Difficulties Canadians Face if they do not Have a Perfect Command of the English Language - Essay Example

A major difficulty of people in Canada who do not have a good command of English is in terms of education. Most schools in Canada use English as the medium of instruction. If one does not speak, read or write English, how can one be educated in these schools? A good education is a prerequisite for a good job in the future; thus, it is important that one learns the English language to be able to be enrolled in the Canadian schools. Seeking employment will also be difficult for residents in Canada who are not fluent in English.

With the onset of globalization, most employers would require knowledge of the English language among their employees. If there were two applicants for a job and one knows English while the other does not have a command of the language, most likely, the latter will not be taken in. Having a perfect command of the English language is always a plus factor in landing a job. Canadians who do not speak English are sometimes discriminated. Their personal and civic identity is threatened because they are being judged according to the language they speak.

(Churchill 28). This is another difficulty which the non-English speaking residents of Canada face. . This resulted in the low productivity and morale of the factory workers. This problem has its corresponding effect on the Canadian economy and society (Abacus 1). A possible solution to the language problem is to revise the Canadian immigration point system, making language skills a priority (Abacus 1). It does not benefit Canada to accept doctors or other professionals if they do not have a functional knowledge of either French or English.

In addition, a mandatory language testing may be given to immigrants after six months of stay in the country and the finalization of their immigrant status will depend partly on the results of the test (Abacus 1). Another recommendation to lessen the difficulties of Canadians with the English language is for the government to offer free English language training courses which are accessible. The government can set up these classes in community centers. It is advisable that these classes be set up in communities where there are a large number of non-English speaking immigrants, as well as in communities where there are a lot of Canadian residents who cannot speak the language.

The question though is whether the government will be willing to allocate funds for these classes especially for the immigrants who should not be a burden to the Canadian government. If the government cannot fund the English classes, then the private sector may choose to establish these classes and make them affordable. These may be done by companies through training programs for their non-English speaking employees. This can be viewed by these corporations as an investment in human resources because in the long-run, their company will also benefit from having English speaking employees.

Another suggestion to people having difficulty communicating