Nevertheless, it appears that identity for multilingual youth in Montreal is shaped by the intersections of the subject- as-heard and the subject-as-seen (Sarkar, Low, & Winer, 2007). They also disavow the visible, or racialized aspects of identity. These categories mask considerable linguistic diversity, especially in Montreal, the city that receives almost 95% of immigrants to Quebec. Quebec’s official monolingual French language policy (Bill 101), however, neatly divides people into three linguistic categories: Francophone, Anglophone, and Allophone (speakers of languages other than French or English).

While the visage linguistique (linguistic face) of Montreal is now securely French in terms of language use in public space and public signage, as per the intentions of Bill 101, with increasing immigration from non-European (non-White) countries since the 1980s, the face of the carriers of the French language has become less and less White. This inquiry explores how young multilingual, racialized children in Montreal, Quebec navigate and understand their multilinguality and multi-ethnicity.

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