language attitudes in morocco
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DAWN MARLEY
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO FOLLOWING RECENTCHANGES IN LANGUAGE POLICY
(Received 14 May 2003; accepted in revised form 30 November 2003)
ABSTRACT. This article reports on a study of language attitudes conducted among highschool students and teachers in Khouribga, a town in central Morocco, in December 2002,following changes in government language policy outlined in the Charter for Educationand Training, 2000. The paper gives a brief background to the sociolinguistic situationin Morocco, and the language policy pursued since Independence in 1956, and outlinesthe changes proposed in the Charter. It then turns to the findings of the study, focusingon attitudes towards French, Arabic and bilingualism. Both students and teachers appearto be widely in favour of a return to Arabic–French bilingualism within the educationsystem, and approve decisions to introduce foreign languages at an earlier stage in thecurriculum. Views on the benefits of Arabization are mixed, but there is a general consensusthat Morocco will benefit from increased bilingualism.
KEY WORDS: Arabization, bilingualism, French, language attitudes, Morocco,Tamazight
INTRODUCTION
Morocco is a complex multilingual country which for some 40 yearspursued a simple language policy – Arabization – with the apparent aim ofcreating a monolingual nation (Marley, 2002). This policy openly sought torestore the role and place of Arabic following the French Protectorate, andthus eradicate French from official life, whilst the vernaculars – DialectalArabic and Tamazight (Berber) – were simply ignored. In 2000, however,the Charter for Educational Reform recognized the value and necessityof other languages already present in Morocco, and set out guidelinesfor improving the teaching and learning of these languages in Moroccanschools. In this paper I examine the impact of this reform, by reporting ona study conducted in 2002 among students and teachers in state schoolsin the town of Khouribga, in central Morocco. In order to place the studyin its context I will first give a brief description of the way Morocco’scomplex sociolinguistic landscape has developed, then look briefly at thepolicy implemented after Independence, and the linguistic provisions ofthe 2000 Charter for Reform. I will then discuss the findings of the study
Language Policy 3: 25–46, 2004.© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
26 DAWN MARLEY
and assess the future development of bilingualism in Morocco in the lightof it.
THE EVOLUTION OF MOROCCO’S SOCIOLINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
Morocco has for centuries been characterized by bilingualism anddiglossia. Its strategic location at the crossroads of Africa, Europe andthe Middle East has meant that for centuries Morocco has been open toa variety of cultural and linguistic influences, some of which seem to haveleft little trace, others have developed enormous importance. In this sectionI will concentrate on three major languages or language groups: Berber,Arabic and French. It should be mentioned that the Spanish languagehas also had a considerable impact on Morocco, due to the proximityof Spain, and centuries of Spanish occupation. Indeed there are still twoSpanish enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, on the Mediterranean coast, andSpanish continues to be relatively widely spoken in the northern part ofthe country. However, since Independence in 1956 the use of Spanish hasbeen in constant regression, due to the lack of Spanish in the unified stateeducation system, and outside the areas where there is a significant Spanishcommunity, it has the status of foreign language (Benzakour, Gaadi &Queffélec, 2000: 71–72). Spanish does not figure in the present studybecause it has never been widely spoken in the region where the studywas conducted.
Berber
Berber is the term used by Europeans to refer to the indigenous languagesof the Maghreb, spoken not only in Morocco, but also in Algeria, partof Tunisia and parts of adjoining sub-Saharan countries. The term coversa number of related, but not all mutually intelligible, languages of theHamito-Semitic family, distantly related to Arabic. Berber speakers inMorocco belong mainly to three distinct groups: Tashelhit, Tamazightand Tarifit. The term Berber is not known or used by speakers of theselanguages, and in recent times the term Tamazight has been used as ageneric name, as a means of drawing together and uniting otherwisedisparate groups of people. Although the presence of these languages isattested some 5000 years ago (Boukous, 1995b: 18), they have never beencodified and the script (Tifinagh) is unknown in Morocco. They have there-fore survived very much as the ‘L’ language in a diglossic relationshipwith Arabic for the last fourteen centuries (I use diglossic obviously inthe extended sense, after Fishman, 1971). The Berbers embraced Islam
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 27
when the Arabs brought it to Morocco in the seventh century, but theydid not adopt the language of the conquerors for everyday use, andTamazight remains ‘a language with symbolic value, which shapes themental world of Berber speakers and defines their collective culturalidentity’ (Boukous, 1995a: 11). In the twentieth century Tamazight hassuffered the fate of so many minority languages around the world, despisedas the language of backward peasants and marginalised in modern society.There are decreasing numbers of monolingual Tamazight speakers, anddecline seemed irreversible, but in recent years the Amazigh culturalmovement has been gaining strength, not only in Morocco, but at inter-national level. The modern Amazigh cultural movement in Morocco iswell documented (for example, Ziri, 2000; Kratochwil, 1999), and issupported at international level by the Congrès Mondial Amazigh (WorldAmazigh Congress) and other organisations. The existence of the Internetmakes it easier for such organisations to reach an international audience,and this, together with the setting up of research centres in a number ofuniversities across Europe and North America, adds to the prestige of thelanguage (see Marley, 2002: 371–374). Moreover, recent developmentsin Morocco, discussed below, give hope that these languages will not befurther repressed and condemned to a slow death.
Despite the importance of Tamazight nationally, it is important tonote that it is largely confined to certain areas in Morocco now (theRif mountains, the Atlas mountains, and the semi-desert of the south),although there are also relatively large groups in major Moroccan cities(Boukous, 1995a: 11, 12). It is not widely known or used in the region ofKhouribga, where the present study took place.
Arabic
Arabic, on the other hand, has always been a language of prestige inMorocco, but it is important to distinguish between different varieties ofArabic, as they are not all equally prestigious. The word ‘Arabic’ coversa whole continuum, which has been categorized using a wide variety ofterms (discussed, inter alia, in Youssi, 1995; Laroussi & Madray-Lesigne,1998). For the purposes of this paper we will make the distinction between‘MSA’ (Modern Standard Arabic), meaning the written, standardised formused in schools, and ‘Dialectal Arabic’, the spoken, non-standardised form.This means that another layer of diglossia (fitting Ferguson’s original 1959definition) exists, with MSA the ‘H’ language, used for religion, educa-tion and official, written functions, and Dialectal Arabic acting as the ‘L’language for informal contexts. Moroccans, like most Arabic speakers,tend to see their dialect as a ‘deviant’ or ‘impure’ form of the ‘pure’
28 DAWN MARLEY
Arabic language and often dismiss it as not a real language at all, whilst thewritten form is revered. The differences between the two forms are great,in terms of vocabulary, grammar and phonology, and there is recognition inMorocco in recent years that this causes problems for children learning toread and write. Rachid Ben Mokhtar, minister for Education, for example,stated in a speech to the Moroccan Association of teachers of French(1998): ‘We have to recognize that we have a language problem. We havea national language which is not our mother tongue, although the two arerelated.’ An article in L’Opinion stated that MSA is a ‘foreign’ languagefor Moroccan schoolchildren, in the sense that it is not a language theyspeak (Benabbes Taarji, 1999). The author claimed that this is the primaryreason for the high level of illiteracy in Morocco, and that Morocco couldvastly improve not only its literacy rate, but as a result its place in the worldif the Moroccan dialect were to be recognized as a language.
Although there is no sign of dialectal Arabic replacing MSA as thewritten variety, some linguists, such as Boukous (1995b: 35) and Sayah(2002: 413), claim that a new form of spoken Arabic, which they callintermediary, is emerging, used mainly by educated speakers in formalor semi-formal contexts, for example on radio or television. In suchcircumstances the Classical language can sound stilted and pedantic (itis also largely incomprehensible to many uneducated Moroccans), whilstMoroccan dialect may not sound sufficiently erudite. Ennaji (1995) hasreferred to an ‘elevated form of Moroccan Arabic (Educated SpokenArabic)’, which he claims is used in interviews on television or radionews when the interviewee is an intellectual. He also claims that MoroccanArabic and MSA are often mixed ‘for lack of competence on the part of theinterviewee and for the purpose of clarification and audience involvement’(Ennaji, 1995: 110). There is thus reason to believe that the traditionaldiglossia is in a state of flux, although further research is needed to confirmthis.
French
The sociolinguistic situation thus already complex, with layers ofbilingualism and diglossia, became even more complex during thetwentieth century, when the French Protectorate introduced a new ‘H’language. French could not compete with Arabic in religious contexts, butit did become the language of education and administration, and was learntby a small minority. During the Protectorate, 1912–1956, knowledge ofFrench was essential to obtaining and maintaining power, and so was learntby an elite. Since Independence, a far greater percentage of the populationhas learnt French, with the democratisation of education, and despite its
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 29
lack of official status it continues to be important in a number of domains,such as commerce and finance, science and technology, and the media. It isstill seen as the language of social and professional success, and maintainsa privileged position within state education and even more so in the privatesector.
Morocco then has been a multilingual country for centuries, with manyMoroccans being bilingual. After Independence, however, the govern-ment decided to implement a language policy which resolutely ignoredthis linguistic reality, focussing instead on an ideological goal of alinguistically united country.
THE LANGUAGE POLICY ADOPTED FOLLOWING MOROCCO’S
INDEPENDENCE
Morocco, in common with Algeria and Tunisia, opted for a policy ofArabization, by which they meant replacing French, the language of thecolonizer, with Arabic, the language of tradition and ‘authenticity’. Thissection will attempt to explain briefly why Arabization was viewed as soimportant, and why it has not always been easy to implement.
First and foremost, Arabization is seen as the cultural counterpart ofpolitical and economic independence. Reinstating Arabic was a means ofasserting the country’s Arab–Islamic identity, and its cultural independ-ence from Western influence. The idea that Arabization restores authenticMoroccan identity was a popular one, which persuaded the mass of thepopulation to support it. To the illiterate masses it was largely symbolic,since they had never learnt French or MSA, but they believed it wouldlead to greater equality of opportunity for them. In actual fact, this has notnecessarily been the case, and a number of commentators have observedthat another motivation behind the policy is the pursuit and maintenanceof power: an elite promotes Arabization from virtuous ideological motives,but in the knowledge that French continues to be necessary for socialand professional success, and thus ensure that their own children areeducated bilingually (cf. Grandguillaume, 1983: 36; Boukous, 1999: 53,77). Other observers have commented that Arabization provided a meansfor social control, and to counter the influence of progressive socialmovements in the 1960s and 1970s. Grandguillaume (1983: 36) mentionsthat progressive parties initially feared that Arabization would lead to avirtual confessionalisation of society, but that their fears had not beenrealised. However, Berdouzi (2000: 21) suggests that fears of growingfundamentalism in Morocco were one reason for the change in linguisticpolicy, referring to unfortunate experiences in other ‘neighbouring coun-
30 DAWN MARLEY
tries’, where rapid Arabization has led to xenophobia, chauvinism andobscurantism.
Another openly stated objective of Arabization is to unite the country,an idea common to language planning policies. Arabic already representsa unifying force, symbolising both Islam and the Arab nation, thus unitingMoroccans with the wider family of Muslims and Arabs. Despite the factthat the original population of Morocco was Berber, and Berber speakersstill constitute a large part of the population, ‘the North African folk visionof the world is articulated entirely from within Islam: the limits of Islamare the limits of the world’ (Gellner, 1972: 12). Moroccans therefore seethemselves primarily as Muslims, and identify themselves in religiousrather than ethnic terms. At national level, the language symbolises self-affirmation against foreigners, particularly the French, despite the fact thatmost people, immediately after independence, could not actually speakor understand MSA. One logical consequence of Arabization would bethat all Moroccans would learn the national language and, with time,the vernaculars would disappear, following the French model. In France,linguistic unity has long been seen as synonymous with wider nationalunity, with the result that the other languages of France have been under-mined to the point of near extinction, and are now seen by many asirrelevant anachronisms, despite flourishing movements to promote severalof them. In the case of Arabic, its position as the language of DivineRevelation means that it is relatively easy to persuade people that it is theonly appropriate language for a Muslim state. True, many Muslim nationsare not Arabic-speaking – Iran, Indonesia, Turkey and Pakistan are someof the most populous examples. Ziri (2000) draws attention to the waylanguage and religion have been conflated in official discourse, such thatMoroccan identity is presented as Muslim and therefore Arab and Arabicspeaking, whilst Berber language and culture is seen as synonymous withinferiority and ignorance. It has been possible to do this because of thefolk vision of the world described by Gellner (1972: 12–13), who claimedthat North Africans have not retained a cultural memory which pre-datesIslam, and do not identify with pre-Islamic (and thus non-Arabic speaking)populations, even when they themselves are Berber-speaking.
Arabization has been presented as the means of uniting the countryand enabling a return to an ‘authentic’ Moroccan identity. However, itignores the multilingual nature of the country, and the desire for openingsto the outside world, particularly Western Europe, offered by the Frenchlanguage, and therefore has only been partially successful. There is notime in this paper to look in detail at the implementation of Arabizationover the past 40 years (but see Marley, 2002). I will simply summarize
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 31
the situation until 2000 by saying that the government has put in place alegislative and operational framework to enable Arabization to take place,and that by the end of the 1980s the state education system was completelyarabized, as were large sections of the administration. Despite this, Frenchcontinued to be used in many important domains, and Tamazight speakerswere becoming increasingly vocal in their demands for linguistic rights.Increased access to education, rural exodus and other features of modernlife led to an increase in Arabic–Tamazight bilingualism, but also to agreater awareness of the danger of extinction faced by these languages.
In linguistic terms, it was thus apparent that the overtly stated goals ofArabization were not being met, and a change was needed. However, aswith the policy of Arabization, it may be assumed that the new policy hasother, unspoken, motivations, for example, it may represent an attempt tocounter the rise in fundamentalism which may be seen as one result ofArabization (cf. Benrabah’s account (1999) of the way Arabization led tothe growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Algeria).
THE CHANGE OF POLICY IN 2000
After more than forty years of pursuing the elusive goal of a linguisti-cally united nation, the Charter for Educational Reform, produced in2000, represents a dramatic change of policy. This Charter covers thewhole range of educational reform, but for the purposes of this paperI will focus solely on the language provision, which occupies severalarticles (110–118). Article 110 states that Morocco will now be adoptinga ‘clear, coherent and constant language policy within education’. Thispolicy has three major thrusts: ‘the reinforcement and improvement ofArabic teaching’, ‘diversification of languages for teaching science andtechnology’ and an ‘openness to Tamazight’.
Interestingly, the Charter does not mention the word Arabization, a factseen by Berdouzi (2000: 21) as an admission of the negative connotationsof the term. According to Berdouzi, it acknowledges that continuing toinsist of the Arabization of science and technology in schools would be toconsign millions of young Moroccans to a ‘cultural and socio-economicghetto’ (Berdouzi, 2000: 21). The charter does provide for the creationof an Arabic Language Academy, to oversee the modernisation of thelanguage, but at the same time acknowledges that science and technologyshould be taught in schools in the most appropriate languages, prefer-ably those used in higher education. French is never mentioned by name,although at present this is the language of science and technology in muchof higher education. It is implied, however, that other languages could also
32 DAWN MARLEY
be used, the obvious implication being English. The Charter thus appearsto acknowledge tacitly the failure of Arabization in the area of science andtechnology teaching and to herald at least a temporary return to bilingualeducation in this field.
The other new departure in this Charter is the ‘opening up’ toTamazight: the recognition that not all Moroccans are Arabic speakers,and that their education could be greatly facilitated if their early yearslearning could be done through the medium of their mother tongue. Article115 allows local authorities to use Tamazight or ‘any local dialect’ inorder to facilitate the learning of the national language. This is poten-tially ambiguous, since it could mean Dialectal Arabic, but in the contextit should be assumed that it refers only to varieties of Tamazight. Thissection also provides for the creation of research and development projectsin some universities, and support for teacher training in Tamazight. Whilstnot as far reaching as some activists might like, these measures at leastrecognize the existence of language variation in Morocco and accept thatthese languages will continue to exist alongside the national language.
Whilst not mentioning the word Arabization, the Charter nonethelessmakes it clear that the State still sees MSA as the national language,and as such, it is important that it should be adequately taught andlearnt. However, this is no longer the sole aim of language policy, asthe other articles 110 to 118 make clear. As Berdouzi suggests (2000:26), if the promises of the Charter are met, in the course of the seconddecade of the century, all young Moroccans will have a high degree ofcompetence in MSA, and will be able to use this language correctly ina variety of domains. Moreover, they will have at least minimal compe-tence in two foreign languages, which they will also be able to use in avariety of contexts. Young Moroccans of Amazigh origin will have learntenough of their language to conserve and promote their own cultural andartistic heritage. Berdouzi emphasizes, however, that in order for this tohappen, the government must recognize the fundamental importance of thelinguistic issue, and adopt a carefully thought out linguistic policy, such asthe one he outlines (2000: 28–34).
Nobody expected the aims of this Charter to be met quickly. Withinthe Charter it is stated that the years 2000–2009 would be the decade ofeducation and training (Article 20), and that only by the end of this timewould there be any very obvious results. Nevertheless, provisions of theCharter did start to be implemented straight away, and two years on itseemed reasonable to undertake a short study to examine attitudes towardsthese provisions and towards language attitudes generally. The rest of this
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 33
paper will present and discuss the findings of such a study, conducted inDecember 2000.
RESPONSES TO THIS POLICY: 2002 STUDY WITH SCHOOLCHILDREN
AND TEACHERS
In order to assess the impact of this major change in government policy, astudy was undertaken involving language learners and teachers. The studywas conducted among students, aged 14–19 and their teachers, at a numberof state schools in Khouribga, a town in central Morocco. Khouribga grewand prospered during the French Protectorate because of the phosphatedeposits in the surrounding area, and the French influence is still veryvisible. The town is not in a Tamazight speaking area, and so the firstlanguage of all the informants was Dialectal Arabic.
The objectives of the study were to discover how well the studentsthought they knew both French and MSA, how often they consider theyuse the two languages and their attitudes towards them. The teachers had amore open-ended questionnaire in which they were asked to express theirviews on a number of aspects of the 2000 Charter. The findings of thisstudy will now be presented and discussed.
The Student Questionnaire
The questionnaire was distributed to 159 students, half at ‘collèges’ (firstcycle of secondary education) and half at ‘lycées’ (second cycle). Thesample were mainly (85%) between the ages of 14 to 16, with only 23between 17 and 19; most (60%) were female.
Language Competence and Usage
Students were first asked to evaluate their linguistic competence. Clearly aquestionnaire of this type raises all the usual questions about the validity ofa self-assessment of language ability (see Marley, 2002: 358), and in thiscase the problem is aggravated because the students were given no optionother than yes/no responses, which yielded the following results.
Given that MSA is the medium of instruction in schools, and Frenchis usually introduced in the third year of primary school, it would beexpected that all participants in this study, still at school at age 14 andbeyond, would claim competence in both languages. The fact that theydo not is significant as it indicates the lack of confidence and aware-ness of inadequacies in the teaching and learning of languages. Suchresponses are in fact only to be expected, in the light of reports on language
34 DAWN MARLEY
TABLE 1
Language competence.
Speak Understand Read Write
MSA 77.4% (123) 95% (151) 89.3% (142) 87.4% (139)
French 70.4% (112) 80.5% (128) 95.6% (152) 83% (132)
English 31.4% (50) 41.5% (66) 55.3% (88) 41.5% (66)
Other (specify) 5.7% (9) 9.4% (15) 3.8% (6) 4.4% (7)
teaching and learning made shortly after the publication of the Charter.One document produced by the Ministry for Education in 2000 claimedthat Moroccan school leavers are increasingly ‘nilingue’ (non-lingual) asthey do not have an adequate grasp of either Arabic, the national language,or French, the first foreign language. A report prepared for the governmentby the International Literacy Institute (Maamouri, 2000: 10) suggests thatArabic–French bilingual education leads to what linguists have describedas ‘double semilingualism’, meaning that both their French and Arabic aredeficient on a number of levels. More students claimed to speak, under-stand and write MSA than French, which is to be expected, since this isthe first language they learnt at school. However, noticeably more studentsclaim to read French than MSA – presumably a reflection of the fact thatreading French is relatively easy, once the student has a basic grasp ofthe spelling system, whereas reading MSA is relatively difficult, giventhe convention of not using the diacritics which represent vowels whenwriting.
Students were then asked when they had started to learn each of thelanguages in question. Their answers confirm that in fact they have alllearnt both languages for a number of years, and that their reticence inanswering the first question stems from their awareness that they do notmaster either language as well as they feel they could or should.
Having ascertained that the students had a certain level of competencein both French and MSA, the questionnaire asked if they used either ofthese languages in a variety of situations. The responses indicate thatneither language, on its own, is widely used in everyday situations. Similarnumbers – around a quarter – claim to use each language ‘always’ withteachers, and nearly 50% claim to use MSA ‘always’ in science classes.Since theoretically all education is given in MSA, one might have expecteda far higher figure, but at this level it is likely that there is a high incidenceof French in science classes, which would make it difficult to say MSAis used exclusively. Around half the informants claimed that they never
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 35
TABLE 2
Age at which languages were learnt.
At what age did you start to learn MSA? 0 1 0.6%
2–4 53 33.3%
5–7 98 61.6%
8–10 7 4.4%
French? 2–4 44 2.7%
5–7 28 17.6%
8–10 84 52.8%
11–12 1 1.3%
13–16 1 0.6%
English? 2–4 1 0.6%
5–7 1 0.6%
8–10 6 3.8%
11–12 8 5%
13–16 75 47.2%
No response 68 42.8%
use MSA in shops or with friends, whilst the figures for French wereonly 39.6% and 28.3% respectively. In such informal settings DialectalArabic would be the logical language choice, and use of either of the otherlanguages would normally be restricted to words which do not exist inDialectal Arabic. In this context French is more likely to be used, sincepeople may refer to products or various aspects of modern life knownonly by the French term. Over 40% said they ‘always’ use MSA forreading newspapers and literature, and writing letters, whilst the figuresfor French are nearer 20%. French appears to be marginally more usedthan MSA for watching television, whilst figures for listening to musicare very mixed. It is difficult to draw any conclusion from these figures,other than the obvious: neither French nor MSA are the normal language ofeveryday use for Moroccans, although both are used, to a greater or lesserdegree, depending on the activity and a number of other factors, whichwere not taken into account here. Another factor which was not taken intoaccount, largely because it would have introduced an unnecessary degreeof complication, was the concept of codeswitching. Educated Moroccansuse a large number of French words and expressions in their everydayspeech, the proportion varying depending on a number of variables, suchas subject matter and interlocutor. They may equally use a certain amount
36 DAWN MARLEY
TABLE 3
MSA: domains of usage.
Rarely Sometimes Often Always Never Do not
know
Watching television 26.4% (42) 32.1% (51) 18.2% (29) 18.9% (30) 0.6% (1) 3.8% (6)
Reading newspapers 13.2% (21) 29.6% (47) 10.7% (17) 43.4% (69) 3.1% (5)
Listening to music 27.0% (43) 28.9% (46) 15.1% (24) 17.6% (28) 6.9% (11) 4.4% (7)
Reading literature 9.4% (15) 21.4% (34) 11.9% (19) 43.4% (69) 10.1% (16) 3.8% (6)
Talking to friends 23.3% (37) 11.3% (18) 6.3% (10) 9.4% (15) 48.4% (77) 1.3% (2)
Writing letters 4.4% (7) 30.8% (49) 13.2% (21) 44.7% (71) 5.7% (9) 1.3% (2)
In shops 14.5% (23) 17.6% (28) 10.1% (16) 2.5% (4) 51.6% (82) 3.8% (6)
With teachers 10.1% (16) 50.9% (81) 7.5% (12) 24.5% (39) 6.3% (10) 0.6% (1)
In science classes 10.1% (16) 21.4% (34) 11.9% (19) 49.1% (78) 5.7% (9) 1.9% (3)
TABLE 4
French: domains of usage.
Rarely Sometimes Often Always Never Do not
know
Watching television 17.6% (28) 39.6% (63) 15.7% (25) 20.8% (33) 4.4% (7) 1.9% (3)
Reading newspapers 13.2% (21) 24.5% (39) 11.3% (18) 25.2% (40) 23.9% (38) 1.9% (3)
Listening to music 16.4% (26) 47.2% (75) 15.1% (24) 11.3% (18) 6.9% (11) 3.1% (5)
Reading literature 26.4% (42) 26.4% (42) 17.0% (27) 15.1% (24) 12.6% (20) 2.5% (4)
Talking to friends 32.7% (52) 27.0% (43) 6.9% (11) 2.5% (4) 28.3% (45) 2.5% (4)
Writing letters 11.3% (18) 25.8% (41) 8.2% (13) 25.2% (40) 26.4% (42) 3.1% (5)
In shops 14.5% (23) 27.7% (44) 10.1% (16) 5.0% (8) 39.6% (63) 3.1% (5)
With teachers 10.1% (16) 41.5% (66) 17.0% (27) 26.4% (42) 3.1% (5) 1.9% (3)
In science classes 29.6% (47) 39.6% (63) 17.6% (28) 4.4% (7) 6.3% (10) 2.5% (4)
of MSA in certain types of interactions (this would be the case particularlyin school). To gain a more meaningful picture of actual language use, itwould be valuable to undertake a study of the type conducted by SarahLawson in Tunisia (Lawson & Sachdev, 2000: 1351–1354).
Language Attitudes
Finally, students were asked to say if they agreed or disagreed with a seriesof statements relating to languages in Morocco, with the following results.The categories were complete agreement = 1, slight agreement = 2, slightdisagreement = 3, complete disagreement = 4, do not know = 5.
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 37
TAB
LE
5
Lan
guag
eat
titud
es. 1
23
45
1M
oroc
can
Ara
bic
repr
esen
tsM
oroc
can
natio
nal
iden
tity
64.2
%(1
02)
24.5
%(3
9)3.
8%(6
)4.
4%(7
)3.
1%(5
)
2Fr
ench
isve
ryus
eful
for
wor
king
inM
oroc
co45
.3%
(72)
40.9
%(6
5)7.
5%(1
2)3.
8%(6
)2.
5%(4
)
3I
like
lear
ning
Fren
ch73
.6%
(117
)13
.8%
(22)
8.2%
(13)
3.1%
(5)
1.3%
(2)
4C
hild
ren
inM
oroc
cosh
ould
lear
nFr
ench
76.1
%(1
21)
9.4%
(15)
7.5%
(12)
4.4%
(7)
2.5%
(4)
5Fr
ench
isea
sier
than
MSA
23.3
%(3
7)28
.3%
(45)
23.3
%(3
7)13
.8%
(22)
11.3
%(1
8)
6M
SAis
usef
ulfo
rsc
ienc
ean
dte
chno
logy
25.8
%(4
1)16
.4%
(26)
20.1
%(3
2)29
.6%
(47)
8.2%
(13)
7M
SAis
usef
ulfo
rw
orki
ngin
Mor
occo
14.5
%(2
3)27
.0%
(43)
22.6
%(3
6)31
.4%
(50)
4.4%
(7)
8A
rabi
c-Fr
ench
bilin
gual
ism
offe
rsad
vant
ages
toM
oroc
cans
62.9
%(1
00)
20.8
%(3
3)5.
0%(8
)8.
2%(1
3)3.
1%(5
)
9E
nglis
his
mor
eus
eful
than
Fren
chin
the
wor
ld67
.9%
(108
)17
.0%
(27)
6.3%
(10)
3.8%
(6)
5.0%
(8)
10Fr
ench
repr
esen
tspa
rtof
Mor
occa
npa
trim
ony
15.7
%(2
5)19
.5%
(31)
11.9
%(1
9)34
.0%
(54)
18.9
%(3
0)
11Ta
maz
ight
isa
usef
ulla
ngua
gein
Mor
occo
19.5
%(3
1)21
.4%
(34)
22.0
%(3
5)28
.3%
(45)
8.8%
(14)
12A
rabi
c-Ta
maz
ight
bilin
gual
ism
has
adva
ntag
es10
.1%
(16)
25.8
%(4
1)18
.2%
(29)
32.7
%(5
2)13
.2%
(21)
13Fr
ench
isus
eful
for
scie
nce
and
tech
nolo
gy62
.3%
(99)
22.6
%(3
6)5.
0%(8
)6.
3%(1
0)3.
8%(6
)
14M
SAis
ala
ngua
geof
cultu
re79
.9%
(127
)10
.7%
(17)
3.8%
(6)
3.8%
(6)
1.9%
(3)
15I
like
lear
ning
MSA
57.9
%(9
2)30
.2%
(48)
8.2%
(13)
1.3%
(2)
2.5%
(4)
16It
isal
way
san
adva
ntag
eto
spea
ktw
ola
ngua
ges
81.1
%(1
29)
12.6
%(2
0)1.
3%(2
)2.
5%(4
)2.
5%(4
)
17M
SAre
pres
ents
Mor
occa
nna
tiona
lide
ntity
42.1
%(6
7)31
.4%
(50)
8.2%
(13)
13.2
%(2
1)5.
0%(8
)
18Fr
ench
isa
lang
uage
ofcu
lture
48.4
%(7
7)26
.4%
(42)
8.8%
(14)
13.2
%(2
1)3.
1%(5
)
19In
the
futu
reFr
ench
will
disa
ppea
rin
Mor
occo
9.4%
(15)
6.9%
(11)
11.3
%(1
8)47
.8%
(76)
24.5
%(3
9)
20In
the
futu
real
lMor
occa
nsw
illbe
bilin
gual
inFr
ench
and
Ara
bic
23.3
%(3
7)25
.2%
(40)
8.8%
(14)
13.8
%(2
2)28
.9%
(46)
38 DAWN MARLEY
These responses suggest that young people are very conscious of thedifferent values assigned to different languages present in their society,and in many cases there is a clear consensus in their responses. The state-ments were presented randomly, in order to encourage students to givean instinctive answer, but the responses will now be dealt with in a moresystematic fashion.
The attitude towards bilingualism in the abstract was unambiguous:for over 80% of informants ‘it is always an advantage to speak twolanguages’. However, other responses show less certainty about the futureof bilingualism and the roles of different languages in Morocco. As far asFrench is concerned, there is no doubt that it is seen as a vital languagein Morocco at present: a large majority like learning it and agree thatchildren in Morocco should learn it. They also believe that Arabic–Frenchbilingualism offers advantages to Moroccans; they believe French is usefulfor working in Morocco, and useful for science and technology, whilst aslightly smaller majority believe it to be a language of culture. Neverthe-less, a clear majority believe that English is more important internationally,and although they do not think French will disappear in Morocco, there isa high degree of uncertainty about whether or not future generations ofMoroccans will be bilingual in French and Arabic. Perhaps an interestingquestion in any future study would be whether or not they will be bilingualin English and Arabic. In addition, despite the perceived usefulness ofFrench in Morocco, it is not widely seen as part of Moroccan culturalheritage.
Attitudes towards MSA are equally mixed. These students have grownup in an entirely Arabized school system, and have only ever known MSAas the national language. In spite of this, they are less keen on learningMSA than French, and do not overwhelmingly agree that it representstheir national identity. Opinion is divided on the issue of its usefulnessin Morocco: informants are literally split down the middle on whether ornot it is useful for science and technology, whilst a clear majority says it isnot useful for working in Morocco. A large majority, however, agrees thatit is a language of culture.
Attitudes towards Tamazight and Arabic–Tamazight bilingualism werealmost entirely negative, reflecting the fact that in this non Tamazightspeaking area there is little respect for Tamazight, which many, if notmost, students may regard as worthless dialects. They clearly do notview Tamazight as a language on a par with MSA or French, since theirresponses to item 12 would appear to be in direct contradiction to item16. Their attitude appears to be similar to that frequently encountered inFrance in relation to regional languages: although these languages have
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 39
been present in the country for at least as long as French, they do nothave the prestige of the national language, and are often dismissed as ahindrance to national unity and to progress.
Although they seem to have little respect for Tamazight, the studentsdo seem to be proud of their own dialect. One of the most interestingresponses here is to item 1: Moroccan Arabic represents Moroccannational identity. A very clear majority agreed with this statement, despitethe fact that this language has no written form and no official prestige,suggesting a high degree of ‘covert prestige’ in the only language in whichthese young people can really feel confident and able to express themselvesadequately.
The Teacher Questionnaire
The teachers’ questionnaire was far more open-ended, and therefore moredifficult to quantify. However, they had, in many cases, a great deal tosay on the subject of educational reform and it is thus more interestingto look in some detail at their responses. Their questionnaire was dividedinto four sections, dealing with the following four areas: the return to theuse of French (or possibly English) in teaching science and technology insecondary schools; the introduction of more foreign language teaching atprimary school level; the use of Tamazight as a medium of instruction; thevalidity of Arabization as a language policy, and the linguistic future ofMorocco. I will summarise the views expressed on each subject, and thentry to give an idea of the breadth of opinion across the sample, by lookingat some of the more detailed answers. Many informants had simply givenyes/no type answers to most questions, but some had written a short (andsometimes long) paragraph relating to each subject area. In the latter case,it was not always possible to find an answer to a specific question, hencethe ‘no response’ category in some cases.
SECTION 1: POSSIBLE RETURN TO TEACHING SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY IN FRENCH
The first section pointed out that the decision to offer specialized sectionsteaching science and technology in a foreign language represents a signifi-cant change from the 1980s and 1990s, when teaching was increasingly inArabic.
In answer to the questionnaire, two-thirds of the teachers thought thatscience teaching will be improved as a result of the change, and nearly asmany agreed that all science and technology be taught in French. A half
40 DAWN MARLEY
TABLE 6
In your opinion, what are the factors that motivated this change of policy?
Failure of Arabization 16% (4)
Low level of French among students 24% (6)
Gap between language of school and university 20% (5)
Political factors 28% (7)
Other 12% (3)
believed that it would be better to improve science teaching in Arabic. Twothirds answered that in the long term, English would be more useful thanFrench
Many of the teachers had a great deal to say on this subject, in severalcases mentioning two or even three factors which had led to the change inpolicy. Many of them were disappointed by the consequences of Arabiza-tion, which they felt had been too hasty, with serious repercussions for theirpupils, and they were forthright in their criticism of government policy.‘Let’s not be afraid to say it: several generations have been the victims of alack of forethought in this matter, a fact amply borne out by the decline instandards in schools’, said one. ‘Morocco is already backward in scienceand technology and Arabization only accentuates this backwardness’, saidanother. Clearly the decline in standards was close to many of their hearts,unsurprizingly. One claimed that ‘the majority of pupils, on reaching thebaccalauréat (school leaving certificate, at age 18) are still at the stage ofdeciphering; they still stumble over basic points (of the French language)’.They are also concerned by the fact that Arabization in schools has notbeen followed by Arabization in universities, and students are thereforeunprepared for higher studies. Moreover, as they see it, knowledge ofFrench is a necessity if young people are to participate in a ‘globalizedsociety’. It would be a fair generalization to say that the majority believethat Arabization of science in schools was a mistake, and that the Charter issimply correcting that error, recognizing that ‘rushing into Arabization andsterile monolingualism has resulted in a clear decline in the standard of ourpupils and the quality of teaching.’ There were some, however, who wereconvinced that the change was purely political, not didactic or pedagogical,but they did not specify what those political motivations were. It couldperhaps reasonably be assumed that they were referring to the link betweenArabization and Islamic fundamentalism. Benrabah (1999) has argued atlength that Arabization has been directly responsible for the growth offundamentalism and the deterioration of civil society in Algeria, and the
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 41
Moroccan authorities are anxious to avoid similar developments. The newlanguage policy could be viewed as an attempt to curtail the growth ofIslamic fundamentalism in Morocco, and to encourage a more pluralisticand tolerant outlook.
Several teachers acknowledged that improvement in standards wouldnot be automatic and that a ‘gigantic task’ lay ahead, requiring ‘a seriouscommitment from teachers’, but the majority were in favour of a returnto teaching sciences in French. They were not unanimous, however: oneclaimed that in other Arab countries sciences are taught in Arabic withexcellent results, whilst another claimed that Arabic was quite capableof being used for sciences, it simply needed to be properly used. Othersthought that teaching in Arabic should be improved, but still felt that itwas more useful to teach sciences in French, if only because there isa lack of documentation in Arabic. Their responses to the question ofwhich language should be used for science teaching show the ambiva-lence surrounding the use of French in education. For 60% of this sample,reverting simply to teaching in French is the obvious solution, whereas48% believe that current practice – teaching in Arabic – must be continuedand improved. Clearly some informants must have agreed with both solu-tions, which suggests that they are still not sure if one solution is reallybetter than the other. Almost half of them feel that Arabic is the languagethat should be used, but over half believe that results would be better ifFrench were used.
As for the usefulness of French in relation to English, the majority feltthat English would overtake French in the long term, but for the momentFrench is the more useful language in Morocco.
SECTION 2: FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
The second section focussed on plans to introduce foreign languageteaching at a very early stage in primary schools. Most believed that thisrepresented an important change of policy. Two thirds had no fear that theearly introduction of foreign language teaching would jeopardize acquisi-tion of Arabic. Almost all thought that this teaching would be beneficialfor children.
Their views varied on why such importance is being given to languageteaching in early years: a third said because children learn more easily, aquarter said for better results, and a few thought it was for openness tothe outside world. Only a quarter though French should be the only otherlanguage: a third said English and French, a few English and Spanish. Most(over 80%) agreed that Arabic–French bilingualism offers advantages toMoroccan children.
42 DAWN MARLEY
The overall reaction to the early teaching of foreign languages was verypositive. Several teachers, however, wondered whether it would be possibleto do this in a ‘balanced’ way, without prejudicing children’s acquisition ofArabic. One teacher felt that it certainly would be harmful, as ‘children arealways attracted by novelty’, whilst another feared ‘the risks of accultura-tion or damaging the social, religious and economic identity of children’.Others, however, took their own experience as proof that this was not a risk,one saying explicitly that his generation (he is 46) emerged unscathed froma bilingual education. Another pointed out that in the sixties all childrenwere confronted with two languages from the outset of their education.This teacher concluded that ‘learning a foreign language will be enriching,not alienating. Knowing only one language is to live on the edge of society;we should encourage bilingualism.’ All those who expressed an opinionbelieved that bilingualism was advantageous, although some commentedthat it was more advantageous to certain social classes. What these teachersfail to mention is the fact that they represent the minority who were fortu-nate enough to have benefited from a bilingual education during the 1960sand 1970s. Although in theory education was freely available to all, inpractice few ordinary working class Moroccans were able to completetheir education. Their positive attitude towards early introduction of aforeign language is directly related to their own positive experience of abilingual education, and the benefits it has brought them and their peers.However, for a variety of reasons, attrition rates were extremely high, andthe majority of Moroccans who grew up in this era are not bilingual, andin many cases not even literate.
SECTION 3: THE TEACHING OF TAMAZIGHT IN RELEVANT AREAS
A half of the respondents though it a good idea to allow the use oflanguages other than Arabic in primary schools; 40% disagreed. There wasdisagreement (40% each) as to whether use of Tamazight would make itmore difficult to learn Arabic. Two thirds agreed that Tamazight repre-sents an important part of Moroccan cultural heritage, but most thoughtthere would be problems in teaching Tamazight. There was disagreementtoo (40% for and 48% against) on whether or not Arabic–Tamazightbilingualism should be encouraged.
Until very recently, the issue of Tamazight has been a taboo in Morocco,and in a non Tamazight area like Khouribga, it is not generally seenas an important issue since it does not affect the local population. Overhalf of the informants thought that using other languages (i.e. varietiesof Tamazight) would be a good idea, acknowledging that pedagogically it
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 43
was helpful to use mother tongues for early years teaching, but a very largemajority thought it would be problematic. Some explained that there wouldbe problems due to the lack of qualified teachers, and the essentially oralnature of these languages. Some were resolutely against the idea, seeingthese languages as being of limited use and interest. It is seen by someas a waste of time, and even a retrogressive step, potentially detrimentalto the acquisition of Arabic, and liable to cause regional and social divi-sions. Such attitudes again reflect the Jacobin view that a united countryshould have a unified language. The fact that a small majority is opposed toArabic–Tamazight bilingualism is indicative of the ambivalence felt aboutthis issue. It is probably one they do not really want to think about. Onthe other hand, a majority felt that Tamazight represents an important partof Moroccan cultural heritage. In fact only one informant said explicitlythat these languages were an integral part of Moroccan cultural heritage,but a relatively large number acknowledged in a vaguer sense that they areimportant. This can be attributed to the fact that Amazigh cultural activities(music, dance, festivals) are frequently presented as ‘authentic Moroccan’,but also as essentially folkloric. Thus Amazigh culture may be viewedquite differently to Tamazight language. One informant simply claimed tobe unable to make any comment on the subject, knowing nothing about it.
SECTION 4: ARABIZATION AND THE LINGUISTIC FUTURE OF
MOROCCO
Over half thought that Arabization was still a valid language policy forMorocco; 40% disagreed. Two-thirds did not think that Arabic–Frenchbilingualism created problems for Moroccans. There was no clear-cutconsensus on the linguistic future of Morocco.
Responses on Arabization were divided, although almost all teachersrecognized that the policy needs to be rethought in detail, since it hasclearly not succeeded in improving the general level of education. Those infavour of Arabization commented that it is ‘a national principle’ or ‘reflectsour essence’. Many of the informants were in favour of Arabization andbilingualism, as the figures above suggest. As one commented, Arabizationrepresents the desire for autonomy and the need to give value and statusto the national language, but this need not exclude knowledge of foreignlanguages. Several informants felt that it should be possible to continue toimprove knowledge of Arabic whilst also improving competence in otherlanguages – as the Charter now recommends. At the other extreme somewere totally opposed to Arabization, pointing out the negative results it hadproduced in schools. One even claimed that it had devalued Arabic, since
44 DAWN MARLEY
pupils today were not even capable of constructing a text in this language.Another claimed that over several generations Arabization had led to adecline in cognitive and interactive capabilities in the majority of pupilsand students.
There was more of a consensus concerning bilingualism, however, withmost teachers saying it did not cause any problems, but rather represented abenefit. As one expressed it: ‘Bilingualism does not present any problemsfor Moroccans; on the contrary it allows them to enjoy exchanges withother cultures, to explore new horizons and perspectives, and is enriching.It is a privilege.’ Others again spoke of their own experience: ‘Look at theseventies: Arabic–French bilingualism didn’t give Moroccans any problemthen. Teaching in both languages was beneficial.’ Some teachers did saythat bilingualism could be problematic, but the only specific problemmentioned was that Arabization had led to poor expression in French.Indeed, many of the teachers seem primarily exercised by the fact thattheir pupils have a poor level of French, and seem convinced that theirown experience of bilingualism in the sixties and seventies was superiorto anything offered since then. The question did not specify the type ofproblem that might arise, but informants clearly interpreted it as meaningeducational problems.
When it came to the sociolinguistic future of Morocco, many believed itwas very unclear, largely due to their lack of confidence in the ability of thesystem to improve, whilst others were more optimistic. Nobody foresawArabic as the only language in use, but views on the role and status of otherlanguages varied. The most optimistic obviously believed the promisesof the Charter would be met, and that Arabic would be safeguarded anddefended, whilst the country would be ‘enriched’ by other languages –French, English, Spanish and Italian. At the other extreme, one said ‘in thecurrent climate, I see no future, we are heading for a linguistic catastrophe.’Several repeated that the future looked good as long as Arabization ofscience teaching were discontinued.
CONCLUSION: ASSESSMENT OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF
BILINGUALISM IN MOROCCO
This study suggests that there is no question about the multilingualfuture of Morocco: both teachers and learners are convinced of the bene-fits of retaining a European language alongside Arabic, and are opento learning other languages too, as and when necessary. Both teachersand learners welcome the Charter’s provisions for increased opportuni-ties for language learning, and believe, on the whole, that it is right to
LANGUAGE ATTITUDES IN MOROCCO 45
reform this aspect of the education system. They all see bilingualismand openness to other languages and cultures as the keys to a successfulfuture for their country. ‘Bilingualism’ is only seen as beneficial, however,when it involves two prestigious languages. Attitudes towards the ‘other’languages of Morocco are less favourable – although informants accept theimportance of Amazigh culture in Morocco, they are less sure about thebenefits of introducing Tamazight into the education system. The inform-ants in this study are proud of the Arabic language, and believe that itshould be promoted as the national language, but at the same time they arekeen to learn French, and in the future English, if there are benefits to begained from this. The study reveals a very instrumental attitude towardslanguage learning: since the informants are not personally concerned byTamazight they appear to be indifferent to its fate, and are not particularlyinterested in preserving it for cultural reasons. French, on the other hand,they see as useful in a number of domains, and therefore want to see it inthe curriculum; the same is true of English. This study indicates a desireto move on, to learn from and leave behind the errors of the past, andconstruct a future in which all Moroccans will be confident in at least twolanguages.
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Department of Linguistic, Cultural and International StudiesUniversity of SurreyGuildford, GU2 7XHUKE-mail: [email protected]