STRATEGIES OF ORIENTATION AND PROFESSIONAL INSERTION OF YOUNG IMMIGRANT IN MONTREAL : MOTIVES OF CHOICE OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING AND FRENCH-SPEAKING POST SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS

In Quebec, newcomers have to attend French primary and secondary schools according to linguistic policies. However, at the postsecondary level, students are free to choose their language of instruction. This article presents the results of a qualitative research conducted with youth from immigrant background (n=37) who attended French and English institutions at the college and university levels. The sociology of experience (Dubet 1994) has been used to identify the rationale behind postsecondary choices. The qualitative analyses show that linguistic academic choices are linked to professional integration strategies. Thus, a strategic rationale mainly explains the linguistic choices youth made. The reasons linked to a linguistic sense of belonging or to identity questions are almost absent in youth discourses. Likewise, the "expressive" dimension of school choices, based on self-fulfilment through education, is practically not mentioned by youth.