OTTAWA - The commissioner of official languages says bilingualism is given short shrift by federal research funding agencies.
Graham Fraser says research on Canada's official languages is a valuable tool for governments and their efforts to develop language policies and programs.
Fraser says language research is also important to community efforts to "evaluate their vitality, progress and needs."
He says federal funders must take the special circumstances of researchers in minority-language communities into account if they are to meet their obligations under the Official Languages Act.
He says that means enabling them to conduct research in their own language and encouraging research on linguistic duality.
A study by Fraser's office also suggests researchers in some universities face other significant obstacles -- including the general predominance of English in published research and the limited language skills of reviewers who assess funding proposals in French.
Fraser says that while agencies can help, more support from universities and the government is also needed.
The languages watchdog issued eight recommendations to federal research funding agencies. He issued a further recommendation to the Canada Research Chairs Program, inviting universities to create and fund research chairs on official languages issues.
