, .

‘ \

* The Cadre, vol. 8,‘no; Bl December 2, 1976,P88$ 6° .-

Teach languages ng“

reached the upper grades, English and the general mathematics, it often is with therigmore exacting improvement of academic ruined by teachers whose requiiements. The idea ‘preformance created by \ enthusiasm and interest are t at anguages are in— s stematic lan ua e herently difficult, the sZudy. g g ‘ worn ont’ or nevef~?XiSted' poSsession of an elite, A student accustomed- could disappear in a to thinking clearly and. generation. » accurately about language Achievement represents achieves more in all‘ Power, pride, security and .subjects which require independance; to allow- reading, Thls definitely

Héibien, voila!

It seems that the last Quebec election should teach us a lesson semantic. Perhaps one of the reasons for the election results can now be better understood within the following concept.

Canadians learn foreignT languages, when they learn them at all, late in life,

To simply ignore- gremmar — as recently we ‘have done in many schools- creates generations who can read, speak or listen fluent ly and accurately, in their

includes vocational sub- -°Wn language or any other.

and oftem lamely. Among the nations of the West, we have the reputation of being poor linguists, of having little interest in communication skills. Like other English majority nations we are supposed to'have a some— times arrogant attitude toward other cultures . other tongues.

It need not ne so.

Generations who have regarded language study as formidable and dif- ficult, subject matter for only the elite and professionébound student, haVe cheated our children of the opportunity for early and routine mastery of foreign tongues.

The resutls show in our own language. Children who study foreign languages grasp their own with great-‘ er ease and skill. Often the achievement of North American public schools in engiishyskills borders on the shameful.. In the last decade, a good many Canadian colleges and uni- versities have been dri- ven to offer remedial English to entrants. In part, this is due to the disappearance of required foreign languages and systematic, scientific grammar instruction from our school programs.

If North American students were offered the chance to learn languages early, and were expected to learn them well, we would see that we are not so lacing in talent as we suppose. The very young take well to bilingual experience. With the op— portunity made nearly universal, the most dif— ficult blockades in lan— guage learning would be

overcome before the‘studentsn‘

the young to bypass it, to

arrive at adolescence withoutjects. all, the basis of all socially

communication skills, is a sorry neglect of our re— sponsibilities.

Consider our speaking minorities alone: their language heritage. should

1.

'of pride insteadrof an

obstacle to advancement. Early language training in the schools could give all these children anex—

tra advantage, a psychologica]

boost, and the chance to. develop the basis of a use- ful, salable skill.> '

The cost of such programs would be great. But the benefits would be equally great, the more so when we consider the spinoff to

Language is, after

Jseful skills. “ Nd.one has yet considered the possibility that a

large part of what is wrong

with our schools could

be solved by intense effort in language‘training. The fact that from such early

programs a great many students

would reach adulthood with a working knowledge of at least one foreign language is only a.part, though a significant part, of the, bonus. .V But isn't grammar, in any‘ language, a difficult, old fashioned, boring subject? Not unless it is taught by difficult, old fashioned, boring people. Grammar is the only systematic way we have to describe and understand the living, changing magic of a modern language. Properly approached, it is an exciting adventure. Like

_lf our younger generation deserve»to develop basic competencies to deal with life and living, if our world and nation need citizens who are at home in it, then the intensive language programs I advocate are a necessity, long put off and now more urgent than ever.

Democracy in our nation, and peace in our world, depend on develOping the resources of all citizens. Both are en- dangered when learning and communication skills are the property of_the few. Besides, the personal joys of learning ought not to be denied to children, as is often the case. The responsibility is ours and the time, more than ever, is now, ‘

F. Vidal

The case for Dr. Morgentaler

A committe for the Legal Defence of Dr. Henry ‘ Morgentaler has been form- ed in Montreal. The goal is to raise funds for the legal defense of Dr. MOrgentaler, to work towards repeal of the abortion..law and to pressure for com- munity birth control clinics. To date, fif- teen thousand dollars have been raised and.several thousand signatures col— lected in the Montreal

' are.

The committee is now extending their fund— raising and petition campaign to a national level. Support is ex— pected to come from \ universities, companies, labour unions, churches and} other groups and indivi— duals.~

Patricia Willoughby,

a spokesperson for the committee and a Concordia student, said that the

~Quebec government's

decision to set a date, (December 13,) for a' fourth trial for Dr. Morgentaler has intensi— fied the committee's

AJi

determination to raise funds for the legal de— fence and to fight for free safe abortions for all women who want the. .YWe know that the law discriminates against poor women, rural women. and young women. Often they are forced.to go to profit—making agencies who charge them three or four hundred dollars. A desperate,woman will do anything to try to raise funds, and failing that, will resort to back— street butchersor self— abortion."‘ In addition 'she charge that these agencies further exploit women‘through giving false pregnancy diagnoses and even through baby- selling when woman is too far along for an abortion. "The Minister of Justice must know these abuses exist," she pointed out.. "He commissioned Dr. Robin Badgley of University of, Toronto, to investigate the working of the law. We understand the Badgley report is on his desk. We feel its contents shOuld be publicly de—u

bated in 5.13%. .

_. .m.wa-.a...,. x- .q......,

The liberals may try to sidestep it in order to avoid a controversy.

The committee hopes to pressure the government ' to have a debate through involving people across the country in its ac— tivities. ‘ Committee for the Legal Defence of Dr. Henry Morgentaler'

3465 Cote des Neiges #71 931-3807 ’ Montreal, Quebec' Petition sponsored by: THEiCOMMITTEE FOR THE, LEGAL DEFENSE 0F DR.HENRY

VMORGENTALER.

Whereas: the Canadian as bortion law has proved to be inadequate and discri— minatory as attested to by doctors acrOss Canada; Whereas: Dr. Henry Morgen taler has been aquitted

.in three jury trials and

the Canadian and Quebec 5 Bar Associations have cal led for a moratorium on further proseCutiOns un- der the abortion‘laWs;5 , Whereas: contraceptive information and supplies are not available to all people in canada; ’

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