World Englishes, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 449–466, 2012. 0883-2919 On the autonomy and homogeneity of Canadian English STEFAN DOLLINGER ∗ AND SANDRA CLARKE ∗∗ ABSTRACT: This introduction to the symposium approaches the themes of autonomy and homogeneity in Canadian English from a historical perspective. We trace the debates on these topics back to the late 19th century and relate them to changing public attitudes toward Canadian linguistic autonomy over time. We review the scholarly evidence on autonomy and homogeneity and outline the evolving interpretations of these themes from earlier research to that of the present day. While much linguistic research in the 1980s and 1990s approached linguistic change in Canadian English in terms of “Americanization”, subsequent work has shown that a more nuanced interpretation is in order. We end with a brief review of the six papers in this symposium, in terms of our two themes: four deal with questions of homogeneity and heterogeneity, while two primarily address issues of linguistic autonomy and heteronomy. These papers reveal both common ground and diverging assessment of the data, which attests to a lively field of inquiry. INTRODUCTION Since the mid-20 th century, the study of Canadian English (CanE) has claimed its rightful spot in the field of World Englishes. This was not always the case. Though the pio- neers might often have been confronted with a lack of interest in this variety (Avis 1978 [1965]: 3), half a century later Canadian English has been called by one researcher “one of the best-studied varieties of English, especially considering the relative size of its popula- tion of speakers” (Boberg 2010: 54). While this assessment is subject to debate, there can be little doubt that the volume of output on Canadian English has increased dramatically since Avis’s (1973: 40) time when a “chronic shortage” of researchers was diagnosed. Today, the online Strathy Bibliography of Canadian English (2012) lists over 2,000 publications, including newspaper and magazine articles. 1 Student research has multiplied, promoted since 2000 by the Strathy Undergraduate Working Papers on Canadian English. 2 A number of scholarly collections have appeared, at irregular intervals: Chambers (1975) summarizes early writings; Clarke (1993a) shows a distinct sociolinguistic focus, which is continued by Avery, D’Arcy, Gold and Rice (2006); most recently, Meyer (2008), the first major collection edited outside of Canada, is testament to the appeal of the variety in the international research community. Nonetheless, the vast expanse of Canadian geography – Canada constitutes the second-largest country in the world – has resulted in a number of gaps in the literature. For instance, it was not until very recently that the first general scholarly monograph on CanE was published (Boberg 2010). The only university textbook covering CanE as a whole (McConnell 1979) is now seriously outdated, replaced by classroom readers (e.g. Gold and McAlpine 2010) and other more temporary collections of material. Introductory level overviews are still not that easily obtainable. Fine-grained research into the speech of many areas of the country, particularly rural and northern areas, is lacking. Large-scale investigation of urban communities fares somewhat ∗ University of British Columbia at Vancouver, Department of English, 397–1873 East Mall, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1, Canada. E-mail: stefan.dollinger@ubc.ca ∗∗ Memorial University of Newfoundland, Department of Linguistics, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3X9, Canada. E-mail: clarkes@mun.ca C  2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd