Children of Italian immigrants in Montreal are in contact with many languages and kinds of speech. French and English are used publicly, formal Italian is studied in heritage classes, a dialect of the family's region of origin is used at home, and a kind of koine is frequently used in interactions with other Italian immigrants. The contact of these languages produces various kinds of interferences. These lead a child to make errors when he tries to use the Standard Italian code. In this research, children's compositions are examined for errors which in turn are analysed and classified. The causes of these errors are investigated and statistics are presented to indicate the frequency of errors or the power of various causes. / An effort is made to show all the different errors and interferences that occur, and to discover a pattern of their causes. The data put forth might eventually serve as a base for further studies on the pedagogical prevention or correction of errors in the teaching of Standard Italian as adapted to the specific situation in Montreal.

In the 1950s, countless letters were sent from family members in Italy to their sons or daughters, brothers or sisters, and husbands or wives who had emigrated earlier to Canada. / This research is a study of nineteen letters written in Italy between 1954 and 1955. These letters, written in the language known as "l'italiano popolare," are the primary source from which stems a linguistic analysis. As well, a brief overview of "l'italiano popolare" follows in addition to a synopsis on popular letters and on the sociohistorical circumstances surrounding Italy at the time in which the letters were written.

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