<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Language Policy in Morocco: Real crisis or Potential Transformation?</h1>
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<span class=""> <strong>Monday 14 April 2014 - 01:10</strong></span>
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<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style>By Hamid Ait El Caid</span></span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Rabat – <strong><em>Morocco has lately witnessed a profound change in various policies, and attention has focused on Morocco</em></strong></span><strong><em><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">’</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">s policy on language which has been questioned in debates in recent years. </span></em></strong></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">However, the policy of language implementation is quite problematic, given the nature of Morocco</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">’</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">s
many cultural and linguistic influences as well as its local identity,
while at the same time also being driven by the need to adapt to the
globe, which is a part of Morocco</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">’</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">s openness towards Europe, the US, and the entire world. </span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">It is evident that French and Moroccan Arabic, colloquially known as </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">“</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Darija,</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">” </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">constitute
the major useful languages as most Moroccans can speak both, or at
least one, in public life. Each of these languages serves in a variety
of public areas and is used by categories of people as their language of
communication and for special purposes. Yet, Tamazight on the other
hand has been introduced to the public in reaction to demands by a
number of associations and human rights NGOs. Such movements have been
calling for a real political willingness to recognize Tamazight as an
official language of Morocco, not merely recognizing it constitutionally
but promoting it as much as possible to be an active and dynamic
language serving all areas in the public.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">The
current state of language policy in Morocco is complicated. It is based
upon extensive historical and cultural changes within the Moroccan
society. Yet establishing a certain language as official above the
others is based upon political power. Therefore, power has been an
important factor driving language policy, no matter what tongue the
majority of people speak. France, as a part of its colonial theory,
imposed French upon the majority of people who speak Tamazight and/or
Moroccan Arabic. Therefore, France influenced the linguistic structure
of Morocco, which has </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'" lang="DA">served </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">French interests well, even after Morocco’s <span style> </span>independence. </span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Unlike
some ex-French colonies, such as Senegal and Mali, which have adopted
French as their first language after their independence, Morocco decided
to use both French and Standard Arabic, one being a national and
official language and the other the medium of business and foreign
communication. Although the decision maintained the Arabo-Islamic
identity of Morocco and reshaped its existence, it has not completely
satisfied the linguistic needs of all Morocco, especially the Amazigh
speaking groups whose identity and culture has been neglected and not
politically recognized in the past decade.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman Bold',serif">English vs. French?</span></strong></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Nobody
can deny that French dominates most areas of public life in Morocco.
The French language has tremendously affected our behaviors the
attitudes. It is often regarded as a second language after Darija, but a
large proportion of people consider it to be a foreign language
alongside English and Spanish. Indeed, French is, to many Moroccans, a
language used to gain prestige and respect. Besides, speakers of this
language are labeled as belonging to the</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'" lang="SV"> upper social class</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">. It has also for the past century, been a </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">“</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">global</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">” </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">language due to many educational references written in French in all disciplines, such as the arts and experimental sciences. </span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">The
wave of globalization has pushed many countries in the developing world
to adopt English as a first foreign language. Some of these countries
are neither the home of English speaking people nor ex-British colonies.
<span style> </span>To name but a few, these include Poland, Hungary and Turkey.<span style> </span>Such countries considered English a potential language which could contribute to their local development. <span style> </span>Most
of these countries have adopted English as a medium of instruction at
the tertiary education level, as well as the language of business,
diplomacy, and foreign affairs. Consequently, their language policy has
succeeded in introducing these countries to the global structure as
models of developing countries. </span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Morocco, on the other hand, has worked to reach the </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">“</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">globalised world</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">”</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">
through several attempts at reform. Yet the public policy of Morocco
has not taken into consideration the need to adopt English, as a
universal language, being understood by the majority of international
decision makers and scholars from all over the world. Morocco </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'" lang="SV">still </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">retains French as its first interest, with little attention paid to English, claiming that the first (French) </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'" lang="SV">is still </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">as much a </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">“</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">global language</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">” </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">as it was believed to have been in the past decade, while the second (English) is less efficient at the national level.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Very recently,<span style> </span>Moroccan teachers of English, including members of the governments and leaders of political parties (<i>e.g</i>.,<span style> </span>the Minister of higher education, Mr. Lahcen Daoudi and the leader of Alistiqlal party, Mr. Hamid Chabat)<span style> </span>have
called upon replacing French with English as a first foreign language,
or at least making English more important in Moroccan education. Yet, no
official statement has been made by the government to give a boost to
English.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman Bold',serif">Standard Arabic vs. Darija (Moroccan Dialect of Arabic)</span></strong></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Standard
Arabic is the official language of the state. Morocco has implemented
it to cover all sectors including public education and media. However,
Moroccan citizens do not master this language as it is not their mother
tongue, rather they are brought up using Darija as a medium of
communication within families, friends and colleagues. Linguistically
speaking, Darija is a dialect which combines some Arabic items with the
local expressions. It has moved from being a dialect into a prospective
language serving Media and Arts. Therefore, some scholars have recently
called for standardizing Darija and adopting it as a language of
instruction in Education.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">In the televised 2M program </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">“</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'" lang="NL">Moubashara Maakom</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">,</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">”</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">
a special episode was produced for the debate on the question of Darija
implementation. The two debaters, Nour Eddin Ayouch and Abdellah El
Aroui, are scholars representing opposite views concerning the
legitimacy and efficiency of using Darija at schools in place of
Standard Arabic. Nour Eddin Ayouch who advocates the issue claimed that
Darija is understood by the ultimate proportion of people and it could
simplify the process of learning. On the other hand, Abdellah El Aroui
opposes Ayouch</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">’</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">s
proposal, and explained that Standard Arabic is the language of the
divine and is linguistically rich. El Aroui argued that Darija is not
qualified to cover Sciences and Academia, because it lacks rules and
standard practices in writing and syntax.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman Bold',serif">What</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">’</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman Bold',serif">s next?</span></strong></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">After
the constitutional recognition of Tamazight, Morocco will, today or
tomorrow, recognize that preserving its history and identity is a result
of promoting its language. We are often aware that implementing foreign
languages is a key solution to overcome joblessness, and also help us
learn new cultures while expanding our discovery to the world, in
addition to introducing our country the best possible way to foreigners.
</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">Yet, our language policy lacks principles and planning. The language panorama in Morocco is witnessing</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'" lang="ES-TRAD"> a real crisis </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">in all aspects. Yet it is not time to lay blame or initiate proposals. Rather, i</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'" lang="NL">t is </span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">time to establish a clear and well-oriented policy which takes into consideration the promotion of Morocco</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%">’</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">s
cultural heritage and identity, as well as the need to adapt to global
changes using suitable communication techniques to achieve growth and
prosperity for the country.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-align:justify"><em>Edited by Elisabeth Myers</em></p><br clear="all"><a href="http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/04/128456/language-policy-in-morocco-real-crisis-or-potential-transformation/">http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/04/128456/language-policy-in-morocco-real-crisis-or-potential-transformation/</a><br>
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