Should Moroccan Schools Teach Darija (Moroccan Arabic)?

If you think that the debate about choosing French or English is a vexed issue, think again. It is a storm in a teacup compared to the fight over including Moroccan Arabic in the school curriculum. After provoking fierce controversy, the question of teaching the Moroccan dialect (darija) at school has turned to defamation, outrage and insult

While Modern Standard Arabic is not spoken in daily life and is an exclusively written language used only for written government communications and in the written press, Darija-Arabic is an exclusively spoken language and has a strong presence in Moroccan television entertainment, cinema and commercial advertising and is the most commonly spoken language in daily life in the top 5 large cities of Morocco with over 21 million speakers.

Moroccan Arabic has many regional dialects and accents as well. Its mainstream dialect is the one used in Casablanca, Rabat and Fez and it dominates the media, eclipsing the other regional dialects.

Moroccan Arabic is spoken as a first language by about 50% to 75% of Morocco's population. The other half speaks the Berber language with one of its dialects. Educated Moroccan Berber-speakers can communicate in mainstream Moroccan Arabic and French or Spanish as well.

According to Wikipedia, Moroccan Arabic is one of the most innovative (in the technical sense of "least conservative") of all Arabic dialects. Moroccan Arabic continues to integrate new French words, mainly technological and modern words. However, in recent years, constant exposure to revived classical forms on television and in print media and a certain desire among many Moroccans for a revitalisation of an Arab identity has inspired many Moroccans to integrate words from Standard Arabic, replacing their French or Spanish counterparts or even speaking in Modern Standard Arabic while keeping the Moroccan accent to sound less pedantic. The phenomenon mostly occurs among literate people.

Though rarely written, Moroccan Arabic is currently undergoing an unexpected and pragmatic revival. It is now the preferred language in Moroccan chat rooms or for sending SMS, using Arabic Chat Alphabet composed of Latin letters supplemented with the numbers 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 for coding specific Arabic sounds, as is the case with other Arabic speakers.

There exists some poetry written in Moroccan Arabic like the Malhun. In the 1970s the legendary Nass El Ghiwane band wrote beautiful and allusive lyrics in Moroccan Arabic that were very appealing to the youth even in other Maghreb countries.

Another interesting movement is the development of an original rap music scene, which explores new and innovative usages of the language.

However, despite the dominance of the language at the social level, the move to include it in textbooks has created a divisive reaction. Mohamed Younsi, writing for Kiosque360 reports that the debate launched and revived on the issue of the introduction of the Moroccan dialect in education has completely derailed, descending into insult, defamation and unbecoming behaviour that tarnish the image of the actors involved in this controversy.

Morocco’s Ministry of Education has defended a textbook with content written in Darija, saying that it is “purely for educational purposes.”

Images of multiple pages in Arabic primary school textbooks have caused social media uproar because they contain words used in Darija, the unwritten Moroccan dialect of Arabic, instead of pure standard Arabic.

The texts include names of Moroccan traditional clothing and dishes in Darija, such as “ghriyba” (a Moroccan cookie), “baghrir” (Moroccan crepes), and “briouat” (a sweet/savory puff pastry).

Despite the defence from the Ministry of Education, the head of government, Saad Eddine El Othmani, made a public statement against the use of Darija in school books for primary education. El Othmani made it clear that he believes Darija cannot be used in education. He said the government is ready to give up on school books with some Darija words after a consultation between the concerned parties.

El Othmani said the two official languages in Morocco are standard Arabic and Tamazight (Berber) as recognised by the Moroccan constitution.

The head of government, Saad Eddine El Othmani

For his part, Noureddine Ayouch has referred to his critics as “dogs.” Ayouch is a member of Morocco’s Supreme Council for Education, Training, and Scientific Research, is suffering a backlash after strongly defending the use of Darija in the Moroccan education system.

Some activists, scholars, academics, and sociologists have heavily criticised Ayouch’s belief that Darija should be included in the education system. In response, Ayouch said that “the dogs may bark but the caravan moves on.”

Noureddine Ayouch is a member of the Standing Committee on Curricula, Programs, Training and Didactic Tools of the Higher Council of Education, Training and Scientific Research (CSEFRS) has called his detractors as "dogs", reports the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia in its edition of Thursday, September 13th. "They are dogs that deserve no respect",he said. He argues that the use of Darija is not a danger to the Arabic language, and should facilitate student learning.

Noureddine Ayouch

For years, Ayouch has called on the government to include Darija in the education system and in 2016 Ayouch announced that he would launch the first online Darija dictionary in Morocco.

However, this approach provoked a virulent reaction by Salafist preacher Sheikh El Fizazi, who called Ayouch "ignorant"and working for a foreign lobby that encourages, supports and funds "this calamitous option with dramatic consequences".

Between the two blocks so diametrically opposed, the PJD MP Amina Maelainine, a member of the same Commission within the same Council, reacted by sending the ball back to the camp of the Higher Council of Education, Training and Research (CSEFRS) and the Ministry of National Education. "After marathon debates around the architecture of the language in the strategic vision of educational reform, there was no mention of the Moroccan dialect," she clearly decided and said that the Council did not have the competence to introduce the Darija in the teaching or to intervene in the school programs or in the edition of the manuals, specifying that this field concerns prerogatives of the Ministry of National Education.

Morocco is a multicultural country with a number of spoken languages and dialects, including Tamazight (Berber) and Hassani, a Sahrawi language. Will the new school books confuse students whose mother tongue is Hassani or Tamazight, not Darija? The Moroccan constitution only recognises Tamazight and standard Arabic. It may be time to change the constitution to include Darija - the language of the people.


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Morocco and the English Language Debate

After last year's Fes Festival of World Sacred Music there was much debate about the Festival's  failure to use English in its introductions. Given the large number of Festival patrons who have English as their first or second language, it was discourteous, to say the least

A recent article in The Guardian took an in depth look at the issue of English as a dominant language.

Almost 400m people speak it as their first language; a billion more know it as a secondary tongue. It is an official language in at least 59 countries, the unofficial lingua franca of dozens more. No language in history has been used by so many people or spanned a greater portion of the globe. As The Guardian pointed out, "It is aspirational: the golden ticket to the worlds of education and international commerce, a parent’s dream and a student’s misery, winnower of the haves from the have-nots. It is inescapable: the language of global business, the internet, science, diplomacy, stellar navigation, avian pathology"

One straightforward way to trace the growing influence of English is in the way its vocabulary has infiltrated so many other languages. For a millennium or more, English was a great importer of words, absorbing vocabulary from Latin, Greek, French, Hindi, Nahuatl and many others. During the 20th century, though, as the US became the dominant superpower and the world grew more connected, English became a net exporter of words.

In some countries, such as France and Israel, special linguistic commissions have been working for decades to stem the English tide by creating new coinages of their own – to little avail, for the most part. (As the journalist Lauren Collins has wryly noted: “Does anyone really think that French teenagers, per the academy’s diktat, are going to trade out ‘sexting’ for texto pornographique?”) Thanks to the internet, the spread of English has almost certainly sped up.

In the last few decades, as globalisation has accelerated and the US has remained the world’s most powerful country, the advance of English has taken on a new momentum. In 2008, Rwanda switched its education system from French to English, having already made English an official language in 14 years earlier. Officially, this was part of the government’s effort to make Rwanda the tech hub of Africa. Unofficially, it’s widely believed to be an expression of disgust at France’s role in propping-up the pre-1994 Hutu-dominant government, as well as a reflection that the country’s ruling elite mostly speaks English, having grown up as exiles in anglophone east Africa.

When South Sudan became independent in 2011, it made English its official language despite having very few resources or qualified personnel with which to teach it in schools. The Minister of higher education at the time justified the move as being aimed at making the country “different and modern”, while the news director of South Sudan Radio added that with English, South Sudan could “become one nation” and “communicate with the rest of the world” – understandable goals in a country home to more than 50 local languages.

China has more speakers of English as a second language than any other country

The situation in east Asia is no less dramatic. China currently has more speakers of English as a second language than any other country. Some prominent English teachers have become celebrities, conducting mass lessons in stadiums seating thousands. In South Korea, meanwhile, according to the sociolinguist Joseph Sung-Yul Park, English is a “national religion”. Korean employers expect proficiency in English, even in positions where it offers no obvious advantage.

The quest to master English in Korea is often called the yeongeo yeolpung or “English frenzy”. Although mostly confined to a mania for instruction and immersion, occasionally this “frenzy” spills over into medical intervention. As Sung-Yul Park relates: “An increasing number of parents in South Korea have their children undergo a form of surgery that snips off a thin band of tissue under the tongue. Most parents pay for this surgery because they believe it will make their children speak English better; the surgery supposedly enables the child to pronounce the English retroflex consonant with ease, a sound that is considered to be particularly difficult for Koreans.”

Because English is increasingly the currency of the universal, it is difficult to express any opposition to its hegemony that doesn’t appear to be tainted by either nationalism or snobbery. When Minae Mizumura published the Fall of Language in the Age of English, in 2008, it was a surprise commercial success in Japan. But it provoked a storm of criticism, as Mizumura was accused of elitism, nationalism and being a “hopeless reactionary”. One representative online comment read: “Who does she think she is, a privileged bilingual preaching to the rest of us Japanese!” (Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mizumura’s broader argument, about the gradual erosion of Japanese literature – and especially, the legacy of the Japanese modernist novel – got lost in the scuffle.)

Those troubled by the hyperdominance of English should also remember the role it has played in some societies – especially multi-ethnic ones – as a bridge to the wider world and counterweight to other nationalisms. This was especially keenly felt in South Africa, where Afrikaans was widely associated with the policy of apartheid. When the government announced that Afrikaans would be used as a language of instruction in schools on par with English in 1974, the decision led in 1976 to a mass demonstration by black students known as the Soweto uprising. Its brutal suppression resulted in hundreds of deaths, and is considered a turning point in the anti-apartheid struggle. Similar protests have periodically racked southern India since the 1940s over attempts to enforce official use of Hindi in place of English.

Meanwhile, in Morocco

On March 17, 2017, the Ministry of Handicrafts, Social Economy and Solidarity launched an English training program for trainees or graduates from handicrafts institutions in Fez. The move comes as part of a larger movement across the Kingdom to raise the status of English as a language essential to development and tourism.

The struggle to spread the use of English has been going on for the last few years.

In 2015, a report by Morocco’s think tank: Rabat Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, urged Morocco to adopt English rather than French in schools across the country.

After the statements of many Moroccan ministers and politicians in favour of adopting English over French, the Rabat Center for Political and Strategic Studies submitted a report to the Supreme Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research, demanding the adoption of English as Morocco’s first foreign language instead of French.

The report said that although the Council’s committee in charge of programs considered the proposal earlier this year, the Supreme Council’s administration did not take the necessary steps, and is currently still moving to keep French as a second official language.

The Centre noted that English is the necessary language to compete in today’s world. Morocco being a former French protectorate would not be able to compete without it.

“Maintaining the French language directly after Arabic in the curriculum is neither based on objective measures nor on standards offering good opportunities both locally and internationally for Moroccan students, «the center added.

The center argued that English has become the language of choice in many European universities and education, adding that 90 percent of publications and research in Europe, including France, are published in English.

A number of Moroccan official have previously called for replacing French with English as the primary language of higher education. In March 2014, the Moroccan Minister of Higher Education Lahcen Daoudi had announced plans to make the switch from French to English.

Back in November 2016 the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Rachid Belmokhtar, declared that the Ministry has taken serious procedures to expand and improve the use of the English language among students in the Moroccan Kingdom.

At the time Belmokhtar revealed that, in response and accordance with the reform project called for by King Mohammed VI, the Ministry of Education has adopted new approaches and methods to expand and improve the comprehension of school pupils in the country’s newly adopted second foreign language of English. “We’ve tried to encourage the creation of English clubs in all high-schools to encourage students to be able to speak it,” Belmokhtar said.

The move towards promoting English has recieved support, not only within Morocco, but also from abroad. Prominent Kuwaiti businessman and Muslim scholar Tariq Al-Suwaidan has been quoted as saying publicly, “French language is useless and a waste of time.”

Al-Suwaidan went on to say, “I am serious, French is not the language of tourism, science and civilisation. France is a backward country in terms of administration.” He pointed out that...“Today, the language of science is English – keep it in your minds. I see proof that Arabic was the historic language of science, however, the current [leading] language of science and tourism is English,” noting that “80% of scientific researches in every field are released [and conducted] in English and the 20% of [researches are conducted] in other different languages.”

“French ranks as the 16th most widely spoken language. So, it is useless in the fields of tourism, science and civilisation,” he said.“I think, according to your history and the dominance of the francophone [culture], which you have to get rid of it – you are still attached to French [language]. We need to break this barrier, because it is useless. [Please] pay to attention to this and learn English.”

Over the past years, the issue of English has become controversial, but, according to a 2015 survey, conducted by news website Hespress, 85.98% of Moroccans want to replace French with English as the country’s first foreign language.

Last year Morocco World News reported that the new project for artisans is part of a partnership agreement between the ministry, the American Embassy, and the American Language Center to provide beneficiaries with tools to communicate with tourists and improve the sale of their products.

More than 300 artisans in the Msala and Aouinat Hajjaj handicraft institutions will benefit from this program, which will be assisted by the University of Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah and the handicraft chamber of the Fez and Meknes region.

“The program aims to empower young trainees with various tools including communication, to enable them integrate in the labor market and to develop this sector which is considered one of the pillars of the national economy,” said Fatema Marouane, the head minister.

Many Festivals in Morocco now cater for English speaking audiences. It is to be hoped the Fes Festival will adopt a similar policy.

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Fez Gathering - Final Roundtable Discussions

The 3rd International Artists Gathering  hosted its final day of discussions with a highly appreciative audience braving the very cold conditions. The provision of coffee, tea and small snacks, assisted in boosting the energy levels of those a little tired from the previous night's Slide Luck presentation

The first round table discussion on contemporary art in Africa was well attended, but got off to a late start on a particularly cold morning of around 7 degrees Celsius.

Moderator Neil van der Linden

The individual contributions were well received. Aurelie Lierman, a composer based in The Hague, pointed out the domination of the contemporary art scene over the years by 'middle-aged male Europeans". Originally from Rwanda, Aurelie, an engaging speaker, was one of a strong contingent from the Netherlands that included Neil Van der Linden, and singer,  Shishani Vranckx.

Aurelie Lierman

The two second speakers explained they were doing a joint project, but their contribution were plagued by technical problems and a rather chaotic attempt to rectify the situation turned into an unintended piece of performance art. Eventually, Yassine Balbzioui, from Rabat and Matteo Rubbi, from Italy, informed the audience that the project was a 'paper plane making" competition. Inexplicably, the presentation ended up with a large painting being carried around the streets and an attempt to destroy it by kicking a football through it.

This was followed by a video presentation filmed in Dakar, entitled "You are the shade of my Heart" by Mohammed Arejdal from Rabat. In the video, the audience follows a man dressed in Moroccan clothes, carrying a large red umbrella through the streets. The reaction of local people makes for an interesting cross-cultural discussion. The carrying of an umbrella was the job of a slave - and Mohammed explained his motivation as being political.

The session however, suffered from having too many speakers, technical problems and an overlong introduction from the moderator who, to the bemusement of many in the audience, appeared to cast himself as a contributor rather than facilitator.

Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

The final session was preceded by an unannounced but interesting input from Syrian American author, Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar, whose first novel, The Map of Salt and Stars, is to be published in a couple of months. Jennifer explained that her novel had two main threads - the story of modern-day refugees and that of a famous make-maker some eight hundred years earlier. The introduction of the art of the written word made for a seamless transition to the topic that followed

The final round table discussion switched direction from art, performance and photography to the realm of language. Titled  looking at the history and tensions between Anglophone and Francophone communities.

Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar's first novel

In Africa, English is spoken by around 130 million people, while French speakers number 115 million.

As one of the panelists commented, "Africa needs an African language". However, while Swahili might be an obvious candidate, the chances of a consensus is highly improbable.

Linguistic dominance comes at a price and is an issue that should be considered seriously. With the increase in so-called world languages comes the erosion of local languages and dialects. Language is the mother of culture - it is part of the cultural DNA and needs to be respected and protected..

The total number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 to 2,100. Nigeria alone has over 500 languages - one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world.

Several speakers suggested that the future will include Cantonese and Mandarin. The growing importance of China in trade, development, investment and tourism will provide employment possibilities for those who can speak Chinese.

Omar Chennafi, Meryem Lahrichi and the team deserve congratulations for their vision of the 3rd Fez Gathering and having turned that vision into a stimulating few days in Fez.

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Morocco's New Second Language - English - Gains Ground

During a recent speech, Rachid Belmokhtar, the Moroccan Minister of Education and Vocational Training, declared that the Ministry has taken serious procedures to expand and improve the use of the English language among students in the Kingdom

Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Rachid Belmokhtar

The critical success of the expansion and improvement of the use of the English language in the country is indisputable as Morocco has recently ranked first in the MENA region for English proficiency. Education First, a world leader in international education ranked Morocco as the top MENA country with the best English proficiency and 44th in the world. The ranking sorts out countries in zones according to their mastery of English skills, ranging from very high to very low.

The index also indicated that Moroccan women are more proficient in English (52.52 percent) than their male counterparts (48.06 percent).

This ranking confirms Moroccans’ improvement in English proficiency. Another ranking published by the same index showed that Morocco has recorded the second highest rate of improvement in English proficiency worldwide.

This improvement was achieved due to the widespread use of the Internet, which 56.8 percent of Moroccans have access to, according to 2013 World Bank statistics. Moroccans are quickly becoming more aware of the importance of English in giving access to better job opportunities.

Writing for Morocco World News, Soumaya El Filali reports that Minister Belmokhtar stated that in response and accordance with the reform project called for by King Mohammed VI, the Ministry of Education had adopted new approaches and methods to expand the teaching of the country’s newly adopted second foreign language.

“We’ve tried to encourage the creation of English clubs in all high-schools to encourage students to be able to speak it,” Belmokhtar said, adding that this step has achieved great success, as reflected by the students’ performance in the language.

The growth of the English language cannot be attributed to the Ministry’s initiatives alone, as Moroccans themselves have shown great interest in learning what is now considered most influential language in the world, knowing that it can open doors to new experiences and better job opportunities.

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Amazigh Language - a Three Step Introduction

While the parliamentary session almost coming to an end, the General Secretariat of the Government has finally released the draft law to empower the Amazigh language. The head of government and all ministers have received a copy

An Amazigh child writes in Tifinagh, the script of Tamazight

This project adopts the principle of progressive implementation of the Amazigh language as an official language of the kingdom. The plan includes three major steps.

A first step over five years will be devoted to the gradual introduction of the language at all levels of basic education, as well as being included in the struggle against illiteracy. During this period, the speeches, the royal messages and official statements will be broadcast on Amazigh TV and radio.

A second 10-year period will be devoted to the generalisation of the Amazigh in colleges and high schools and will also see the introduction of courses at the tertiary level. In addition, an official journal is to be created by the parliament where the texts will be published in Arabic and Amazigh languages ​​and all official documents (identity card, driving license, passport etc.) will include data in Amazigh .

The third period, spanning 15 years, will see the widespread use of the Amazigh language in all public facilities and services, with all documents being written in both official languages.

The Amazigh languages and dialects have had a written tradition, on and off, for over 2,200 years, although the tradition has been frequently disrupted by invasions. They were first written in the Tifinagh alphabet, still used by the Tuareg. The oldest dated inscription is from about 200 BCE. Later, between about 1000 CE and 1500 CE, they were written in the Arabic script, and since the 20th century in the Amazigh (Berber) Latin alphabet, especially among the Kabyle and Riffian communities of Morocco and Algeria. The Berber Latin alphabet was also used by most European and Amazigh linguists during the 19th and 20th centuries.

A modernised form of the Tifinagh alphabet was made official in Morocco in 2003.

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Improbable Meetings at Morocco's National Library

The long weekend of 9-10 and 11 October at the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rabat will showcase unlikely encounters between: city dwellers and artists, musicians and artisans from the High Atlas Mountains

Ayt Bou Oulli

The meetings will be on several levels. For example, the Al Boughaz Association from Tangier has paired up with  an association of the valley of the Ayt Bou Oulli - the Anegbi Abachkou Association of Central High Atlas - and have worked together on a project and exhibition of Ibn Battuta frescoes recalling his "extraordinary journey in the valley the Ayt Bou Oulli ".  The artworks have  been developed by the children of the valley schools and children from schools in Tangier throughout the school year 2015-2016.

Ait Bou Oulli is a small town and rural commune in Azilal Province of the Tadla-Azilal region of Morocco. The commune had a total population of 9493.

Ibn Battuta's extraordinary journey in the valley the Ayt Bou Oulli 

In a similar fashion  carpet weavers from Ayt Bou Oulli will work alongside those from urban Rabat Salé and  group of singers and dancers the Ahwach from the valley of Ayt Bou Oulli will perform with a choir from Rabat.

The work of carpet weavers from the valley of Ayt Bou Oulli

There will also be poetry and demonstrations of weaving as well as debates  on sustainable development and, importantly, the language struggle between Arabic and  Darija.

The debate over language  should be of great interest. It takes place on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 9.30 am. The tussle between Arabic and Darija is a hot topic, particularly in education, where for a long time a child's mother tongue - Amazigh or Darija - was ignored in favour of Arabic (Fosha).

Mother tongue is the language in which the mother brought her child to the symbolic, namely the power to name things and objects. It is now recognised that loss of the mother tongue has a very negative effect. It produces what is termed "language castration" which can result in diminished ability to access poetry, literature and storytelling.

Darija is the vernacular, spoken by the people. It is not written, so is undisciplined by a grammar and rules and thus free to evolve, adapt, and create new words, It is the living testimony to the creativity of the people.

Arabic Fosha (or classical Arabic) is primarily a written language with grammatical rules were set by the Persian Sibawaih in his book Al Kitab, which is indicative of the trend of "the defeated" to adopt and defend language of the "winners". It is the language controlled by the political elite, religious and economic classes, including the Ulama (literally "those who know"). This is the quintessential scholarly language, language of literature, poetry, diplomatic and administrative writings.

The full programme of the exhibitions and debates can be downloaded HERE

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Moroccan Minister Dislikes Speaking Arabic

According to a report carried by Morocco World News a Moroccan minister says speaking in Arabic causes her fever

The incident was an interesting side issue to emerge in the ongoing "language war" in Morocco. Normally the debate focuses around the need to make English the second language after French. However, when the Minister Delegate in Charge of Environment, Hakima El Haite, said that speaking in Arabic makes her body rise in temperature, she ignited another burst of reaction on social media.

Speaking during a press conference in Skhirat, near the capital Rabat on Tuesday, the Minister replied in French to journalists’ questions, and tried to evade answering in Arabic.

“Maybe I should reply in Arabic?” the Minister asked the journalist. The journalist said “yes, if it is possible.”

“I will answer in Arabic, although when I speak it, it causes me fever,” the Minister said.

Haiti is not the only Moroccan Minister in the Benkirane government to refuse responding to journalists’ questions in Arabic. The Minister of Education and vocational training Rachid Belmokhtar told France24 Arabic journalists that he does not speak Arabic.

Many Moroccans took to social media to criticize El Haite’s comments, saying that by evading answering in Arabic, the Minister is in fact insulting the “language of the constitution.” Others pointed out that it was bizarre that a Moroccan minister could not respond in the mother tongue of the country. This evoked a swift response from social media that in fact Amazigh (Berber) languages were the true mother tongue, and that Standard Arabic was unwelcome.

"Our Mother tongue in Morocco is DARIJA or BERBER, I am against Moroccan Ministers, as well as National television and radio channels speaking in Arabic. We are the only country in the world whose institutions don't use the mother tongue to communicate. Is it a good way to keep the majority of the Moroccan people in the dark?" - Hassan on Social Media

In the meantime, Darija (Moroccan Arabic) remains the most widely spoken language despite attempts by conservative forces to impose Modern Standard Arabic as the common tongue by (foolishly) not teaching Darija in schools. As one critic pointed out, if we speak Standard Arabic we will end up like the Saudis!

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Morocco's Language Debate Continues

According to a new survey conducted by news website Hespress, Moroccans are overwhelmingly in favour of replacing French with English in the Moroccan educational system.

Do you support that English language should replace the French language in Morocco?

Yes 35 705 (85.98%)
No 5821 (14.02%)
Number of participants: 41 526 -Hespress Survey

Of the more than 41,000 people who participated in the survey, only 14 percent said that French should remain the country’s first foreign language. People in favour of replacing French with English, on the other hand, pulled in a whopping 85.98 percent of the vote.

Moroccans have become more outspoken about the importance of switching the country’s education system from French to English. For the majority of them, as it is the case with the sample surveyed by Arabic-speaking news website Hespress, French is limiting their access to knowledge and economic opportunities. Even Moroccan officials have expressed on numerous occasions the importance of adopting English over French within the Moroccan educational system. For the head of government Abdelilah Benkirane, for instance, English is the language of today’s science, technology and commerce.

However, there are still people in Morocco who fiercely lobby for French to be kept as the first foreign language of the country. Their efforts have yielded results as the Supreme Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research is said to be reconsidering earlier recommendations to replace French with English in the Moroccan curriculum. The new recommendations, if adopted, will be included in the Supreme Council’s Strategic Report to be submitted to King Mohammed VI.

The council headed by Omar Azziman, an advisor to King Mohammed VI, is said to have ordered the formation of a sub-committee to review the proposal of replacing French with English, a proposal already hailed as the right move by many members of the Council’s Permanent Committee on Curriculum, Programs, Training and Teaching tools in earlier sessions.


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An American perspective on Moroccan Arabic

Darija (Arabic: الدارجة‎), means "everyday/colloquial language"and is spoken by around 30 million people in Morocco. For visitors Darija may seem difficult at first, but more and more expats and students are studying Darija in preference to French

Darija shares the majority of its vocabulary with standard Arabic, but it also includes significant borrowings from Berber (Tamazight) as well as extensive borrowings from French, and to a lesser extent Castilian Spanish and even Italian.

Darija is spoken and to various extents mutually understood in the Maghreb countries, especially Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but can often be unintelligible to speakers of other Arabic dialects. Darija continues to evolve by integrating new French or English words, notably in technical fields, or by replacing old French and Spanish ones with Standard Arabic words within some circles.

Recently the Morocco World News ran an interesting article by an American on the Moroccan dialect.

Katrina Bushko writes...

I love the Arabic that is spoken here in Morocco, which is interesting because not very many people do. I remember when I was here over the summer that many of my friends did not like the darija class that we took for an hour a day in June. Some complained that it was too hard; others, that it was useless (indeed, native speakers of Egyptian or Levantine Arabic usually find it impossible to understand Moroccan Arabic).

But not me. I loved that class because I found it not only easier than Modern Standard Arabic (MSA, fusha), but also useful. The other dialects are closer to fusha, so if I were to go to Egypt or Syria or Lebanon, many people would be able to understand me if I spoke in MSA. In Morocco, however, there are few similarities with the classical Arabic, and so it is in a sense its very own language.

I will be the first to say that initially, darija is not a pretty language. It’s difficult to understand because of the lack of vowel pronunciation, the difference in verb conjugation, and the frequent use of the harsh consonant “?” that is absent in most other dialects. But after being in Morocco for a total of 3.5 months already (non-consecutive, of course), my ear has slowly been fine-tuning itself to understanding more and more of this language. And the more that I understand, the more beautiful it becomes to me.

I have grown to appreciate the way that Moroccans speak, as well. Last semester, I took an Egyptian Colloquial Arabic class that greatly improved my overall speaking skills. I noticed that the manner in which we were trained to speak is very different from the Moroccan style.

For example, the word (yaa-nee) is frequently used in Egyptian to indicate the common English word “like” (as in, the “like” that teenagers often use as a sentence filler); however, I have barely noticed this word being used in the Moroccan dialect. I recently asked my roommate what the Moroccan equivalent would be, and she said that it was (zaa-ma). And although they both have the same purpose, I hear (zaa-ma) used much less frequently than my Egyptian Colloquial professor used (yaa-nee). Of course, this is only one of the many, many differences between the dialects.

As for my own speaking and understanding, I think that by now I have a basic grasp of Moroccan Arabic. I can get around pretty easily by myself without relying on French (indeed, my grasp of French pretty much boils down to, je ne comprends pas français.). I can order food, buy bus or train tickets, converse with hostel owners about myself and what I would like from the hostel, among other vital things that are important to know for everyday life (for example, whenever I’m asked if I know Arabic, my automatic response is (shwii-ya), or, “a little”). As for understanding, I can understand a lot of what shopkeepers say to me regarding price and their wares, and I can pick up bits and pieces of everyday conversation. But the most useful tool in understanding something in a language that you don’t know well is body language.

There have been many a time where I have had to rely mostly on the point of a finger or a gesture of a hand. For example, when my friends and I went to Meknes and stayed in a hostel deep in the heart of the medina, I had to continuously stop and ask for directions to Bab Mansour, a well-known gate that faces the main entrance to the souq. In order to understand what these temporary guides were saying, I had to piece together my knowledge of darija with their hand movements.

The great thing about asking for directions is that it is universal to respond with hand motions, meaning that when someone says that you must turn left, they usually give you a signal pointing left. So as I watched their body language and listened carefully for words I knew (i.e. take the SECOND left after the green door, not the first), I was able to lead us out of the maze that is the medina of Meknes.

Although I will be in Morocco for four months this semester, I know that I will not be going back to the United States fluent in either fusha or darija. I will, however, become more familiar with the dialect here and (inshallah) be able to hold some type of conversation for a good amount of time. And of course, having a Moroccan boyfriend was a great advantage in this area.

Katrina Bushko

Katrina Bushko is a senior at Princeton University majoring in Political Philosophy with minors in Arabic and Near Eastern Studies. Her love for Morocco came about in the summer 2012, when she attended the ARANAS program at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane.

Reprinted from Morocco World News with permission.

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The Amazigh Language in Education and the Media - Sunday Feature

A majority of Moroccans grow up speaking one of the Amazigh languages and yet it is only relatively recently that Amazigh has gained recognition. In our Sunday Feature, The View from Fez looks at the issue and along the way discovers a new book on the Amazigh language in education and the media

There are an estimated 23 million Amazigh, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslim. The largest populations are in Morocco and Algeria, in addition to smaller numbers in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. The Amazigh have been living in North Africa for nearly 4,000 years. Some 75 percent of the Moroccan population is Amazigh

In recent years the efforts to promote the Amazigh languages and culture have gained momentum. While Morocco has provided radio coverage for Amazigh speakers for some time, television was a long time coming.

Radio coverage is thankfully diverse with the RTM Chaîne Amazigh catering for Tachelhit, Tamazight and Tarifit speakers.

Tachelhit is spoken in south-west Morocco in an area between Sidi Ifni in the south Agadir in the north and Marrakech and the Draa/Sous valleys in the east. Tamazight is spoken in the Middle Atlas, between Taza, Khemisset, Azilal and Errachidia. Tarifit (or Rifia) is spoken in the Rif area of northern Morocco. A small number of radio programmes are also broadcast in Hassaniya, which is widely spoken in Western Sahara.

In January 2010, after years of delays, Morocco finally launched its first Amazigh language television station.

2010 will be remembered as a breakthrough year for Moroccan parents wanting to name their children with Amazigh names. In April of that year, the Ministry of Interior issued a directive that for the first time defined Amazigh names as meeting the legal prerequisite of being "Moroccan in nature." According to Human Rights Watch, the government directive liberalising Morocco's policy had positive results.

"By explicitly recognising Amazigh names as Moroccan, the government has eased a restriction on the right of parents to choose their children's names," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "This move shows greater respect and recognition for Morocco's ethnically and culturally diverse population."

"It was time! This was a victory and revenge for all the parents who were not allowed to give Amazigh names to their children. This circular represented the end of a racist law against all Amazigh, as the banning parents to give the name they wish their child was totally discriminatory." - Mounir Kejji, Amazigh activist

Getting the law changed has been a long and hard struggle that began back in 1996 when Driss Basri, the interior minister at the time and Abdelouahab Ben Mansour chairman of the High Commission of the Civil Registry and historian of the kingdom signed the decree to prevent the use of Amazigh names.

In 2011 the new constitution finally resulted in the inclusion of Amazigh as part of the common heritage of all Moroccans and as an official language of the country. The formalisation of the Amazigh language was officially the culmination of a process initiated in a royal speech of Agadir in October 2001.  It had also been brought about by decades of struggles by grassroots activists and intellectuals.

“For me, the greatest joy is to see that our work helps to bring about a change in Morocco, from denial to recognition of diversity and its sustainable management, and this is the way indicated to democracy" - Ahmed Assid (Amazigh Man of the Year- Idh Yennayer the Amazigh New Year 2962)

Speaking in Rabat at the opening session of a national conference organised by the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) on the "formalisation of Tamazight in Moroccan Constitution: what strategies and measures?" the head of government, Abdelilah Benkirane stressed that the government program has highlighted the issue of formalising the Amazigh language.

This year saw the adoption of Amazigh by Microsoft, the launching of Amazigh as a Facebook language and even its adoption by Maroc telecom for use on smartphones.  One of the most moving moments of this years Fes Festival of World Sacred Music was the sight of the tears running down Aïcha Redouane's cheeks as she sang "for the first time in my own language in my own country."

Respected public intellectuals such as Moha Ennaji and Fatima Sadiqi have been at the forefront of the movement to support the growth of Amazigh language and their contributions both in scholarly publications and as the driving force behind the popular Fes Festival of Amazigh Culture, continue to be invaluable. Sadiqi founded the Centre for Studies and Research on Women at the University of Fes. Fatima Sadiqi was appointed by Kufi Annan as a member of the UN Council for Development Policy (E.C.O.S.S.O.C.), and was appointed by the King of Morocco as a member of the Administrative Board of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM). And now Moha Ennaji has delivered a new publication that furthers the cause of Amazigh language and culture.

"The Amazigh Language in Education and Media " published by the South North Centre in Fez,  is a valuable contribution to ongoing debates about how best to improve the status of the Amazigh language.

Edited by Moha Ennaji, this 360-page long book includes 20 chapters in Arabic, French, and English by American, European, and Maghrebi researchers. The studies included in this book explore the challenges of the introduction of the Amazigh language in education and media in the Maghreb and Europe.

The publication is a major contribution to the debate on improving the teaching of the Amazigh language and its integration in the media.

The chapters deal with socio-linguistic and educational phenomena in five main areas: evaluation of the results of the teaching of the Amazigh language (programs, textbooks , training of trainers); achievements in language planning and education ( comparison of Moroccan and foreign experience), the impact of media on the Amazigh language in the countries of immigration and of origin , integration of Amazigh in audiovisual media and press,  and the importance of the use of the Amazigh language on the Internet ( review and Prospects ) .

It also aims to address matters relating to the Amazigh language and culture and contribute to the debate on the status of native languages in the North African and European countries.

The book, which offers a comprehensive approach to develop and deepen the teaching of Amazigh language and its use in modern media, however, reveals that the current experiments suffer from many shortcomings and face difficulties related mainly to application of policy and political discourse on the ground. In Europe, except for a small number of higher education institutions , Tamazight is almost nonexistent in the fields of education and in the national media , despite the presence of a large number of communities speaking the Amazigh .

Moha Ennaji is researcher in various areas ranging from language, education, gender , civil society, to migration. Ennaji is an international consultant and visiting professor at Rutgers University in the United States . He is also director of the international journal “Language and Linguistics” appearing since 1998, and Chairman of the South North Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Migration Studies . He is the author of several articles and books , the most recent of which are : Migration and Gender , The Impact on Women Left Behind (Red Sea Press, 2008, in collaboration with F.Sadiqi ) , Multilingualism , Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco (2005 Springer, New York ) , Women in the Middle East and North Africa (2010, Routledge), Language and Gender in the Mediterranean Region (2008, Mouton de Gruyter , Berlin). The Interconnection of Amazigh and Arab Cultures (2009) and Migration and Cultural Diversity (2007).


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Amazigh Culture Leaps On To Facebook

A few months ago Microsoft Windows 8 announced that it had adapted its systems to include the Tamazight language. Now social media giant Facebook has followed with Tamazight added to a list of new languages available to users

It's official, the Tamazight language is now in use on the social network Facebook. The U.S. giant has decided to adopt the Tifinagh alphabet, allowing Tamazight language status for use on Facebook.

"Thank you all for asking to add your language on Facebook.Tamazight and the Breton and many other languages, have been on our list for some time. We have evaluated, but have added language at various intervals, for several reasons (there are many languages ​​around the world and we just need time to deploy). Thank you for your understanding and use of Facebook" ~ Facebook press release

Across North Africa the Amazigh (Berber) population runs into the millions and this move by Facebook has been applauded by advocacy groups for the Berber language as they continue their fight for the language to be recognised by the institutions of the countries in which they live.  

The largest Amazigh community is in Morocco where they have experienced recent gains in media and social advocacy on behalf of the various Amazigh languages. 

Facebook is reported to have said that the move to include Tamazight was in response to requests from Amazigh groups from around the world.

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Will Morocco's Second Language, French, Eventually Give Way To English?

The BBC has an interesting story on the continued push for English in Morocco. The report claims that English speaking in Morocco on the increase.

Despite being independent from France for almost 50 years, French is still widely spoken in Morocco - it's the country's second official language behind Arabic. The lack of English programmes at festivals and the paucity of information for tourists in English is seen as hampering development.

But a change is coming, and with international companies demanding English speaking workers and a large youth population exposed to Western films and pop music is the appeal of speaking French waning?

Nora Fakim reports. (NOTE: The following video may not load on some smart phone and tablets)



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