While PIAAC does not directly measure official-language proficiency, it does collect information on mother tongue from all respondents. “Mother tongue” refers to the first and second language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the test.
To measure the effect that language ability might have had on proficiency scores, in this section we examine the results obtained by Indigenous and non-Indigenous/
non-immigrant respondents according to mother tongue.
34 In some cases, Indigenous respondents had one of the official languages as their mother tongue but wrote the test in the other official language.
In PIAAC, the proportion of respondents reporting a mother tongue that was different from the language of the test varied across provinces and territories as well as Indigenous groups. At the provincial/territorial level, the proportion of respondents reporting a mother tongue different from the language of the test varied from 9 percent in Saskatchewan and 15 percent in Ontario to 46 percent in Nunavut (see Figure 2.10). Some Indigenous groups were much more likely than others to report a mother tongue different from the language of the test. In Canada, 7 percent of First Nations, 9 percent of Métis, and 32 percent of Inuit reported a mother tongue that was not the same as the language of the test (see Figure 2.11). Figure 2.12 shows average scores in literacy for the population aged 16 to 65 by Indigenous identification, based on their mother tongue in relation to the language of the test. Figure 2.13 shows results for numeracy based on these same populations and variables.
Figure 2.12 Literacy – Average scores of population aged 16 to 65, by Indigenous identification and relationship between mother tongue and language of the test, Canada, 2012
255 254* 272 223 281
238 230 268 205 280
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
First Nations Registered
Indians Métis Inuit Non-Indigenous,
non-immigrant
Average score Mother tongue
same as language of test
Mother tongue not same as language of test
Source: Table 2.2a in Appendix II
* The difference between this score and that of individuals whose mother tongue is not the same as the language of the test is statistically significant.
Figure 2.13 Numeracy – Average scores of population aged 16 to 65, by Indigenous identification and relationship between mother tongue and language of the test, Canada, 2012
Mother tongue same as language of test
Mother tongue not same as language of test
238 237* 259 205* 272
218 206 260 185 272
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
First Nations Registered
Indians Métis Inuit Non-Indigenous,
non-immigrant
Average score
Source: Table 2.2a in Appendix II
* The difference between this score and that of individuals whose mother tongue is not the same as the language of the test is statistically significant.
Among the Indigenous population, the following observations are noteworthy:
In the Indigenous population as a whole, those whose mother tongue was the same as the language of the test scored higher than those whose mother tongue was not the same as the language of the test in literacy and PS-TRE, but not in numeracy.
In the Registered Indian population, those whose mother tongue was the same as the language of the test scored higher by large margins in literacy (25 points) and numeracy (30 points) than those whose mother tongue was not the same as the language of the test.
In the Inuit population, those whose mother tongue was the same as the language of the test scored significantly higher than those whose mother tongue was not the same as the language of the test in numeracy, but not in literacy.
Focusing on those whose mother tongue was not the same as the language of the test, the following outcomes for Indigenous peoples relative to their non-Indigenous counterparts can be observed:
Métis scored lower in literacy but not in numeracy.
Both First Nations and Inuit scored lower in literacy and numeracy.
Having a mother tongue that was not the same as the language of the test also appears to play a role in the application of computer skills in PIAAC. Indigenous respondents who reported a different mother tongue from the language of the test were more likely to opt out of the computer-based assessment than those whose mother tongue was the same. In addition, among those who did take the test, fewer who had a different mother tongue from the language of the test scored at the highest levels of proficiency in PS-TRE (Levels 2 or 3) than those who reported the same mother tongue. These findings were also observed in all of the oversampled populations (where statistically reliable estimates are available), except Ontario, as well as among all Indigenous groups (again, where statistically reliable samples are available).
In addition to the direct impacts on test scores caused by having a mother tongue different from the language of the test, it is worth noting that respondents with an Indigenous mother tongue could have faced obstacles to skills development, as learning activities off reserve would take place primarily in the official languages. It is worth restating that the mother-tongue impact seems to be more than simply a language issue, based on results for the non-Indigenous, non-immigrant population, and that further research is needed to better understand how this factor impacts groups differently.