- and fourth-year courses with a primary emphasis on literature or philology; after 1959, all courses on German culture, literature and linguistics on the undergraduate level beyond German 301. 4. Graduate courses in Literature and Philology: includes all Honors courses with a 100label before 1959/60, and subsequently, all 500- and 6oo-level courses beyond German 500. 5. Undergraduate and graduate Reading courses: includes all introductory and intermediate courses specifically designated as reading courses; after 1959/60 includes German 210, German 211, German 215, German 310, German 311, German 315, German 102, German 202, and German 500. 6. From 1986/87 on, not all students wanting to register in language courses could be accommodated for budgetary reasons. Consequently, enrolment figures from that time on are artificially depressed.


NOTES

i The "Germans"—An Invisible Minority 1. K.G. O'Bryan, J.G. Reitz, and O.M. Kuplowska, Non-Official Languages: A Study in Canadian Multiculturalism (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 1976, p. 22.) speculate on the basis of available evidence that "membership in ethnic organizations may not necessarily imply interest in language retention, although it presumably involves a sense of ethnic identity, as well as an interest in some or all aspects of culture retention," as for example, observed in the Dutch and Scandinavian groups. 2. Among the surveys of the history of German immigration at that time, the following are of greatest relevance and interest: Heinz Lehmann, "Das Deutschtum in Westkanada," Deutsche Arbeit 35, 1935, 394—402; Heinz Lehmann, Das Deutschtum in Westkanada (Berlin: Junker und Dunnhaupt, 1939); Hermann Wagner, Von Kuste zu Kuste. Bei deutschen Auswanderern in Kanada (Hamburg: Ev. Luth. Auswanderermission, 1929), pp. 81—103; Georg Weissenborn, "The Germans in Canada. A Chronological Survey of Canada's Third-Oldest European Ethnic Group From 1664 to 1977," in German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. IV, ed. Hartmut Froschle (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1978), pp. zz-56; Hartmut Froschle, "German Immigration into Canada. A Survey," in GermanCanadian Yearbook, Vol. VI, ed. Hartmut Froschle (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1983), pp. 16—Z7; Gunther Moltman, "German Emigration Overseas. History and Research Problems," in German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. VI, ed. Hartmut Froschle (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1981), pp. 5-15; Anna K. Hess, "Die Deutschen in Kanada," in Festschrift zur ZweihundertJahrfeier deutscher Siedlung in Kanada (Toronto: Canadian German Alliance, 1951), pp. 7—24; Anthony Becker, "The Germans from Russia in Saskatchewan and Alberta," in German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. III, ed. Hartmut Froschle (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada 355

356

3.

4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. n. 12,. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

Notes

Ltd., 1976), pp. 106—119, which includes two excellent maps of the countries of origin, itineraries and areas of settlement in Russia 1769 to 1861 and of Russian-German settlements in Alberta and Saskatchewan; George P. Aberle, From the Steppes to the Prairies: The Story of the Germans Settling in Russia on the Volga and Ukraine, also the German Settlers in the Banat, and the Bohemians in the Crimea: Their resettlement in the AmericasNorth and South America and in Canada, 4th ed., (Dickinson, N.D.: 1964); and Karl Stumpp, "Das Russlanddeutschtum in Ubersee," in Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus Russland (Stuttgart: 1963), pp. 5—21. The most readable recent publication on the Germans in Canada is probably Bassler's translation and edition of Lehmann's works in one volume. See Gerhard P. Bassler, Heinz Lehmann: The German-Canadians 1750—1937 (St. John's, Nfld.: Jesperson's Press, 1987). Bucking Poles and Butter Churns: History of Lone Pine and District (Didsbury: North Lone Pine Women's Institute, 1972), p. 44. See also, for example, Florence B. Low, Education in Canada: A Handbook for Intending Settlers. Revised to July 1924 (London: Canadian Pacific Railway, 1924) or Okotoks: The Eldorado of South Alberta (Calgary: Hammond Lithographing Co., 1907). Hec MacLean, ed., Waterhole and the Land North of the Peace (Fairview: Oldtimers' Association, 1970), pp. 41-42. Prairie Grass to Mountain Pass: History of the Pioneers of Pincher Creek and District (Pincher Creek: Pincher Creek Historical Society, 1974), pp. 376-377. Jean James, ed., Hanna North (Hanna: Hanna North Book Club, 1978), pp. 730-731. James, p. 616. Alberta Herold, March 2, 1911. Alberta Herold, October 1, 1909. Alberta Herold, February 2, 1911. Alberta Herold, September 29, 1910. Alberta Herold, October 8, 1909. Alberta Herold, October 2, 1909. Alberta Herold, October 8, 1909. Alberta Herold, December 17, 1909. Alberta Herold, December 17, 1909. Alberta Herold, September zz, 1910. The Alberta Schutzhund Association, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, the Association of English-German Bilingual Education, the C.B.I.A.S. Balten Club, Club Austria, the Deutsche Schule Edelweiss, the Edmonton Swiss Society, Erwin's Alpine Band, the I. D.F.C. Victoria, the German-Canadian Business and Professional Association, the German-Canadian Club Calgary (with its constituent members, the "Calgary Kickers," the Karnivalsgruppe K. G. Rot-Weiss, the Schutzenclub Diana, the Singgemeinschaft, the Skatclub Calgary Jungs, and the Sprachschule Des Deutsch-Kanadischen Klubs), the German-Canadian Club

Notes

357

of Lethbridge, the German-Canadian Club of Red Deer, the GermanCanadian Cultural Association (with its constituent members, the Blaue Funken, Mannerchor "Liederkranz," Deutscher Damenchor "Wildrose," and the Friends of Stamps and Coins), the German-Canadian Harmonie Club (Medicine Hat), the German-Canadian Male Chorus of Calgary, the German-Canadian Relief Society, the German Cultural Exchange Association, the Kolping Society, Schlaraffia Prima Canadensis, the Sudeten Club, and the Wildrose Shooting and Hunting Club of Edmonton. 19. Among them in Calgary, for example, the German Language School of Calgary, the Deutscher Frauenchor, the German-Canadian Senior Citizens Housing Society of Calgary, the German-English Education Society, the Osterreichisch-Kanadische Gemeinschaft (with its constituent groups Frauengruppe, the Chor "Heimat Echo," and the Jugendtanzgruppe "Die lustigen Holzhacker Buam und Madeln," the Club Gemiitlichkeit, the Schuhplattlerverein "Enzian," the Swiss Club Matterhorn, and the Swiss Jodler Club "Heimattreu," and, in Edmonton, for example, the Bavarian Schuhplattlers. 20. Alexander Malycky and Clive H. Cardinal, "German-Canadian Periodical Publications: A Preliminary Checklist," Canadian Ethnic Studies, Vol. I(I), 1969, 13—30; "German-Canadian Periodical Publications: First Supplement," Vol. II(I), 1970, 47—54; Alexander Malycky and Richard O. W. Goertz, "German-Canadian Publications: Second Supplement," Canadian Ethnic Studies, Vol. V(i,i), 1973, 67—84. For extremely valuable, comprehensive checklists on the "Germans in Alberta," (alphabetized by organizations and place names) see Alexander Malycky, "German-Albertans: A Bibliography: Part I," in German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. VI, ed. Hartmut Froschle (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1981), pp. 311-344, and "German Albertans: A Bibliography: Part 2," in Hartmut Froschle, ed. German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. VII (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1983), pp. 239—32.5. 21. Malycky and Cardinal (1969, 1970) and Malycky and Goertz (1973). For more information on German-language newspapers see also, for example, Werner Entz, "Die deutschsprachige Presse Westkanadas: Ihr Inhalt und ihre Sprache," Seminar 3(1), 37—52; Werner Entz, "Der EinflufB der deutschsprachigen Presse Westkanadas auf die Organisationsbestrebungen des dortigen Deutschtums." In Hartmut Froschle, ed. German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. II (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1975), pp. 92-138; Heinz Lehmann, "Deutsche Zeitung fur Kanada," Deutsche Arbeit, 35 (1975), 482-487; Fritz Wieden, "Die Deutschkanadische Presse seit dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges," in Leopold Auburger, Heinz Kloss, and Heinz Rupp, eds., Deutsch als Muttersprache in Kanada. Berichte zur Gegenwartslage (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1977), pp. 59—64; Karl J. R. Arndt and Mary E. Olson, Die deutschsprachige Presse der Amerikas, 1732—1968, Vol. 2 (Pullach/Miinchen: Verlag Dokumentation, 1973), pp. 224—229.

358

Notes

22. This information was provided by the General Manager of Program Planning at ACCESS. 23. Central Baptist Church, Edmonton, Alberta: 75th Anniversary, 1900—1975 (Edmonton: 1975), p. 7. 24. John E. Herzer, ed., Homesteading for God: A Narrative History of Lutheran Mission Work in Alberta and British Columbia, 1894-1946 (Edmonton: Commercial Printers, 1946), p. 64. 25. Verhandlungen der Deutschen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Synode von Manitoba undanderen Provinzen (Saskatoon: 1958), p. 82. 26. Edmonton Journal, January 25, 1986 and Kanada Kurier, January 23, 1986: The Central Baptist Church, Deutsche Bethel-Baptisten Gemeinde, Edmonton Gemeinde Gottes, the Evangelical Fellowship Church, Ev. Luth. St. Paulusgemeinde, the German Church of God, Luther Place, the Southside Assembly, St. Bonifatius Church, St. John Lutheran Church, and Trinity Lutheran Church. Other churches with German services in Edmonton are the German Zion Baptist Church, and St. Matthew's Lutheran. 27. Calgary Herald, January 25, 1986: The Evangelisch-Lutherische Auferstehungsgemeinde, the Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, the German Church of God, the St. Bonifatius-Gemeinde, St. John Lutheran Church, and the St. Matthaeus-Kirche. The Elim Assembly German Pentecostal Church has offered services in German as well. 28. Jeffrey G. Reitz ("Language and Ethnic Community Survival." In Raymond Breton, ed. Aspects of Canadian Society. Canadian Sociological and Anthropological Association, 1974, p. in) determined that, indeed, the lowest level of ethnic community participation and language maintenance was found among the members of the third generation. 29. Heinz Kloss ("Der Sprachenrechtliche Rahmen." In Leopold Auburger, Heinz Kloss, and Heinz Rupp, eds. Deutsch als Muttersprache in Kanada. Berichte zur Gegenwartslage. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1977, pp. 53-57) suggested three types of assimilation: i. immediate assimilation, which takes place already in the immigrant generation; 2. organic assimilation, where there is at least one generation between the unilingual immigrant and the unilingual native-born generation; this transitional generation receives its education in both languages and thus exhibits a well-developed bilingualism; and 3. permanent retention of the minority language.

2 Establishing a "German Presence" in Alberta I. The 1986 Census data are not used systematically for this examination of German ethnicity in Alberta because of problems of comparability with earlier censuses, especially the 1981 Census which provides a wealth of useful information. In 1986, more than one response could be given not only to the question on ethnic origin, but also to "mother tongue" and "home language." While this change in methodology is intuitively meaningful (two languages may very well be equally strong in a person's background), it raises

Notes

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. II. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16.

359

new questions. For example, it is impossible to tell whether a decrease of German mother tongue speakers in Alberta from 90,410 in 1981 to 75,730 (single responses only) in 1986 really represented a decrease by some 16% or whether the reported 14,700 Albertans who listed German together with another language as their mother tongues fully accounted for the difference. It is of, course, possible that persons who in 1981 had only given "English" as their mother tongue (because it was their primary mother tongue) took the opportunity to also cite German in 1986 (as their secondary mother tongue. Statistics Canada has recognized the comparability problem and claims that—using the same methods of data analysis in both criterion years—there had actually been only 85,065 Albertans with German mother tongue in Alberta in 1981, compared with 75,730 in 1986, which would represent a decrease by only 11%. Clearly, this methodology presents some problems for the interpretation of the data. 1901 Census, Vol. I, p. xx. 1911 Census, Questionnaire and Instruction Booklet. 1921 Census, Vol. II, p. xvii. 1931 Census, Vol. I, pp. 246 and 249. 1941 Census, Vol. IV, p. xviii. 1951 Census, Vol. I, p. xv. Ibid. 1971 Census, Vol. I, Bulletin 1.3—5, inside front cover. 1981 Census, Vol. I, Catalogue 92—913, p. vii. 1941 Census, Vol. I, p. 250. Canada. Department of Agriculture. Annual Report, 1890, p. xxiii. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 676. 1941 Census, Vol. I, p. 248. Elvire Eberhardt, "The Growth of the German Population in Medicine Hat, Alberta, from 1885 to the Present," in Hartmut Froschle, ed., GermanCanadian Yearbook, Vol. VI (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1981), pp. 62-65. For various attempts see, for example, Manfred Richter, "Who are the German-Canadians?" in Peter Liddell, ed. German-Canadian Studies: Critical Approaches (Vancouver: CAUTG, 1983), pp. 42—48. In addition to discussing the difficulties involved in interpreting Census statistics, Richter reviewed various approaches to defining an ethnic group. Leo Driedger ("In Search of Cultural Identity Factors: A Comparison of Ethnic Students," The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 12, 1975, 150-162) identified six cultural components in the definition of a cultural group, viz. language use, endogamy, choice of friends, religious denomination, parochial schools, and voluntary organizations. Alan B. Anderson and James S. Frideres (Ethnicity in Canada: Theoretical Perspectives, Toronto: Butterworths, 1981, p. 40) maintained that cultural groups can be defined by ethnic origin, ethnic-oriented religion, and folkways, i.e., the practice of certain customs unique to the group. David Artiss ("Who Are the GermanCanadians—One Ethnic Group or Several?" In Peter Liddell, ed. German-

360

17.

18. 19.

20.

21.

22. 23. 24.

25.

Notes

Canadian Studies: Critical Approaches, Vancouver: CAUTG Publications, 1983, pp. 49—55) struggled with the difficulties in defining what is "German." He suggested four tests of "German-ness": historical, linguistic, cultural, and geographic. In relation to Lunenburg's history, Artiss would have us ask this question: "Has this piece of land been owned and occupied by German settlers and their descendants uninterruptedly from the first days of colonization until now? If the answer is yes, may we not describe the present occupiers as German-Canadian, whether they speak German or not?" (p. 55). The difficulties inherent in dealing with immigration statistics and in defining "German" are also discussed at length by Gerhard P. Bassler, "German Overseas Migration to North America in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Recent Research from a Canadian Perspective," in Hartmut Froschle, ed. German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. VII (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Inc., 1983), pp. 8—21. See, for example, the 1911 Census, Vol. II, Table 15. Froschle, p. 2.3. On the immigration of Germans from Russia see, inter alia, Adam Giesinger, From Catherine to Krushchev: The Story of Russia's Germans (Winnipeg: 1974); Karl Stumpp, The German-Russians: Two Centuries of Pioneering (Bonn: Atlantic Forum, 1967); Alan B. Anderson, "German Settlements in Saskatchewan," in Martin L. Kovacs, ed. Roots and Realities among Eastern and Central Europeans (Edmonton: CEESSA, 1983), pp. 175—222; Tova Yedlin, "Germans from Russia in Alberta: An Introduction," in Martin L. Kovacs, pp. 223-232; Tova Yedlin, ed. Germans from Russia in Alberta: Reminiscences (Edmonton: CEESSA, 1984). Canada. Department of Manpower and Immigration, A Report of the Canadian Immigration and Population Study, Volume 2: The Immigration Program (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1974), pp. 15-16. Kurt R. Grossmann, Emigration. Geschichte der Hitler-Fliichtlinge 1933—1945 (Frankfurt: 1969); Eva Kastens, "Botschafter im Arbeitskleid. Aus der Geschichte der Sudetendeutschen in Kanada," in Hartmut Froschle, ed., German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. Ill, 1976, pp. 120-128; A. Amstetter, Tomslake. History of the Sudeten Germans in Canada, 1979; referred to in Froschle, "German Immigration into Canada. A Survey," p. 26. In 1950, limited immigration, for close relatives of Canadian citizens, was permitted for German citizens; this restriction was lifted in 1951. 1906 Census of the Northwest Territories, p. xx. Elizabeth Gerwin, "A Survey of the German-Speaking Population of Alberta." M.A. Thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1938, pp. 59—67. See also Robert England. The Colonization of Western Canada: A Study of Contemporary Land Settlement (1896—1934) (London: P.S. King and Son, 1936), pp. 226-249; Wilfried Eggleston, "The People of Alberta," Canadian Geographic Journal 15(4), 1937, 212-222; and James G. MacGregor, A History of Alberta (Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1972), pp. 165-167. For succinct overviews of the ethno-cultural history of these two groups see, for example, John W. Friesen, People, Culture, and Learning (Calgary: Det-

Notes

2.6. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.

43. 44. 45. 46. 47.

48. 49. 50. 51.

361

selig Enterprises, 1977) and Howard Palmer, Land of the Second Chance: A History of Ethnic Groups in Southern Alberta (Lethbridge: Lethbridge Herald, 1977); for a very detailed discussion of the history of the Mennonites' settlement in Alberta and Saskatchewan, their educational system, and the role of English in the various communities see Frank H. Epp, Mennonites in Canada, 1786-192.0 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1974), pp. 303—331 and 34^-343John W. Friesen, p. 193. John Wesley Edwards, quoted in Epp, Mennonites in Canada, p. 391. Palmer, Land of the Second Chance, pp. 94—102. 1885 Census of the Northwest Territories, Table III. 1901 Census, Vol. I, p. xv. 1941 Census, Vol. I, pp. xvi-xvii. 1951 Census, Vol. I, p. xvi. 1971 Census, Vol. 1.2, p. x. 1941 Census, Vol. I, p. 283. 1901 Census, Vol. I, p. xx. 1901 Census, Vol. II, p. xvii. 1931 Census, Vol. I, pp. 246 and 249. 1941 Census, Vol. IV, p. xviii. 1971 Census, Vol. I, Part 3, p. 18. 1971 Census, Vol. I, Part 3, p. 18. 1971 Census, Vol. I, Part 3, Bull. 1.3—5, Table 26. Helga Wacker, Die Besonderheiten der deuschen Schriftsprache in Kanada und Australien (Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, Dudenverlag, 1965); Leopold Auburger, Heinz Kloss and Heinz Rupp, eds. Deutsch als Muttersprache in Kanada: Berichte zur Gegenwartslage (Wiesbaden, 1977) and Manfred Richter, "Die deutschen Mundarten in Kanada," Seminar 3(1), 1967, 37-52. John Arbuckle, "The Phonology of the Volhynian German Dialect of the Edmonton Area." M.A. Thesis, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1961. Richard d'Alquen, "Phonology of the Galician Dialect of Stony Plain, Alberta." M.A. Thesis, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1962. Gerda Alexander, "Three German Dialects in Barrhead, Alberta. Phonology and Interference." M.A. Thesis, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1975. Elvire Eberhardt, "The Bessarabian German Dialect in Medicine Hat, Alberta." Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1973. See especially Herfried Scheer, "The Linguistic Heritage of the Hutterian Brethren," in Hartmut Froschle, ed., German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. I (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada, 1973), pp. 91-94. Alexander, pp. 8-11. Alexander, p. 7. Eberhardt, "The Bessarabian German Dialect in Medicine Hat, Alberta," p. 8. On the perceived need for displaced persons after World War II to assimilate

362.

51.

53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

61. 62.. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67.

68.

Notes

see Arnold W. Fraser, "Displaced Persons in Canada: A Problem in ReEducation." M.A. Thesis, McGill University, Montreal, 1950. The following sources were consulted for this section: Schools of the Parkland, 1886—196-7 (Red Deer: Alberta Teachers' Association Local #14, 1967), p. 118; James, p. 530, 616; J.R.S. Hambly, ed., The Battle River Country: A Historical Sketch ofDuhamel (New Norway: Duhamel Historical Society, 1974), p. no; Early Furrows (Provost: Senior Citizens Club of Provost, 1977), p. 381. See, for example, Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1913, pp. 39-41Early Furrows, p. 381. James, p. 616. Earl Clifford Stacey, ed., Beaverlodge to the Rockies (Beaverlodge: Beaverlodge and District Historical Association, 1974), p. 2.98. 1901 Census, Vol. I, p. viii. 1916 Census, Table XXXIII. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 551. The rate of persons of German origin rose slightly again to 2..6% by 1951 for both sexes together, once more the result of the beginning immigration from overseas. Government officials rediscovered that "... the ability to converse and carry on business in English or French is a useful index of the degree of assimilation of the average immigrant.... Of the immigrants of the past decade [1941 to 1951], 11.3% were unable to speak English or French compared with 1.1% for the population as a whole" (1951 Census, Vol. X, p. 193). From 1961 on, the rates of inability to speak English have been very low. In 1961 as well as 1971,98.2,% of all Canadians of German origin were able to speak English; in 1981, this rate increased to 98.7%. In Alberta, only 0.7% of German ethnics could not speak English in 1961 and 1971; in 1981, the corresponding percentage was 0.8%. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1903, p. 50. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1919, p. 69. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 19x0, pp. 91-93. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 192.0, p. 80. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1914, p. 14-2.6. Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta. Actually, of course, they came from various parts of what was then a union of relatively autonomous principalities in the Holy Roman Empire and from other regions in northeastern central Europe; these colonists certainly did not regard themselves as being "German"; rather, they thought of themselves in terms of being Hessians, Wuerttembergers, etc. The Volga Germans settled in compact colonies and were isolated from the remaining population and could thus preserve their dialects, customs, and traditions. The Black Sea Germans, on the other hand, adopted a system of entailed estates, bought additional land and had closer contacts with the native population (James Long, The German-Russians: A Bibliography. Santa Barbara, 1974, p. 4).

Notes

363

69. Arthur Stelter from Volhynia (Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 3) remembers that [if] you were German speaking, the top authorities at that time were the Lutheran Church officials. German Lutherans, however, could not try to convert any of the Russians. This was not allowed and both the Russians and Germans would go to jail. Their lives in general were very separate. They went to separate schools even though the Germans eventually had to also teach Russian in their schools. 70. "[My father said] that the Ukrainians who lived there were very backward. He said that they knew absolutely nothing about farming. He said the only things that Germans ever learned from Ukrainians was how to cross swamps" (Arthur Stelter, in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 2). 71. This love for the German language and German culture was then transferred to Canada; the German-language newspapers at that time were full of exhortations to the immigrants and their children not to abandon their linguistic and cultural heritage. See the review of such arguments by Kurt Tischler ("The Efforts of the Germans in Saskatchewan to Retain Their Language Before 1914." In Hartmut Froschle, ed., German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. VI. Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Inc., 1981, p. 43). 72.. See Tischler (1981, p. 42) for an account of Anderson's and Driedger's hypothesis about why the Mennonites lost the Dutch language in their move to Germany, but not the German language in their move to Russia: They speculate that when a minority exists where the majority is considered by the minority to be more advanced in culture and education, the minority will become linguistically assimilated. However, when the minority considers its own culture to be superior to that of the majority, they will retain their language. 73. E.H. Busch, Materialien zur Geschichte und Statistik der EvangelischLutherischen Gemeinden in Russland (St. Petersburg, 1862.), p. 160; cited in Elvire Eberhardt, "The Bessarabian German Dialect in Medicine Hat, Alberta." Ph.D. Dissertation. The University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1973, p. 21. 74. Eberhardt, "The Bessarabian German Dialect in Medicine Hat, Alberta," p. 1975. Statements to this effect can be found, for example, in Alexander, "Three German Dialects in Barrhead, Alberta. Phonology and Interference," pp. 4-6. 76. Eberhardt, "The Bessarabian German Dialect in Medicine Hat, Alberta," pp. 2O—21.

77. See for example, "Edward Wolter from Volhynia," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. III; "Bernhard Krueger from Solonovka," p. 160, and "Jacob Eichele from Ochakov," p. 177.

3 64

Notes

78. "[After World War I], pupils were sent to public schools where they came into closer contact with English, and no doubt felt the suspicion their language aroused in their classmates. One might conjecture that before long they became infected with the notion that German was in some way inferior and so adopted English enthusiastically" (Richard d'Alquen, 1962, p. 7; Alexander, p. 8). 79. Alexander, p. 8; "Arthur Stelter from Volhynia," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 2.5. 80. Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. xv. 81. "At the public school, German was prohibited from being spoken on the school grounds, because 'the war was on'" ("Arthur Stelter from Volhynia," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 16); Bertha Knull from Volhynia remembers these times: The war years were difficult years for the Germans. They were not allowed to speak German in public, but some of the people couldn't speak English, so they spoke German anyway. One time I was talking to my husband in German in a restaurant and they came over to tell me to stop. I was about to answer them when a lawyer we knew came over and said I shouldn't say anything. In the countryside it was different. It wasn't too bad in Leduc, but we heard that it was bad in Edmonton. They hated the Germans there ("Bertha Knull from Volhynia," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 55). 82. For example, in the case of German Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists and Moravians, but not with the Mennonites who came in large groups (Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. xiii). 83. Gerald Friesen, The Canadian Prairies. A History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984), p. 262.. 84. "The war years reallly hastened the process of assimilation.... The German people settled in little colonies at first, but the schooling in English and the war years really broke up the group and ethnic identity" ("Joe Frison from Selz," in Yedlin, p. 69). 85. This point is repeatedly made in the Germans from Russia in Alberta and elsewhere, for instance, by "George Webber from Norka, Volga Region," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 41; by "Julius Oswald from Volhynia," ibid., p. 31; Alexander, p. 8; d'Alquen, p. 6. Joe Frison from Selz reported that the first generation of men picked up English through interaction with others. They became involved with municipal politics—town counsellors, etc. and were able to function fairly well in English. In his own family, despite the fact that he married a German-speaking woman, they did not speak German with the children, except when the grandparents were around (in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 68).

Notes

365

Eberhardt provides the following description: For some years, a few of the men worked in [Medicine Hat] until farming sustained the family. Thus almost all men of this group understand English and speak it to some degree, but the women who spent most of their life at home often have no knowledge of English. Families of this type have moved to the city only at retirement age and still associate mainly with German speakers (Eberhardt, "The Bessarabian German Dialect in Medicine Hat, Alberta," pp. 2 5 — 2 6 ) . 86. Minnie Grunwald from Volhynia reminisces: I learned a little English from the young people when I arrived in Canada. But I studied English with my children. I would look at the books they brought home and help them with their school work (in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 48).

87.

88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94.

95. 96.

Erdman Rosenau (in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 64) tells how his mother did not see any need to learn English. She said that she had lived in Russia without learning Russian, and did not see why she had to learn English. "When my children went to school we tried to speak English at home as much as possible so that they could learn the language better. There were some in our district, however, that were against the use of English in the home and would not let their children use it. Later the children had a terrible time when they had to use English" ("Minnie Grunwald from Volhynia," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 48); "We spoke German at home until the kids went to school and then we tried to speak English.... We spoke English so that when the girl started school she would know how to speak English. She learned it quickly" ("Bertha Knull from Volhynia," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 54). See, for example, "Julius Oswald from Volhynia," in Yedlin, ed., Germans from Russia in Alberta, p. 30. See several statements to this effect in Eberhardt, "The Bessarabian German Dialect in Medicine Hat, Alberta," p. 174, and Alexander, p. n. Gerwin, pp. 143-145. Gerald Friesen, p. 2.67. Gerald Friesen, p. 2.68. Gerald Friesen, p. 2.71. The 1981 Census indicated that there were 7,400 Hutterites in Alberta; considering the fact that there were altogether 13,365 users of German as a home language in rural Alberta, the Hutterites alone account for a very large portion of rural Albertans who use German as the dominant language of the home. John Kralt, "Language in Canada," 1971 Census, Vol. V, Part I (Bull. 5.I-7). Kralt, pp. 72--73-

366

Notes

3 Maintenance and Loss of German I. Canada, Department of Manpower and Immigration, Canadian Immigration and Population Study: Three Years in Canada (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1974), p. 99. 2. Canada, Canadian Immigration and Population Study, p. 104. 3. Canada, Canadian Immigration and Population Study, p. 109. 4. O'Bryan et al. 5. O'Bryan et al., pp. 100—101. 6. O'Bryan et al., pp. 46—48. 7. Reitz, "Language and Ethnic Community Survival," p. 111. 8. Quoted in Driedger and Hengstenberg. 9. O'Bryan et al., p. 49. 10. O'Bryan et al., p. 55. 11. O'Bryan et al., p. 56. 12. O'Bryan et al., pp. 61—66. 13. The role of the schools, the press, the cultural associations, political activities, and the churches for the maintenance of German in Saskatchewan is discussed by Tischler, pp. 42—61. On the subject of the difficulties experienced in maintaining the German mother tongue, and the reasons for these difficulties, see John Thiessen, "Deutsch in den Prarieprovinzen," in Leopold Auburger, Heinz Kloss, and Heinz Rupp, eds., Deutsch als Muttersprache in Kanada. Berichte zur Gegenwartslage (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1977), PP- 39-46. 14. Beatrice Stadler, Language Maintenance and Assimilation: The Case of Selected German-Speaking Immigrants in Vancouver, Canada (Vancouver: CAUTG, 1983).

15. 16. 17. 18. 19. zo. 21. 22. 23. 242526. 2728. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Stadler, p. 22. Stadler, pp. 30-34. Stadler, pp. 36—37. Stadler, p. 39. Stadler, p. 40. Stadler, pp. 43-44. Stadler, p. 16. Stadler, pp. 50—58. Stadler, p. 83. 1981 Census, Cat. 92—911, p. xii. 1921 Census, Vol. II, p. xvii. 1931 Census, Vol. I, p. Z46. 1941 Census, Vol. I, p. 258. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 552. 1941 Census, Vol. I, p. 258. 1931 Census, Vol. I, p. 252. 1971 Census, Vol. V, Part 2 (Bull. 5.1-9). J.T. Borhek, "Ethnic Group Cohesion," American Journal of Sociology 76(1), 1970, 3Z-46.

Notes 33. 34. 35. 36.

37.

38. 39. 40. 41. 42.. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52.. 53.

54. 55. 56.

367

O'Bryan et al., p. 166. Stadler, p. 48. O'Bryan et al., p. 166. Warren E. Kalbach and Madeline A. Richard, "Ethnic-Connectedness: How Binding is the Tie?" in Tova Yedlin, ed. Central and East European Ethnicity in Canada: Adaptation and Preservation (Edmonton: CEESSA, 1985), pp. 99-109. Oleh Wolowyna, "The Effects of Intermarriage on Bilingual Education among Ukrainian Canadians," in Manoply R. Lupul, ed., Qsvita. Ukrainian Bilingual Education (Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1985), p. zo8. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 552.. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 681. 1961 Census, Bull. 7.1-9, pp. 9-2.9. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 571. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 655. 1931 Census, Vol. XIII, p. 679. Canada, Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Book IV: The Cultural Contribution of the Other Ethnic Groups (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1969), Table A-75Canada, Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Table A-61. Dominion Bureau of Statistics, unpublished special tables. See W. E. Kalbach, The Impact of Immigration on Canada's Population (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1970). W.E. Kalbach, The Impact of Immigration on Canada's Population (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1970), pp. 33Z—335. Stadler, p. 31. John W. Friesen, When Cultures Clash: Case Studies in Multiculturalism (Calgary: Detselig Enterprises, 1985), p. 138. Palmer, Land of the Second Chance, pp. 94-97. Palmer, p. 41. Palmer, pp. 94—97. Similar analyses with the LMI and LMZ ratios showed that a high rate of acquisition of German as the mother tongue in childhood by persons of German ethnic origin or of using German as the home language in 1981 was positively correlated with birthdate before about 1940, immigration from abroad, residence in a rural area of Alberta (especially for females), having less than a Grade 9 education, and occupying a job in a primary industry. Conversely, a low likelihood of acquiring German as mother mother tongue or using it as the dominant home language was related to having been born in Canada, relative youth, residence in an urban area, having at least a Grade 9 education, and working in an occupation other than a primary industry. O'Bryan et al., p. 75. O'Bryan et al., p. 88. O'Bryan et al., pp. 95-96.

368 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62..

63. 64.

65.

66. 67. 68.

Notes

O'Bryan et al., p. 88. O'Bryan et al., pp. 106—107. O'Bryan et al., pp. 120-121. O'Bryan et al., pp. 113—12.4. O'Bryan et al., p. 125. Anderson, in his study of assimilation in block settlements in North-Central Saskatchewan, found German Catholics to be the most assimilated group: only 32.6% favored the preservation of their ethnic identity. 2.9% used the language "fairly often" although 93.1% could, in fact, speak German. There was a strong relationship between desire for preservation of the ethnic identity and age: 69.5% of elderly respondents favored it, compared to none of the adolescent ones. 73% of the immigrants favored preservation compared to 10% of the third (etc.) generation. Mennonites with up to high school education were generally in favor of identity preservation, but were resigned to its loss, while those with university education were largely indifferent. Hutterites strongly favored identity preservation. See Alan B. Anderson, "Assimilation in the block settlements of North-Central Saskatchewan," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, 1972, pp. 366-367. 1971 Census, Vol. I, Part 4 (Bull. 1.4—3), Table 5. 1981 Census, Cat. 93-933, Table 3. This projection is made on the following premises: that none of the original members of that age group die or move out of Alberta, that the LM3 ratios for the various age groups remain as they were computed for 1981, that all individuals stay in the rural or urban areas where their presence was originally recorded, and that no additional speakers of German as a home language are added to this age group by mobility within Canada or by immigration. This trend towards a decline in the use of German as a home language is substantiated by the results of the 1986 Census which—although not directly comparable with earlier findings—showed a decrease by 18% from 1981 in the number of Albertans speaking primarily German in the home. Canadawide, the corresponding rate was 24% over the same five-year period. 1981 Census, Cat. 93—933, Tables 3 and 5. 1971 Census, Vol. I, Part 4 (Bull. 1.4-4), Table 8. Supportive evidence for the German data presented here is offered by research in the effectiveness of bilingual English-Ukrainian instruction. Isajiw concluded after a study of ten major ethnic groups, among them especially the Ukrainian, that the home was the most important socializing agency for bringing about a general knowledge of the language. Where parents spoke to children only in Ukrainian, 100% of the children knew Ukrainian, at least in a general way. This was also the case where the parents spoke to the children in both English and Ukrainian, but where only English was spoken by the parents, most children (62.%) had no knowledge of Ukrainian at all. Those whose parents spoke Ukrainian to them also used the language "every day" or "often," whereas others whose parents spoke English to them used

Notes

69. 70. 71.

72..

73.

369

Ukrainian "rarely" or "never." It appears that if parents wish their children to have Ukrainian as their mother tongue they must speak to them in Ukrainian, or in English or Ukrainian, when they are very young. According to Isajiw (1985, pp. 22,6—2.2.7), the ethnic school only plays a supportive role in language socialization; it strengthens language retention, makes the students aware of their ethnic identity, and helps them to read and write in Ukrainian. Chumak ("Language Behaviour in the Ukrainian Home: An Interactional Perspective." In Manoly R. Lupul, ed., Osvita. Ukrainian Bilingual Education. Edmonton: Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies, 1985, pp. 187—190) looked at this issue in more detail: The author studied the use of Ukrainian in homes where both parents spoke Ukrainian, had been born in Europe, and had come to Canada as young children; both spoke Ukrainian only in the home and both had a keen interest in preserving and maintaining the use of Ukrainian in the home. It was found that young children in this ideal linguistic environment verbalized spontaneously in Ukrainian more often than their older siblings who already went to school, responded more frequently in this language, and preferred to speak Ukrainian. It was noteworthy that parents differed in their patterns of interaction with the children: With older children, they used less Ukrainian, encouraged them less to use the language in the home, and read less to them. They also tended to address them in English or in Ukrainian while they used Ukrainian only with young children. Because of this difference in interactive support by the parents, the older children lost confidence and competence, and thus their frequency of use of Ukrainian declined accordingly. Gerwin, pp. 59—67. Reitz, p. 120. Number of students in German 10, 2.0 and 30 in public schools: 134; in private schools: 84; in bilingual schools: 93; and in noncredit preschool and elementary courses in private language schools: 86. In a casual survey of the ethno-linguistic composition of German courses in high schools in and around Edmonton, it was determined that the percentage of students having "some" German language background varied widely: In one high school northeast of Edmonton the teacher reported that seldom more than one third of the class was entirely anglophone; in another high school to the east of Edmonton, 78% of the German 10 students had no German family language background, while in German 2.0 and 30, 69% and 68%, respectively, claimed not to have learned any German at home at all. One of the central high schools, on the other hand, reported that practically everyone in German 30 had "some" or "a great deal" of German background, while another one indicated that anglophones were in the majority, even on the higher levels of instruction. Obviously, the ethnic composition of the neighborhood in which the school is located is only one factor determining students' decision to take German. Lehmann, Das Deutschtum in Westkanada, pp. 361—375; Gerwin, pp. 59-67.

37°

Notes

4 The Role of German-Speaking Churches and Church Schools 1. Kurt H. Vitt, Heimtal Moravian Church (Edmonton, 1971), p. 5. 2. Merton Shillinglaw, The Early Devisers (Forestburg: Forestburg Historical Society, 1977), P- *393. Gerwin, p. 146. See also R. Breton, "Institutional Completeness of Ethnic Communities and the Personal Relations of Immigrants," in B. R. Blishen, ed., Canadian Society: Sociological Perspectives (Toronto: Macmillan, 1968), pp. 77-94. 4. David Millet, "Religion as a source of perpetuation of ethnic identity," in Paul M. Migus, ed., Sounds Canadian. Languages and Cultures in MultiEthnic Society (Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1975), p. 105. 5. O'Bryan et al., p. 18. 6. St. Bonifatiuskirche, 1960-1970 (Calgary, 1970); St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Scapa, Alberta: Golden Jubilee, 1911-1971 (Scapa: Golden Jubilee Committee, 1971), p. 8. 7. Sixtieth Anniversary: Immanuel Lutheran Church, Lethbridge, Alta. 1969 (Lethbridge, 1969), unpaginated. 8. On the role and actual work of the Lutheran Church see Hermann Wagner, Von Kiiste zu Kiiste. Bei deutschen Auswanderern in Kanada (Hamburg: Ev. Luth. Auswanderermission, 1929), pp. 118-1x5. 9. A Concise History of Tofield and District (Tofield: Tofield Jubilee Committee, 1955), p. 9; Pioneer Days: Scollard, Rumsey, Rowley (Stettler: Stettler Independent, 1967), p. 126. 10. [The German pastor rides out into the wilderness to found German congregrations, to establish German schools. And this is exactly why he is so important for German language and culture in Alberta: he is the one who has helped the young people, who are so eager to learn English, maintain the German language; he has opened and he keeps open those doors which lead to German intellectual life, to the world of our poets and thinkers. And he keeps alive for the youth the poetry of a German Christmas, which in itself already has such a tremendously powerful effect on the maintenance of German language and culture, because it is probably the purest and strongest expression of German family life, if not German emotional life. Just think: the poetic mood of the Holy Night in this country!] 11. Central Baptist Church, Edmonton, Alberta, p. 4. 12. Marion Jouan, ed., Tomahawk Trails (Tomahawk: Tomahawk Trails Book Committee, 1974), p. 135. 13. A Brief History of Emmaus Lutheran Congregation, Brightview, Alberta and Zion Lutheran Congregation, Peace Hill, Alberta (n.p., ca. 1960), p. 6. 14. Mecca Glen Memories (Ponoka: Mecca Glen Centennial Committee, 1968), p. 239. 15. Tank 77 to Taber Today: A History of Taber, Its District and Its People (Taber: Taber Historical Committee, 1977), p. 552—553. 16. Gerwin, p. 168.

Notes

371

17. Seventy Years Under God, For God: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, 1897—1967 (Bruderheim: n.p., ca. 1967), p. 13. 18. Ned Dodd, ed., Remember When: The History ofTrochu and District (Calgary: Trochu History Book Committee, 1975), p. 89; Seventy Years under God, for God, p. 13. 19. Hugh Aylmer Dempsey, The Ponoka Book (Ponoka: Ponoka Herald, 1954), p. 82. 2.0. Kurt H. Vitt, Clement Hoyler: God's Pacemaker for Moravians in Canada: Impressions (South Edmonton, 1972), p. n. 2.1. Vitt, Heimtal Moravian Church, p. 10. zz. Ibid. Z3. Millett, "Religion as a Source of Perpetuation of Ethnic Identity" suggested that maintenance of the linguistic diversity of the ethnic churches may well have been intentional, for it justified their further existence (pp. 106-107). 14. C.M. Cherland, The Lutheran Legacy: Growth of Calgary's Lutheran Churches (Calgary: Century Calgary Publications, 1975), p. 69; Roselyn Easter, ed., Rosemary, Land of Promise (Rosemary: Rosemary Historical Society, 1977), p. 84. Z5. A. Gehring, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, Stony Plain, Alberta. Diamond Jubilee, 75 Years of Grace, 1894-1969 (Stony Plain, 1969), p. 14. z6. David Millet, "The Orthodox Church: Ukrainian, Greek and Syrian," in J.L. Elliott, Immigrant Groups. Vol. II of Minority Canadians (Scarborough, Ont.: Prentice Hall, 1971). Z7. Central Baptist Church, Edmonton, p. 5. z8. Cherland, p. 61. Z9. According to Gerwin (p. 146), this bulge is due to increased immigration of German-speaking people between i9z6 and 1931. 30. Seventy-Fifth Anniversary: First Baptist Church, Leduc, Alberta. 1894—1969 (n.p., ca. 1969), unpaginated. 31. A Brief History of Emmaus Lutheran Congregation, p. iz. 3Z. Central Baptist Church, Edmonton, p. 8. 33. Seventy-Fifth Anniversary: 1896—1971: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Roily View (Roily View, ca. 1971), unpaginated. 34. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church: 6oth Anniversary, 1902—1962 (Edmonton, i96z), p. 13. 35. St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Scapa, Alberta, p. n. 36. Gehring, p. zo. 37. Joyce Wiedeman, ed., Saga of Schuler Stalwarts (Schuler: Schuler History Committee, 1973), p. zo5. 38. Sixtieth Anniversary: Immanuel Lutheran Church, Lethbridge, unpaginated. 39. Central Baptist Church, Edmonton, p. n. 40. Cherland, p. 113. 41. Gehring, p. 45. 4Z. A History of Stony Plain, Alberta (Stony Plain, 1974), mimeo, n.p. 43. Sixtieth Anniversary: Immanuel Lutheran Church, Lethbridge, unpaginated.

372.

Notes

44. Gerwin, pp. 169-170. 45. Erstes Protokollbuch der Aufsichtsbehorde des Concordia College zu Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Edmonton, 192.6, p. 15. 46. Gerwin, p. 171; Alberta College North Calendar 1925-26 (Edmonton, 192.6), p. 16. 47. Minutes of the Second Biennial Convention, The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Western Canada (Saskatoon, 1949). 48. Verhandlung der Deutschen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Synode von Manitoba und anderen Provinzen, pp. 82-83. 49. For one of the classical descriptions of the Hutterite educational system see John A. Hostetler, "Total Socialization: Modern Hutterite Educational Practices," The Mennonite Quarterly Review 44, (1970), 72-84. See also Victor Peters, "Die Hutterer," in Leopold Auburger, Heinz Kloss and Heinz Rupp, eds., Deutsch als Muttersprache in Kanada. Berichte zur Gegenwartslage (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1977), pp. 125-128. 50. Driedger and Hengstenberg. 51. John W. Friesen, People, Culture and Learning, pp. 198—199. 52. Friesen, p. 201. 53. Friesen, p. 202. 54. Friesen, p. 207. 55. Shillinglaw, p. 21. 56. A Brief History of Emmaus Lutheran Congregation, p. 3. 57. The Butte Stands Guard: Stavely and District (Calgary: Stavely Historical Book Society, 1976), p. 156. 58. Gerwin, p. 168. 59. For a comprehensive up-to-date review of the work carried out by the various churches in Canada and Alberta and attendance figures at Germanlanguage services see Horst Gutsche, "Deutschsprachige Seelsorge in Kanada," in Gerhard Friesen and Karin Giirttler, eds. German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. IX (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada, 1984), pp. 15-48. 60. The denominations of the remaining 70 churches where German had been or was still being used were distributed as follows: Lutheran: 51 (Lutheran (no further designation): 33; Lutheran (Missouri Synod): 9; Lutheran (LCA): 4; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada: 4; Lutheran (WELS): i). Mennonite: 7 (Mennonite (no further designation): 4; General Conference Mennonite: 2; Mennonite Brethren: i); Moravian: 4; Church of God: 3; Pentecostal: 2; Roman Catholic: i; Baptist: i; Christian Reformed: i. Although this group of churches does not necessarily represent all churches in Alberta where German was or is being used as the language of worship, the results obtained here are likely to be indicative of general trends. This assertion can be substantiated by the fact that 25 Lutheran churches are included in this sample, and the 1985 Directory of the German Interest Conference (Lutheran Church in America and Congregations with German Services of Other Lutheran, Reformed and United Church Denominations in Canada and the U.S.) lists 25 churches with German worship in Alberta as well:

Notes

373

Horst W. Gutsche, ed., "1985 Directory: German Interest ConferenceLutheran Church in America and Congregations with German Services of other Lutheran, Reformed and United Denominations in Canada and the U.S." (Edmonton, 1984), mimeo, pp. 15—31. Furthermore, seven of the eight Mennonite churches to which the questionnaire was sent returned it to the investigator. 61. Time of introduction of services in German: Before 1900: 5; 1900—1919: 10; 1910-192.9: 5; 1930-1939: 4; 1940-1949: 2; 1950-1959: 6; 1960—1969: i; and 1970—1980: 2. Time of discontinuance of services in German: Before 1930: i; 1931—1940: 3; 1941—1950: 2; 1951—1060: 9; 1961—1970: 12; and 1971—1980: 3. 62. David Millett ("Religion as a Source of Perpetuation of Ethnic Identity," p. 109) asserted that ethnic "churches are the perpetuators of old traditions," "the repository of dying languages, spoken by increasingly elderly people;" to the young Canadian, they are "institutions for old people with old languages and old prejudices which divide people on a very petty basis." 63. See Siegrid Deutschlander ("German Language Transfer in a Lutheran Protestant Congregation," M.A. Thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1987) for an excellent account of the extent of use of German and the dynamics of its maintenance in the congregation. She concluded that the effect of the German language school within the congregation on language maintenance was minimal; both native-born and young foreign-born members had switched to English, and although the teachers and the minister still had a strong ideological commitment to German, the church as such did not play a strong role in language maintenance. John E. Hofman ("Mother Tongue Retentiveness in Ethnic Parishes." In Joshua Fishman, ed. Language Loyalty in the United States. The Hague: Mouton, 1966, p. 131) had already indicated that language loss was inevitable if the motives for the continued use of an ethnic language ceased to be ideological and became purely practical.

5 The Development of Programs for the Teaching of German 1. Alberta Education, Guide for Teaching German as a Second Language, 1974, p. iv. 2. Alberta Education, Three-Year German Program: Curriculum Guide: German 10-20-30, 1984, p. 77. 3. Alberta Education, Three-Year German Program. Curriculum Guide: German 10-20-30, 1984. 4. For brief accounts of the history of the teaching of German in the various western provinces see the following: Herbert Wilhelm Debor, "The culture [sic] contributions of the German ethnic group to Canada." Report No. 9 presented to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (Montreal, 1965); James R. Hurley and W.T.R. Wilson, "The Teaching of and Teaching in a Language Other than English in the Provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia." Re-

374

5.

6.

7. 8. 9.

10. 11.

iz.

13. 14.

Notes

search Report submitted to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (Ottawa, 1965); T. Krukowski and P. McKellar, "The other ethnic groups and education." Working paper submitted to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (Ottawa, 1966); Lionel Orlikow, "Report on Second-Language Teaching in the Provinces of Canada." Research Report presented to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (Ottawa, 1967); Dieter Roger, "Deutsch in Manitoba: Vom ersten Deutsch Westkanadas bis zum heutigen Deutschunterricht," in Hartmut Froschle, ed., German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. VII (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1983), pp. 136-147. Union schools consisted of "two or more adjacent schools with an aggregate daily attendance of 60 pupils, where not less than three teachers were employed, and where not less than 15 pupils from such schools had passed the High School Entrance Examination" (John Blue, Alberta: Past and Present. Vol. I. Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Co., 192.4, p. 282). Northwest Territories, Ordinance of the Northwest Territories to Amend and Consolidate as Amended the Ordinances Respecting Schools, 1892, Section 4. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 192.1, p. 140. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 192.6, p. zo. The following section is based on the excellent account of education in western Canada by Manoly R. Lupul, "Education in Western Canada before 1873," and "Educational Crisis in the New Dominion," in Canadian Education: A History, ed. J. Donald Wilson, Robert M. Stamp and Louis Philippe Audet (Scarborough, Ont.: Prentice Hall, 1970), pp. Z4I-Z79. Alberta, School Act, 1971, Section 150 (i) (b). A core program is a series of courses, in which the second language is taught as a subject of instruction for a period of time comparable to other school subjects; in an extended language program, the language is taught as a subject, and in addition, one other subject (e.g., art, music, social studies) is taught in the second language. In a bilingual program, the second language is taught as a subject, and in addition two or more subjects are taught in the second language, so that pupils are instructed in the second language up to a maximum of 50% of the school time, with a minimum of 25% of available school time. In an immersion program the pupils are both taught the second language as a subject and additional subjects are taught in it, so they are instructed in the second language in excess of 50% of the time (Alberta Education, A Study of Additional Costs of Second Language Instruction (Edmonton, 1979), p. 4). Talmud Torah in Edmonton had existed for over sixty years as a private school where fifty percent of the school day was taught in Hebrew before it joined the Edmonton Public School Board in 1975. Alberta Regulation 74/79. Alberta, Amendment to the School Act, 1981, Section 151 (3).

Notes

375

15. German Reading and Writing are introduced first in the German bilingual program, with English Language Arts and reading beginning in February of Grade i. For an excellent account of the state of bilingual programs in the Edmonton Public Schools see James Jones, "Multilingual Approach Reflects Canadian Mosaic," Language and Society, 12 (1984), 33—38. 16. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1937, p. 15. 17. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1902, p. 85. 18. Ibid., p. 88. 19. Ibid., p. 90. 2.0. Ibid., p. 85. zi. For a superb review of the state of second-language teaching in Canada, the United States and Europe see M.A. Buchanan and E.D. MacPhee, An Annotated Bibliography of Modern Language Methodology (Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 192.8), 428 pages. After an extensive introduction, the authors/compilers provided a detailed annotated (and often critical) analysis of books and articles on the following subjects: Works of Reference, Histories, Aims and Methods, Language, The Learning Process, Tests and Examinations, and Texts Used Abroad (samples). 22. Wilga M. Rivers, Teaching Foreign-Language Skills (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), pp. 14—18. 23. This conviction was already expressed by the famous Committee of Twelve in 1900: "According to this method the pupil is first put through a volume of paradigms, rules, exceptions, and examples which he learns by heart. Only when he has thoroughly mastered the book he is allowed to read; and even then his reading is usually regarded as a means of illustrating and emphasizing grammatical principles, rather than as a source of inspiration or of literary education. The amount of foreign literature studied by the class is, moreover, very small; but it is all carefully analyzed and translated, every lesson being, in general, repeated several times. Composition is used as an instrument for increasing still more the student's familiarity with inflections and rules. The foreign language is never spoken, and pronunciation is considered unimportant." Report of the Committee of Twelve (D.C. Heath and Company, 1900), pp. i4f. An influential language teacher, Professor Eduard Prokosch, had the following scathing remarks to make about the grammar and translation method: "This method, which has been in use for centuries in the teaching of the classical languages, possesses distinct values as regards mental discipline and formal development, but it never produces anything like a command of the language studied, within the time at disposal in our secondary schools. For this reason, this method should not occupy the first place in the teaching of modern foreign languages" (E. Prokosch, The Teaching of German in Secondary Schools, Bulletin No. 41 of the University of Texas, 1915, pp. 6f; quoted in Peter Hagboldt, The Teaching of German, Boston: D.C. Heath, 1940, pp. 55—56). 24. W.H. van der Smissen and W.H. Fraser, The High School German Grammar and Reader (Toronto: ;Copp, Clark Company, 1900), pp. in—118. 25. William C. Collar, First Year German (Boston: Ginn, 1905), pp. 30—31.

376 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32,. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44.

Notes

Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1906, p. 175. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1909, p. 98. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1913, p. 304. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1919, n.p. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 192.6, p. 19. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1932., p. 21. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1936, p. 2.2. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1928, p. 16. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1919, p. 17. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1923, p. 61. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1929, p. 66. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1922, p. 17. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1927, p. 11. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1920, p. 18. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1920, p. 22. Alberta Department of Education, Handbook for Secondary Schools, 1922. Ibid., p. 73. Ibid., p. 79. Rivers, pp. 18-22. Professor Prokosch (1915, p. 7) criticized the Direct Method as one of those "... which aim primarily at the achievement of a speaking knowledge, or, rather, at acquiring facility in the use of words and phrases for definite conversational purposes. To this aim these colloquial methods subordinate, and often sacrifice, both ... accuracy and system. It may be granted that, by concentration on a limited vocabulary and constant practice of well-selected phrases, some of them seem to attain brilliant results within a comparatively short time. However, experience has shown conclusively that the unmodified and exclusive use of purely colloquial methods tends to hinder, rather than help the later formation of a thorough, extensive, and intelligent reading knowledge. This fact limits their legitimate use to conditions where the first elements of a colloquial knowledge of the foreign language constitute the one purpose for its study." In 1940, Hagboldt (pp. 57-58) concurred in this criticism and remarked that Victor had called this method the Papageien Methode. According to Hagboldt, the instructor, "... usually a native, is as a rule innocent of any training that would equip him to use any other method. Strictly speaking, no training is necessary. The spoken word is all that matters. The foreign language is simply 'talked into' the pupil... Brilliant results may be achieved by the gifted adult, determined in his efforts, and knowing just what he wants to learn. Yet even the superior mature student cannot succeed unless he himself puts order into the natural chaos by systematizing his studies, and by using a brief grammar to supplement his work in class. For it is a matter of everyday experience that the forms of words, sentences, and phrases remain, as it were, crystallized and rigid unless they are by exercise made pliable and applicable to widely different and quickly changing situations." 45. M.E. Manfred, Ein praktischer Anfang (Boston: D.C. Heath, 1914), pp. iiiix.

Notes

377

46. Manfred, p. 295. i. [I lie in bed and sleep. 2. I wake up. 3. I look at the clock. 4. It is seven o'clock. 5. I get up. 6. I go to the bathroom. 7.1 take a bath. 8.1 brush my teeth. 9. I go back to the bedroom. 10.1 put on my clothes, n. I comb my hair. 12. The bell rings. 13.1 go to the dining room. 14.1 eat breakfast. 15. It is eight o'clock. 16. I take my books. 17. I go to school.] 47. [The classroom. The classroom has a ceiling, a floor and four walls. The ceiling is above the floor. The floor is under the ceiling. The walls are between the ceiling and the floor. The blackboards are on the walls. There are also pictures on the walls. The door and the windows are in the walls. The eraser, the chalk, the pointer, and the ruler are in the tray beneath the boards.] 48. [I am going to the cupboard/ to the door/ to the window. We are going to the cupboards/ to the doors/ to the windows.] 49. [Sentence: The pupil is going to the cupboard. Questions and answers. Where is the pupil going? He is going to the cupboard. What is the pupil doing? He is going to the cupboard. Who is going to the cupboard? The pupil is going to the cupboard. Is the pupil going to the door? No, he is not going to the door, but to the cupboard. Is the pupil going to the window? No, he is not going to the window, but to the cupboard.] 50. Manfred, pp. 76-83. 51. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 192.2, p. 17. 52. Alberta Department of Education, Handbook for Secondary Schools, 1925, p. 80. 53. Ibid., pp. 79-80. 54. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1922, pp. 24-27. 55. Ibid., p. 22. 56. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1924, p. 27. 57. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1924, p. 140. 58. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1927, p. n. 59. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1936, pp. 8—16. 60. Ibid., pp. 59-60. 61. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1938, p. 47. 62. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1936, p. 14. 63. Ibid., p. 60. 64. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1939, p. 73. 65. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1940, p. 70. 66. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1945, p. 33. 67. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1946, p. 57. 68. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1938, p. 38. 69. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1964, p. 185. 70. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1940, p. 70. 71. Rivers, pp. 22—24. The Committee of Twelve (pp. 299ff), in 1900 already, praised this method in that "... it quickly enables the student to read French and German literature—not with the complete appreciation that only an all-around command of the language can give, but with the same

378

72.. 73.

74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 8z. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88.

Notes

kind of intelligence and enjoyment with which good classical scholars read Latin. Indirectly, it helps the pupil to form a good style, and to increase the volume and the precision of his English vocabulary; it cultivates the taste by dwelling upon delicacies of expression; it exercises the memory through the enforced retention of words and idioms; it trains the linguistic sense by calling attention to the points of resemblance and difference in various tongues; and the exact fitting of a phrase to thought forms an excellent discipline for the judgment." James A. Chiles and Josef Wiehr, First Book in German, rev. ed. (Boston: Ginn, 1935), pp. 78-86. [After supper. The family eats supper at six o'clock. They have cheese, sausage, bread, butter, and fruit. Father drinks a cup of coffee, Karl and his sister drink milk, Mother drinks water only. After supper, the family moves to the living room. There all of them stay until nine o'clock. Mother sews, Marie plays the piano, and Karl studies English. Father sits at the desk and calculates or draws. At home, he has no study because he works mostly in the office. At nine o'clock, Karl and Marie go to bed. Mother goes upstairs and opens the windows in the bedroom. Karl goes to the bathroom. He takes a cold bath every night, but Marie doesn't. She takes a warm bath in the morning. After his bath, Karl goes to bed right away. Sometimes he talks in his sleep. Father says, the day is not long enough for Karl. Questions: i. When does Karl eat supper? 2. Where does everyone go after supper? 3. What do they do in the living room? 4. Does Father have a study at home? 5. Where does he usually work? 6. When do Karl and Marie go to bed? 7. What does Mother do upstairs? 8. When does Karl take a bath and what kind of a bath does he take? 9. When does he sometimes talk?] Alberta Department of Education, Programme of Studies for the High School, Bulletin 6, 1946, p. 10. Ibid., p. 10. Ibid., p. ii. Ibid., p. n. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1951, p. 51. Ibid., p. 14. Senior High School Curriculum Guide, 1953, p. 14. Ibid., p. 16. Ibid., p. 17. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1953, p. 33. Alberta, Report of the Royal Commission on Education in Alberta, 1959, p. 114. Ibid., p. 115. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1961, p. 64. Alberta Department of Education, Senior High School Curriculum Guide for French, German and Latin (Interim Edition), 1962, pp. 5—6. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1960, p. 35.

Notes

379

89. Alberta Department of Education, Senior High School Curriculum Guide, 1961, pp. 15—16. 90. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1960, p. 35. 91. Alberta, Annual Report, 1963, p. 25. 92. Rivers, pp. 32-46. 93. ["What are you doing tonight? Don't you want to watch television at our place?" "No, unfortunately we are not allowed to do that. We have to stay home and study." "Oh my, why do you always want to study?" "Don't you want to go skiing?" "Unfortunately, I don't know how to yet." "What! You don't know how to ski? You really ought to learn it." "Do you know how to play chess?" "No, I am not very much interested in that. But my brother Karl plays very well. He has recently won a prize."] 94. [Hermann: Do you want to play chess tonight? Gunther: No, I want to stay at home and watch television. Hermann: Oh my, why do you always want to watch television? Gunther: Well, I am not very much interested in chess. Hermann: Do you play well? Gunther: No, but my brother plays very well. He has recently won a prize. Hermann: Do you know how to ski? Gunther: No, unfortunately I don't know how to do that yet. I really should learn how to.] 95. [Do you want to watch television at our place tonight, Sabine/Melanie/Manfred?] 96. [On the day after tomorrow I will go skiing. Do you already ski well? Since when? Where do you go to ski? Is that far from here? How long will it take? Will you go by bus or by car? Who is coming with you?] 97. Helmut Rehder, Ursula Thomas, W. Freeman Twadell, and Patricia O'Connor, Deutsch: Verstehen und Sprechen (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962), pp. 90—102. 98. Helmut Rehder, Ursula Thomas, W. Freeman Twaddell, and Patricia O'Connor, Deutsch: Sprechen und Lesen (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963). 99. [In a German restaurant; a trip; Hans goes skiing; a letter to a German friend about our school.] 100. Conrad P. Homberger and John F. Ebelke, Foundation Course in German (Boston: D.C. Heath, 1964), pp. 126—138. 101. [Thank you, Vera. That is very nice of you. But please don't write me a letter in German; I won't understand it.] 102. [He can sing the song vs. He knows the song; he came right away vs. German and English are equally difficult.] 103. [What is the mailman bringing? What did he bring yesterday? Do you get mail from Germany? Do you also get post cards? Did you get a letter yesterday? Do you write many letters?] 104. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1966, p. 81.

380

Notes

105. [i. Tell me, is that a friend of yours? 2.1 don't know him.] 106. Travemunde, den 12. Juli Liebe Mutter: Hier ist es fein. Wir wohnen bei entzuckenden Menschen und batten das Gliick, in ein wunderschon eingerichtetes aber sehr kleines Familienhaus zu kommen, wo wir uns wie zu House fiihlen. Ich babe es viel lieber als in einem Hotel. Unser Zimmer wiirde Dich interessieren. Erikas Kleider hdngen an den Fenstern, da der Kleiderschrank nicht grofB genug ist. Die Koffer und Schuhe stehen umber, aber das Zimmer ist gliicklicherweise grofi genug fur zwei Menschen. Es liegt nach der Strasse und ist lang, da es einen ausgebauten Erker hat. Ein Mddchen aus London ist auch bier im Hause. Sie ist sehr nett und eifrig dabei, Deutsch zu lernen. Sie kann nur wenig, aber sie bekommt keine Gnade. Wir sprechen nur Deutsch mit ihr, und sie nimmt die Grammatik sogar mit auf die Ausfliige. Ich mochte sogern mal nach London. Wir haben schon mehrere Autofahrten in die Umgebung gemacht, die ja selten schon ist. Gestern war es fabelhaft. Wir fuhren weit ins Land hinein. Der Tag war windstill und sonnig. Die Hecken schienen ohne Ende. Manchmal stand eine hohe Pappel da und zuweilen eine grofie Windmiihle oder ein einsamer Bauernhof, auf dessen Dach die Storche ihre Nester gebaut batten. Wir haben einige Storche mit ihren Jungen gesehen.... Fragen: 1. Wo wohnen Karin und ihre Freundin? 2. Wie grofi ist ihr Zimmer? 3. Aus welchem Land kommt das Mddchen, das Deutsch lernt? 4. Ist es in dieser Umgebung gewohnlich schon? 5. Wohin machten die jungen Leute gestern einen Ausflug? 6. Was fur Vogel bauten auf den Bauernhdusern Nester?...

107. Man kann oft lesen: Amerika ist ein junges Land. Deutschland ist ein altes. Aber das ist nur zum Teil richtig; denn als ein moderner Staat sind die Vereinigten Staaten etwa zweimal so alt wie das Deutsche Reich, das erst im Jahre 1871 von Bismarck gegriindet wurde. Auch die Bevolkerung Deutschlands ist natiirlich nicht alter als die Bevolkerung Amerikas. Die Amerikaner sind ja nicht plotzlich im Jahre 1776 vom Himmel gefalien, sondern ihre Vorfahren waren fast alle aus dem alien Europa herubergekommen.... Fragen: 1. Welches der beiden Lander soil alter sein? 2. Wer grundete nach dem Zerfall des Heiligen Romischen Reiches Deutscher Nation das Erste Deutsche Reich? 3. Woher kommen die meisten Amerikaner?....

Notes

381

108. [a. That is a leg. His father I don't know. Whom did you tell you? b. He is staying at home today. c. He breaks the bread. d. He told me: "Your girl friend looks tired."] 109. [They are coming by at a quarter to eight. A. They are coming by at eight. B. They are coming by at a quarter to nine. C. They are coming by at 15 minutes to eight. D. They are coming by at night.] no. [81. "Music often is not thought to be beautiful because it is usually associated with noise." This quotation means: A. I cannot find beautiful music. B. One prefers music if it isn't too loud. C. Noise is associated with music. D. Music is a beautiful noise.] in. John B. Carroll, "Current Issues in Psycholinguistics and Second-Language Teaching," TESOL Quarterly, 5(1), 1971, 112.. 112.. Alberta Education, Curriculum Guide (Secondary): German, 1970, p. 3. 113. Alberta Education, Guide for the Teaching of German as a Second Language, 1974, p. i. 114. Ibid., p. z. 115. Ibid., p. 5. 116. Ibid., pp. 17—2.2,. 117. Ibid., p. 14. 118. Ibid., p. 15, 2.3, xj. 119. Hans-Heinrich Wangler and George A. C. Scherer, Contemporary German (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), p. 118. [He sees my violin, a He sees a violin, light He sees a light, no He sees no light, train He sees no train, his He sees his train, wife He sees his wife, your He sees your wife, milkman He see your milkman, her He sees her milkman, girl friend He sees her girl friend, our He sees our girl friend, child He sees our child, your He sees your child, street He sees your street, her He sees her street, brother He sees her brother, my He sees my brother.] izo. German: Level Two, (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1961), pp. 1-14. 12.i. [Gertrud wants to ride her bike to her girl friend. Her mother tells her to be careful. Mother: Where are you going, Gertrud? Gertrud:... ]

382

Notes

122. Roland Schapers et al., Deutsch 2000, Vol. i (Munich: Max Hueber, 1978), pp. 2.2-2.6. 123. [b. Where do Hans and Eva Kaufmann live? in Nuremberg c. Where do Mr. and Mrs. Berg live? in Cologne?] 124. [We have no more beer. We still need five bottles, b. sausage (two pounds) c. white bread (two loaves of white bread).] 125. Alberta Education, German 31: Supplement to the 1970 Secondary School Curriculum Guide for German, 1971, pp. 1-17. 126. J. A. van Ek, "The threshold level," in C.J. Brumfit and K. Johnson, eds., The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979), pp. 103-105. 127. For detailed suggestions on the implementation of the Communicative Approach in the classroom see, for example, Brumfit and Johnson, 1979; Philip D. Smith, Jr., Second Language Teaching: A Communicative Strategy, (Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 1981); William Littlewood, Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981); and Christopher N. Candlin, ed., The Communicative Teaching of English: Principles and an Exercise Typology (Harlow, Essex: Longman Group Ltd., 1981). 128. Alberta Education, Three-Year German Program: Curriculum Guide: German 10-20-30, 1984. 129. Ibid., p. v. 130. Ibid., pp. 5—6. 131. Ibid., p. 70. 132. Ibid., pp. 71-75. 133. Ibid., p. II. 134. Ibid., p. 23. 135. Ibid., p. 23. [When are you visiting your aunt?—We are going to visit her next week.] 136. Ibid., p. 45. [Next year we will go to Germany.] 137. Ibid., p. 108. 138. Ibid., p. 103. 139. [Do you know the drummer? Yes, I know him. Do you know the band? Yes, I know it. Do you know the guitar player? Yes, I know him.] 140. Unsere Freunde (Orlando: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich), 1978, p. 49. [In the record store. Jorg: Look! Crazy! Michael: That record I am going to buy. I am going to ask how much it is. Michael: Twenty-eight marks for the record is a bit too much money! Jorg: Yes, too expensive! Here! Special offers for 9 to 12 marks. Maybe Hans Schwarz? Michael: Oh, I don't like his voice that much. Jorg: The rock band from England is not bad. Michael: Come on. Let's listen to the record!] 141. [Assume you are in the record store. Your boy friend or your girl friend is there also. The two of you see a certain record and you are listening to it. The record is good, but it is too expensive.]

Notes

383

142. Unsere Freunde, pp. 45-56. 143. Vorwarts International, Schiilerbuch Ki, 9th rev. ed. (Bonn: GildeBuchhandlung Carl Kayser, Buchhandlung.und Verlag GmbH, 1983), pp. 3-8. 144. Alberta Education, Three-Year German Program: Curriculum Guide: German 10-20-30, 1974, p. 2.9. 145. Alberta Education, A Junior High Two-Year German Program: German 7-8 (8-9), 1984. 146. Harald Seeger, Vorwarts International: Wer? Wie? Was? (Bonn: GildeBuchhandlung Carl Kayser, Buchhandlung und Verlag, approx. 1983) 147. Edmonton Public School Board, "Evaluation of the Bilingual (EnglishGerman) Program: 1980—81," (mimeo), 1981, pp. i—iv. 148. Edmonton Public School Board, "Evaluation of the Bilingual (EnglishGerman) Program: 1981—82" (mimeo), 1982, p. i. 149. Alberta Education, Evaluation of the Bilingual (English-German) Program: 1982—83, 1983, pp. i—2. 6 Enrolment in German in Elementary and Secondary Schools i. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1956, p. 39. 7 The Teaching of German in Heritage Language Schools 1. Krukowski and McKellar, "The Other Ethnic Groups and Education," referred to in O'Bryan et al., p. 14. 2. Krukowski and McKellar, "The Other Ethnic Groups and Education." 3. Canada, Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Book IV: The Cultural Contribution of the Other Ethnic Groups (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1969), pp. 156, 159. 4. Government of Quebec, The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Position of the French Language on Language Rights in Quebec, 1972. 5. O'Bryan et al. 6. R.S. Pannu and J.R. Young, Supplementary Language School Study, Final Report to the Secretary of State (Edmonton: University of Alberta, 1976). 7. O'Bryan et al. 8. O'Bryan et al., p. 125. 9. O'Bryan et al., pp. 127-128. 10. O'Bryan et al., pp. 128-130. 11. O'Bryan et al., pp. 134—135. 12. O'Bryan et al., p. 136. 13. O'Bryan et al., pp. 138—139. 14. A few such schools, especially in eastern Canada, had been in existence for a long time, but were closed down during both world wars. According to Weissenborn, it was not until 1958 that a major resurgence of enrolment in

384

15.

16. 17.

18. 19.

20.

21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

Notes

the German language schools took place (Georg Weissenborn, 1978, pp. 22-56). In a study of the effect of ethnic language school attendance on the extent of language retention, only little measurable impact could, however, be identified (Reitz, p. 12.0). Thiessen, p. 94. Martin Zuehlke, Die Geschichte der Deutschen Sonnabendschule in Calgary (Calgary, 1968), p. 32. To complicate matters further, T. Krukowski and P. McKellar, in their submission to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1966 spoke of 32 ethnic language schools in Alberta in that year; H. W. Debor, in his Research Report to the Royal Commission of 1965 indicated that there were 29 language schools in Alberta in 1961/62. Vasyl Balan, "Heritage Language Education Study: German Education in Canada" (mimeo), (Winnipeg, 1983), p. 22. During 1985/86, the following language schools received support from Alberta Culture: Edmonton: Die kleine Kinderschule of the Association for English-German Bilingual Education, the language school of the Edmonton German Church of God, the German language school of the Evangelical Fellowship Church, the German Language School Edelweiss, the language school of the German Church of God of Edmonton, the German Saturday School of Trinity Lutheran Church, and the German Language School of St. Paul's Lutheran Church; Calgary: the German-Canadian Club of Calgary Language School, the German Language School of Calgary, the language school of the German Church of God of Calgary; Lethbridge: the GermanCanadian Club of Lethbridge German School; Milk River: River Road Deutsche Schul. In that year, the language schools of the German-Canadian Club of Red Deer and of the German-Canadian Harmonic Club of Medicine Hat were not in operation. In the church schools, teachers are usually volunteers who may or may not have appropriate training in second language teaching; in the nonchurch schools, formal teacher qualifications are usually higher; often the German teachers work full-time or part-time for a school board or the university. Consequently, there is also quite a difference in the honoraria paid: In the church schools, 24 dollars per day of teaching time was the norm in 1982/83, while in the other German language schools, teachers were paid about $17.50 per hour during the same year. Zuehlke, Die Geschichte der Deutschen Sonnabendschule in Calgary (Calgary, 1968); and L.H. Kope and H. Ruttiman, eds., "Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the German Language School of Calgary" (Calgary, 1983). The following information was provided by Mr. Hans Heller, the principal of the Language School. The following information was supplied by the principal of the school, Mrs. Ingrid Sollbach. This information was provided by Pastor Harald Rabe. On the history of the Verband der Deutsch-Kanadischen Sprachenschulen, which organizes these conferences, see Herminio Schmidt, "Die deutschen

Notes

385

Sonnabendschulen in Kanada. Entwicklung und Prognose," in GermanCanadian Yearbook, Vol. VI, ed. Hartmut Froschle (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1981), pp. 183—198. 2.6. A similar view about likely developments in Ontario has been expressed by Werner Bausenhart, "Lehrfach Deutsch an Ontarios Oberschulen," in German-Canadian Yearbook, Vol. VI, ed. Hartmut Froschle (Toronto: Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada Ltd., 1981), pp. 178—i8z.

8 The Teaching of German at Universities and Colleges in Alberta 1. Second Annual Calendar of the University of Alberta 1909/1910, pp. 15—16. 2. It should be remembered, however, that junior matriculation existed at the University, which meant that students who had not concluded the required subject at the final year level in high school could enter university nonetheless and make up what they were missing for credit in their first year. Thus, in effect, the university had a three-year rather than a four-year program. 3. Second Annual Calendar, pp. 18-19. 4. Second Annual Calendar, pp. 31-32. 5. University of Alberta Calendar 1913/1914, p. 69. 6. University Calendar 1959/60, p. 242. 7. Second Annual Calendar of the University of Alberta 1909/1910, p. 2.9. 8. Calendar of the University of Calgary 1914—15, p. 19. 9. Quoted in Barbara Villy Cormack, "A History of the Department of Extension" (Edmonton: The University of Alberta, March 1972.), mimeo, p. iii. 10. Cormack, p. 7.

9 Support for the Teaching and Learning of German in Alberta i. Alberta Education, Annual Report, 1983, p. 46. z. Bildung und Wissenschaft, 5—6 (1985), 3. For a comprehensive survey of the status of the German language in the world and in Canada, in particular, and for the measures undertaken to support it, see Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt (Bonn: Foreign Office, 1985). 3. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1979/80, p. 25.

Appendices i. Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1903, pp. 199—200. [i. He threw himself back violently into the pillows and lay there with his eyes closed. Jeanne approached his bed. An overwhelming feeling of pity crept into her heart when she saw tear after tear run down his pale cheeks from beneath closed eyelids. Why shouldn't she promise herself to him? Why shouldn't she become his wife? Wouldn't she make someone happy then? Af-

386

2.

3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Notes

ter all, she herself had renounced all happiness. Happy she would not be as the wife of that man who seemed to love her so passionately, nor would she be unhappy. She knew she would never belong to the other one, the one whom she loved with all of her heart, the one who wrestled with death in the room next door—never, neither in death nor in life! All of a sudden, it ceased to be a sacrifice to offer her hand to Victor: instead, she believed it to be her sacred duty—a duty that she owed to him, her people, her fatherland. a. threw, lay, stepped up, ran, crept, seemed; b. indeed, didn't she; c. bed, heart, tear, happiness, victim, room, cheek; d. passionate, over there, the other one.] Alberta Department of Education, Annual Report, 1903, p. 202. [2. evening, world, sorrow, flood, window, letter, street, picture, heart, night; 3. came, lay, saw, wanted, go, stood, slept, took; 4. gladly, good, much, high; 5. who, which, who; 6. like to, to be able to, to let.] [The office is the room where the principal is; the principal of this school is Mr. ... The basement is under the house. The roof is over the house. The wall is between the roof and the basement] Calendar of the University of Alberta, 1911/12, pp. 63—64. Calendar, p. 117. Calendar, pp. 117-118. Calendar, p. 118. Calendar, p. 120. Calendar, pp. 121-122. University Calendar 1912/13, pp. 54—56.

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INDEX

Alberta College North, 123 Alberta Department of Education, 47, 5Z-54, 122-23, 129, 142, 151, 153, 169, 206, 220, 225 Correspondence Branch, 142, 229 Departmental Examinations, 139, 142, 150-54, 168, 179—82 publications, A Junior High TwoYear German Program: German 7-8 (8-9), 185, 193 A Study of Additional Costs of Second Language Instruction, 144 Curriculum Guide (Secondary): German (1970), 203 Evaluation of the Bilingual (English-German) Program (1982-83), 209 German 31: Supplement to the 1970 Secondary School Curriculum Guide for German (1971), 193 Guide for Teaching German as a Second Language (1974), 139, 185-88, 193 Handbook for Secondary Schools (1922), 154-56 Handbook for Secondary Schools (1925), 160

Program of Studies for Senior High Schools of Alberta (1970), 184-85 Program of Studies for Senior High Schools of Alberta (1984), 195-99 Programme of Studies for the Highschool (1946), 167 Senior High School Curriculum Guide (1953), 170-71 Senior High School Curriculum Guide (1962), 172-73, 175-76 Three-Year German Program: Curriculum Guide: German 10-20-30 (1984), 139, 195-99 Alberta Echo, 7—9 Alberta Herold, 6, 7, 9, 12, 103 assimilation. See cultural maintenance Athabasca University, 254, 282-83 bilingual programs 141, 142-46, 204—11 enrolments, 145, 204—5, 227—28 evaluation, 208—10 instructional objectives, 141, 145, 205-7 birthplace, Austria, 33

401

402

INDEX

Austro-Hungary, 32 Germany, 32—33 Russia, 32 Switzerland, 32—33 United States, 31—33

definition, 34—35 German, 35—36 Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 122 of Manitoba and other Provinces, 123-24 of Missouri, 123 of Western Canada, 124 Extension Departments, 284—87

Cameron Commission, 171 Camrose Lutheran College, 283—84 Canadianization, 46-48, 51-52, French, course enrolments, 161-62, 54-56, 58-62 176, 216—20, 223, 226 census data, definitional problems, language instruction, 143-44, 146, 18-22 152, 154, 156, 160-62, 172, churches, Central Baptist, 120 207, 220, 226, 228 Emanuel Baptist, 121 Emmaus Lutheran, 120 German, clubs, 6—8 First Baptist, 120 dialects, 46, 60, 103 German Baptist Church, 117 German Church of God, 131, 133, home language, 39-45, 71-73 and age, 72, 86—88 135, 249 and birthplace, 73, 85-88 German Zion Baptist, 121 and endogamy, 71-72, 93-94 Heimtal Moravian, 118 and level of education, 72, 90-92 Immanuel Lutheran, 121, 123 and mother tongue, 85-92 language schools, 7, 57, 104, 107, and residence, 85—92 122-23, 129-30, 135-37, 237, and sex, 72, 86, 88 239, 241, 249 and socioeconomic background, enrolments, 135-36 McKernan Baptist, 121 72-73, 92-93 and time of immigration, 72, 76, Resurrection Lutheran, 122 86, 90 Roily View Lutheran, 121 definition, 20—22, 39, 65—66 services, 13, 116-18, 130-37 in high schools, enrolments, 161, in English, 118-22, 130-37 213, 215-20, 223-26, 229, in German, 3, 5—6,12, 57,116—26, 231-33 130-37 instructional objectives, 138—42, St. Matthew's Lutheran, 119, 121—23 144, 146-48, 154-57, St. Paul's Lutheran, 120 160-64, 167-76, 182-88, 191—99, 201—6, 210—11 St. Peter's Lutheran, 121 retention rate, 225 Trinity Lutheran, 121 in junior high schools, 202-4, 234 Coleman Report, 163 enrolments, 226-27, 230-1 Concordia College, 123, 283-84 language instruction, Course I, cultural maintenance, 2, 7—17, 46—48, 256-57, 261-62, 274-75, 281 54-62, 65-66, 319-24 Course II, 256-57, 261-62, 269, 278, 281 Eberhardt, Pastor, 122 Course III, 256, 258, 269, 281 ethnic origin, Austrian, 3 5

Index Course IV, 257, 259, 269 German A, 257, 260-61, 275 German 1, 152—53, 220 German 2, 152—53, 261 German 3, 152—53 German 10, 107—8, 178, 185, 187, 198, 203, 219, 224-26, 229, 231-33, 247-8 German 20, 107-8, 171, 178, 185, 188, 203, 219, 224—26, 229, 131-33, 247-48 German 30, 107—8, 171, 178, 185, 188, 196, 198, 219, 224—26, 229, 231-33, 247-48 German 31, 193-94, 186, 188, 237, 248, 250 German 100, 222, 265-66, 276-77, 284 in rural areas, 161, 171 in urban areas, 161, 171 Oral German, 162, 176 use by Hutterites, 60—62, 83—84, 125-27 use by Mennonites, 60—61, 83—84, 127-29 use in church affairs, 130-35 use in every-day life, 66—69 German Days, 2 German presence, 1,6—17, 21—22, 28, 34, 62-64, 99, 319-2-4 German-Canadian Association of Alberta, 7, 314 German-Canadian Congress, 250 German-language media, 9-12 Grande Prairie Regional College, 283 Heritage Days, 2, 14 heritage language schools: attitudes towards, 238—43 characteristics, 238, 241-43, 246-49 definition, 236 enrolments, 243—44, 252—53 function, 236-37 funding, 245—46

403

history, 244 instructional objectives, 237, 239-40, 243, 247-48, 250 materials, 249—50 homesteading, 4, 28, 58 Hoyler, Reverend, 118 Hutterites, 23, 30—32, 52-53, 60—61, 83-84, 99, 104, 124-27, 137, 244 immersion programs, 144, 206 immigration, 3—6, 20, 22—25 Austrian, 23—5 Austro-Hungarian, 23, 28, 49-52 Danube-Swabian, 24 German, 3-6, 23-25 Sudeten-German, 24 Swiss, 24—25 Kanada Kurier, 9, 12-13 Lacombe, Father, 143 language, categories of usage, 194, 197-98 language instruction, support by Alberta Advanced Education, 297 support by Alberta Culture, 297 support by Alberta Education, 296-97 support by Austria, 300 support by individuals and groups, 313-15 support by local school boards, 298 support by Switzerland, 308 support by teachers' associations, 308-13 support by the Federal Republic of Germany, 300-7 support by the German Democratic Republic, 307-8 support by the Government of Canada, 295 language laboratories, 172—73, 175 language maintenance, 1-2, 13-17, 36-45, 47-52, 54-62, 65, 84

404

INDEX

and age, 71, 78, 86—88 and birthplace, 76, 85, 90, 94 and effect on enrolments, 108-11, 115 and endogamy, 71, 79-82., 93-94 and family type, 71, 99-102, 104—8 and German home language, 71, 99-102. and German mother tongue, 85—87, 92., 99-102 and German origin, 93-94, 99-102 and language dominance, 73 and language school attendance, 73 and level of education, 71,76, 90—91 and residence in urban or rural area, 75, 85-92 and sex, 71-72, 75, 86, 88, 99-102 and socioeconomic status, 71, 77, 91-92 and time of immigration, 71, 76, 90 attitudes towards, 2, 12—17, 47—48, 54-66, 69, 94-96, 103-4, 319-24 and generational differences, 94-95 and level of education, 95 definition, 69-70 projection, 97—99, 115 language proficiency, 46-51, 138-40, 151, 163—64, 166, 182-88, 192, 194-97, 201-3, 282 language retention. See language maintenance Latin, 142, 146, 152, 161, 214-20, 113, 116, 155-57, 259, 261 McDougall, Rev. John, 143 Medicine Hat College, 183 Mennonites, 23, 29—32, 52, 60—61, 83-84, 99, 119, 124, 127-29, 137 mother tongue, Austrian, 37—38 definition, 36—37 German, 37—39 Mount Royal College, 183

Nordwesten, 117 parochial schools, 118, 122-24 place names, Acme, 17 Alhambra, 28 Altario, 17 Ardrossan, 27 Athabasca, 18 Barrhead, 28 Bashaw, 17 Bassano, 28, 84 Beaver Hills, 17 Beiseker, 27—28 Bonanza, 116 Bruderfeld, 27 Bruderheim, 27 Brightview, 117, 120, 123, 129 Brooks, 18, 84 Buffalo Head, 116 Burstall, 27 Calgary, 1, 7-12,27-28, 35, 41, 81, 86, 88, 92, 122-23, 205, 244, 146-47, 149, 154, 180-81, 185-87, 314 Calmar, 129 Carbon, 17 Cardston, 30, 52, 82, 84 Carmangay, 82 Carstairs, 30 Champion, 17, 81 Claresholm, 27, 83 Clover Bar, 17 Coaldale, 28, 30, 84 Coalhurst, 84 Colinton, 28 Compeer, 17 Countess, 18 Cowley, 30, 82, 84 Crowfoot, 30 Cypress Hills, 17 Dapp, 27 Daysland, 27 Didsbury, 27-29 Drayton Valley, 117 Duchess, 28—30, 84

Index Dunmore, 27 Easyford, 117 Edmonton, 1—2, 7—12, 27—28, 35, 42, 66, 82, 86, 88, 104-5, 120—21, 206, 208, 210, 227-28, 233, 244, 248, 254, 281, 284-86, 314 Edson, 27 Evansburg, 28, 117 Fairview, 4 Falun, 28 Fawcett, 28 Flagstaff, 83 Flatbush, 28 Forestburg, 27, 129 Fort Macleod, 5, 28, 35, 53, 83-84 Fort McMurray, 7 Fort Saskatchewan, zz6 Fort St. John, 30 Fredericksheim, 28 Freedom, 27 Friedenstal, 27 Gem, z8, 30, 84 Gleichen, 27, 82 Glenwood, 83—84 Gnadenthal, 27 Golden Spike, 27 Goodfare, 28 Grand Cache, 83 Granum, 28, 83—84 Grassy Lake, 30, 84 Heart Valley, 28 Heimtal, 118 Heisler, 27 High River, 29, zz6 Hilda, Z7 Hillspring, 83 Hines Creek, 28, 123 Hinton, 7 Hussar, 30, 82 Irvine, 28 Josephsburg, 27 Kuhndale, 129 La Crete, 30, zz6 La Glace, 28

405

Lac La Biche, 143 Lac St. Anne, 143 Lake Wabamun, 27 Lavesta, 28, 123 Leduc, 6, 27-28, 120, 129 Lethbridge, 5, 27-28, 84, 121, 123, 244 Linden, 84 Magrath, 27, 30, 83-84 Mecca Glen, 118 Medicine Hat, 5, 27-28 Milk River, 27, 84, 244 Miwassin, 27 Morley, 143 Namaka, z8 Nanton, 82 Newbrook, 28 Northmark, 28 Olds, 28 Paintearth, 83 Patience, 28 Peace River, 28, 30, 129 Pigeon Lake, 27 Pincher Creek, 5, 26—27, 82, 84 Ponoka, 27-28 Provost, 27, 83 Rabbit Hill, 27-28, 117 Red Deer, 7—8, 10, 26, 28, 35 Rocky Mountain House, 28 Rocky Rapids, 117 Rockyford, 30, 52, 82, 84 Roily View, 120 Rosebud, 30, 84 Rosemary, 28, 30, 84 Rosenheim, 27 Rosenthal, 27, 120 Rosevear, 28 Scapa, 121 Schuler, 27, 121 Seven Persons, 27 Sexsmith, 123 Sherwood Park, 228 Slave Lake, 28 Spring Lake, 27 Springridge, 30

406

INDEX

Springville, 30 Spruce Grove, 27—28 St. Albert, 143 Standard, 82 Standoff, 30, 53 Stavely, 83, 129 Stettler, 83 Stirling, 84 Stony Plain, 27—28, 119, 121-22 Strathcona, 6 Styal, 28 Swalwell, 28 Thorsby, 28 Three Hills, 28 Tofield, 28-29 Tomahawk, 27, 117 Trochu, 28 Vauxhall, 30 Vulcan, 27, 84 Wainwright, 83 Walsh, 28 Warner, 84 Waterhole, 4 Wembley, 28, 123 Westlock, 27 Wetaskiwin, 27-28 Wildwood, 27, 117 Wilson Siding, 30 Winnipeg, 41 Wolf Creek, 28 proficiency in English, 46-52, 65-66, 69, 131, 145, 209 Red Deer College, 134 Regina Normal School, 146 Royal Commission on Education, 171 school boards, Calgary Public, 146 Calgary Separate, 146 County of Lamont, 146 County of Minburn, 146 Edmonton Public, 145, 206, 208-9, 227-28 Edmonton Separate, 145-46 Strathcona County Public, 146

Strathcona County Separate, 146 school legislation, Alberta, 52-54, 140-1, 143-46 Manitoba, 143 Saskatchewan, 143 Schwarze, Reverend, 118 Scollen, Brother, 143 settlement, 26—29 in rural areas, 26—27, 29, 56—62 in urban areas, 28—31 teaching methods: Audio-Lingual Approach, 138-39, 172—77, 186-89 Cognitive Code Theory, 183—84 Cognitive Habit-Formation Approach, 182—84 Communicative Approach, 138,140, 194-99 Direct Method, 138-39, 154-57, 160—62, 167—68, 207 Eclectic Method, 183 Grammar-Translation Method, 138-39, 146-48, 167 Reading Method, 139, 162-64, 169-71 textbooks: A German Grammar, 160 A-LM German, 183, 189—90, 202, 250 Contemporary German, 183, 188-89, 250 Deutsch 2000, 183, 190—93, 200 Deutsch konkret, 201—2 Die Welt der Jugend, 199-200 Ein Praktischer Anfang, 157—60 First Book in German, 164—66 First-Year German, 149—50 Foundation Course in German, 178-79, 250 High School German Grammar and Reader, 148-49 Ina und Udo, 250 Komm bitte, 250 Miteinander, 250

Index

407

exit language requirement, 259-63, 277, 288 German as the language of instruction, 278—80, 290 graduate courses, 273-74, 281-82 language courses, 263—67, 281—83 reading courses, 274—78, 282—84 senior courses, 267-73, 281-84 University of Alberta, 8, 169, 222, Ukrainian language instruction, 142, 254—80, 284—92 144-46, 176, 218-20, 223, 226, University of Calgary, 8, 254, 281-82, 228, 231, 233 287, 292 university, entrance language University of Lethbridge, 254, 280, requirement, 142, 169, 259—62, 287-88 282, 292 287—88 Sprechen und Lesen, 178 Unsere Freunde, 199-200 Verstehen und Lesen, 178, 250 Verstehen und Sprechen, 177-78, 183, 202, 250 Vorwarts, 200—1, 250 Wer? Wie? Was? 203-4

Verey, Dr., 143

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