<div dir="ltr"><h1>At What Costs the New Language Policy Will Be Delivered in Morocco?</h1>
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<span> <b>Thursday 17 March 2016 - 09:21</b></span>
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<div> <img src="http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/58781.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Abdellatif Zaki" height="80" width="76"> </div>
<h5><a href="http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/author/abdellatif-zaki/" title="Posts by Abdellatif Zaki" rel="author" target="_blank">Abdellatif Zaki</a> </h5>
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Abdellatif Zaki is a professor of Languages and Communication at
Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco. He has
taught introductory courses to the study of the Koran and Islam as well
as courses on various intercultural issues. He has ...
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</div><p style="text-align:justify">Rabat – <b><i>Rumors had it
that French would be reintegrated in primary education as well as a
language of instruction both for the hard sciences and the humanities. </i></b></p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Rumors had it also that the place of
English was to be scaled up and promoted to a language of instruction.
In the press conference, Rachid Belmokhtar, the Minister of National
Education held on Tuesday, he dissipated doubts and confirmed the
decision to rehabilitate the status of French and to upgrade that of
English. The introduction of the latter in the lower classes, he
announced, will be gradual depending on the availability of teachers
until it covers all grades starting the fourth and it becomes a language
of instruction. For many, this was also the confirmation of the
downward indicators of the status of Arabic in Moroccan education, the
argument being that the language had its shot, a precious one, and
managed to miss it lamentably driving the whole system into a wall. A
challenge for the minister will certainly be how to still tongues and
tame ideologies that have for over half a century been mesmerizing the
population with discourse hoisting the Arabic language on top of all
pedestals and making of it the only possible way out of a fatal course
education had been taking ever since independence.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">In his presentation of the strategy, it
was, in fact, clear that the concern of His Excellency, was, on the one
hand, how to maintain a balance between the two major competing foreign
languages both of which one could tell must have been applying a lot of
heat on him and, on the other hand, how to convince of the compromise
that can but result in affecting the current dominating status of the
Arabic language and jeopardize the place which the Amazigh language has
been aspiring to since the constitution has granted it official status.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The plight of the man and of his team
must not have been pleasant. Whatever the case, with the political
decision now made and announced, the load is off the Minister’s back and
he must be feeling relieved and safe on the other side of the tight
rope. Discussing the relevance of the decision would serve much less
purpose for the time being than discussing how it will be implemented.
We will leave that exercise to the Head of the Government who a few
weeks ago made a scene in the parliament because the Minister of
Education had announced very timidly that that the French language could
be used in the future to reach some scientific subjects in dine
technical schools. The Head of the Government had disowned his Minister
in public and in a manner many had judged as humiliating. The Minister
of education had remained placid and did not react. Now we understand
why, he was working out his K,O. blow. Now, it is he who disowns the
boss who seems to have swallowed his tongue.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">One fear I have expressed several times
is to see foreign agencies and organizations taking over the process and
pushing solutions they would not envisage in their own countries. In
fact, I have been part of discussions in which it was suggested to
entrust baccalaureate level students with teaching English after having
provided them with a few weeks training. The suggestion was rejected at
the time but I am neither sure the current propositions are much
brighter nor that those at the helm are apt to resist the pressures of
such temptations.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">To make sure the political decision
achieves its objectives, and that is all one can talk about now, is to
make sure the professional profiles of those who will implement the
project are appropriate and that the overall setup for its unfolding is
adequate. One simple but sure way to define profiles would be to borrow
those of the home countries of the consultants and experts of the
foreign agencies advising the Minister. If they hire teachers with high
school diplomas and deliver them their own kids after two or three week
training programs, that would be a decent benchmark. If, however, an
agency whose country requires academic, training and certification
conditions which they do not recommend for Morocco, we would know they
are neither earnest nor honest and are operating with agendas whose
objectives would be hard for them to admit.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">It would seem that the minimum
conditions for one to be candidate to a teaching position in any
pre-college level is a Bachelors degree and a one year training in a
teachers’ college and to complete a certification process successfully.
These conditions would ensure that the teachers will have an appropriate
mastery of the language both at the fluency and accuracy levels, a good
knowledge of the culture, history and civilization of the foreign
language and the professional qualifications to teach it. This would be
the first initiation steps to the profession. For a functional
integration into the system, the novice fully qualified teacher would
need to be in a supporting environment that would ensure them personal
growth and professional development.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The actual support is provided by senior
teachers in every school, teacher supervisors and a systematic
in-service teacher development program. Other than this minimum, the
reform will precipitate the educational system in a darker abyss and at
an uncontrollable increasing speed. Other than this, Morocco will end up
with a generation of speakers of foreign languages who can hardly be
understood before it will have to make new decisions and reforms,
Furthermore, the efforts that would have been made to shift to teaching
subject areas in these newly introduced foreign languages would end
driving the nail of functional illiteracy deeper and draw the country
faster into incompetence and disqualify it from the economic competition
it was initially planning to reach with this reform.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The issue of teaching materials in the
newly adopted foreign languages is also a matter of critical importance.
I remember from personal experience that every proposition to introduce
a change in the foreign languages taught and in their functions and
objectives, the propositions have been twinned with offers of packages
of course books, textbooks, pedagogical materials, training expertise.
There were times in which the packages were part of more general offers
including loans and political conditions. The Minister did not talk
about who is to design, write, edit, publish and print the teaching
materials, We are not talking peanuts but billions of dirhams over
decades. He did not talk either about the political, economic and
ideological cost of the operation.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">While the idea may be beautiful, the
force of its attraction may be blinding to the risks it entails. The
flower may look beautiful, but how sure are we there is no serpent
underneath ….. would have warned good old William.</p></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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