ABSTRACT
This chapter examines bilingualism from a social-psychological perspective, one characterized not only by its interest in the reactions of the bilingual as an individual but also by the attention given to the social influences that affect the bilingual's behaviour and to the social repercussions that follow from his behaviour. Several of the studies have been conducted since 1958 in greater Montreal, where the conflict between English- and French-speaking Canadians is currently so sharp that some French Canadian (FC) political leaders in the Province of Quebec talk seriously about separating the Province from the rest of Canada, comprising a majority of English Canadians (ECs). The reactions to Continental French (CF) speakers are generally more favourable although less marked. The EC judges appear to be less concerned about European French people in general than they are about the local French people; the European French are neither downgraded nor taken as potential social models to any great extent.
