Language Attitudes Among Arabic-French Bilinguals in Morocco

next page >

cover

z title: author: publisher: isbn10 | asin: print isbn13: ebook isbn13: language: subject publication date: lcc: ddc: subject:

Language Attitudes Among Arabic-French Bilinguals in Morocco Multilingual Matters (Series) ; 4 Bentahila, Abdelâli. Multilingual Matters 0905028155 9780905028156 9780585259765 English Bilingualism--Morocco, Morocco--Languages, Arabic language--Morocco, French language--Morocco, Moroccans--Attitudes. 1983 P115.5.M8B46 1983eb 306/.4 Bilingualism--Morocco, Morocco--Languages, Arabic language--Morocco, French language--Morocco, Moroccans--Attitudes.

cover

next page >

< previous page

page_i

next page > Page i

Language Attitudes among Arabic-French Bilinguals in Morocco

< previous page

page_i

next page >

< previous page

page_ii

next page > Page ii

Multilingual Matters This new series of books covers some of the many aspects of multilingualism and multiculturalism throughout the world. The series title is meant to be inclusive rather than exclusive, for we hope to publish works on languages in contactand sometimes in conflictin varying types of community. Our aim is to establish the advantages of bilingualism and multilingualism in their wider cultural settings, while at the same time identifying problems and working towards solutions. At times the series will cover fundamental theory, at others policy implementation in an educational system, and at others again, the factors involved in bringing up children bilingually in the home. 1. "Bilingualism: Basic Principles" HUGO BAETENS BEARDSMORE 2. "Evaluating Bilingual Education: A Canadian Case Study" MERRILL SWAIN AND SHARON LAPKIN 3. "Bilingual Children: Guidance for the Family" GEORGE SAUNDERS 4. "Language Attitudes Among Arabic-French Bilinguals in Morocco" ABDELÂLI BENTAHILA 5. "Conflict and Language Planning in Quebec" RICHARD Y. BOURHIS 6. "Bilingualism and Special Education" JIM CUMMINS Please contact us for the latest information on recent and forthcoming books in the series. Derrick Sharp, General Editor, Multilingual Matters, Bank House, 8a Hill Road, Clevedon, Avon BS21 7HH, England.

< previous page

page_ii

next page >

< previous page

page_iii

next page > Page iii

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS 4

Language Attitudes among Arabic-French Bilinguals in Morocco Abdelâli Bentahila

< previous page

page_iii

next page >

< previous page

page_iv

next page > Page iv

Disclaimer: This book contains characters with diacritics. When the characters can be represented using the ISO 8859-1 character set (http://www.w3.org/TR/images/latin1.gif), netLibrary will represent them as they appear in the original text, and most computers will be able to show the full characters correctly. In order to keep the text searchable and readable on most computers, characters with diacritics that are not part of the ISO 8859-1 list will be represented without their diacritical marks. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Bentahila, Abdelâli Language attitudes among Arabic-French bilinguals in Morocco (Multilingual Matters; 4) 1. Bilingualism Morocco I. Title II. Series 306'.4'0964 P115.5M/ ISBN 0-905028-15-5 Multilingual Matters Ltd. Bank House. 8a Hill Road, Clevedon. Avon BS21 7HH, Engand. Copyright © 1983 Abdelâ Bentahila All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher Typeset by Wayside Graphics. Clevedon, Avon. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Short Run Press Ltd. Exeter EX2 7LW.

< previous page

page_iv

next page >

< previous page

page_v

next page > Page v

To Eirlys

< previous page

page_v

next page >

< previous page

page_v

next page > Page v

To Eirlys

< previous page

page_v

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_vii

Page vii Contents Key to Transcription of Arabic

x

1 The Language Situation In Morocco

1 1

1.1 Morocco before the French Protectorate 6 1.2 Morocco since the French Protectorate 2 Approaches To The Study of Bilingualism

16 16

2.1 The linguist's approach 17 2.2 The psycholinguist's approach 18 2.3 The sociolinguist's approach 19 2.4 The interdisciplinary approach 20 2.5 Arabic-French bilingualism in North Africa: previous studies. 3 Languages, Attitudes And Views Of The World

27 27

3.1 The bilingual's attitude towards his languages 36 3.2 The bilingual's attitude towards code-switching 39 3.3 The relation between language use and world view 4 An Examination Of Language Choice

50 52

4.1 Identification of some factors relevant to language choice 54 4.1.1 Types of interlocutor 59 4.1.2 Types of setting 61 4.1.3 Types of topic 64 4.1.4 Types of communicative purpose or mood 66 4.1.5 The written medium 67 4.1.6 Preferences in performing certain tasks

68 4.1.7 Preferences for the media 72 4.2 The interaction of some factors relevant to language choice

< previous page

page_vii

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_viii

Page viii 5 Reactions To The Use Of Arabic, French And Code-Switching

93 95

5.1 First matched guise test 104 5.2 Second matched guise test 109 5.3 Third matched guise test 6 Problems of Language Planning

122 122

6.1 Arabization: the aspiration and the obstacles 128 6.2 The Arabic language 138 6.3 The bilingual's viewpoint 153 6.4 Re-assessment and proposals 7 Conclusion

162

Bibliography

169

Author Index

177

Subject Index

179

< previous page

page_viii

next page >

< previous page

page_ix

next page > Page ix

Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation to all those who offered me encouragement and advice while I was carrying out the research which forms the basis of this book; especially to R. A. W. Bladon, Howard Giles, Carl James, Philip S. Scholfield and Alan R. Thomas. I must also thank all those Moroccans who acted as respondents or took part in tests; I would particularly like to mention my brothers Jaouad and Rachid Bentahila, who assisted me in the collection of data. Last but not least, my deepest gratitude is due to Eirlys Davies, who helped in many ways to make this book possible. A.B. FEZ, MOROCCO JANUARY 1983

< previous page

page_ix

next page >

< previous page

page_x

next page > Page x

Key to Transcription of Arabic Consonants

Vowels

N.B. In quotations from other authors, we have preserved their transcription.

< previous page

page_x

next page >

< previous page

page_1

next page > Page 1

1 The Language Situation in Morocco This book is concerned with one particular aspect of the current language situation in Morocco: the co-existence, in the education system and elsewhere, of the two languages Arabic and French, and the bilingual individuals which this has produced. However, the findings reported in this study, and the discussion of its possible future evolution, can only be understood when placed within a wider and historical context, which will show how the present Arabic-French bilingualism evolved, and how it relates to other aspects of the language situation in Morocco. My aim in this introductory chapter, then, is to sketch briefly the background against which the investigation must be set, by tracing the evolution of the Moroccan language situation from before the French Protectorate up to the present day. 1.1 Morocco before the French Protectorate Morocco was already a bilingual country before the coming of the French colonizers in 1912, and the Berber-Arabic bilingualism which existed then is still an important part of the present language situation. Berber was the indigenous language spoken by the inhabitants of Morocco and other parts of North Africa before the Arab invasion. It is considered to belong to the Hamito-Semitic group of languages, but it is not known when or how it originally came to North Africa (see Brunot 1950a). Although the term Berber is often used as if it designated a single language, in fact it covers a number of widely differing dialects which are not altogether mutually comprehensible. Those spoken in Morocco can be divided into three groups. Tashlehait is spoken in the south-west of Morocco, from Ifni to the area of Agadir; Tamazight is spoken in an area of the Atlas mountains, stretching as far east as Taza; and the largest homogeneous group of Berber speakers is located in the north, in the Rif mountains, from which the Tarifit dialect gets its name. None of these dialects has any written form.

< previous page

page_1

next page >

< previous page

page_2

next page > Page 2

In the seventh century A.D. the Arabs invaded Morocco, spreading Islam among the hitherto pagan Berbers. The Berbers of the plains were occupied with agriculture and stockraising, and were obliged to learn Arabic in order to trade with the Arabs. The communication between Arabs and Berbers here was facilitated by the fact that they lived in close contact with one another. On the other hand, in the mountains the only contact between the two groups was that made by the Muslim Arab missionaries, who converted most of the Berbers. These mountain Berbers' knowledge of Arabic was acquired through reading the Koran and listening to the Muslim preachers who visited them. For the Berbers, then, Arabic has always been closely associated with religion, as Brunot notes: ''L'Afrique du Nord, dont c'est une particularité ("North Africa, which has the psychologique d'être rebelle à psychological peculiarity of toute différenciation, n'a pu being rebellious against any séparer langue et religion. differentiation, has not been able Tout progrès social ou to separate language and individuel s'accomplit religion. All social or individual immanquablement dans le progress is inevitably achieved sens d'une islamisation plus in the direction of a more parfaite qui va de pair avec complete islamization which une connaissance plus goes together with a more approfondie de la langue thorough knowledge of the arabe." Arabic language.") (Brunot 1950a, p. 10) Gellner (1973) also mentions the importance of the religious impact of Arabic on the Berber individual. The Berbers admitted the superiority of Arabic over their own language, probably because of this link between Arabic and religion, and maybe also because of the respect they felt for the written forms which their own language did not possess. Their favourable attitude towards Arabic also reflected a more general desire to live in harmony with the Arabs. However, although they adopted Islam and learnt Arabic, the Berbers maintained their own tribal customs and their native language, which is still the language of their homes. No doubt the survival of Berber has been helped by geographical factors, since its speakers live mainly in the mountains and in isolated areas. Even so, Berber children are usually exposed to Moroccan Arabic when they explore the world outside their home, and generally become BerberArabic bilinguals at an early age. Berbers thus adopt Berber-Arabic bilingualism as a matter of course, in the interests of everyday exchange and communication. The close contact between Berber and Arabic has led to many Arabic words being borrowed into Berber, particu-

< previous page

page_2

next page >

< previous page

page_3

next page > Page 3

larly those for concepts which did not exist in the original Berber civilization (see Brunot 1950a, p. 16). In talking of Arabic as it is used in Morocco, we have to distinguish between two quite separate varieties, which, again, are not entirely mutually comprehensible. Classical Arabic [al al fuSha *] is now the official language of Morocco. The term Classical Arabic has not always been well defined, and many other terms have been used to refer to more or less the same thing. Ferguson (1959a) claims that it originated in the poetic language, a koine used in the Arabic peninsula in the fourth century; Cohen (1962) suggests that it arose through the amalgamation of a number of Bedouin dialects. The earliest literature in it is the poetry of the first half of the sixth century, according to Gibb (1926). Scholars have distinguished different literary periods in the history of Classical Arabic. The term Pre-Islamic Arabic has been used to describe the language used by poets writing before the Islamic era (Rabin 1955), this being followed by Early Islamic Arabic, while the language of the Koran itself is often termed Koranic Arabic. The language used through the period of the Arab conquests, in the seventh and eighth centuries, is sometimes called Middle Arabic, and, according to Blau (1965), reveals the influence of the Arabs' contact with other peoples. Finally, the language used today, for instance in the press and the media, is often referred to as Modern Standard Arabic (Monteuil 1960), Journalistic Arabic (Shouby 1951) or Educated Spoken Arabic (Mitchell 1980, Meiseles 1980). However, these labels do not seem to designate clearly distinct historical changes in the development of the language, for its grammar has remained unchanged throughout all this time. The only linguistic contrasts between the various periods distinguished are ones of style and vocabulary; so the number of labels may be misleading since they do not refer to grammatically distinct varieties. Accordingly, Marçais (1961) objects to these distinctions: "Si ce qui caractérise une langue, c'en est avant tout le système grammatical, l'arabe moderne ne peut être distingué de l'arabe écrit. Il en a conservé intégralement la morphologie et la syntaxe. Et il en maintient en outre tout le vocabulaire dont il ne considère aucun élément comme désuet: de tout mot employé par les

< previous page

("If what characterizes a language is above all its grammatical system, modern Arabic cannot be distinguished from written Arabic. It has wholly preserved its morphology and syntax. Moreover it maintains all the vocabulary, no item of which it classes as obsolete; any word used by writers of past centuries can legitimately be

page_3

next page >

< previous page

page_4

next page > Page 4

écrivains des siècles passés, un écrivain contemporain peut légitimement faire usage."

used by a contemporary writer.")

(Marçais 1961, p. 108) Since in the present work we are not concerned with the history of Arabic, it will be convenient to use the term Classical Arabic alone to designate the literary language of both past and present. The peculiar historical status of this variety, noted above, will be seen to influence the kinds of attitude Moroccans have towards it. Moroccan Arabic, on the other hand, is the colloquial variety of Arabic which Moroccans acquire as their mother tongue. Like all the colloquial varieties, it is considered to be historically related to Classical Arabic (Rabin 1955), but may also show the influence of Berber (Sawri 1977), of Bedouin or of Andalusian Arabic dialects (Brunot 1950a). The considerable differences between Moroccan and Classical Arabic, at the levels of phonology, grammar and vocabulary, should not be underestimated. For instance, some of the phonemes of Classical Arabic have no counterparts in Moroccan Arabic, which also lacks many of the inflections of Classical Arabic, but exhibits more freedom in word order. Many lexical items existing in both varieties have different meanings in each, while Moroccan Arabic's vocabulary also differs from that of Classical Arabic in the large number of words which have been borrowed into it from French and Spanish. The other Arabic-speaking countries also possess colloquial varieties which differ from one another as well as from Classical Arabic. These colloquials form a continuum so that, for example, the Moroccan variety is closer to the Algerian variety than the Kuwaiti, and the Kuwaiti variety closer to the Iraqi than to Algerian or Moroccan. The Moroccan variety cannot be understood by an Iraqi, and vice versa. As Kaye (1970) points out, "many languages are all being lumped under the designation Arabic today" (p. 380). The Arabs then are not linguistically united in terms of their colloquial dialects; Chejne (1958) observes that "the Arabic spoken in the different Arab countries shows a disparity in the use of language as great as any of the divisive elements which separate the Arabs in the political, economic and governmental systems" (p. 14). The uniting factor is only Classical Arabic. The two varieties of Arabic used in Morocco today can be said to stand in a diglossic relationship (see Ferguson 1959b), each having different functions and different status. Classical Arabic is the prestigious variety, the bearer of the literary heritage, whereas Moroccan Arabic is not socially valued in the same way; to use Ferguson's terms, we can call Classical Arabic

< previous page

page_4

next page >

< previous page

page_5

next page > Page 5

the High variety (H) and Moroccan Arabic the Low variety (L). The two fulfil quite different functions in Moroccan society. Moroccan Arabic is acquired as the first language, the language of the home, while Classical Arabic is learnt only in a formal educational context. Only Classical Arabic has a written form; thus Classical Arabic is used for literature, newspapers, broadcasting and religious ceremonies, while Moroccan Arabic is the language of everyday conversation and folk literature which is transmitted orally. Frayha (1955, p. 17) describes the colloquial as "the language of life" and the classical as "the language of the book". The contrast between the two is further emphasized by the peculiar prestige of Classical Arabic as a sacred language, that used by God to give his message to the Prophet. All this leads people to have diametrically opposed views of the two, Classical Arabic being considered so much superior to Moroccan Arabic that some Moroccans claim that not to know Classical Arabic is not to know Arabic at all. The sharply contrasting attitudes towards the two varieties are revealed in the findings discussed in 3.1; and it will be shown in Chapter Six that the existence of this diglossic situation poses certain problems for the present language situation and its future evolution. Before the French colonization, then, Morocco's language situation was already complex, with the co-existence of Berber and the two varieties of Arabic. Of these it was Classical Arabic which was the language of the traditional education system, which dates back to the islamicization of Morocco in the seventh century. This was a three tier system, comprising the Koranic primary schools [msi:d], the Koranic secondary schools ([ ] or [lmdarSa], and the University of Karaouine; both the primary schools and the university still exist today in their original form, but the secondary schools have now been integrated into the modern system. Children were sent to Koranic schools from the age of four onwards, and here they became familiar with Classical Arabic by memorizing the Koran and writing passages from it on slates. They were also taught some arithmetic. The teacher was considered a religious authority and consulted by the parents, who paid him privately whatever they could afford. By the age of puberty, pupils were able to write Classical Arabic and to recite the Koran by heart; they were then able to go on to the secondary school, if their parents could afford it, or to learn a craft, if not. The curriculum in the secondary school was based on Islamic scholarship, including jurisprudence and philosophy; and a large part of the syllabus was devoted to the study of Classical Arabic grammar, the grammatical rules being presented in the form of a long poem, the [alfja], ("one thousand verses") which pupils learned by heart. On leaving secondary school they could obtain jobs as teachers, religious counsellors, notaries or scribes. The University of

< previous page

page_5

next page >

< previous page

page_6

next page > Page 6

Karaouine, founded as early as 859 A.D., played an important role in forming the learned élite, not only of Morocco but of the whole Islamic world, for it was a famous centre for scholars. Studies included Islamic matters such as theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, philology, logic and literature. Astronomy, mathematics and medicine were also studied. Graduates from this university received the title of Oulama (Islamic scholars), and are still today considered "the representatives of Quranic doctrine" and are "always the guides of public opinion" (Brown 1965, p. 100). In the nineteenth century, there were attempts to reform this traditional religious system of education, which had continued unchanged since the Middle Ages, but this brought no conclusive results. By the reign of Hassan I (1873-1894), the number of students had fallen to a thousand (A1 Jabiri 1973), and continued to decline; the famous Karaouine became "merely the shadow of the great University which, in the middle ages, has numbered a future Pope among its students: now it was incapable of attracting anyone from abroad" (Bidwell 1973, p. 248). This decline made it easier for the French to impose their own system of education upon Morocco once the Protectorate was established. 1.2 Morocco since the French Protectorate In 1912 the French came to Morocco, seemingly with the idea of educating a Moroccan élite to speak and think like them, and to believe in the universality and superiority of the French culture and language, which they imposed as "the only language of civilisation and advancement" (Bourhis 1982, p. 14). Their policy was to encourage the Moroccans to forget their own culture and adopt the French one, an aim which they pursued in a way summed up in a French saying quoted by Gordon (1962, p. 7): "When the Portuguese colonized, they built churches; when the British colonized, they built trading stations; when the French colonize, they build schools". The imposition of a French education system was in fact a means of conquering the country, as is observed by Besnard (quoted in Bidwell 1973, p. 237): "Pour l'établissement durable de notre influence dans le pays, chaque école ouverte vaut mieux qu'une bataille gagnée".

("For the purpose of the permanent establishment of our influence in the country, every school which is opened is worth more than a battle won".)

The French policy had the effect of introducing a new lifestyle, a new set of values, and of encouraging the Moroccan to reject everything which belonged to his own culture. Thus Memmi (1973), describing the position of the colonized North African, writes:

< previous page

page_6

next page >

< previous page

page_7

next page > Page 7

"La mémoire qu'on lui ("The memory which is made constitue n'est sûrement pas up for him is certainly not that celle de son peuple. L'histoire of his own people. The history qu'on lui apprend n'est pas la he is taught is not his own . . . sienne . . . On a déclaré au The colonized individual has colonisé que sa musique, c'est been told that his music is the des miaulements de chat, sa caterwauling of a cat, his peinture du sirop de sucre. Il painting a sugary syrup. He répète que sa musique est repeats that his music is vulgaire et sa peinture vulgar and his painting écoeurante." sickening.") (Memmi 1973, pp. 133-150) The new system of education which was introduced alongside the traditional Moroccan one was based on that which existed in France, its main objective being to provide the French colonizers with a sufficient number of employees for the routine clerical work required at the lower levels of administration. Three kinds of school were established at the beginning of the Protectorate. First there were the European schools, reserved mainly for the French population of Morocco, whose syllabuses were identical to those used in France. Of Moroccan children, only those from the élite upper class were admitted to these schools. Secondly, there were the Franco-Islamic schools, which were of several types according to the social class of the pupils' parents. The "écoles des ills de notables" were primary schools in urban areas, reserved for a limited number of upper class children. The "écoles rurales" were for country children. Only the best pupils from the "notables" schools, and some exceptionally bright ones from the others, were allowed to go on to secondary school. The education in all these schools was officially called bilingual, but in fact French was the main language of instruction. Children were taught for twenty hours a week in French, and had to learn about French history and culture, instead of that of their own country. Classical Arabic was learnt through religious studies. Finally, there were the Franco-Jewish schools, where the study of Hebrew and the Jewish religion played the same role as did the study of Classical Arabic and Islam in the Franco-Islamic schools. The teaching methods in all these schools differed considerably from those of the traditional Moroccan schools. In the French system emphasis was put on clarity of expression and logical analysis of texts, whereas the traditional system was based very largely on memorization. Higher education was represented by two institutes attached to the Universities of Bordeaux and Algiers. The Institut des Hautes Etudes Marocaines was established in 1921 for research in the social sciences, while the Institut Scientifique Chérifien, established at the same

< previous page

page_7

next page >

< previous page

page_8

next page > Page 8

time, offered studies in science. However, most of the small numbers of Moroccans who received a higher education did so in France. This French system was not very popular among Moroccans, because it was very selective, competitive and even aristocratic. Only a very small number of Moroccans were able to benefit from it; thus in 1938 there were only 23,270 Moroccans in primary schools of the Franco-Islamic type, and a mere 608 in the Franco-Islamic secondary schools, and even in 1945 the numbers of Moroccan pupils were only 41,490 in primary and 1,003 in secondary schools (figures taken from Al Jabiri 1973, p. 37). The number of Moroccans trained as professional staff under the French was accordingly also very small, as is illustrated in Table 1, taken from Souffles No. 20/21 (1971, p. 2). TABLE 1 Profession

Numbers of professional staff in Morocco in 1955 Moroccans French Muslims Jews Doctors 19 17 875 Chemists 6 11 330 Veterinary surgeons 0 0 98 Engineers 15 15 2,500 High administrative staff 165 0 6,400 The small numbers of pupils who went on to secondary education can be explained by the high drop out rate which is characteristic of the French system. For instance, according to Al Jabiri (1973, p. 43), in 1951 the percentage of those registered in primary education who would actually complete it was only seven, and the system was so selective that during the whole period from 1926 to 1945 only fifty Moroccans obtained their Baccalauréat (the secondary school leaving certificate). In fact, then, very few Moroccans really profited from the new system; the majority of those who went to school struggled to acquire the knowledge of French necessary for the Certificat d'Etudes Primaires (primary school leaving certificate) which would allow them, for instance, to get a simple clerical job in the Post Office and so join the ranks of government employees, while at the same time alienating them from their own language and culture and forcing them to pay allegiance to France. The French also exploited education further through the establishment of the Dahir Berbère (Berber Decree) of 1930. This involved the creation of yet another type of school, where French and Berber were taught, but Arabic was not. The aim was to prepare a new generation of Berbers

< previous page

page_8

next page >

< previous page

page_9

next page > Page 9

integrated into the French Christian culture instead of the Arabic Islamic one, and thereby to break down the cultural and linguistic solidarity existing between Arabs and Berbers, and intensify the separation of the two ethnic groups. Moroccan nationalists, angry at this policy of divide-and-rule, accused the French of attempting to weaken the position of Arabic and Islam. In reaction to this policy, they set up private Islamic schools called [al mada:ris al hurra *], from which French was excluded. Pupils followed the traditional system of education, concentrating on Classical Arabic and religion, and were called Arabisants. This may in fact have led some people to become even more traditional in outlook, in reaction against the values of the modern French system. The association between Arabic and religion and tradition may thus have been strengthened in the mind of Moroccans, while French received connotations of modernism and advancement. The contrast thus developed is summed up in some remarks by Calvet (1974), who comments that: "La langue dominante occupe ("The dominant language le domaine profane, c'est à [French] occupies the domain dire tout ce qui concerne la of the secular, i.e. everything vie quotidienne, to do with everyday life, l'administration . . . les administration, technology, techniques, la politique, les politics, studies etc., while the études etc., tandis que la dominated language [Arabic] langue dominée est refoulée is driven back to the domain vers le domaine sacré. Ainsi of the sacred. Thus the l'opposition langue dominée- dominated-dominating langue dominante se trouve language opposition is convertie en opposition entre converted into an opposition ancien et nouveau." between old and new.") (Calvet 1974, p. 77) This opposition in turn worked in favour of French, making it the language for those who wanted to participate in what was called "le Maroc Utile" ("Useful Morocco") (Lamalif No. 58, 1973, pp. 12-13)the modern sector which was developing industry, mechanized agriculture, transport, banks, insurance and commerce. In contrast, Arabic remained the medium of operation for the traditional Moroccan sector, which dealt with traditional agriculture, craftsmen's work, and so on. Thus the opposition between old and new, present and past became more and more pronounced, the traditional systems being seen as outdated and impractical in contrast to the French ones. The French system of education in Morocco before Independence was thus a vehicle for the policy of divide-and-rule, designed to multiply the

< previous page

page_9

next page >

< previous page

page_10

next page > Page 10

types of schools, to encourage the separation of Arabs and Berbers, and to contrast sharply with the traditional Moroccan system of education with which it co-existed, thereby producing two conflicting mentalities. Morocco could thus be said to exemplify the tendency which Hapgood (1965) suggests was characteristic of African countries on which a French education system was imposed: "Education was a weapon of social division rather than integration" (p. 122). Once Independence had been achieved in 1956, one might have expected there to be a strong reaction against the use of French in Morocco; for example, Moroccans might have wished to eradicate the system set up by the French altogether and return to the traditional system which was felt to be truly Moroccan. In fact, however, this did not happen, and the influence of the French language and culture in the Moroccan education system has remained strong long after independence. One change was that the multiplicity of types of state school was reduced. The period of primary education was fixed at five years, as it is today. At present children are admitted at the age of seven and are instructed in Arabic alone for the first two years, French being introduced in the third year. Secondary education lasts for seven years and is divided into two cycles, the first lasting four years and leading to the Certificat d'Etudes Secondaires, while the second cycle involves specialization in literary or scientific studies and leads to the Baccalauréat. Private schools exist alongside the state ones. These include the original schools created by the Nationalists during the Protectorate, which have now adapted their programmes to correspond to those of the state schools, since their objective is to prepare pupils for university. Pupils who are excluded from state schools because of repeated failure or age are usually admitted to these schools. The other private schools are those European schools which have been preserved and are now organized by the Mission Universitaire Culturelle Française (M.U.C.F.). These were maintained after independence thanks to a cultural agreement between France and Morocco, reached in 1957, which entitled the French to provide education for 75,000 French pupils in its own schools in Morocco. Gordon (1962) reports that Morocco had the largest M.U.C.F. in the world in 1960-61. It ran eight secondary schools, forty-eight primary schools, six French cultural centres, twelve cultural "foyers" and ten audio-visual centres. Baina (1981) indicates that in 1967 there were 9,650 Moroccan pupils in the M.U.C.F. schools, constituting 38% of the total number of pupils, of whom 50% were French and 12% of other nationalities. The only change in the curricula of these French schools has been the

< previous page

page_10

next page >

< previous page

page_11

next page > Page 11

introduction of Arabic, which is now taught in them as a foreign language! The Franco-Jewish schools have also been preserved under the supervision of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. In higher education, the two institutes mentioned earlier were replaced by University Mohamed V in Rabat, which also controls several colleges and institutes. Other universities have since been established in Fez, Casablanca, Oujda and Marrakech. The University of Karaouine has been preserved as it was, but another modern university, University Mohamed Ben Abdellah, has been established beside it. During the Protectorate, education was available only to a very small percentage of Moroccans. Independence resulted in an enormous expansion of education, which at some points led to serious problems, since there were insufficient teachers, classrooms and funds (see also 6.1). Table 2 illustrates the enormous increases in numbers of pupils which have continued since then. TABLE 2 Year

Numbers of students/pupils since Independence Number of students/pupils Primary education 1955-1956 207.428 1965-1966 1,030,826 1975-1976 1,547,647 1979-1980 2,051,862 Secondary education 1959-1960 23,000 1964-1965 146,575 1974-1975 403.673 1979-1980 726,595 Higher education 1963-1964 7,310 1971-1972 15,148 1975-1976 35,037 1980-1981 86,843 (Figures taken from Al Jabiri 1973; Le Maroc en Chiffres 1976, 1980 [B.M.C.E. Casablanca]: Service de Statistiques, Ministère de l'Education Nationale, Rabat.) However, this expansion in education was not accompanied by equally dramatic changes in the curricula, which continued to be strongly influenced by the French system of education. For reasons to be discussed in detail in

< previous page

page_11

next page >

< previous page

page_12

next page > Page 12

Chapter Six, French had to be maintained alongside Arabic as a medium of instruction. It was recognized at the outset that bilingualism would be necessary for some time in the interests of modernization, economic development and the generalization of education. Thus in 1957 the newspaper Al Alam was declaring that Moroccans ''intend to conserve the use of French not so much through love of France, but by the necessity of having an opening into the West" (quoted in Zartman 1964, p. 158). It is this practical need for French which has given it the important role in the Moroccan education system which it still performs today, despite the strong ideological arguments for excluding it which have continued to be voiced since independence. The role of French in primary education has gradually been diminished. However, as recently as 1978 arithmetic and elementary natural science were taught through the medium of French, though a programme to replace this with Arabic is now in progress. The more advanced a child gets in his studies, the more he has to use French; in secondary school French is still the medium of instruction for all scientific subjects. A recent proposal by the National Education Commission (reported in L'Opinion, 7/5/1982) is to exclude French from primary education altogether, and to teach it in secondary school only as a foreign language; but it is not clear when or if this plan will ever be carried out. As for higher education, it seems likely that French will remain indispensable here. It is the only language of instruction used in the faculties of medicine, science and engineering; the faculties of law possess separate French and Arabic sections; and while the arts faculties have various modern language departments, the French departments are among the largest of these. The continued importance of French in the Moroccan education system can be seen in the number of expatriate French teachers working within Moroccan state schools. According to Baina (1981) the numbers decreased slightly during the period following independence up to 1963, but after this began to increase again. The increased facilities for training Moroccan teachers have meant that in recent years fewer foreign teachers have been required; but in 1978-1979 there were still 4,340 French people teaching in Moroccan state education, 3,797 in the secondary schools and 517 in the universities. In fact these French secondary school teachers represented 13% of the total number of teachers working in secondary schools, while at the universities the French made up 25% of the entire teaching staff. The importance of French teachers is particularly striking in the domains of mathematics and science, as is illustrated in Table 3, which gives figures for 1975-1976.

< previous page

page_12

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_13

Page 13 TABLE 3 Subject

Secondary school teachers of science, 1975-1976 Nationality 1st cycle 2nd cycle Moroccan 1,204 89 Mathematics French 1,143 350

Natural Science

Others Moroccan French

28 616 269

211 63 328

Physics & Chemistry

Others Moroccan French

22 383 141

64 52 374

Others

31

95

Clearly, then, the legacy of French culture and the French language in Morocco is still an important one more than twenty years after independence. Baina (1981) predicts that while the numbers of French people teaching in secondary education are likely to decrease, at the level of higher education they will undoubtedly increase. The influence of French is also profound in many areas of activity outside the education system. There are no available statistics about the number of people who use French in Morocco today, although according to estimates by Gallagher (1968, p. 134) there were in 1964 four million people who could speak French and 800,000 who could read it. Today the figures must clearly be much higher, because of the expansion in education as well as the population increase. But as well as all those who pass through the education system and become literate bilinguals, there must also be many more who acquire a knowledge of French because their work or home environment brings them into contact with French-speaking people. As Lanly, in his study of the French used in North Africa, points out, "Parmi les Musulmans ("Among the Muslims of d'Afrique du Nord utilisant le North Africa who use French français, on trouve route la we find the whole range of gamme des sujets parlants, speakers, from the depuis l'intellectuel tier de la intellectual who is proud of pureté de sa langue . . . jusqu' à the purity of his speech . . . l'homme des casernes, des to the man of the barracks, chantiers et des champs qui the building site and the connait * quelques mots encore fields, who knows a few mal prononcés et emploie des words which he pronounces phrases rudimentaires et badly and uses basic, d'usage courant." everyday sentences.") (Lanly 1962, pp. 20-21)

< previous page

page_13

next page >

< previous page

page_14

next page > Page 14

Certainly for many many Moroccans French plays an important part in their everyday life outside work and education. There is for instance a radio station which operates exclusively in the French language, with programmes ranging from the educational (lectures relayed from the Sorbonne in Paris) to the light-hearted (French and European pop music). Another radio station is bilingual, using a mixture of French and Arabic spread evenly through the day. The Moroccan television system provides programmes in both French and Arabic; the French programmes, which represent one third of the total output, include national and international news, films, plays and programmes originating from other countries which are dubbed into French, and there is also much advertising through the medium of French. There are also several daily newspapers published in Morocco which are in French, and according to figures given by Tiers & Ruf (1975, pp. 331-332), the circulation of these French language newspapers is more than double that of the daily papers in Arabic. In addition to the Moroccan newspapers published in French, there are also the French national newspapers, which are available daily in all the newsagents in the towns. There are also a number of Moroccan monthly and weekly publications in French, dealing with cultural, political and economic affairs; and, of course, French magazines are also readily available. The cinema, too, plays a part in maintaining the French language and culture. The majority of films shown in Moroccan cinemas, which regularly attract packed audiences, are either French productions or other foreign films dubbed into French. This can be seen from a glimpse at one of the daily papers which carry cinema advertisements; for instance, the issue of L'Opinion dated 3/2/1982 has advertisements for nine cinemas in Rabat, offering thirteen films in French and one Indian film dubbed in Arabic, while of ten cinemas advertised in Casablanca, seven offer films in French and three Arabic films. French also plays a very important part in the administrative and economic sectors. This of course reflects the still strong economic links with France, which is by far the most important of Morocco's trade partners; in 1980, France made up 25.2% of Morocco's export market and 24.8% of Morocco's imports came from France (figures from "Le Maroc en Chiffres" 1980). Trading links with Europe as a whole are far more extensive than those with, say, other Arab countries; in 1980, 80.3% of Morocco's exports and 63.3% of its imports involved trade with Europe, as opposed to only 3.5% of exports and 19% of imports involving trade with other Arab countries.

< previous page

page_14

next page >

< previous page

page_15

next page > Page 15

A good knowledge of French is still required for many administrative posts. The following observations, made by Gallagher in 1968, seem to be largely true today: "It may be stated flatly that in Morocco today the non-French-speaking candidate has no chance of getting a good government job or advancing himself in any ministry except Justice, Religious Affairs, or in specialised functions in the Interior (police work) or Education. High level posts in key ministries like Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Industry, Planning, Public Health, Defense . . . and Agriculture, as well as in the many specialized offices dealing with production and technical matters, are virtually closed to the monolingual Arabophone, not to mention jobs in important commercial or industrial enterprises in private business." (Gallagher 1968, p. 143) French is above all essential for any work in the domains of science, technology and medicine. Its importance here is reflected in the strength of the French co-operation scheme, which involves the expatriation of a large number of French engineers, doctors and specialists. Finally, one could mention the widespread use of French in notices and documents. Although Arabic is the only official language of Morocco, it is usual for French to be used alongside Arabic in road signs, names of shops and so on. Printed material in places such as banks, airports, travel agencies and post offices is usually in both Arabic and French. Documents and contracts in banks or building societies tend to be printed only in French, though recently more bilingual versions have been insisted on. Post Office telegrams, medical prescriptions, police reports of road accidents, and menus in hotels and restaurants all tend to be exclusively in French. It can be seen then that the French language and its culture were not quickly eradicated from Morocco once independence had been achieved. On the contrary, French still has a very large part to play in the day-to-day running of Morocco and the everyday life and work of large numbers of its people. It has been found to be an essential tool in the modernization of Morocco; and Gellner (1973), for one, feels that for this reason it will not be rapidly excluded: "I believe the impact of French culture in North Africa to be profound and permanent. In his heart, the North African knows not merely that God speaks Arabic, but also that modernity speaks French" (p. 19). More light will be shed on the present situation by this study, which looks at Moroccans' feelings towards French and the roles it fulfils.

< previous page

page_15

next page >

< previous page

page_16

next page > Page 16

2 Approaches to the Study of Bilingualism The phenomenon of bilingualism, though it may initially be defined in primarily linguistic terms, can also be seen as a psychological and a sociological phenomenon. Accordingly, it has attracted the attention of scholars from a variety of disciplines; as well as linguists, psychologists, sociologists and educationalists have taken an interest in this phenomenon. Some of the diverse viewpoints from which the subject has been examined are mentioned below. 2.1 The Linguist's Approach Linguists have not always agreed even on their definitions of what constitutes an instance of bilingualism; their views have ranged from that of Bloomfield (1933) and Christophersen (1948), who define bilinguals as those having "nativelike control of two languages" (Bloomfield 1933, p. 56), to that of Diebold (1961), who accepts that a bilingual may have only a receptive knowledge of one of his languages. Clearly there is a need to distinguish between bilinguals who are far more proficient in one language than in the other, and who can therefore be said to be dominant in this language, and those that have been termed "balanced bilinguals" (Lambert, Havelka & Gardner 1959), who possess equal fluency in both languages. There have been some attempts to measure and compare the bilingual's proficiency in each language, but as Hornby (1977) points out, no technique has yet been devised which can take into consideration all the variables affecting such an assessment. Linguists investigating bilingualism have also been concerned with the study of interference; as Ma & Herasimchuk (1971) put it, they are interested in "the structural perturbations (phonological, grammatical, and lexical) which one language causes in another when the two of them come into

< previous page

page_16

next page >

< previous page

page_17

next page > Page 17

contact" (p. 352). Most studies have focussed on the transfer of rules of the first-learnt language into the second, but there have also been discussions of the influence of the second language on the first (Diebold 1961, Weinreich 1974) and of the influence of the second language on the learning of a third one (Bentahila 1975). There has also been interest in the strategies used by people in the process of becoming bilingual, who are still learning the second language, and in the "interlanguage" (Selinker 1972) or "idiosyncratic dialects" (Corder 1971) which they develop during this period. Another area which has aroused some interest from a purely linguistic point of view is the phenomenon of codeswitching, where the bilingual changes from one language to the other, perhaps several times within a single utterance. Linguists have been concerned to provide syntactic specifications of the environments where code-switching may occur. Grammatical constraints on code-switching have been postulated by Gumperz (1976), Kachru (1977), McClure and Wentz (1975), Pfaff (1976, 1979), Poplack (1980) and Timm (1975, 1977). 2.2 The Psycholinguist's Approach Psychologists have been interested in the analysis of bilingualism at the micro-level, concentrating on the individual as the locus of bilingualism. The earliest psychological studies of bilingualism were made out of concern for its practical implications; both psychologists and educationalists have studied the relationship between bilingualism and intelligence. Early investigations of this topic, such as Saer (1923), purported to show that bilingual-ism was associated with lower scores on intelligence tests, but flaws have since been found in those studies, which, for instance, failed to take into account socio-economic differences between subjects. More recent experiments have suggested that bilinguals are superior to comparable monolinguals in tasks requiring the manipulation of language (Ben Zeev 1977, Peal & Lambert 1962) and even on other tests of intellectual ability (Balkan 1970, Peal & Lambert 1962). Another topic which has attracted much debate is that of the distinction between compound and co-ordinate bilinguals, which was first proposed by Weinreich (1974). Compound bilinguals have been defined as those who have a single semantic network covering the two languages, which are learnt in the same cultural context; while co-ordinate bilinguals are those for whom corresponding words in the two languages may have a different meaning in each, because they have acquired the two in different contexts (see Osgood & Ervin 1954). Lambert (1969) introduced the factor of age into the definition. However, studies of aphasics (Lambert & Fillenbaum 1959) and ex-

< previous page

page_17

next page >

< previous page

page_18

next page > Page 18

periments testing translation skills (Lambert, Havelka & Crosby 1958) have failed to provide any very convincing evidence for the distinction; Macnamara (1967) claims that it is only observable in the field of affective meaning, and Shaffer (1976) remains doubtful of its validity. Psychologists have also been interested in the processes of becoming bilingual, and in how the bilingual child analyzes his second language (see Ben Zeev 1977). There has been some investigation of the way in which the bilingual's attitudes towards his languages, especially the second, may affect his success at learning this second language; Lambert (1967) reports on differences in the effects of integrative and instrumental orientation towards a second language. In some cases it has been observed that bilinguals experience feelings of insecurity and dissatisfaction with either or both of their languages, an effect which Lambert (1967) terms "anomie". More generally, language attitudes have been discussed by Cooper & Fishman (1974), and Lewis (1981), who distinguishes four types of language attitude. 2.3 The Sociolinguist's Approach The possession of two languages may be studied, not as a property of individuals, but as a property of whole communities. Fishman (1971) prefers to restrict the use of the term bilingualism to descriptions of individuals, while he uses the term diglossia to refer to social groups in which two languages are used and fulfil different roles. Fishman does not define diglossia in the same way as do those like Marçais (1930) and Ferguson (1959b), who use the term to describe a society which uses two distinct varieties of the same language, one of which possesses prestige while the other does not (see 1.1). Instead he uses the term more broadly, simply to describe all cases where there are "functionally differentiated languages of whatever kind" (Fishman 1971, p. 540). Showing that bilingualism and diglossia are independent of each other, he identifies four different types of language community, characterized by the presence or absence of either or both of these. Sociolinguists look at the ways in which language use reflects and represents socio-cultural values. The study of bilingual or multilingual communities may be a particularly illuminating field for them, since here linguistic variation may be more obvious and more readily identified than in monolingual societies. As Pride & Holmes (1972) observe, "dialectal and stylistic variations will always tend to convey different social meanings, but it may on the whole be easier to identify the object of study in the case of languages as such, within bilingual or multilingual speech communities" (p. 7).

< previous page

page_18

next page >

< previous page

page_19

next page > Page 19

One area which has attracted much attention is the way in which the bilingual's choice of language in particular situations correlates with various social factors. Fishman (1972) introduces the concept of "domains" or spheres of activity in investigating this question. Experiments have shown that such factors as the nature of the interlocutor, the type of setting and the kind of topic under discussion may have varying degrees of influence on the choice of language (see for instance Greenfield 1968, Greenfield & Fishman 1971). A variety of other oppositions have also been claimed to correlate with patterns of language use. The distinction between formal and informal situations and language has often been appealed to (see Labov 1972); and Gumperz (1964) draws a distinction between "personal" and "transactional" relationships, Brown & Gilman (1968) one between relationships of power and relationships of solidarity, and Fishman (1966) one between "high culture" and "low culture'' domains which correlates with some of the others. Also of interest to sociolinguists and social psychologists is the link between the languages of a community and its cultural values. Bilingualism may be accompanied by biculturalism, in which case the bilingual community will possess two sets of such values, associating a different set with each language. These differences of association may in turn mean that an individual speaker is likely to be perceived differently by other members of the community according to which language he is using. In fact the matched guise technique, devised by Lambert (see Lambert et al 1960) to investigate this possibility, has been used with bilinguals in a variety of countries and has produced considerable evidence to suggest that the bilingual may present quite different images to his society depending on which language he uses. Another possibility is that the individual, influenced by the associations of language and cultural values within his particular community, may himself tend to fluctuate between two types of cultural outlook, according to which language he is using. Ervin-Tripp (1967) found some evidence of such differences in outlook among Japanese-English bilinguals. 2.4 The Interdisciplinary Approach The above brief survey has shown that, as Hornby (1977) observes, "bilingualism, like any other important social or behavioural phenomenon, does not fall neatly within the boundaries of any single discipline" (p. 8). Not surprisingly, then, Fishman (1968) suggests that an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on psychology, sociology and linguistics, could prove to be the most valuable to the study of bilingualism. Such an approach involves looking at the same phenomenon from more than one viewpoint, and may

< previous page

page_19

next page >

< previous page

page_20

next page > Page 20

provide insights and explanations which might not otherwise be evident. For instance, a sociolinguistic study can establish patterns of usage within a speech community, showing that one language is preferred over the other for certain purposes; but the explanation of these patterns may be provided only by a psychological study of attitudes and associations within the individual speaker. As Ludovicy (1954) points out: "Il est impossible de dégager ("It is impossible to separate le bilinguisme des multiples bilingualism from the circonstances politiques, numerous political, social, sociales, économiques, economic, educational and éducatives et culturelles qui cultural circumstances which le conditionnent et surround it and engulf it to l'enveloppent, si bien qu'il n'ysuch an extent that there are a pas un, mais des not one but several bilinguismes souvent bilingualisms which are often irréductibles et dont les effets irreducible, and the good or heureux ou nocifs sont très bad effects of which are diversement appréciés par les appreciated in different ways auteurs." by writers.") (Ludovicy 1954. p. 152) The present study will therefore not be bound to the methods of any one discipline, but will approach the subject from a number of angles. It looks at Arabic-French bilingualism both as a property of the individual and as a feature of the whole speech community. It examines the bilingual's attitudes to his languages and to his use of them, and looks at the possibility that the attitudes and opinions he expresses may vary according to which language he is using to express them. There is also a study of the patterns of language use within the bilingual community, and an investigation of the way in which the community's perception of an individual may be influenced by the language he uses. 2.5 Arabic-French Bilingualism in North Africa: Previous Studies No two instances of societal bilingualism are likely to be identical in all respects; as Sharp (1973) observes, "each bilingual community is unique" (p. 11). Within Morocco, for instance, there is, alongside the Arabic-French bilingualism which is our concern here, a Berber-Arabic bilingualism which differs from the former in a number of ways. The Berber's need to learn Arabic would seem to be more urgent than the Arabic-speaker's need to learn French; only when he becomes bilingual does the Berber have access to a written language and to the official national language. In a similar way Arabic-French bilingualism can be contrasted with the bilingualism which exists in Wales or among immigrant groups in the United States; a know-

< previous page

page_20

next page >

< previous page

page_21

next page > Page 21

ledge of French in Morocco is not as essential as a knowledge of English in these situations, for it is Arabic which is the official language of Morocco. Arabic-French bilingualism also differs in an important respect from the bilingualism of countries such as Switzerland, Belgium, Finland and Canada, where there are two or more speech communities, each with a different mother tongue; for French is not the first language of any section of Moroccan society. It is instead introduced only via the education system, and in this respect its position could be compared to that of, say, French and German in Luxemburg and Alsace. The role of French in Morocco is also to be distinguished from that of English in West Africa, which serves as a lingua franca; for instance, in Ghana, where there are forty-two first languages, English, as the second language, serves to unite the speakers of all these. French serves no such unifying function in Morocco; if anything, it could be said to have a divisive effect, since not all the population are able to speak it. As for the other Arab-speaking countries, French seems to be more widely used in Morocco and the other Francophone North African countries, Algeria and Tunisia, than English is used in countries such as Iraq, Egypt and Syria. Of the Middle Eastern countries, perhaps Lebanon presents the bilingual situation most similar to that of Morocco. Abou (1962) discusses several factors which contribute to making French-Arabic bilingualism widespread in Lebanon, some of which, such as work and education, play similar roles in Morocco. However, the important difference is that in Lebanon French is inextricably bound up with the religious and political situation; for the Christian community in Lebanon, French has special value for its associations with Western culture. In Morocco, on the other hand, where almost everyone is Muslim, Arabic has a special prestige as the vehicle of this religion, whereas in Lebanon it has no such associations for a large part of the population. The position of the Lebanese Christian might be compared with that of the small Jewish minority in Morocco; the latter, too, are not completely assimilated into the Arabic culture in which they live, and so tend to use French instead of Arabic where possible. However, the number of Jews is so small that, unlike the Lebanese Christians, they have no significant influence on the linguistic situation in Morocco as a whole. Studies of bilingualism in North Africa are still in their infancy, especially in comparison to the work that has been done on bilingual communities in North and South America and even in Europe. Much of the literature on bilingualism in North Africa consists of emotional and subjective complaints about the present situation and its origins in French colonialism. It is, for instance, one of the burning issues of the Moroccan press. It has been

< previous page

page_21

next page >

< previous page

page_22

next page > Page 22

claimed to be the source of all kinds of problems within Moroccan society, being felt to be the cause of such evils as: ("A society which is broken and "Une societé coupée, fragmented, energy which is atomisée, des énergies misdirected, an élite which is déviées, une éite discouraged, ashamed, découragée, honteuse, unfortunate, low educational malheureuse, un bas standards which have niveau scolaire qui se repercussions for the whole répercute sur l'ensemble." [society].") (Lamalif No. 58, 1973, p. 14). On the other hand, others argue just as vehemently against this pessimistic view of bilingualism, rejecting the claim that it results in a lack of culture and a loss of identity, and arguing instead that it is something to be valued: "Et si nous parlons français, perdons-nous pour autant ("And if we speak French, do notre âme, notre être, notre we for that lose our soul, our moi, notre religion? . . . A côté being, our ego, our religion? de cela parlons aussi . . . Besides that, let us also l'espagnol, l'anglais, nous n'en speak Spanish, English; we serions que plus riches, que would be only more enriched, plus épanouis." more open to the world.") (Maghreb 24/4/78, p. 32) With the current trend towards Arabisation in Morocco, there has been much debate as to whether bilingualism is primarily a source of enrichment or a source of psychological problems such as the "latent schizophrenia" which Pieris (1951) believes is present in most bilinguals. It seems to me, however, that any such discussion must first recognize that not all Moroccan bilinguals are alike; they range from those who have a minimal and purely oral knowledge of French to those who speak and write fluently in both French and Arabic. This point is made by Blondel & Décorsière (1962), who classify the members of North African speech communities into five categories, suggesting that the "possibilité d'enrichissement" will vary in each case. They suggest that bilingualism will be a source of enrichment for the intellectual élite, who can function equally well in both languages, but may lead to conflict in the case of those for whom the two languages represent the separate worlds of home (Arabic) and work (French). Similarly, for those who remain clearly dominant in Arabic, French may be simply a useful tool, but others may suffer because they are not really proficient in either language. Their last category, that of monolingual Arabic speakers, will avoid the risk of conflict and confusion, but may suffer from feelings of inferiority.

< previous page

page_22

next page >

< previous page

page_23

next page > Page 23

This division of bilinguals into different categories seems to me to be very important. The advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism will clearly vary with the degree of proficiency and of acculturation reached. Perhaps those who suffer least from the adverse effects of bilingualism are those at the top and bottom of the continuum. On the one harrd, there are a fortunate few who have the intellectual and educational resources necessary to derive the full benefit from a thorough acquaintance with two languages and two cultures; and on the other, there are those whose knowledge of the French language and culture never becomes deep enough to threaten their essentially Arabic outlook. However, in between these two extremes, there may be bilinguals whose knowledge of French has perhaps adversely affected their performance in Arabic, and who have undergone a partial acculturation, so that they no longer feel at ease with the traditional Arabic outlook, yet neither are they able to become fully westernized. However, in discussions of Moroccan bilingualism there has been little recognition of these differences. The contrasting opinions about the effects of bilingualism on Moroccan society, illustrated by the quotations given earlier, may perhaps be attributed to the fact that the writers have in mind different types of bilingual. Not surprisingly, perhaps, it is the problematic side of Arabic-French bilingualism which seems to have attracted most attention. Strong criticism comes, for instance, from Guessous (1976), who considers this bilingualism to have detrimental effects on the individual and on society as a whole. He claims that bilingual children often stutter, suffer from dyslexia, are shy and passive and intellectually retarded. Moreover, he feels that bilingualism may cause social conflicts between the arabisants and the bilinguals. Thirdly, he sees the bilingual as torn between two choices, with disastrous consequences: "S'agissant d'un choix entre ("Faced with a choice un bien et un autre bien, il y a between one benefit and finalement tiraillement de another, the individual ends l'individu entre les deux up in a tug-of-war between cultures. Tiraillement qui the two cultures. A tug-of-war provoque une instabilité dans which leads to instability in le comportement et behaviour and commitment, l'engagement, car toute prise for whatever position is de position entraine des adopted entails sacrifices sacrifices difficiles à which are difficult to supporter." endure.") (Guessous 1976, p. 3)

< previous page

page_23

next page >

< previous page

page_24

next page > Page 24

According to Guessous, bilingualism implies not so much biculturalism as an absence of any real culture at all what he calls "double inculture" or "sous-culture" (p. 4), rather than the enrichment mentioned by Blondel & Décorsière. More criticism comes from Lahjomri (1974), who claims that it has caused serious problems in the Moroccan education system, in that the pupil, expected to speak and write in two different languages, becomes "prisonnier d'un tourbillon linguistique" ("prisoner of a linguistic whirlwind") (1974, p. 62). In his opinion, Morocco has failed to achieve either a well-established bilingualism or a healthy monolingualism; it is instead ''une societé qui n'a opté ni pour le bilinguisme, ni pour l'arabisation" ("a society which has opted neither for bilingualism nor for arabization") (p. 58). The bilingual is constantly being described as proficient in neither of his two languages, and as being unable to avoid mixing the two, for instance by Guessous (1976) and Baina (1978), who compares the bilingual to a parrot, living a "savage dualism". A survey of the Moroccan press thus reveals a gloomy picture, the main feeling expressed being one of bitterness. Some of the most articulate critics of bilingualism have come from among North African novelists and poets. Such writers are faced with a choice between colloquial Arabic, Classical Arabic and French as media for their work, and Garmadi complains that this choice may cause: "une grave fissure dans l'intégration nationale, déséquilibres varies au niveau de la conscience individuelle et collective, problèmes psychopédagogiques quasiment insolubles, détérioration du message débouchant sur un pénible blocage linguistique et culturel, et parfois sur le silence de la mort."

("a serious split in national integration, a variety of imbalances at the level of individual and collective conscience, almost insoluble psychopedagogic problems, impairmerit of the message leading to a distressing linguistic and cultural block and sometimes to the silence of death.")

(Garmadi 1971, p. 20) The bilingual's negative feeling towards his own bilingualism and his sense of being unable to express himself are witnessed by the Algerian writer, Haddad, who declares: ("I am separated from my "Je suis moins séparé de ma homeland less by the patrie par la Méditerranée que Mediterranean than by the par la langue française! Je suis French language! I am incapable d'exprimer en arabe incapable of

< previous page

page_24

next page >

< previous page

page_25

next page > Page 25

ce que je sens en arabe" (Haddad, expressing in Arabic quoted in Garmadi 1971), what I feel in Arabic") and by the Moroccan writer, Tahar Ben Jelloun, who says: "J'écris un réel profondément arabe avec des signes étrangers" ("I write with foreign symbols about a reality which is profoundly Arab") (Ben Jelloun 1973, p. 222). While such allegations of the disastrous effects of bilingualism are constantly being made, in the press, in public lectures and elsewhere, it is often not at all clear to what extent they are based on factual evidence. The fierce criticisms quoted above seem to be possibly exaggerated, emotional outbursts rather than careful assessments of the situation. The difficulty is, of course, that a bilingual who himself lives the conflicts in his everyday life finds it hard to look at them in a calm, objective manner. On the other hand, it is difficult for a foreigner to gain a proper insight into the subtleties of the situation. Yet clearly the fact that the subject of bilingualism arouses such strong feelings among Moroccans with no specialist knowledge of the topic shows that there is a need for some more systematic investigation of the phenomenon and its effects, which will provide a clearer picture of the types of conflict which do occur and only then attempt an evaluation of the present situation and a programme for the future. I hope that in the present investigation I have been able to combine, at least to some extent, the Moroccan's insight with the foreigner's objectivity. Apart from the emotional debates common in the press, there have been a few attempts at more objective surveys of the language situation in North Africa. In Tunisia, Stevens (1974) made a study of the roles of French, Tunisian Arabic and Classical Arabic and of Tunisians' attitudes to these; his study is based mainly on personal observation and interviews, but he also used a questionnaire. Riahi (1970) investigated the use of French and Arabic among Tunisian secondary school pupils by means of a questionnaire, and Ounali (1970) made a similar examination of language use and attitudes among Tunisian students. In Morocco, Abbassi (1977) carried out a sociolinguistic study of language contact and language use, based on a questionnaire administered in Casablanca. He looks at four languages Berber, French, Moroccan Arabic and Classical Arabic identifying a number of different varieties of these and reporting on Moroccans' attitudes to them; and he also looks at Arabic-French code-switching. Gravel (1979) also made a sociolinguistic study of multilingualism in Morocco, investigating language use and attitudes by means of a questionnaire distributed to English students at the University of Rabat and reports made by these students about their day-to-day language use. The present study differs from all these both in

< previous page

page_25

next page >

< previous page

page_26

next page > Page 26

some of the questions examined and in some of the techniques used to investigate the various types of attitude. It is hoped that this study will be of interest not merely to those specifically concerned with Arabic-French bilingualism in North Africa, but to all concerned with the problems of bilingual individuals and bilingual communities. While we mentioned earlier some respects in which the Moroccan Arabic-French bilingual can be contrasted with bilinguals in other communities, one could of course equally well focus on the parallels between the North African situation and others. The particular findings of the present investigation reveal attitudes which may be paralleled or contrasted with those in other bilingual communities; but it is undoubtedly the case that attitudinal aspects of bilingualism, such as those examined in this study, will have important implications for language planning and education in any community. One of the aims of this study is to draw attention to the complexity of the attitudes which a bilingual situation may involve, and the significance of these attitudes for the evolution of the situation.

< previous page

page_26

next page >

< previous page

page_27

next page > Page 27

3 Languages, Attitudes and Views of the World This chapter looks at what might seem the most obvious aspect of language attitudes among bilinguals the Moroccan bilingual's feelings towards his languages, his opinions about their relative values, their strengths and weaknesses. Linked with this is a survey of bilinguals attitudes towards what could be said to be a further separate language variety in their repertoire: the use of a mixture of Arabic and French, involving frequent code-switching from one to the other, which is characteristic of bilinguals' casual conversations. Finally, we look at the further question of whether the bilingual's expressed attitudes towards other matters may be affected by which language he uses when called upon to register his attitudes at the possibility that he may possess two rather different views of the world, each of which surfaces when he uses a particular language. 3.1 The Bilingual's Attitudes towards his Languages The Moroccan press, which was shown in 2.5 to be a fertile source of comments about the evils of bilingualism, also features frequent expressions of subjective judgement about the nature of the individual languages concerned, and observations about Moroccans' supposed feelings about these languages. Lahjomri (1974), for instance, refers to Arabic as "une langue démodée, désuète, aussi étrangère è la vie quotidienne que la langue française." ("a language which is outmoded, antiquated, as foreign to everyday life as the French language.") (pp. 60-61), while he describes French as the language of status, science and "la modernité technicienne'' ("modern technicality") (p. 60). He claims that Moroccans are ambivalent in their attitudes towards Arabic, idealizing it as poetry and the language of their cultural heritage, yet rejecting it as of little practical use (presumably he is thinking of Classical Arabic here). Guessous (1976) suggests that French is

< previous page

page_27

next page >

< previous page

page_28

next page > Page 28

the language of prestige and prosperity, whereas Arabic is the language of poverty and the past. Some of the studies mentioned in 2.5 report information about the North African's attitudes towards his languages, based on more or less convincing evidence. Stevens (1974), for instance, makes quite confident claims about Tunisians' attitudes towards French and Arabic, but these are based on very limited evidence; for instance, his discussion of their assessments of the relative superiority of these languages is based on such findings as that five out of eleven respondents felt that French was superior to Arabic in scientific fields, three out of seven judged Tunisian Arabic superior to Classical Arabic, and so on. A somewhat more effective survey is made by Abbassi (1977), who looks at Moroccans' views about the relative superiority of Berber and the two varieties of Arabic. Gravel's (1979) survey is on a larger scale than the others, but his respondents represent only one minority group of Moroccans, since they are all university students of English. The fact that these respondents have very favourable views towards English, and feel it to be more useful for the future of Morocco than French, can thus hardly justify the assumption that such views are typical of Moroccan bilinguals in general. One could also mention here the work of Tessler (1969) in investigating the concept of modernity in Tunisia today; he too gives some information about language attitudes, showing that favourable attitudes towards French tend to correlate with a westernized outlook. Other discussions of language attitudes are based on personal observation. Bounfour (1973) examines the attitudes of sixth form secondary school pupils, based on his own discussions with them. He notes a strong tendency to associate French with science, to the point of confusing the language with the concept and considering the language to be somehow scientific in itself. French is also perceived as "une langue civilisée" ("a civilized language"), seen to be necessary for modernization, economic and technical progress. On the other hand, Arabic is seen as the language used to talk about the past, religion and morality; it is associated with domains outside school, and, Bounfour claims, is clearly defined in the pupils' perception as the domain of "le non-cultivé" ("the uncultivated, uneducated person"), who wears traditional clothes and belongs to the older generation. He observes that French can take over in situations where it is considered improper to use Arabic; for instance, the language of courtship between bilingual pupils is French, which is perceived as the language of freedom and liberated values, in contrast to Arabic, the language of religion and morality. One might seek an explanation for these pupils' attitudes in the roles the languages are seen to play in the school curriculum and the way they are

< previous page

page_28

next page >

< previous page

page_29

next page > Page 29

presented to the learner. In this connection, then, it is interesting to look at the work of Ibaaquil (1978), who investigated the intellectual, affective and social values conveyed through Moroccan primary school reading textbooks in the two languages, and found some striking contrasts between the two. He observed, for instance, that in Arabic texts poverty and wealth are presented as assigned to men by divine decree, and inequality as a natural phenomenon which must be accepted without complaint; in contrast to the French texts, they emphasize the principle of passivity and acceptance of Fate. Ironically, the only character in any of the Arabic texts who shows the qualities of daring and a spirit of adventure happens to be neither Moroccan nor Arab, but a French boy! A statistical analysis shows that the Arabic texts also tend to dwell more on the past, and to possess more explicitly moral themes. It would thus not be surprising if the pupils gain the impression that whatever is presented in Arabic is concerned with moral duties, the obligations imposed by God and society, whereas in the world presented to them through French, they find society to be more lenient and less concerned with such values. Ibaaquil suggests that these contrasts may have a profound effect on the young bilingual: "Entre le regard négateur des ("Between the negating view of manuels en français et celui, the French manuals, and the profondément passéiste et profoundly nostalgic, nostalgique, des manuels en pastoriented one of the Arabic arabe, les é1èves trouveront manuals, the pupils will have difficilement un équilibre, et difficulty in finding a balance, la voie, en tout cas, est and the way, in any case, will ouverte à l'aliénation." be open for alienation.") (Ibaaquil 1978, p. 43) Bounfour and Ibaaquil restrict their attention to the school situation, but it is interesting to ask whether the attitudes inculcated by the school system are maintained into adult life. Accordingly, the present survey investigates the attitudes of adult bilinguals towards their languages, French, Classical Arabic and Moroccan Arabic. This was carried out by means of two tests; however, before these, an initial pilot questionnaire was administered, the results of which suggested some aspects of the format of the main tests. The first of these was a simple questionnaire, in which the respondents were asked to choose one of three alternatives (French, Moroccan Arabic and Classical Arabic) in response to various questions. They were also asked to provide reasons for their choices. The respondents here were eighty-seven males and females, aged between seventeen and thirty-eight, of

< previous page

page_29

next page >

< previous page

page_30

next page > Page 30

various occupations, including teachers, clerks, technicians, chemists, secretaries and students, and originating from various parts of Morocco. All the respondents, here and in all the other investigations reported in this work, were what we could call "balanced" bilinguals (see 2.1); they had all received a bilingual education in Arabic and French, and were able to speak and write both languages with reasonable fluency. The questionnaire was presented to them in French, but they were invited to complete it in either French or Arabic, as they wished. The use of French alone in presenting this and the other tests was for convenience, and followed the example of a number of other investigators, such as Adam (1963), Ounali (1970), Riahi (1970), Stevens (1974) and Tessler (1969). There were technical reasons, involving problems of translation and terminology, why it was decided not to provide a bilingual questionnaire in both Arabic and French. The second test consisted of a list of ten epithets. The respondents were asked to select, for each of the three languages, Classical Arabic, Moroccan Arabic and French, all the epithets which they thought were appropriate to describe it; they were told that they could choose as many or as few of the adjectives as they wished in each case. The adjectives were selected after an examination of the results of the previous questionnaire, and were chosen to represent the kinds of attitude the respondents had expressed in their comments on this, as well as reflecting the findings of Bounfour (1973), Ibaaquil (1978) and others. The ten epithets used were as follows: practical, dead, rich, versatile, beautiful, able to keep up with the modern world, useless, lively, necessary and outdated. There were eighty-eight respondents, who were all balanced bilinguals, aged between eighteen and thirty-four, of varying occupations and places of origin. The results of these two tests are shown in the tables which follow. For the first test, the numbers of respondents selecting each language in response to a particular question are given in percentages of the total number of respondents, for ease of comparison. To calculate the degree of significance of the differences between the scores for the three languages, the Chi Squared test was applied. Similarly, in the results of the second test, the number of respondents who selected a particular description for a language is given as a percentage of the total number of respondents, and the degree of difference between the three languages with regard to each adjective was measured by means of the Chi Squared test. The results of the two tests show similar patterns, and can conveniently be discussed together. They reveal clear contrasts between the respondents' attitudes towards the three languages.

< previous page

page_30

next page >

< previous page

page_31

next page > Page 31

Table 4 shows that a majority of the respondents judged Classical Arabic to be the richest and most beautiful of the three languages. TABLE 4

What language do you find the most beautiful/the richest? Cl.A French M.A. Blank p< Most beautiful 51.72% 21.84% 14.94% 11 49% 0.001 Richest 62.07% 22.98% 8.04% 6.89% 0.001 Two main reasons were suggested by those who described Classical Arabic as the most beautiful; 44.44% mentioned its long literary heritage, while 15.55% referred to its bond with religion and Arab nationalism. Respondent 20, for instance, observed that "Classical Arabic is beautiful because one feels an Arab when speaking it". Similarly, of those who considered Classical Arabic the richest language, 22.22% mentioned the literature of which it is the vehicle, and 18.51% its links with religion and patriotism. Others attribute its beauty and richness to the musicality it is felt to possess. The view that Classical Arabic possesses particular beauty and richness has often been observed to be common among Arabs (see Shouby 1951, Ferguson 1968, Tessler 1969). The feeling that it is sacred in nature is reflected in the custom, common in Morocco, whereby if one finds a scrap of paper containing writing in Arabic on the ground, one must pick it up and put it in a safe place such as a hole in the wall, to avoid the danger that passers-by may desecrate it by treading on it (see Brunot 1950b, p. 100). The same views are reflected in the results of the adjective test, as shown below: TABLE 5 Rich Beautiful

Cl.A. 70.4% 53.4%

French 30.6% 32.9%

M.A 17% 21.6%

p< 0.001 0.01

This reveals a sharp contrast between the respondents' view of Classical Arabic, which receives the highest scores here, and Moroccan Arabic, which receives the lowest. Such contrasting attitudes are in fact typical of the kind of diglossic situation which exists in Morocco, in which such qualities as beauty and richness are associated with the high variety but not the low one (see 1.1).

< previous page

page_31

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_32

Page 32 French is also rated more highly than Moroccan Arabic on these properties, in both tests; but it is interesting that the reasons given by those who describe French as rich and beautiful are quite different. They insist on the practical usefulness and flexibility of French, like Respondent 83, who says that "French is rich because it contains the vocabulary of both old and new, modern and traditional", and on the kind of material for which it is the vehicle (Respondent 41: "French is rich because there is a lot of scientific research in French"). There is also reference to French as a status marker; Respondent 12 says "French is beautiful because it makes me sophisticated". Thus the richness and beauty of French are seen to result from its value as a practical tool, whereas these qualities are attributed to Classical Arabic because of its intrinsic nature, what it represents in itself; there is no reference to the utility of Classical Arabic in any of the comments. Classical Arabic is also felt to be the language which ought to be most used by Moroccans, as is seen in Table 6: TABLE 6 above all? Cl. A. 59.78%

What language do you think Moroccans should use M.A. 27 59%

French 8.04%

Blank 4 59%

p< 0.001

Again, the reasons given refer to religion and Arab nationalism; so Respondent 72 says that Classical Arabic should be used "because we are Moroccans and Arabs", and Respondent 82 "because it is the language of our religion, of the Koran and of the Arabs". On the other hand, the majority of the respondents judge Moroccan Arabic to be the easiest and the most practical of the three languages in everyday life, while Classical Arabic gets the lowest scores here: TABLE 7 life?

What language do you find the easiest/the most practical in everyday

Easiest Most practical in everyday life

MA 63.21%

French 24.13%

Cl. A. 10 34%

Blank 2.29%

p< 0.001

72.26%

21.83%

3 44%

3 44%

0 001

The reasons suggested for Moroccan Arabic as the easiest are straightforward; 50.9% point out that it is their mother tongue, while 14.54%

< previous page

page_32

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_33

Page 33 mention the fact that it can be used by people of all levels of education. This second fact was mentioned by 30.64% of those choosing Moroccan Arabic as the most practical; typical of their comments was that of Respondent 19, who said that "Moroccan Arabic is the most practical in everyday life because Morocco is an uneducated country, so it is necessary to use Moroccan Arabic to communicate with everyone". However, French is also felt to have a practical value, as is shown in the results of the second test: TABLE 8 Practical

French 81.8%

M.A. 68.18%

Cl.A 37 5%

p< 0.001

Here the main contrast is between French and Moroccan Arabic, both judged to be practical by a majority of the respondents, and Classical Arabic which is so perceived by only a minority. The difference between the result here, where French receives the highest score, and that in Table 7, where Moroccan Arabic was much more highly rated than French, can be attributed to the specification "in everyday life" which accompanied "practical" in the first test but not the second; evidently Moroccan Arabic is found more practical for mundane everyday activities, whereas French may be more practical in other circumstances, such as education and administration. French emerges as the language considered the most modern and the most useful for studies, in sharp contrast to the other two: TABLE 9 studies?

What language do you find the most modern/the most useful for

Most modern Most useful for studies

French 70.11% 71.26%

Cl.A. 18.39% 18.39%

M.A. 3.44% 1.14%

Blank 8.04% 9.19%

p< 0.001 0.001

Those describing French as the most modern mention three main reasons; 24.59% point to the fact that French gives them access to science and technology, 27.86% note the wide use of French in the administrative sectors, and 16.39% link French with the future development of Morocco. As for the usefulness of French for studies, the access to science which it

< previous page

page_33

next page >

< previous page

page_34

next page > Page 34

provides is again mentioned by 22.58%; Respondent 42 suggests, rather optimistically, that with French "one can have access to any science in any university in any country". Others (27.41%) simply point to the importance of French in the present education system. Similarly, in the adjective test, more respondents describe French as lively and able to keep up with the modern world than describe the other languages as such. TABLE 10 Able to keep up with the modern world Lively

French

Cl.A.

M.A.

p<

63.6% 61.4%

54.5% 38.6%

5.6% 22.7%

0 001 0 001

Interestingly, a majority also describe Classical Arabic as able to keep up with the modern world, although one might perhaps have expected otherwise in view of its associations with the past; evidently there is a certain confidence in the potential of Classical Arabic to fulfil modem requirements. (A similar confidence is revealed in the results of the questionnaire described in Chapter Six, which show that the respondents believe that Classical Arabic can serve as a vehicle for modern scientific discussion.) Moroccan Arabic, however, is felt to hold no such promise; instead we find comments like that of Respondent 45, who says that Moroccan Arabic "does not allow us to progress, but translates only under-development and poverty". Finally, for the three items presented in Table 11, the differences between the three languages are insignificant. TABLE 11 What language do you find the most necessary for a Moroccan? like the most? like the least? Cl.A. M.A. French Blank p Most necessary for a Moroccan 39.08% 20.68% 25.28% 14.94% n.s. Most liked 32.18% 35.63% 28.73% 3.44% n.s. Least liked 35.63% 21.83% 33.33% 9.10% n s. That the respondents are divided fairly equally in their views as to which language is most necessary and which they like most and least is in fact what

< previous page

page_34

next page >

< previous page

page_35

next page > Page 35

we might expect in a bilingual situation. If there were a common consensus that any one language was not as necessary as the others, or if one were markedly less popular than the others, one would expect this one to be less used, so that the bilingual situation would not remain stable. The fact that instead each language seems to be valued for its own sake is also reflected in the second test, where a majority of the respondents described each of the three languages as necessary, and similar percentages described each as versatile: TABLE 12 Necessary Versatile

French 55.7% 30.68%

M.A. 53% 25%

Cl.A. 51.1% 31 81%

p n.s. n.s.

Moreover, it is striking that the three adjectives which described negative qualities were selected by very few respondents, with no significant differences between the three languages: TABLE 13 Dead Useless Outdated

French 0% 2.3% 3.4%

M.A. 5.7% 9.1% 9.1%

Cl.A. 3 4% 1.1% 10.2%

p n.s. n.s. n.s.

There are aspects of each language which provoke criticism, as revealed by the comments accompanying the choice of a least liked language. For example, of those naming Moroccan Arabic as the one they like least, 31.57% claim that it is a language incapable of progressing and evolving, while 26.31% suggest that it is a somehow mixed and impure language. On the other hand, the most common reason for disliking Classical Arabic, mentioned by 70.96% of those who named it as their least-liked language, is its supposed grammatical complexity and the difficulty encountered in learning it. Finally, French is disliked for the simple reason that it is the language of the colonizers; this point is raised by 58.62% of those who like it least. However, despite these criticisms, the overall feeling seems to be that each language has its own value and that each serves a useful purpose.

< previous page

page_35

next page >

< previous page

page_36

next page > Page 36

3.2 The Bilingual's Attitudes towards Code-Switching As well as looking at attitudes to the individual languages, we may ask about Moroccans feelings towards what is a very common feature of the speech of balanced bilinguals the tendency to mix French and Arabic in a single conversation, switching back and forth between one and the other. This phenomenon, known as code-switching, is a familiar habit in many bilingual communities. As was noted in 2.1, it has attracted considerable attention from linguists, who have been interested in the syntactic patterning of switches; and there has also been discussion of the reasons why bilinguals code-switch at certain points in their utterances; the switching of Arabic-French bilinguals has been examined from both these viewpoints by Bentahila (1981). The kind of effect produced by frequent code-switching is illustrated in the following transcription of part of a speech by a Moroccan bilingual who was unaware that he was being recorded; the sort of mixture seen here is very typical of the speech of Moroccan bilinguals in casual conversation. This is taken from a corpus of seven and a half hours of recorded conversations, used for the discussion of code-switching in Bentahila (1981), where further illustrations can be found. Ordinary orthography has been used for French words, while Arabic words are in phonetic transcription. So that the switches can easily be distinguished, the French but not the Arabic parts have been italicized, in both the text and the translation: "What do you lose? you lose a "Qu'est-ce que tu perds? tu half-hour, because I still perds wahed * une demi- remember we used to leave heure li?anaja mazal about twelve from the school, kuna tanxrzu* f midi min and when we got to the le lycée w min hit* nlqaw seventeen storey building, how dak le dixseptième étage many times I went through the shal* min mra dzt f le feu red light. At that seventeen rouge f dak le dixseptième storey building once I was with étage wahed* nuba kunt Thami, we stopped just in front ana w thami on s'est arrêté of the red light, we were talking, juste au feu rouge on we were wondering whether to parlait kurta nmsiw* go to Marrakech or not. I had 1 mra:ks* ma nmsiw* 1 been teaching, he saw me mra:ks* w kunt qarri:t il teaching and so on, and we were m'a vu enseigner w daksi* coming here, we lived here. I w zaji*:n lhna on habitait was waiting, you should have ici wa:qf il faut voir hda* seen that, near the seventeen le dix-septièe étage f dak lestorey building at that red light feu rouge faszwlu* zzarda* where the garden in the centre 1 wSTa:nija." has been removed."

< previous page

page_36

next page >

< previous page

page_37

next page > Page 37

Code-switching of this kind has often been referred to by North African writers as one of the unfortunate consequences of colonization, and as something to be deplored. Perhaps because of this kind of attitude, few have considered it an area worthy of study; those who mention it at all are content to make a passing reference. Moatassime (1974) refers to it as ''une forme d'expression appauvrie: 'petit nègre' pour les uns, 'francarabe' pour les autres" ("an impoverished form of expression: 'petit nègre' for some, 'francarabe' for others") (p. 654), and Guessous (1976) observes that "bilingualism has given rise to a bastard language and culture, i.e., a mixture of Arabic and French" (p. 6). The same kind of rather unfavourable view of code-switching has also been reported from other bilingual speech communities. Gumperz (1976) reports that in interviews many Spanish-English bilinguals living in Jersey City expressed negative attitudes towards code-switching, considering it to be "attributable to lack of education, bad manners, or improper control of the two grammars" (p. 4), and Kachru (1977) reports that code-switching is not favourably viewed in the bilingual communities of either India or Texas. The present study used a questionnaire to obtain information about the attitudes of Moroccan bilinguals towards this habit of mixing languages. This was administered to 109 respondents. Of these 75.22% expressed their disapproval of code-switching, their attitudes ranging from pity to disgust. Thus Respondent 16 said that those who mix the two languages "are to be pitied, like me", while Respondent 84 said, "It is a disgrace". Code-switching is described as "a bad habit, which should be corrected"; those who use it are described as "ridiculous" (Respondent 75) or "worthless" (Respondent 86), and one respondent (109) said of such people, "I do not consider them to be Moroccans" a comment which, though doubtless intended to convey the author's view that code-switching is a despicable habit, can be seen as ironical in view of the fact that this speech pattern is a distinctive characteristic of Moroccans. As well as expressing their disapproval, the respondents justified their feelings by attributing the use of code-switching to various weaknesses of those who practise it. The most commonly expressed view, mentioned by 27.52% of the respondents, is that code-switching is a sign of ignorance, Some suggest that those who code-switch do so because they do not have an adequate knowledge of either of their languages, others that it is a feature only of the speech of the poorly educated, which would not appear in the speech of the well educated Moroccan. This is certainly not the case; the corpus of conversations examined in Bentahila (1981) provides examples of frequent code-switching by such highly educated people as doctors, phar-

< previous page

page_37

next page >

< previous page

page_38

next page > Page 38

macists, lecturers and others. The respondents' claim must be attributed to their strong disapproval of the phenomenon, which leads them to feel that no properly educated person would use it. Some even suggest that those who use codeswitching are somehow spoiling or destroying the two languages. A number of respondents make the point that, although code-switching is to be disapproved of, those who do it cannot really be blamed, since it is the fault of the Moroccan education system; they are described as "innocent fools" (Respondent 106) and as "victims of the decisionmakers" (Respondent 33). It is interesting that 9.25% of the respondents suggest that those who mix the two languages suffer from psychological problems of some kind, that they lack confidence, have no sense of identity, or are disturbed in their conscience; Respondent 70 goes so far as to declare "they need to see a psychiatrist"! Such comments may perhaps reflect the view that a mixture of two languages also entails a mixture of the two cultures associated with them. Evidently these respondents share the view, which, as was seen in 2.5, is frequently expressed in the Moroccan press, that cultural conflicts may be damaging to the bilingual's personality, and see code-switching as evidence of such problems. Others object to code-switching on the grounds that it is a reflection of the fact that Morocco was colonized by the French. They feel that those who code-switch have been strongly marked by French colonialism, to the point where they are not able to express themselves without resorting to the colonizers' language; as Respondent 67 puts it, "they are still colonized". 14.81% argue that those who mix the two languages are failing to show a proper pride in their nationality and their national language. While the comments noted above tend to attribute code-switching to something beyond the control of the individual, whether this is his own ignorance or the influence of colonization, others lay the blame directly on the individual. 7.4% describe those who switch as being clumsy or lazy, taking the view that they do not make the effort they feel is required to keep the two languages separate. On the other hand, 12.96% allege that they do this to show off, in an attempt to appear sophisticated; as Respondent 74 suggests, "they want at all costs to show that they know French". It may well be that those not very fluent in French nevertheless try to give the impression of being educated by using a mixture of French with Arabic; but there is also the danger that they will instead give the impression of ignorance, as is suggested by the comments mentioned earlier. The tendency for code-switching to be frowned on is shown by the fact that only 9.17% of the respondents state that they have no objections to this

< previous page

page_38

next page >

< previous page

page_39

next page > Page 39

mode of speech, but find it an acceptable strategy of communication. Only two respondents suggest that code-switching can actually serve a useful purpose, in allowing the bilingual to express himself more easily or more clearly; yet an examination of the motivations for code- switching (see Bentahila 1981) reveals that code-switching can be a considerable aid to communication among bilinguals, allowing the achievement of greater clarity, the conveying of special nuances, and the development of emphasis and contrast. Evidently the strong feeling that code-switching is something to be condemned prevents Moroccans from recognizing its usefulness. For the same reason, presumably, very few of the respondents (4.63%) admit to code-switching themselves, and those few who do express regret for the habit. 3.3 The Relation between Language Use and World View It was seen in 3.1 that the bilingual has quite different views of his different languages, and sees them as having distinct roles; it appears that French is associated with the modern world of science and technology, while Arabic represents more traditional values, the cultural and religious heritage of the Arabs. Such observations provoke further speculations about the kinds of effect this correlation between language and culture may have on the Moroccan bilingual. Besides a conscious awareness that the Arabic language is associated with past traditions and French with modernity and new ideas, it seems possible that people may develop an unconscious tendency to link the use of each language with a particular world view. The question now posed is that of whether bilinguals may, when thinking and speaking in Arabic, adopt the particular philosophy which is typically conveyed to them in that language, while taking a rather different view of the same environment when they think and talk in French. This kind of alternation is suggested in a description by Gallagher (1968) of the behaviour of a North African bilingual: "When he amuses himself with friends in French, his bantering attitude, indeed his whole character, is quite distinct from that expressed by his more robust joking in Arabic. His normally authoritarian attitude toward his wife and children at home in Arabic changes publicly under the influence of Western convention and the use of French in a salon de thé". (Gallagher 1968. p. 144). As well as looking at the bilingual's attitudes towards the languages themselves, then, we may also ask if the use of one language rather than another can itself influence the bilingual's attitudes to other ideas, events or situ-

< previous page

page_39

next page >

< previous page

page_40

next page > Page 40

ations. Just as the bilingual perceives the language in a certain way because of the functions it fulfils in his life and in society, he may perceive life and society in a certain way because he is looking at them through a particular language. What we are interested in here is not Whorf's hypothesis that the individual's world-view is in fact dictated by his language, (see Whorf 1956), but rather the lesser claim that the individual's outlook on some particular occasion may vary according to which language he is using. Some investigation of this possibility has been carried out by Ervin-Tripp, who used thematic apperception test cards, containing ambiguous content, to investigate the effect of language on the perception of this content. When FrenchEnglish bilinguals were, on two different occasions, asked to tell a story about these pictures, each time in a different language, there were significant differences between the French and English stories in three out of nine cases (see Ervin-Tripp 1964). A later test (Ervin-Tripp 1967) used a sentence completion task which was performed by JapaneseEnglish bilinguals, again in two languages on separate occasions; the bilinguals' sentence completions were found to be closer to the Japanese norms when completed in Japanese than when completed in English, and thus provided some evidence that bilinguals do alter their attitudes and outlook when changing from one language to another. To investigate the possibility that the Moroccan bilingual's outlook may vary in this way, a sentence completion test was devised, inspired by that used by Ervin-Tripp (1967). This test was intended only as a pilot study; a further, larger scale test could also look at other contrasts, for instance, comparing the completions of male and female respondents to see if one group exhibited more contrasts than the other. The respondents were eighty balanced bilinguals (thirty-eight females and forty-two males) of ages ranging from fifteen to forty, and originating from various parts of Morocco; they included schoolchildren, students, teachers, secretaries and professional people. These were given a list of thirty incomplete sentences in one language and asked to complete them in any way they wished. Then, six weeks later, they were given the corresponding incomplete sentences in the other language, and again asked to complete them. Some respondents were given the French versions of the sentences on the first occasion, and some the Arabic ones. The sixweek interval was used in order that the respondents, when completing the second set of sentences, would not immediately recall what they had written in their earlier completions. Two completions of each sentence were thus obtained from each respondent, one in French and one in Arabic. For each sentence, we then compared the full set of completions in French with the full set in Arabic, as

< previous page

page_40

next page >

< previous page

page_41

next page > Page 41

well as comparing the two completions provided by each individual respondent. The following discussion looks at a few of the major themes which cropped up in the completions, and points out some of the interesting contrasts between the French and the Arabic versions in each case. One contrast which is perhaps not surprising is that there were many more references to religion in the Arabic completions than in the French ones. For instance, in completing the sentence "Marriage is . . .", 14.1% of the respondents said in Arabic that it was a religious duty, whereas none suggested this in French; in completing "I like to read . . ." 5.12% mentioned religious books in Arabic, but only one did so in French; and in completing ''To succeed in life one must . . ." 4% mentioned the need to be religious in Arabic but none in French. There were many other particular examples where a respondent made reference to religion in Arabic but not in French, as in the following illustrations: R.41: FRENCH:One needs a good job to live happily. One needs a good job to be able to spend one's last days praying in ARABIC:the mosque. R.24: FRENCH:Rich people can afford whatever they like. ARABIC:Rich people can afford to help their muslim brothers. More copious examples of this and the other points made in the discussion can be found in Bentahila (1981). This association of religion with Arabic can of course be linked to the bilingual's education. Another idea mentioned more frequently in the Arabic texts was that of charity and helping the poor; this follows from the last point since charity is an important religious duty for Muslims. In completing the sentence "Rich people can afford . . .", 41.42% referred to helping the poor in Arabic, as opposed to 21.42% in French. For other sentences, including the following, this idea was mentioned in the Arabic but never in the French completions: R.24: FRENCH:I like to spend my money on useful things. ARABIC:I like to spend my money on charity. Ibaaquil (1978) observed the tendency for school texts in Arabic to make much more appeal to the notion of Fate (see 3.1); and the same tendency can be seen in the Arabic sentence completions. Thus the idea of Fate was invoked by 9.72% in completing the Arabic version of "The future depends on . . .", but did not appear in any of the French versions, so that there were contrasts like the following: R.46: FRENCH:The future depends on education. ARABIC:The future depends on luck and chance.

< previous page

page_41

next page >

< previous page

page_42

next page > Page 42

R.38: FRENCH:A woman without children is unhappy. A woman without children accepts her fate and worships God all ARABIC:the time. This too is typical of religious teaching. The Arabic completions also contain more references to the family, and concern for family welfare, than do the French ones; this is shown in Table 14. TABLE 14 Every man needs (family) My aim in life is (to help my parents) Responsibility is (to look after the family)

French 6.25% 0% 0%

Arabic 16.25% 10 12% 7.24%

The awareness of being indebted to one's parents and responsible for a family is far more evident in the Arabic completions than in the French ones, producing contrasts like the following: R.24: FRENCH:My aim in life is to be a brilliant figure in society. ARABIC:My aim in life is to leave my parents contented with me. R.64: FRENCH:Every man needs money. ARABIC:Every man needs to look after his family's future. The importance of family bonds and responsibility in traditional Moroccan society is noted by Adam (1968); and Hapgood's observation that it is a feature of the traditional education systems of African countries, as opposed to the European systems existing alongside them, also seems applicable to the Moroccan situation (Hapgood 1965). Another value which is more frequently expressed in the Arabic completions than the French ones is the sense of patriotism. This can be linked with the view of Arabic as the language of national heritage and French as the language of colonization (see 3.1). In Arabic, 30.98% of the respondents completed "My duty in society is . . ." with a reference to helping their country, whereas only 5.63% mentioned this in French. Similarly, in completing "One needs a good job . . .", 21.79% said in Arabic that this was to help one's country, but none expressed this view in French. Here we find contrasts like the following: R.23: FRENCH:My duty in society is to study hard. My duty in society is to be worthy of my ARABIC:country.

< previous page

page_42

next page >

< previous page

page_43

next page > Page 43

R.50: FRENCH:One needs a good job to live better. One needs a good job to work for one's ARABIC:country. More generally, the notion of duties, whether to God, the family or society, was much more frequently brought up in the Arabic completions than in the French ones, as is shown in Table 15; this again can be seen to reflect traditional Islamic philosophy, according to which the individual's life is largely determined in its course by the series of duties he is expected to fulfil. TABLE 15 Marriage is (a religious duty) Responsibility is (a duty) Studying is (a duty)

French 0% 4.34% 0%

Arabic 14.1% 31.5% 4.1%

On the other hand, the value of freedom is emphasized more frequently in the French completions than the Arabic ones. TABLE 16 What I like most in life is (freedom) Freedom is (essential)

French Arabic 11.53% 3.84% 10.25% 0%

This contrast could relate to the tendency, suggested by the work of Bounfour (1973) and Ibaaquil (1978), for Arabic to be associated with duties and obligations while French is felt to have connotations of liberation. So far we have looked at differences in the moral values expressed in the two languages. Another area in which there are interesting contrasts is in the field of personal interests and activities. In the first place, it is noticeable that the importance of education is more frequently stressed in the French completions than in the Arabic ones, as is illustrated in Table 17. TABLE 17 My duty in society is (to study) Children must (be educated)

< previous page

French 14.08% 44.3%

Arabic 1.28% 34.17%

page_43

next page >

< previous page

page_44

next page > Page 44

This could be seen to correlate with the association of French with education which was revealed in 3.1. Moreover, an interest in reading is expressed more frequently in the French than in the Arabic completions. For example, when completing "When I have nothing to do . . .", 35.44% of the respondents mentioned reading in the French completions, as opposed to only 15.18% in the Arabic ones. There were also differences in the kinds of reading matter mentioned in completing "I like reading . . ."; newspapers, periodicals and scientific matter were mentioned more frequently in the French completions than in the Arabic ones, while the reverse was true of poetry, religion and romance. Evidently the respondents, when completing the French sentence, tended to think of the material they would read in French, and vice versa, for these differences reflect the different types of reading matter available in the two languages, scientific material being more accessible in French while the reverse is true of religious writings, and the fact that French language newspapers are more popular with bilinguals than Arabic ones, as is suggested in 4.1.7. An interesting contrast is found between the two sets of completions of the sentence "When I have nothing to do . . .". In Arabic, 45.56% mentioned passive solutions, saying that they simply remained idle, got bored, went to sleep or daydreamed, whereas only 21.51% gave such answers in French. Most strikingly, a surprising 18.98% of the respondents said in their Arabic completions, "When I have nothing to do, I do nothing". On the other hand, 69.62% suggested active pursuits (such as sports, music, the cinema or trips) in French, as opposed to 39.24% in Arabic. Thus there were many individual contrasts like the following: When I have nothing to do, I find something to do at R.57: FRENCH:least. ARABIC:When I have nothing to do, I get bored. R.74: FRENCH:When I have nothing to do, I listen to music. ARABIC:When I have nothing to do, I do nothing. The same contrast between active and passive can be discerned in the respondents' completions of "When my husband/wife disobeys me . . .". In French 31.81% said they would try to find a solution (other than divorce), as opposed to 12.12% in Arabic; while in Arabic 10.6% said they would simply ignore their partner rather than discuss the problem, a possibility not mentioned at all in the French, and the most popular solution mentioned in Arabic was that of divorce. R.23: FRENCH: When my wife disobeys me, I try to understand her. ARABIC:

When my wife disobeys me, the only solution is divorce.

< previous page

page_44

next page >

< previous page

page_45

next page > Page 45

There was a similar difference between the completions of "When I disagree with my family . . .", where 15.15% said in French that they would try to reach a solution through discussion, as opposed to 6.06% in Arabic. The greater passivity and lack of constructive ideas in the Arabic completions could be said to correlate with the findings of Ibaaquil (1978) that such an approach to life is typically presented in Arabic school texts but not French ones. Some striking contrasts between the two sets of completions are found in the kinds of material values expressed. Most noticeable is the fact that the importance of wealth is stressed in the Arabic completions far more often than in the French ones, as can be seen from Table 18. TABLE 18 Everybody dreams of (money) What I like most in life is (money) The future depends on (money) What annoys me is (lack of money) My aim in life is (to have money) Children must (have money) Studies (are to make money)

French 17.72 % 6 41% 2.77% 2.53% 0% 0% 0%

Arabic 34.17% 16.66% 12 5% 8.86% 6 32% 7 59% 5%

In individual pairs the notion of money, in the Arabic completion, is often set against some less materialistic aspect of life, in French: R. 13: FRENCH:Every man needs love. ARABIC:Every man needs money. R.41: FRENCH:My aim in life is to get married. ARABIC:My aim in life is to be rich. This interest in money can be linked with a concern with appearances. For instance, in completing the sentence "What is important for a Moroccan woman . . .", 42.3% mentioned clothes, make-up and appearance in Arabic, as opposed to 25.64% in French, and it should be noted that in traditional Moroccan society clothes directly reflect wealth to a much greater degree than in most European cultures. R. 16:What is important for a Moroccan woman is to participate in her FRENCH:country's development. ARABIC:What is important for a Moroccan woman is to have the best clothes.

< previous page

page_45

next page >

< previous page

page_46

next page > Page 46

Other obvious status symbols, such as cars and property, also crop up more in the Arabic than in the French completions. However, there is at the same time a correspondingly greater tendency to criticize the ostentatious display of wealth in the Arabic completions than in the French ones; in completing "What annoys me in people . . .", 27.27% mentioned showing off in Arabic, while only 2.5% did so in French. Overall, the French completions show more concern with achieving success and importance where the Arabic ones are more concerned with wealth. Some contrasts are shown in Table 19. TABLE 19 Everybody dreams of (success/prestige) My aim in life is (to be important) One needs a good job (for success)

French 26.58% 31 64% 14.1%

Arabic 10.12% 16.45% 2.56%

Whereas in Arabic the respondents tend to mention concrete things such as gold, money and clothes, in French they seem more concerned with the abstract ideas of prestige and success. My aim in life is to be someone important in the R.7: FRENCH:future. ARABIC:My aim in life is to live in prosperity. R.52: FRENCH:What I like most in life is success. ARABIC:What I like most in life is money. Another area of interest is that of the relations between the sexes. The importance of love and marriage seems to be stressed more in the French completions, as illustrated in Table 20: TABLE 20 French Arabic What is important for a Moroccan woman is (marriage) 26.92% 16.66% Every man needs (marriage) 35% 22.5% Every man needs (love) 10% 0% On the other hand, in the completions of the same two sentences, children are given more importance in the Arabic versions:

< previous page

page_46

next page >

< previous page

page_47

next page > Page 47

TABLE 21 What is important for a Moroccan woman is (children) Every man needs (children)

French Arabic 7.69% 14. l % 1.25% 8.75%

In Islamic culture, marriage is seen as a step towards the goal of having children, rather than as an end in itself; and having children is seen as an automatic consequence of getting married, so that lack of children is typically assumed to be due to physical disability, this usually being attributed to the woman, as Adam (1968) observes. The contrast between this attitude and that of European cultures where it is recognized that lack of children may be, not a curse, but a deliberate choice, may be reflected in some contrasts in the completion of "A woman without children . . ." In Arabic 26% of the respondents wrote that a woman without children must be sterile, whereas only 2.63% suggested this in French. The fact that in Morocco inability to bear children is grounds for divorce may be linked to the fact that in Arabic 15.78% of the respondents suggested that a woman without children would have marital problems, as opposed to 6.57% in French. The traditional Arabic mentality would regard such a woman as a useless member of society, and among the Arabic completions we find many descriptions which reflect this view; the woman is described as "a tent without poles" (R.36), "like a well without water" (R.57), as "in the eyes of men a paralysed limb" (R.55) and even as "the enemy of man'' (R.59). In French, on the other hand, she is simply described as "unfortunate"; and 10.25% wrote in French, "A woman without children is free", whereas no one made this remark in Arabic. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the differences between the French and Arabic completions reflect some types of behaviour which are so commonly associated with Arabic culture that they form part of the stereotype view of the Arab. There is, for instance, the extravagant hospitality of the Arabs, among whom it is a matter of honour to offer guests lavish supplies of food, as is noted by Landau (1956) and Westermarck (1926). This tradition may be reflected in the fact that in completing the sentence "When we receive guests . . .", 27.27% mentioned the provision of food in Arabic, but only 6.49% in French; while in French 5.19% suggest the more European-style welcome of offering a drink, as opposed to only one in Arabic. This contrast in generosity is reflected in pairs like the following: R.45: FRENCH:When we have guests, we give them a drink. ARABIC:When we have guests, we feed them very well.

< previous page

page_47

next page >

< previous page

page_48

next page > Page 48

Another frequently noted contrast between Arabic and North European cultures concerns their attitudes to animals, and this may be reflected in the way the sentence "Dogs must be . . ." was completed. In French, 25% said that dogs must be well looked after, as opposed to 11.84% in Arabic; and good qualities of dogs, such as faithfulness, intelligence or courage, were mentioned by 27.63% of the respondents in French, but by only 3.94% in Arabic. These results may reflect the different connotations the word dog possesses in the two languages. In speaking French, some bilinguals seem also to adopt the kinds of association belonging to French culture, rather than transferring those of their Arabic culture. The contrasts mentioned above offer some confirmation of the hypothesis that the Moroccan bilingual's attitude to the world varies, depending on which language he is using. There is a tendency for his outlook to be somewhat more westernized when he uses French, and more traditional and bound by Islamic doctrines when he uses Arabic. It seems then that the same bilingual may be able to adopt two rather different views of the world; in fact, he may experience something like what Julien Green, the French-English bilingual writer, felt on switching languages: "it was as if, writing in English, I had become another person" (Green 1941, p. 402). Of course, this is not to claim that language controls thought and determines culture, as did Whorf (1956); rather, it is evidence for a weaker hypothesis, that language, as one part of the society's culture, will as such naturally be linked with other aspects of that culture. For instance, religion plays a very important role in Arabic culture; but one would hardly want to suggest that it is the fact of speaking Arabic which makes a Moroccan religious. The religious beliefs of a society may of course be reflected in its language; the fact that in Arabic greetings, farewells, wishes, predictions and congratulations can hardly be expressed without reference to God may be one example. But there seems no way of proving that it is linguistic experience rather than other cultural experience which engenders religious concepts for the individual. The Moroccan bilingual is familiar with both French and Arabic cultures. Naturally, he will look upon the French language as one aspect of the general concept he has of "Frenchness", and will tend to associate it with other aspects of French culture; and similarly, Arabic will be associated with other parts of the Arab cultural heritage. It would seem quite natural, then, that when a bilingual adopts one aspect of French culture, namely the language, other aspects of this culture will also tend to become uppermost in his mind. The fact that he is using French in a particular situation may well lead him to adopt French ideas as well, as a result of his perhaps unconscious

< previous page

page_48

next page >

< previous page

page_49

next page > Page 49

association of one with the other. This does not mean that the actual structure of the French language is such as to impose a certain world view on the mind of a bilingual whenever he speaks it; it is simply that for him the French language is closely linked to other things French, and so in turning to the language he also turns to the culture. Nor does it mean that these French ideas and values can be acquired only through speaking French; there is no inherent reason why they should not be conveyed equally well through Arabic, and indeed there are monolinguals who are to some extent westernized although they cannot speak French. What can be said is that the results of this completion test highlight the importance of the bicultural experience of the Moroccan bilingual, demonstrating quite salient differences of outlook associated with the difference of language. The Arabic-French bilingual partakes of two contrasting cultures, and it would seem that to some extent they are separated in his mind, so that an Arabic ideology may tend to come to the fore when he speaks Arabic, while more European ideas tend to dominate when he speaks French. The Moroccan bilingual can thus probably be described as a coordinate bilingual on at least one level that of affective meaning; for the results of this test suggest that each of his two languages possesses a separate associative system. Moroccans are both bilingual and bicultural; they use their two languages in the same general environment, but they associate each with different values and beliefs.

< previous page

page_49

next page >

< previous page

page_50

next page > Page 50

4 An Examination of Language Choice In the preceding chapter, we saw that the bilingual has quite different attitudes towards each of his languages, French, Moroccan Arabic and Classical Arabic, associating each with quite different functions and values. It was suggested that these attitudes might be influenced by the roles played by the different languages and the kind of material presented through each. In this chapter, we will examine in more detail what these roles are by looking at the bilingual's choice of language in a variety of situations, and identifying the factors which help to determine when he uses each language. It will then be possible to see whether there are any close correlations between the patterns of usage and the attitudinal patterns identified in Chapter Three. Any speaker of any language has at his disposition a range of language varieties; Gumperz (1964) uses the term "linguistic repertoire" to describe the full range of styles which an individual needs to fulfil all his communicative needs in the most appropriate way. The speaker's ability to choose the appropriate variety for any particular purpose is part of his communicative competence; the choice is not random, but has been shown to be determined by aspects of the social organization of the community and the social situation where the discourse takes place. In this the bilingual is not strikingly different from the monolingual; it is simply that he has to choose not only between different varieties of the same language, but also between his two languages. Fishman (1972) discusses the question of language choice in bilingual communities in terms of domains, which are defined as "the major clusters of interaction situations that occur in particular multilingual settings" which "enable us to understand that language choice and topic . . . are . . . related to widespread socio-cultural norms and expectations" (Fishman 1972,

< previous page

page_50

next page >

< previous page

page_51

next page > Page 51

p. 19). For any particular domain there will be specific types of participant, setting and topic of discussion which are felt to typify it. Attention has thus been paid to the effect of these types of variable on language choice. For instance, this may be influenced by such aspects of the interlocutor as his age, sex or proficiency in a language, or the type of relationship existing between him and the speaker. Rubin (1968), for example, shows how the dimensions of power and solidarity in participants' relationships, which were first discussed by Brown & Gilman (1968), affect the Puerto Rican bilingual's choice of either Spanish or Guarani; she observes for instance that courting usually begins in Spanish but that when greater intimacy has been reached Guarani is used instead. Some rather similar distinctions are drawn by Stewart (1962) between public and private relationships and formal and informal behaviour, which again influence the bilingual's language choice. The choice of language may also be influenced by the social values associated with a particular language. The obvious example of this is a diglossic situation, where the use of each variety is closely related to the set of values attributed to it, the high variety being associated with formality and prestige and the low variety with the converse (see Ferguson 1959b). The kinds of attitude a bilingual has towards his two languages, such as those examined in Chapter Three, can be expected to be reflected in the uses to which he puts them. His choice will also be affected by the way he perceives a particular social situation and the purpose he wishes to achieve in this situation; Herman (1968), in a discussion of language choice among Israelis, identifies three main types of situation and their effects on language choice. First there is the "background situation", where social considerations are more important than the speaker's personal needs; here the speaker finds himself in a public setting where he has to conform to the rules of a group, and where use of a particular language symbolizes identity with the group. The term convergence has been used to refer to this tendency for a speaker to make his speech approximate more closely to that of his interlocutors, in order to show his favourable attitude towards them (see Giles, Bourhis & Taylor 1977; Giles & St Clair 1979). In other situations, typically private settings, the speaker is not bound by such rules, but can allow his own personal needs and preferences to determine his choice of language. The third type is what Herman calls the "immediate situation", where the speaker does not consider social or personal needs, but simply responds to the immediate requirements of the situation, such as when he uses a language through sheer habit. The choice of language may thus be influenced by factors relating to the individual speaker, to the particular languages and their associations, or to

< previous page

page_51

next page >

< previous page

page_52

next page > Page 52

aspects of the social situation. It seems likely that a particular choice may be influenced by a number of different variables, possibly of differing weights, such as those listed by Hasselmo (1970, pp. 183-4) in his description of codeswitching among Swedish-American bilinguals: "The choice of language is dependent on whom the speaker is addressing, what channel he is using, in what setting he finds himself, what he is communicating about, what are the functions of his communication, and what are the linguistic resources at his disposal." Previous discussions of language choice among Arabic-French bilinguals include the studies by Stevens (1974), Ounali (1970) and Riahi (1970) in Tunisia and by Abbassi (1977) and Gravel (1979) in Morocco; all of these included in their questionnaires some questions about the language the respondents would choose in various situations. Their descriptions of situations specify sometimes a type of interlocutor, sometimes a particular setting and sometimes a topic of conversation, but there is no systematic attempt to isolate the contribution of any one of these. Other discussions have been based on personal observations, such as those by Bounfour (1973) and Mazouni (1973), and some of the comments made by Stevens (1974). The present study attempts to discover some of the types of factor which may affect the bilingual's choice of Arabic or French, to discuss these in the light of the attitudes already examined, and finally to investigate more systematically the contributions of a few of these factors. 4.1 Identification of Some Factors Relevant to Language Choice The first questions to be asked are of course whether there are certain types of situation in which one language tends to be used more than the other, and what aspects of these situations influence the choice of language. With these questions in mind we selected a wide range of situations that would arise in the bilingual's everyday life, and consulted respondents about the languages they felt they would most often use in these situations. This was done by means of two separate questionnaires, since it was felt that the full set of questions would be rather too large for respondents to answer in its entirety. Similar types of questionnaire have been used in many language surveys, such as those described in Rubin (1968), Ohannessian, Ferguson & Palomé (1975), and the others mentioned above. The first questionnaire involved the description of a number of situations, for each of which the respondents were asked to state the languages they would use and to indicate, by using the adverbs always, very often, often

< previous page

page_52

next page >

< previous page

page_53

next page > Page 53

and sometimes, the relative frequency with which they would use each. (This method of grading the frequency of use of languages was used by Jones [1966] in his survey of bilingualism in Welsh education.) There were also some further questions which concerned, not the respondents' actual language use, but their preferences for one language or another in certain fields, notably in the media. There were some problems with the format of this questionnaire, notably the fact that it allowed some respondents to provide less than fully explicit answers; these are discussed in detail in Bentahila (1981), and were avoided in the second questionnaire. The situations identified in this first questionnaire were characterized in a variety of ways, some by specification of an interlocutor or setting, others by specification of a particular communicative purpose or state of mind; and while most were situations involving spoken language, there were some where written language was called for. In contrast, the second questionnaire dealt only with a single aspect of speech situations, the nature of the topic under discussion. The questionnaire gave a list of eleven types of topic, and beside each a list of the four choices open to the respondent, these being Moroccan Arabic, French, Classical Arabic and a mixture of Arabic and French; the respondent was asked simply to encircle the alternative he felt he would most often use to talk about the topic specified. The respondents in the first questionnaire were 109 bilinguals aged between seventeen and thirty-eight, of various occupations and geographical origins. The first few items in the questionnaire were included to obtain some information about the language backgrounds of the respondents, asking about their proficiency in French and Classical Arabic, the languages spoken by their immediate family and used in their homes, and the languages they had used as media of instruction. Full details of the respondents' answers to all these questions, in percentages, are given in Bentahila (1981); lack of space prevents us from listing the actual figures here. The results showed that a large majority of the respondents judged themselves to be fairly or very proficient in both languages, though overall they were slightly more confident of their skill in French than of their skill in Classical Arabic, perhaps because they tend to use French more than Classical Arabic in everyday life, especially in speech. The information obtained about the respondents' educational background suggested that this confidence in their proficiency corresponded with the reality; we can be confident that they were all proficient in the two languages from the fact that they had all reached a certain level of education (all had attended secondary school and 70.5% university), the vast majority in the bilingual state schools. It is of course important that the respondents should be balanced bilinguals of this

< previous page

page_53

next page >

< previous page

page_54

next page > Page 54

type, fairly fluent in both languages, for their questionnaire answers to be appropriately interpreted; if not, their use of one language rather than the other in various situations might be determined merely by the fact that they were not sufficiently fluent in one language to be able to use it effectively. The initial questions also revealed that the respondents were typical of Arabic-French bilinguals in Morocco in that their parents and grandparents did not know French, but were either Arabic monolinguals or Berber-Arabic bilinguals, while their brothers and sisters were ArabicFrench bilinguals like themselves. Since the opportunity to be educated in French has been open to most Moroccans only over the last three decades, few people over the age of fifty are proficient in French; and thus those who are bilingual have typically learned French only in school and not from their parents. This was also reflected in the fact that the majority of the respondents said that Arabic alone was the language of their homes. When asked at what age they began to learn French, the respondents mentioned ages ranging from four to twelve, while they claimed to have begun Classical Arabic at ages ranging from three to twelve. However, the most common age for beginning French was nine, while that for Classical Arabic was seven, and 80% of the respondents claimed to have begun Classical Arabic before French. In these respects, too, the respondents could be said to be typical of educated bilinguals of their age group. As for the respondents in the second questionnaire, these were eighty-seven bilinguals, with ages ranging from eighteen to thirty-four, who originated from various parts of Morocco and held a variety of jobs. These too were fairly balanced bilinguals, who had received a bilingual education, and in the other respects they can be assumed to resemble the respondents in the first questionnaire. The results of the two questionnaires can best be reported under a number of headings which identify the types of factor found to have an effect on the respondents' choice of language. 4.1.1 Types of Interlocutor Some of the responses obtained in the first questionnaire can be seen to illustrate cases where the bilingual is subject to what has been called the law of "interlocutory constraint, which requires that he somehow make himself understood in his unilingual interlocutor's tongue" (Weinreich 1974, p. 81). Thus the overwhelming choice of Arabic rather than French with the interlocutors shown in Table 22 is due to the fact that such interlocutors are unlikely to understand French.

< previous page

page_54

next page >

< previous page

page_55

next page > Page 55

TABLE 22 Interlocutor Beggars

Language chosen* Always Very often Often Sometimes Arabic 101 1 French Maids Arabic 88 1 3 French 2 Grandparents Arabic 81 1 4 French Parents Arabic 81 10 8 2 French 1 3 7 *A few respondents mentioned Berber in their answers to these questions, while others gave no answer. Such responses are omitted here and in the following tables. These results would seem to accord with Guessous's comment (1976, p. 6): "Arabic is the language of maids, of poor people, of beggars and of old people". To find cases where the bilingual would seem to have more freedom in his choice of language, we can look at the use of language with siblings and friends. These two types of interlocutor seem likely to have much in common; they are probably both of the same generation as the respondents, both on equal and intimate terms with them, in what Brown & Gilman (1968) would call a solidary relationship, and probably have background or interests in common with them. However, these is a clear contrast between the patterns of language choice made when speaking to a brother or sister and those made when speaking to a friend, as is shown in Table 23. TABLE 23 Interlocutor Language chosen Siblings Arabic French Friends Arabic French

Always Very often Often Sometimes 32 28 28 15 4 15 43 6 19 34 30 6 13 31 49

The initial questions in the survey revealed that the majority of the respondents' brothers and sisters were bilingual like themselves, and we can expect their friends, too, to have the same kind of proficiency; so French is available as a medium of communication with both these types of interlocutor. It is striking, then, that the respondents use French much more with their friends than with their siblings. The tendency to use Arabic more with

< previous page

page_55

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_56

Page 56 siblings could be related to the fact that conversations between siblings will often be associated with the home and family, and this could be expected to favour the use of Arabic; that Arabic is typically the language of the home has been observed by many investigators of Moroccan bilingualism, including Abbassi (1977), Bounfour (1973), Gravel (1979), Lahjomri (1974) and Stevens (1974). Arabic is the language the respondents first learnt in the home, and was used exclusively among brothers and sisters long before they began to learn French at school. The childhood bond established between them before they learn French may mean that even in later years they still tend to use Arabic to one another more than French. With three other types of interlocutor there is also a clear tendency to use Arabic far more than French; these are shown in Table 24. TABLE 24 Interlocutor Elders Strangers Policemen

Language chosen Arabic French Arabic French Arabic French

Always 72 1 51 1 68 3

Very often Often 9 12 6 9 21 2 8 10 13 12

Sometimes 8 16 12 28 7 12

The use of Arabic with elders may in many cases also be imposed by the law of interlocutory constraint. Since people over fifty are unlikely to have much knowledge of French, the bilingual will find it safest to stick to Arabic in talking to them. His use of Arabic with older people may also be motivated by a concern to be polite and show respect to them, and to avoid embarrassing them if their French is not perfectly fluent. The same motivation may lie behind the use of Arabic rather than French to strangers, who again may not know French or may have negative attitudes towards the use of French. Talking to strangers could be seen as what Herman (1968) calls a background situation, where the speaker "desires (or feels obliged) to conform to the needs of a reference group" (Herman 1968, p. 495); in the Moroccan community the norm is to speak Arabic, so a bilingual will choose this as the unmarked alternative when addressing a stranger. Similar reasons may explain the tendency to use Arabic with a policeman; here the bilingual may be even more anxious to be polite and avoid offence. He may also be influenced by a feeling of what Weinreich (1974, p. 99) calls "language loyalty", "a phenomenon which corresponds to language approximately as a nationalism corresponds to nationality''. In talking to a policeman, who is

< previous page

page_56

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_57

Page 57 viewed as a representative of the state, of national interests and authority, the bilingual might, wishing to show himself a worthy citizen, use Arabic to demonstrate his patriotism and Moroccan identity. After all, it was seen in 3.1 (Table 6) that Arabic is felt to be the language Moroccans should use above all, whereas French tends to have associations with the colonizers. This seems to me a more satisfactory explanation than that of Stevens (1974), who suggests that Tunisians use Arabic rather than French to policemen simply because this is the principal language in informal situations; for conversations with policemen are probably usually more formal than ones with friends, yet French seems to be used more in the latter case than in the former. Table 25 shows that French is used more than Arabic in conversations with a doctor or an employer. TABLE 25 Interlocutor Doctor Employer

Language chosen Arabic French Arabic French

Always 11 34 18 25

Very often Often 4 11 22 22 8 5 12 15

Sometimes 26 16 10 6

To explain the tendency to use more French than Arabic with an employer, one might refer to the notion of the power semantic (see Brown & Gilman 1968). The relationship between employer and employed is not solidary, but is one between superior and inferior; and the use of French with one's employer could be partly motivated by the desire to maintain a certain impersonality and distance in the relationship. There are other instances where French seems to be used with this kind of aim. For instance, Riahi & Ounali (1970) observe that secondary school pupils in Tunisia tend to use French with their teachers even outside lessons, and suggest that their aim here is to maintain some kind of social distance and thereby ensure that the teachers give them more serious consideration than they would if Tunisian Arabic were used: "L'arabe dialectal, trop familier, manque de neutralité et brise immédiatement l'anonymat puisqu'il révèle l'origine socio-géographique de ses énonciateurs, tandis que le

< previous page

("Colloquial Arabic, too informal, lacks neutrality and immediately' shatters anonymity since it reveals the socio-geographic origin of its users, whereas French would rather

page_57

next page >

< previous page

page_58

next page > Page 58

français officialiserait alors la relation scolaire et les rapports d'autorité et de travail."

give official status to the school connection and the relationships of authority and work.")

(Riahi & Ounali 1973, p. 30) Ounali (1970) also notes that French is used more than Arabic by students to talk to teachers or academic staff who are their superiors, whereas they use more Tunisian Arabic when talking to the lower grades of administrative staff in the same department, who are not considered to be superior to the students. There are also instances of the converse, where a superior uses French to his inferior, again to maintain a certain distance and dignity. For example, the older pupils in Moroccan secondary schools who act as monitors in charge of the younger pupils encounter discipline problems if they address their charges in Moroccan Arabic, so they tend to use French instead; evidently the use of Arabic encourages the younger pupils to be too familiar, whereas the use of French symbolizes distance and so obtains respect. If French fulfils this role of marking impersonality and social distance, this might also partly explain why it tends to be used more than Arabic with doctors; for conversations between doctor and patient, like those between employer and employee, are likely to involve a certain degree of formality. In addition, the use of French in discussions of a medical nature may also enable the layman to distance himself from topics which might otherwise cause him embarrassment. In talking about certain personal ailments, parts of the body and so on, the English speaker can choose between using the colloquial terms which may have offensive or embarrassing overtones, or using the conventional euphemistic equivalents, or neutral technical terms, if he knows them. The speaker of Moroccan Arabic, however, has perhaps rather less choice, since there is often only one commonly known term, which is taboo except in very intimate circumstances, the only other solution being to use obscure euphemisms which may not be explicit enough. The bilingual can, however, solve this problem by using French terms; since these do not carry the same connotations for him as the Arabic ones, he can be explicit without being embarrassed. In fact, then, the tendency to use French with the doctor may be related, not merely to the nature of the doctor himself as an interlocutor, but also to the kind of topic likely to arise in such conversations. The technicality often characteristic of medical discussions may also favour the use of French here; French technical terms are required in talking about treatments and medicines because there are simply no commonly used Arabic equivalents, as has been noted by Lakhdar (1976) (see also 4.1.3).

< previous page

page_58

next page >

< previous page

page_59

next page > Page 59

It can be seen then that the speaker's choice of language may be influenced by a number of aspects of the interlocutor's language background, such as his age, education, job, or relationship to the speaker. These may sometimes impose the use of Arabic, by the law of interlocutory constraint, while in other cases Arabic may be chosen to be polite, avoid embarrassment, or conform to certain norms. Association with the domain of home and family may also lead to the use of Arabic. There is also some evidence that the variables of power and solidarity may affect the choice of language, such that French is chosen to avoid familiarity, as a marker of formality and distance. 4.1.2 Types of Setting Table 26 shows that French tends to predominate over Arabic in the setting of a chemist's shop, whereas at the hospital Arabic seems to be used rather more than French. TABLE 26 Setting Language chosen Always Very often Often Sometimes Chemist's Arabic 16 6 12 22 French 31 18 23 16 Hospital Arabic 28 12 14 22 French 16 16 15 22 The use of French in the chemist's is possible because all the staff here will be reasonably well educated. The choice of French may also be influenced by the kind of topic likely to be discussed in the chemist's; the association of French with scientific topics has already been discussed (3.1), and the fact that medical prescriptions are written in French may favour discussion of them in French too. A number of respondents in fact mentioned that when they speak Arabic at the chemist's they cannot avoid mixing it with French because their Arabic vocabulary is insufficient for their needs here. The variety of choices given for the hospital setting may reflect the variety of situations commonly encountered within a hospital; the respondents may be visualizing conversations with patients or orderlies where Moroccan Arabic may be the only natural or feasible choice, or ones with doctors and nurses where French may be more convenient. This illustrates the drawbacks of questions like this, which specify only one aspect of a situation, whether this is setting or interlocutor; the vagueness of such a description may make the responses less enlightening than might be desired. The later questionnaire (4.2) attempts to remedy this.

< previous page

page_59

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_60

Page 60 In restaurants and hotels Arabic is again most used, though French is also quite popular. TABLE 27 Setting Hotel Restaurant

Language chosen Arabic French Arabic French

Always 25 18 36 13

Very often Often 12 16 10 17 12 14 I1 16

Sometimes 17 26 15 23

One factor which may influence language choice in settings like these was hinted at in the comments of a number of respondents, who said that they would use French in superior restaurants but Arabic in shabby cafes in the old city. Comfort and luxury seem to favour the use of French, while Arabic is felt to be more appropriate in a common neighbourhood café where the radio blares and street-sellers flock around the customers. Likewise, many respondents said that their choice of language in a hotel would vary according to its grade, French being favoured in a four or five star hotel and Arabic in a simple boarding house. At the grocer's, Arabic clearly predominates. TABLE 28 Setting Language chosen Grocer's Arabic French

Always 69 2

Very often Often 7 16 2 5

Sometimes 4 12

The respondents will be aware that a grocer, though he may know French to a certain extent, is not likely to be well educated and will be more at ease in Arabic; if addressed by a Moroccan customer in French, he may well feel at a disadvantage and imagine that the customer is being condescending or showing his superiority. Indeed, the choice of French may also have more concrete effects, for it is commonly recognized that customers who speak French in a grocer's shop will be charged more, in reward for their supposed showing off! If the customer wants to be friendly and establish a solidary relationship, then, he will avoid this danger by using Arabic, so that grocer and customer are on more equal terms. This strategy can be contrasted with that used when speaking to an employer (see 4.1.1); while one may choose French with one's employer to maintain a kind of distance, Arabic seems to

< previous page

page_60

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_61

Page 61 be chosen with the grocer for quite the opposite effect, to give the impression of identifying with him. The other point is that the topics mentioned in the grocer's are likely to be everyday matters; again it is difficult to make a clear distinction between the effect of setting and that of interlocutor and topic. However, some respondents commented on the particular kind of setting where they might use French in a grocer's shop, this being where the shop was of the superior kind found in the new towns. This is a further illustration of the tendency to associate French with more elevated, sophisticated environments and Arabic with simple, shabby ones. 4.1.3 Types of Topic The choice of topics to be specified in the second questionnaire was influenced by the results of the first questionnaire and of the tests described in Chapter Three. For instance, it was thought worthwhile to compare topics relating to areas which previous work had shown to be associated with Arabic (such as domestic and religious topics) with others which, it was suspected, would favour the use of French (scientific and technical topics). It was also thought useful to compare casual everyday topics with more specialized ones; of the latter, some could be described as intellectual, some as technical, some were concerned with personal matters and some with leisure interests. It must be admitted that some of the descriptions of topics are very general and could be criticized for their vagueness, and that the respondents might have found it difficult to provide confident answers about some topics, which they were not regularly in the habit of discussing. However, it seems that the respondents, all of whom were reasonably well-educated, did not find it a problem to select a most used language for each topic, for very few of the questions were left unanswered, and in fact the results revealed some interesting general tendencies. The results were analyzed using the Chi Squared test. It was found that there were significant contrasts between the frequencies with which the different languages were chosen in all but two cases, these being the philosophical and moral topics, the results for which are given in Table 29. TABLE 29 Topic Philosophical Moral

Moroccan Arabic 16.3% 19.8%

< previous page

French 25.5% 23.2%

Language chosen Arabic Classical & French Arabic 23.2% 34.9% 32.6% 23.2%

page_61

Blank

p

1.1% n.s. 1.1% n.s.

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_62

Page 62 The lack of any general trend here can be attributed to the fact that these topics were rather ill-defined. An examination of the other topics suggests that they can be divided into two main groups, which show clearly contrasting patterns of language choice. However, first we should mention religious topics, which can be contrasted with all the others in their influence on language choice, which is shown in Table 30. TABLE 30 Topic Religious

Moroccan Arabic 47.2%

French 8%

Language chosen Arabic Classical & French Arabic 11.5% 33.3%

Blank

p<

0%

0.001

Religion is distinguished form all the other topics by the fact that here Moroccan Arabic and Classical Arabic receive much higher ratings than do French or Arabic & French. This clear tendency to favour Arabic to the exclusion of French for religious topics can be seen to reflect the close association between Arabic and Islam. From the other topics, it seems appropriate to identify one group, the members of which are characterized by the fact that they favour the use of French and of Arabic & French much more than the use of either variety of Arabic. These are scientific, technical, industrial, sociological and cultural topics, and their ratings for the various languages are shown in Table 31. TABLE 31 Topic Scientific Technical Industrial Sociological Cultural and artistic

Moroccan Arabic 0% 2.2% 12 6% 14.9% 10.4%

French 68.6% 66.3% 43.7% 28.8% 33.3%

Language chosen Arabic Classical Blank p< & French Arabic 24.4% 7% 0% 0.001 31.5% 0% 0% 0.001 35.6% 4.6% 3.5% 0.001 37.9% 17.3% 1. 1% 0.01 35.7% 19.5% 1.1% 0.01

All of these could be said to be specialized and somewhat intellectual topics. Within the group, a further subdivision can be made. The tendency for

< previous page

page_62

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_63

Page 63 French to be chosen at the expense of Arabic is most pronounced in the case of scientific and technical topics, where a clear majority of the respondents chose French alone, with very few or none at all choosing Moroccan or Classical Arabic, so that nearly all the rest chose Arabic & French. This result suggests that the respondents find it essential to use French, whether or not this is mixed with Arabic, in discussing this kind of topic. This could be linked to the importance of French as the medium of instruction for science and technology within the Moroccan education system. Industrial topics show the same pattern as the scientific and technical ones, although the tendency to use French to the exclusion of Arabic is rather less pronounced here. In the case of the other two intellectual topics, the sociological and cultural/artistic ones, the tendency to favour French is less pronounced, so that there is a correspondingly greater use of Arabic. Here Arabic & French gets the highest rating, followed closely by French alone, and Moroccan Arabic gets the lowest rating of all. The fact that more respondents choose Classical Arabic than Moroccan Arabic here probably reflects the relatively highbrow, scholarly nature of the topics, which is judged to demand the high variety of Arabic rather than the low one. A second category of topic can be distinguished by a quite different pattern of language choice. The characteristics of this group can be seen in Table 32. TABLE 32 Topic Domestic Sports Personal

Moroccan Arabic 59.5% 40.8% 31.8%

French 10.1% 18.6% 26.1%

Language chosen Arabic Classical & French Arabic 27.8% 1.3% 34.4% 1.1% 37.5% 3.5%

Blank

p<

1.3% 1.1% 1.1%

0.001 0.001 0.001

Here Moroccan Arabic receives higher ratings than French, while Classical Arabic is rarely mentioned at all. Thus, in the case of domestic and sports topics, Moroccan Arabic is chosen by more respondents than any of the other languages, followed by Arabic & French, with French in third place and Classical Arabic last of all. For personal topics, Moroccan Arabic is again rated higher than French, but the rating for Arabic & French is highest of all. These three types of topic clearly differ from the earlier category in that, far from being specialized or intellectual, they have in common the fact that they are all commonplace everyday topics, likely to provoke casual rather than formal discussion. The language contrasts between these two

< previous page

page_63

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_64

Page 64 sets of topics suggest than an important factor in determining language choice is the distinction between specialized and everyday topics, formal and casual ones. There is a clear tendency for French to be used more than Moroccan Arabic for the specialized, intellectual topics, and for more Moroccan Arabic than French to be used for the everyday, informal ones. This could also be linked with a tendency for Moroccan Arabic to dominate in the domain of home and family, while French dominates in the domain of education. 4.1.4 Types of Communicative Purpose or Mood Table 33 shows that the respondents claim to use Arabic much more than French to tell jokes or express insults. TABLE 33 Purpose Telling jokes Insulting

Language chosen Arabic French Arabic French

Always 53 2 52 2

Very often Often 16 20 2 6 11 9 7

Sometimes 7 22 13 21

As is widely recognized, the jokes that one finds amusing tend to be very closely linked with one's own culture, and are often untranslatable. The results suggest then that Moroccan bilinguals, even if they are quite westernized in outlook, may not achieve the kind of cultural integration which would give them a French sense of humour. Insults, too, tend not to be readily transferable from one language to another. They often depend for their effect on the use of taboo words, but, as was noted in 4.1.1, for a Moroccan French words may lack the connotations of their Arabic equivalents. While a Moroccan will use French terms to a doctor to avoid the embarrassment and lack of delicacy a taboo Arabic word would produce, when insulting someone he wants to create quite the opposite effect, so Arabic will probably serve his purpose better. Arabic also seems to be used more than French for greetings. TABLE 34 Purpose Greetings

Language chosen Arabic French

< previous page

Always 23 8

Very often 18 5

Often 24 12

page_64

Sometimes 20 32

next page >

< previous page

page_65

next page > Page 65

Greetings are among the kinds of highly stereotyped phrases which perhaps remain more available to the bilingual in his first learnt language. The respondents also claim to use Arabic more than French for a number of other communicative purposes, as is shown in Table 35. TABLE 35 Purpose To intimidate To flatter To be intimate To be serious To encourage To court a girl

Language chosen Arabic French Arabic French Arabic French Arabic French Arabic French Arabic French

Always Very often Often Sometimes 43 10 17 12 7 7 14 15 40 13 23 14 4 6 20 18 39 16 20 14 6 5 18 22 38 12 23 15 8 10 16 23 27 12 27 21 7 8 20 32 20 8 17 19 10 11 5 25

This might be attributed to the fact that emotional reactions are perhaps more readily expressed in one's mother tongue, as is suggested by Herman (1968, p. 503). Of all these purposes, that of courting a girl seems to involve the greatest use of French. This might be felt to reflect the tendency, noted by Bounfour (1973) and by Abbassi (1977) for some Moroccans to find French more liberating in such a context. Both these authors suggest that Moroccan schoolboys use French to flirt with girls in order to avoid being vulgar another instance where French may be used to avoid the bad connotations which Arabic might carry, and so to achieve some psychological distance. Finally, Arabic also seems to be favoured by the respondents when they are not at their best, for instance when they are tired or angry. TABLE 36 Mood Language chosen Tired Arabic French Angry Arabic French

< previous page

Always 45 4 36 5

Very often Often Sometimes 16 22 7 4 5 19 12 20 15 7 18 23

page_65

next page >

< previous page

page_66

next page > Page 66

The tendency for bilinguals to resort to their mother tongue when tired or angry is well-attested. Riahi (1970) observes that Tunisian schoolchildren prefer to speak Arabic when they are tired, and Rubin's (1968) study of Paraguayan bilinguals finds that ''angry discourse is usually conducted in the first language acquired" (p. 107). Similarly, Herman (1968), discussing bilingual immigrants to Israel, maintains that "when the state of the person is one of extreme fatigue or excessive excitement or in cases of severe frustration" there is usually a return to the native language (p. 502). It is not surprising to find Moroccans exhibiting the same tendency. 4.1.5 The Written Medium So far we have looked only at the respondents' choice of language in speaking, but to see something of their preferences in writing they were consulted about the languages they would choose for three kinds of letter. A clear contrast emerged between job applications and love letters, on the one hand, and letters to the family on the other; there was a strong preference for using French for the former and Arabic for the latter, as can be seen from Table 37. TABLE 37 Type of letter French

Language chosen Arabic Blank

Arabic p<* & French Job application 90 7 7 5 0.001 Love letter 67 9 21 12 0.001 Family letter 15 14 72 8 0.001 *The significance of the contrasts betwen the three language choices here and in the results given later was calculated by means of the Chi Squared test. For job applications, what is important is to show one's education, competence and intelligence. The respondents may be choosing French here because they judge themselves to be more proficient at writing French than at writing Arabic, as was suggested by their ratings of their own proficiency in the initial part of the questionnaire; here 98.1% expressed confidence in their proficiency at writing French, as opposed to 86.2% at writing Arabic. Moreover, the fact of writing the application in French will serve to show that they are well-educated bilinguals, and that their French is of a high standard; it was noted in 1.2 that a knowledge of French is invaluable for many jobs. There is also the tendency, observed in 3.1, for French to be looked upon as a prestigious language, and one which is associated with education and advancement.

< previous page

page_66

next page >

< previous page

page_67

next page > Page 67

The choice of French for love letters may again reflect the fact that French carries more permissive and less vulgar associations as a language of courtship. As for the preference for Arabic in letters to the family, this accords with the earlier findings that Arabic is the language of the home, that which dominates in conversations not only with parents and grandparents, who probably do not know French, but also with siblings, who probably do. 4.1.6 Preferences in Performing Certain Tasks As well as being consulted about the languages they habitually used in certain circumstances, the respondents were also asked which they would choose to use in certain circumstances if a choice were available to them. Table 38 shows no overall preference as to what language to use in taking a driving test. The respondents seem to be divided into two groups, one preferring French and the other Arabic. TABLE 38 Task French Taking driving test

50

Language preferred Arabic Arabic & French 4 46

Blank 9

On the other hand, there is an overall preference for French in the domain of education, both for receiving lessons or lectures and for taking examinations, whether written or oral. TABLE 39 Task French Receiving lessons/lectures Taking written examinations Taking oral examinations

57 55 55

Language preferred Arabic Arabic Blank p< & French 7 24 21 0.001 10 29 15 0.001 11 26 17 0.001

This preference for French in education may result from the way in which the respondents themselves have been taught; French is associated with modern teaching methods, Arabic with traditional and rather old-fashioned ones (see Lahjomri 1974 and Sawri 1977, p. 83). It may also be a matter of

< previous page

page_67

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_68

Page 68 habit; the dominance of French in the Moroccan education system, both now and in the past (see 1.2) may mean that the habit of studying in French is so well established in bilinguals like our respondents that this is what comes most naturally to them. The same overall pattern emerges for the task of self-expression, though the preference for French is less pronounced here. TABLE 40 Task French Self-expression

44

Language preferred Arabic Arabic Blank & French 20 34 11

p< 0.02

The preference for French here might seem surprising in view of the fact that Arabic seems to be most used for expressing various emotional states (see Table 35). However, the French language seems to be reputed for its precision and analytic nature; Abou (1962) claims that it is through learning to express himself in French that the Lebanese bilingual develops a critical mind, and Gordon (1962) observes that the North African's French education "emphasises intellectualism and memorisation and it fosters verbalism" (p. 8). It may be, then, that the Moroccan bilingual prefers French when he is not simply reacting spontaneously, but wants to be clear, precise and organized in his expression. 4.1.7 Preferences for the Media It is interesting that, while most of the respondents read newspapers and books in both French and Arabic, those in French are more popular with them; this can be seen from Table 41. TABLE 41 French Newspapers read Newspapers preferred Books read Books preferred

37 58 45 62

Arabic & French 53 13 54 14

Arabic

Blank

15 26 7 20

4 12 3 13

The respondents offer three main types of reason for their preference.

< previous page

page_68

next page >

< previous page

page_69

next page > Page 69

In the first place, relatively few of them attribute their preference for material in one language rather than the other to the simple fact that they like that language better. Only one gives his fondness for French as a reason for preferring French material; slightly more mention their liking for Arabic (7.83% in the case of newspapers and 1.83% in the case of books), and their comments show that they are motivated by patriotism. They express the view that the Arabic publications are to be valued, not because of their content, but simply because they are written in the language of the Arabs, and some suggest that as Moroccans they are somehow expected to prefer to read in Arabic; Respondent 100, for instance, observes that "Arabic is the language of intimacy, the mother tongue; we are after all Moroccans". Another factor mentioned is that of ease of comprehension. 14.67% say they prefer French newspapers because they find them easier to read and understand, and 12.84% give this reason for preferring books in French. On the other hand, only 6.42% claim that they find Arabic newspapers easier to read, and only 4.58% find Arabic books easier. The overall preference for French can thus partially be explained by this difference. The factor which seems to influence the respondents' preferences most decisively, however, is the content of the material. Few of the respondents say that they prefer the content of the Arabic publications (only 1.83% for newspapers and 4.81% for books); those who do claim this is because they contain more familiar subject matter, dealing with their own history and cultural values, with which they feel more at home. Comments about the superiority of content of the French publications are much more frequent; 27.52% praise the content of the French newspapers, 26.6% that of French books. Some point to the greater number of publications available in French. Many mention that these publications present a wide variety of views and new ideas which enable the reader to broaden his horizons and come into contact with something new. Moreover, a number of respondents claim that the French material is more modern and more in touch with the problems of youth than any Arabic publication. Clearly, then, the overall preference for French material is not due to arbitrary fondness for the French language, but is based on practical considerations, firstly the fact that some find it easier to read French, and secondly and most importantly the fact that the content of the French publications is judged to be more appealing and more satisfying. The greater appeal of the material to which French gives access may provide one answer to those, like Abou (1962), who wonder why Morocco has continued to make such wide use of French even after Independence. It has important implications for future language planning, which will be discussed in Chapter Six.

< previous page

page_69

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_70

Page 70 A similar trend can be seen in the respondents' preferences for sound media. Table 42 shows that while the majority of the respondents listen to the radio in both languages, there is an overall preference for French programmes, and a similar preference for French television programmes and films. TABLE 42 French Radio programmes listened to Radio programmes preferred Television programmes preferred Films preferred

25 54 55 79

Arabic & French 60 14 26 13

Arabic Blank 19 27 20 6

5 14 8 11

The reasons given for these preferences are similar to those mentioned in connection with the printed material, but here the importance of content in determining preferences seems even greater. In fact, 41.28% of the respondents refer to the superiority of content of the French radio pro-grammes, 42.2% to that of the French TV programmes, and 43.11% to that of French language films. The comments made about the attractiveness of this content are similar to those made about the written material; the French broadcasts are frequently described as being more modern and in touch with the younger generation, and are also claimed to be more professionally produced and presented, and films in French are said to be more entertaining and up-to-date in theme. In contrast, there is little praise for the content of Arabic films and broadcasts. In fact, the only favourable comment is by one respondent who describes the Arabic radio station as more family-oriented. Another says he prefers Arabic TV programmes because all his family understands Arabic, but he prefers French films; evidently he considers above all the interests of his family when he is at home, but when he goes to the cinema he can indulge his own preferences. The only other reason given for preferring Arabic material is the patriotic one, mentioned by 6.42% in reference to Arabic radio and 2.75% in reference to Arabic television; these say they prefer Arabic broadcasts because they are "of Arabic origin" (R.9), because "Arabic is the national language" (R.19), or because "all programmes should be in Arabic since we are in an Arab country" (R. 15). Films in Arabic are strongly criticized by 20.18%, who find them boring and loaded with sentimental themes, or complain that they find them difficult to understand.

< previous page

page_70

next page >

< previous page

page_71

next page > Page 71

This is because of the scarcity of Moroccan films, which means that most Arabic films shown are in Middle Eastern dialects, in which case, ironically enough, it is judged necessary to provide French sub-titles to assist Moroccans' comprehension! With television advertisements, however, the tendency to prefer French is not marked, but the comments are nonetheless interesting. TABLE 43 Television advertisements

French 31

Arabic & French Arabic Blank 18 25 35

Those who prefer French advertisements claim that they are more lively and more professionally done, while those who prefer Arabic point out that this can be understood by a larger number of people. One interesting comment is that by Respondent 3, who says he prefers Arabic advertisements "in order that our young children learn to think in Arabic". One would hardly expect there to be any need for television advertisements to assist children in acquiring their native language, which they can hear about them in the home and the street. Interestingly enough, the same respondent says he prefers radio and TV programmes and films in French because of their superior educational and entertainment value. On the other hand, since advertisements are not primarily seen as sources of education or entertainment, he does not have these reasons for preferring French publicity; so perhaps, all things being equal, he feels that the advertisements should be in Arabic so that his children, even if bombarded with French radio and TV programmes, will sometimes hear Arabic on television. Still, the very idea that Arabic advertisements are needed to reinforce children's experience of Arabic suggests that he feels the position of Arabic, as their first language, is somehow endangered and needs to be reinforced in such ways. Other surveys have also revealed that North African bilinguals tend to prefer the publications, broadcasts and films available to them through the medium of French to those in Arabic (see Abbassi 1977, Gravel 1979, Tessler 1969 and especially Adam 1963). What is interesting in our study is not merely the strong preferences for French material which it reveals, but the very different reasons which motivate the preferences for the two types of material. Those who prefer the material in French do so because of the intrinsic appeal of its content, whereas those who are drawn to the Arabic material are influenced, not by its content, but by feelings of patriotism, and the idea that as Moroccans they should support what Arabic has to offer.

< previous page

page_71

next page >

< previous page

page_72

next page > Page 72

4.2 The Interaction of Some Factors Relevant to Language Choice The first two questionnaires showed that, among other factors, the nature of the interlocutor, setting and topic could influence the bilingual's choice of language in a particular situation. However, one of the shortcomings of these questionnaires was that since in each case only one element of the situation, whether interlocutor, setting or topic, was specified, it was not possible to know what the respondents were imagining the other elements of the situation to be. Moreover, it was suspected that in some cases the respondents' choices might have been influenced, not merely by the factor specified in the question, but by other imagined factors as well; for instance, the respondents in stating what language they would use to a doctor might also have been thinking of what language they would use for medical topics. To obtain more precise information about what aspect of a situation determines the choice, then, it seems necessary to isolate the three components, interlocutor, setting and topic. The third questionnaire attempts to do this by providing characterizations of situations where not just one but all three of these are specified; by comparing situations where two of these components are the same and the third is different, it will then be possible to see more clearly the effect of this one component alone. By this method we can examine the choices made in situations where the various components appear to have conflicting effects, for example where the topic is such as to favour the use of one language while the interlocutor or setting is such as to favour another. It also attempts to discover more general patterns within the effects of the various types of interlocutor, setting and topic. We have so far considered the contributions of these three factors separately, but one can detect similarities between the kinds of factor found to lead to contrasting choices in each of these cases. For instance, one of the distinctions between different types of interlocutor which was found to correlate with interesting differences of language choice was that between relationships of power and solidarity, or intimacy and non-intimacy, Moroccan Arabic being more used when there is a solidary relationship between speaker and interlocutor while French is favoured where the speaker wishes to emphasize formality and impersonality in his relationship with the interlocutor. A contrast which to some extent parallels this one was also established between two types of topic; it was observed that Moroccan Arabic tends to be used more with casual, everyday topics while French is more favoured with more specialized, academic or technical ones. This too could be related to the contrast between casual and formal, intimate and non-intimate the informal discussion of commonplace matters contrasting with the greater distance

< previous page

page_72

next page >

< previous page

page_73

next page > Page 73

involved in discussing more intellectual questions. As for settings, it was suggested that there is a contrast between relatively unsophisticated, everyday settings, where Moroccan Arabic seems to be favoured, and more refined, luxurious ones, where French dominates. From these various contrasts, then, it seems possible to detect a single more general distinction, which could for convenience be represented as that between intimacy and non-intimacy, or formality and informality; Moroccan Arabic seems to be favoured in situations involving intimacy, informality and everyday matters, while French is favoured in those involving formality, sophistication and specialization. The third questionnaire is also intended to examine this distinction more systematically and to see how closely it correlates with the choice of Moroccan Arabic or French. The form of this questionnaire was inspired by some experiments carried out by Greenfield & Fishman (1971) to investigate language choice among Puerto Rican bilinguals, but its final form was quite different from their questionnaire. The first step was to select five domains, which can conveniently be labelled home, friendship, work, education and medicine. These were chosen, partly on the basis of the results of the earlier questionnaires, to represent the contrast between formality and informality outlined above; it was felt that situations related to home or to friends could be contrasted with those related to education, medicine or work, the latter being characterized as formal and the former as informal. To represent each of these domains, I selected one interlocutor, one setting and one topic, which were judged typical. Some of these had already appeared in the previous questionnaires. The five sets of three components, each of which could be said to represent what Greenfield & Fishman call a congruent situation, were as shown in Table 44. TABLE 44 Congruent situations representing five domains Domain Interlocutor Setting Topic (a) Informal (1) Home Brother/sister Home Children's duties towards their parents (2) Friendship Friend Café Driving a car (b) Formal (3) Education Teacher School/ College Mathematics problem (4) Medicine Doctor Hospital Medicines (drugs) (5) Work Employer Office Office work

< previous page

page_73

next page >

< previous page

page_74

next page > Page 74

These same components were then used to construct sixty other situations, which were not congruent, since the three components making up each situation were not all associated with the same domain. Each interlocutor was combined with the same combinations of setting and topic, each setting with the same combinations of interlocutor and topic, and each topic with the same combinations of interlocutor and setting, and this made it possible to compare the effects of the different categories of each type of component. Thus the formal interlocutors teacher, doctor, and employer were combined with the same pairs of setting and topic as were the informal interlocutors brother/sister and friend, so that the contrast between the two could be revealed, and so on. It was felt to be too much to present the respondents with the full sixty-five situations, each made up of three components, at one sitting, since this might make them tired or bored. So the situations were divided between two questionnaires, each of which contained a total of thirty-five situations, made up of the five congruent situations, which were repeated in each questionnaire, and thirty non-congruent ones. The combinations in each questionnaire were listed in random order, and the order of the three components also varied from one combination to another, sometimes the interlocutor being listed first, sometimes the setting and sometimes the topic. This was to avoid giving overall prominence to any one type of component. The respondents were eighty-six balanced bilinguals aged between seventeen and thirty-eight, who came from various parts of Morocco and had a variety of occupations including teachers, clerks, technicians, secretaries and students. They were asked to imagine themselves holding a conversation with another Moroccan bilingual in each of the situations specified, and to indicate the language they would be most likely to use in this situation, by encircling one of a list of four choices, these being Moroccan Arabic, French, Classical Arabic, or a mixture of Arabic and French. The analysis of the results began with the calculation of the total scores for each language in each of the sixty-five situations. For the purposes of comparison, the various combinations were grouped into sets of five, such that all the members of a set had two components in common, and contrasted with regard to only one component; this made it possible to see the effect of any one component by comparing the results in a particular set. Fifteen sets of five situations were assembled in this way. The contrasts found within these sets are conveniently represented in graph form. Graphs 2-10 each represent the effect of varying one compo-

< previous page

page_74

next page >

< previous page

page_75

next page > Page 75

nent (topic, setting or interlocutor) on the use of one of the languagesFrench, Moroccan Arabic or French & Arabic. (The results for Classical Arabic are not presented in this way, since the number of times it was mentioned by the respondents was always very small, naturally enough as it is essentially a written language.) It is also interesting to compare the five congruent situations which we initially established to represent the five domains, so Graph 1 shows all the language situations in just these five situations. The graphs are helpful in that they reveal the patterns very clearly, making it possible to see at a glance the general correlations between the nature of the topic, setting or interlocutor and the extent to which a particular language is used. To establish an overall rating for each domain with regard to the use of a particular language, we used a system of ranking. From the information in each graph, two sets of rankings were obtained. For example, from Graph 2, representing the relationship between the type of interlocutor and the use of French, we first held the congruent components constant and ranked each kind of interlocutor for the amount of French used when it was combined with each particular pair; and then we held each interlocutor constant and ranked the setting-topic combinations in the same way. The same was done with the graphs representing the relationships between setting and use of French and topic and use of French. We then added together all the rankings for the components and pairs of components for each particular domain to obtain a total of thirty rankings for each domain. These were added together and a combined ranking was found. To measure how good the agreement between the thirty rankings was, we calculated the coefficient of concordance (see Chambers 1964) and calculated z. We may look first at the full results for the five congruent situations, representing the domains of home, friends, education, medicine and work, which are shown in Graph 1. The most obvious contrast here is that between the two situations representing the domains of home and friends, which we suggested could be characterized as informal, and those representing the domains of education, medicine and work, which could be described as formal. The obvious difference between these two sets of situations is that in the two informal ones both Moroccan Arabic and Arabic & French receive much higher ratings than does French, whereas in each of the formal ones the opposite is true, French receiving much higher ratings than either Moroccan Arabic or Arabic & French. This clear contrast provides more evidence to suggest that the formal/informal distinction is important in accounting for differences of language choice.

< previous page

page_75

next page >

< previous page

page_76

next page > Page 76

Graph 1 Language Choice in the Five Congruent Situations

< previous page

page_76

next page >

< previous page

page_77

next page > Page 77

As well as the more general distinction between formal and informal, however, there are clear differences between each of the five situations, which can be ordered according to the different ratings each language receives in each situation. Table 45 shows the rank orders of the five congruent situations with regard to the use of French, Moroccan Arabic and Arabic & French. (The ratings for Classical Arabic are all so low that they are not of interest to us here.) The lowest rank, 1, represents the case where the language is least used, and the highest, 5, that where it is most used. TABLE 45 Rankings of congruent situations (a) Rankings for use of Moroccan Arabic (1) Teacher/School/Mathematics (2) Doctor/Hospital/Medicines (3) Employer/Office/Work (4) Friend/Café/Driving (5) Brother/Home/Duties (b) Rankings for use of French (1) Friend/Café/Driving (2) Brother/Home/Duties (3) Employer/Office/Work (4) Doctor/Hospital/Medicines (5) Teacher/School/Mathematics (c) Rankings for use of Arabic & French (1) Teacher/School/Mathematics (2) Brother/Home/Duties (3) Doctor/Hospital/Medicines (4) Employer/Office/Work (5) Friend/Café/Driving As was described earlier, overall combined rankings for each domain were also obtained, by summing those for each component or pair of components representing that domain. The combined rankings, together with the results of the test of concordance between them, are shown in Table 46. TABLE 46

Overall rankings of domains* Domain Ranking Overall Sum of Individual Ranking (a) Moroccan Arabic Education 1 48 Medicine 2 66.5 Work 3 80.5 Friends 4 114 Home 5 141 W=0.622, z=2.54, p<0.001 (table continued on next page)

< previous page

page_77

next page >

< previous page

page_78

next page > Page 78

(table continued from previous page) Domain Ranking Overall Sum of Individual Ranking (b) French Friends 1 43 Home 2 52.5 Work 3 94.5 Medicine 4 115.5 Education 5 144.5 W=0.807, z=3.152, p<0.001 (c) Arabic & French Education 1 49 Home 2 87.5 Work 3 88.5 Medicine 4 90.5 Friends 5 134.5 W=0.408, z=1.968, p<0.001 *For tables showing the full sets of rankings from which these overall rankings were calculated, see Bentahila (1981). It can be seen that the degree of agreement between the rankings is highly significant in the case of all three languages; the agreement is greatest with regard to French and rather less good with regard to Arabic & French. In the cases of Moroccan Arabic and French, moreover, the overall rank order corresponds exactly with that suggested by the ranking of the five congruent situations; in the case of Arabic & French, however, there is a difference, ranks 3 and 4 being reversed. The overall rankings for both Moroccan Arabic and French clearly reflect the distinction between formal and informal domains, in that the two informal domains, those of friends and home, are in both cases grouped at one end of the scale. The ranking for French is the converse of that for Moroccan Arabic except that the domain of friends is ranked lowest for French, whereas it is that of home which is ranked highest for Moroccan Arabic. The ranking for Arabic & French, however, does not so obviously reflect the formal/informal distinction, which may suggest that the use of Arabic & French is not as closely related to this variable as is that of each language separately. The graphs are designed to show the variation in the use of a particular language which corresponds to differences of either interlocutor, setting or topic. In each case, pairs of congruent components (ones representing the same domain) are set along the horizontal axis, while the vertical axis represents numbers of respondents. The five lines plotted on the graph then each trace the numbers of respondents who claim to use a particular language in situations involving one of these pairs together with a third component as shown in the key. The ordering for the elements on the horizontal axis is that which was suggested by the overall ranking of the five domains for each language.

< previous page

page_78

next page >

< previous page

page_79

next page > Page 79

Graph 2 Use of French, showing effect of differences of interlocutor

< previous page

page_79

next page >

< previous page

page_80

next page > Page 80

Graph 3 Use of French, showing effect of differences of topic

< previous page

page_80

next page >

< previous page

page_81

next page > Page 81

Graph 4 Use of French, showing effect of differences of setting

< previous page

page_81

next page >

< previous page

page_82

next page > Page 82

Graph 5 Use of Moroccan Arabic, showing effect of interlocutor

< previous page

page_82

next page >

< previous page

page_83

next page > Page 83

Graph 6 Use of Moroccan Arabic, showing effect of differences of topic

< previous page

page_83

next page >

< previous page

page_84

next page > Page 84

Graph 7 Use of Moroccan Arabic, showing effect of differences of setting

< previous page

page_84

next page >

< previous page

page_85

next page > Page 85

Graph 8 Use of Arabic & French, showing effect of differences of interlocutor

< previous page

page_85

next page >

< previous page

page_86

next page > Page 86

Graph 9 Use of Arabic & French, showing effect of differences of topic

< previous page

page_86

next page >

< previous page

page_87

next page > Page 87

Graph 10 Use of Arabic & French, showing effect of differences of setting

< previous page

page_87

next page >

< previous page

page_88

next page > Page 88

The graphs show in more detail the contrasts between the various domains and the specific components representing these domains. In the first place, they clearly show the effect of any one interlocutor, setting or topic in contrast to that of the others. So, for instance, it can be seen from Graph 2 that more people use French when their interlocutor is a teacher, doctor or employer than when he is a brother or friend; while from Graph 7, for example, it can be seen that the effect of differences of setting on the use of Moroccan Arabic is far more pronounced where the other components are from the home domain than when they are from that of education. In the graphs showing use of French and of Moroccan Arabic, it is easy to see the clear and consistent patterns between the effects of the individual components of the various types. It can be seen at a glance that a component representing an informal domain leads to the use of more Moroccan Arabic and less French than does a component representing a formal domain; though it is also easy to see that the contrasts between the effects of the five types of component are more pronounced in some cases than in others. The most clear-cut contrast of all is that between components representing the two informal domains on the one hand and those representing the three formal domains on the other; this is seen in the fact that the lines representing informal interlocutors, settings or topics rarely cross over those representing formal ones. The graphs can also of course be used to compare the effects, not of individual components, but of situations involving different pairs of congruent components. In the case of Moroccan Arabic and French, these contrasts again show the clear patterns reflecting the overall rank orders. Thus in the graphs representing the use of French, it is easy to see the gradation from situations involving two components representing the friends domain, where the use of French is rarest, to those where there are two components representing the domain of education, where it is most prevalent. Similarly, the graphs representing use of Moroccan Arabic show clearly that Moroccan Arabic is least used in situations with two education components and most used in those with two home components. The graphs and rankings showing the use of Arabic & French, however, do not show such obvious patterns. In the first place, the overall ranking of domains for the use of Arabic & French does not correlate very closely with the formal/informal distinction, as was noted earlier; the two extremes of the ranking are indeed the formal domain of education and the informal one of friends, but the other informal domain, that of home, is ranked second, next to education, instead of next to friends, as we might expect if the formal/informal distinction was decisive. Similarly, the graphs showing use

< previous page

page_88

next page >

< previous page

page_89

next page > Page 89

of Arabic & French show far less regularity than those showing use of French or of Moroccan Arabic; there are many cases where the lines representing the different components cross over. A further respect in which the results for Arabic & French fail to show the patternings of those for French and for Moroccan Arabic can be seen if we compared the sums of individual rankings, as shown in Table 46. The Arabic & French rankings are distinguished by the fact that the three middle rankings are barely differentiated at all. While education clearly has the lowest rank at 49, and friends the highest at 134.5, the other three, home, work and medicine, are very close together at 87.5, 88.5 and 90.5 respectively. In fact there would seem to be only three well-defined ranks here, with the three middle domains getting very similar ratings. This is clearly in contrast to the pattern which emerges along the formal/informal dimension with the other two languages, and suggests that perhaps some other opposition should be recognized here. A closer look at the full set of rankings for Arabic & French provides some support for this idea. An examination of the individual rankings reveals a contrast between the orderings obtained for the domains of home and friends, on the one hand, and those obtained for the domains of education, medicine and work on the other. This can be shown more clearly by totalling these two groups separately, obtaining one overall ranking for all the situations involving components of the home and friends domains, and another for all the situations containing education, medicine or work components. These two new overall rankings, together with the sums of individual rankings on which they are based, are set out in Table 47, together with the rankings based on the full set of situations, which are repeated from Table 46 for comparison purposes. TABLE 47 Rankings for Arabic & French Domain Overall Ranking Sum of individual rankings (a) Situations involving one or more Home or Friends components 1 18.5 Home 2 30 Education 3 38.5 Work 4 46 Medicine 5 47 Friends W=0.395, z=0.9855, p<0.001 (b) Situations involving one or more Education, Medicine or Work components 1 19 Education 2 44.5 Medicine 3 50 Work 4 69 Home 5 87.5 Friends W=0.828, z=2.2, p<0.001 (table continued on next page)

< previous page

page_89

next page >

< previous page

page_90

next page > Page 90

(table continued from previous page) Domain (c) Full set of situations

Overall Ranking

Sum of individual rankings

1

49

2

87.5

3

88.5

4

90.5

5

134.5

Education Home Work Medicine Friends W=0.408, z=1.968. p<0.001

It is immediately obvious that these two groupings both produce overall rank orders which differ from that obtained for the full set of situations; moreover, in (b), the grouping of situations containing one or more education, medicine or work components, a much higher degree of agreement between the rankings is obtained than in (c), the full set of situations. In the education/medicine/work group, in fact, the overall ranking for Arabic & French turns out to be similar to that for Moroccan Arabic alone (see Table 46[a]), the only difference being that here the domain of friends is ranked highest whereas for Moroccan Arabic that of home is ranked highest. (This difference can probably be attributed to the fact that there is a particularly close link between the use of Moroccan Arabic and the domain of home, which could be seen as partly independent of the formal/informal distinction.) This suggests that in situations containing one or more formal components the use of Arabic & French has the same kind of distributional pattern as does the use of Moroccan Arabic alone; like Moroccan Arabic, Arabic & French is most compatible with the informal domains of home and friends, rather less compatible with the formal ones of work and medicine, and least compatible of all with that of education. In situations like these, then, the contrast between formal and informal can be seen to correlate in a regular way with differences in the amount of Arabic & French used, just as it correlates with variations in the use of French and of Moroccan Arabic. However, the rankings obtained for the group of situations involving one or more home or friends components are in a quite different order, which suggests that some other factor is influencing the use of Arabic & French here. It could be postulated that this further factor is a contrast between what we might call variable and invariable situations, the latter being situations where variation of language is controlled and limited, and the former being ''free" situations where language variation is most acceptable and maximized. For the ordering here, while clearly not corresponding to the formal/informal opposition, does seem to correspond to what one might intuitively feel about the relative variability of behaviour in the five domains. Thus while the domains of home and friends are both classed as informal, one can see that in Morocco it is likely for the domain of home to exert more control over behaviour and allow less variation than the domain

< previous page

page_90

next page >

< previous page

page_91

next page > Page 91

of friends. In the home situation, there are clearly defined norms of behaviour, one of which seems to be to use Moroccan Arabic (see Table 46[a]); but it seems natural that such norms should be far less pronounced outside the home situation, in situations involving friends, where people are more free to be themselves and to vary their behaviour, including their language behaviour. Similarly, the school situation is clearly one in which behaviour is governed by many regulations and restrictions, language choice being one aspect of this rule-governed behaviour, while in the domain of work one might expect the individual to have rather more freedom for variation, and in the domain of medicine one might expect the restrictions to be less clearly formalized because the individual is perhaps likely to encounter this domain less regularly than the others. The postulation of an opposition between variable and relatively less variable situations thus does seem to have some intuitive plausibility, and can be used to explain the fact that the rankings for use of Arabic & French do not reflect the formal/informal opposition as clearly as do those for use of French and for use of Moroccan Arabic. Table 47 suggests that there are two different tendencies affecting the rankings for the use of Arabic & French, neither of which clearly emerges from the overall ranking shown in (c). It can be seen from the surveys reported in this chapter, then, that the bilingual's choice of language in a particular situation is unlikely to be arbitrary, but may be influenced by any of a variety of factors, such as the setting in which a conversation takes place, the persons participating in it, the topic under discussion, and the speaker's mood and purpose. It was seen the the final choice may be dependent on the interaction of a number of factors; interlocutor, setting and topic each have their own influence on the language chosen. The languages are associated with different domains; of the five domains we looked at, French seems to dominate in those involving relatively formal situations, while Moroccan Arabic is preferred in more informal contexts. The use of a mixture of Arabic and French is also favoured by more informal situations, but in addition seems to be affected by what we called the degree of variability of a situation. These findings suggest that the languages each have their own roles to fulfil in the bilingual's speech behaviour, so that they can be said to stand in a diglossic relationship, in the sense in which Fishman (1971) uses this term. These contrasting roles can be seen to correlate in some ways with the differing attitudes the bilinguals have towards the languages. The association of French with education, sophistication and prestige, and that of Moroccan Arabic with the intimacy of the home and the practicalities of everyday life, which were examined in Chapter Three, are reflected in the

< previous page

page_91

next page >

< previous page

page_92

next page > Page 92

tendency to use French as a marker of formality and Moroccan Arabic as a marker of informality. The fact that each language has its own important role in the bilingual's repertoire clearly has implications for any attempt to exclude the use of French, such as the Arabization programmes discussed in Chapter Six. There is also the other important finding of this survey, discussed in 4.1.7, that bilinguals tend to have strong preferences for the material to which a knowledge of French gives them access; this too seems likely to have significant implications for Arabization plans.

< previous page

page_92

next page >

< previous page

page_93

next page > Page 93

5 Reactions to the Use of Arabic, French and Code-switching In the last chapter, we looked at the kinds of factor which lead the bilingual to choose one language rather than another in a particular situation. The fact that French and Moroccan Arabic tend to be favoured in different types of situation, French being associated with formality and sophistication, Moroccan Arabic with intimacy and informality, leads us to ask a further question, and to consider whether the bilingual may not be perceived rather differently by others depending on what language he is speaking. In this chapter, then, we shall look at how bilinguals' attitudes to an individual are influenced by the language he speaks. This is a more indirect method of investigating the bilingual's views of his various languages than the kind of direct questioning about attitudes which we used to obtain the information reported in 3.1 and 3.2. The attitudes examined there were those openly expressed by the respondents in full consciousness that they were being consulted about their attitudes towards the languages. However, it has been suggested that such explicitly elicited attitudes may not always correlate exactly with the possibly unconscious attitudes which are revealed by more indirect methods of investigation. Both Cohen (1974) and Lieberman (1975) make the point that direct questioning may be less than adequate because it may fail to reveal "language values which respondents are unaware of or are unwilling to admit for prestige reasons" (Lieberman 1975, p. 472). Accordingly, a variety of more indirect ways of eliciting information about language attitudes have been developed; these include Fishman's (1971) use of the commitment measure to investigate attitudes among Puerto Ricans, Williams' (1970, 1974) studies of teachers' evaluations of children's speech, and the investigation of the effect of language on persuasion, carried out with Hebrew-Arabic bilinguals in Jericho, which is reported in Cooper & Fishman (1974). The method to be used here is the matched guise technique which was first developed by Lambert et al (1960).

< previous page

page_93

next page >

< previous page

page_94

next page > Page 94

This test involves the use of tape recordings of speakers who each read the same text in two or more different "guises", i.e. different languages, dialects or accents. Groups of respondents are then asked to listen to these recordings and, on the basis of voice cues only, to evaluate the speakers in terms of given personality traits or other variables. These judges are kept unaware that the recorded voices are not all of separate individuals, but include matched guises of the same speaker. Since it was first developed, the matched guise technique has been used to investigate language attitudes in a variety of language situations, since, as Lambert (1967) points out, it "seems to reveal judges' more private reactions to the contrasting group than direct questionnaires do" (p. 94). It has been used to complement more direct methods of datagathering, for instance by Lieberman (1975) in her study of St Lucian bilinguals, where the matched guise test revealed that St Lucians rate their Patois higher than English, despite the commonly expressed view in straightforward questionnaires that English is superior to Patois. Matched guise tests have also provided evidence for Shuy & Williams' (1973) observations that "a person's reactions to a dialect may not only reflect his attitudes about the social stratum of that dialect, but may also include clusters of attitudes related to apparent qualities of the dialect or of the people who speak that dialect" (p. 85). That aspects of dialect or accent provide information about social class has often been noted (see for instance Labov 1966, Ortego 1970), but the matched guise technique has shown other associations; for instance, Strongman & Woosley (1967) found in their test that Yorkshire-accented Englishmen were judged to be more honest and reliable than London-accented speakers, while the latter were judged more self-confident than the former. In bilingual communities, the two languages may give similarly different impressions. Wölck (1973) found that SpanishQuechua bilinguals were rated higher on the social status dimension when they spoke Spanish, but higher on the affective dimension when they spoke Quechua; and E1 Dash & Tucker (1976) found that speakers in Egypt were judged to be more likeable, intelligent and religious and to possess more qualities of leadership when they spoke Classical Arabic than when they spoke Colloquial Arabic or British or American English. Matched guise tests have yielded particularly interesting information about some minority language groups' views of themselves. Carranza & Ryan (1976) found that Mexican-Americans tend to downgrade Spanish speakers in comparison to English speakers; Tucker & Lambert (1969) discovered that U.S.A. negroes rate speakers of Black English lower than speakers of Standard White American English. Lambert et al (1960) found that French Canadians tend to downgrade their own language group, in contrast to English Canadians, who rate their own group more favourably; and a further study by Lambert et al (1966) revealed that

< previous page

page_94

next page >

< previous page

page_95

next page > Page 95

this tendency to view their own group unfavourably is present in French Canadians as young as twelve years old. D'Anglejan & Tucker (1973) found that French Canadians also have negative attitudes to their variety of French as opposed to European French. On the other hand, Bourhis, Giles & Tajfel (1973) and Bourhis & Giles (1974) found that Welsh respondents, on the contrary, had a positive self-image, judging speakers of Welsh and of Welsh-accented English more favourably than speakers of R.P. English; they can thus be contrasted with the French Canadians who seem to give prestige to the majority language. The important point about the matched guise technique is, of course, that it is able to compare the impressions made by pairs of voices which vary only in the language used. Saint-Jacques (1977) used a rather similar kind of test with Japanese and English speakers, but in fact he failed to observe this basic principle; instead of using pairs of guises from the same speaker, he used a different speaker for each reading, so that the judgements he collected were not of the same speaker in different guises, but of two different people. Clearly, in this case, the differences in judgement could be attributed not only to the language differences but also to differences between the speakers' voices, and the results cannot be regarded as conclusive evidence that the language used affects attitudes. To my knowledge, the matched guise technique has never before been used to investigate the attitudes of ArabicFrench bilinguals to their languages and those who use them. The present study used three separate tests, the first two comparing Arabic and French guises and the third involving comparison of Arabic, French and a mixture of Arabic and French. 5.1 First Matched Guise Test For the first test, three Moroccan bilinguals were each recorded reading the same one-minute passage twice, once in French and once in Arabic. Recordings were also made of a Moroccan monolingual reading the passage in Arabic and a French native speaker reading it in French, these last two being used merely as "filler" voices. The eight voices were ordered so that Moroccan Arabic versions alternated with French ones, and no voice was followed immediately by its matched guise. The Arabic filler voice was presented as the first to be judged; this was to allow the respondents to get used to the format of the test before the important responses (those to the three matched pairs) were elicited. The respondents were told at the beginning of the test that they would hear eight speakers reading the same passage, some in Arabic and some in French; the fact that they would hear some speakers' voices twice was

< previous page

page_95

next page >

< previous page

page_96

next page > Page 96

concealed from them. Before listening to each voice, they were given a response sheet containing twenty traits on which they had to rate the speaker. Each voice was played once, and the respondents were given enough time to complete all their ratings for this voice before the next one was played to them. When they had finished rating the eighth voice, they were given a short questionnaire to fill in, which was intended to elicit some basic information about them. They were asked to rate their own ability in Arabic and French, and questioned about their favourite language, their willingness to improve their knowledge of French, their opinions about Arabization and bilingualism in Morocco, and their views about what languages their children should learn. Care was taken to ensure that the passage read was emotionally neutral, free from strong expressions of feeling which might have affected the respondents' view of the speakers' personalities. Its style was informal and it contained only everyday vocabulary. Agheysi & Fishman (1970) emphasize the importance of maintaining compatibility between topic and style of speaking in selecting passages for this purpose, since otherwise the respondents' reactions may be influenced by the incongruity of one or other of these. A case where such incongruity might arise is where the varieties being compared are the high and low varieties of a diglossic situation, as is the case with Classical and Colloquial Arabic. For example, this problem arose in the investigation by El Dash & Tucker (1976) mentioned earlier; they found it very difficult to obtain any sample of the use of Classical Arabic in spontaneous speech. The simple narrative of everyday events which our passage contained was judged to be compatible with both Colloquial Moroccan Arabic and Conversational French. The passage was kept as brief as possible to avoid boring the respondents; Shuy (1969) observes that very brief samples of speech, of less than ten seconds' duration, may permit reliable ratings, and Ellis (1967) notes that it took his respondents no more than twenty seconds to identify the social status of various speakers. The main consideration in selecting the speakers for our matched guise tests was that they be representative of Moroccan balanced bilinguals those who can converse in both Arabic and French fluently and with ease. We did not want to compare the impressions given by speakers who were not fluent in French, because in such cases there would be too many obvious inherent contrasts between the two guises, the speaker's fluency in Arabic contrasting with his difficulty in French. Instead it was felt to be more interesting to look for more subtle contrasts which might exist between two guises which were at any rate both equally fluent and confident. Accordingly the speakers selected were ones judged to be perfectly fluent in both Moroccan Arabic and French. An incidental result of this selection was that

< previous page

page_96

next page >

< previous page

page_97

next page > Page 97

the speakers were all of similar social status and educational background; all three were office workers aged about thirty. There were, however, some discernible differences between the accents with which these three individuals spoke French. It was judged, impressionistically, that Speaker A's French exhibited less of a Moroccan accent than that of Speakers B and C. His accent, which we can call an example of High Moroccan French, was close to that of a French native speaker, and typical of those Moroccans who were educated in the schools of La Mission Française (see Chapter One), whereas Speakers B and C used what we could call Average Moroccan French, typical of those educated in the Franco-Islamic schools (see Chapter One). The other difference was that Speaker C's accent in French was such as to mark him out as a native of Fez, as did his accent in Arabic, whereas the other two speakers did not have any distinctive regional accent in either French or Arabic. The categorization given above was arrived at simply from impressionistic judgements about the speakers' accents. It would, of course, be possible to carry out a detailed phonological analysis of the French used by each speaker, but this was not necessary for our purpose, which was not to characterize the different varieties of Moroccan French but rather to contrast all these varieties on the one hand with Moroccan Arabic on the other. We were interested not so much in the physical characteristics of speech as in the impressions this speech produced in other bilinguals; the important point was simply to check that Moroccans did agree in perceiving these differences between the accents of the three speakers. With this end in view the three French guises were played to twenty respondents who came from various parts of Morocco, who were asked to assign each a score from one to three according to the degree of "Frenchness" of their accents, the highest score indicating the accent closest to that of a native French speaker. The results, which are shown in Table 48, correspond with our own impressionistic judgement. TABLE 48 Total score:

Degree of Frenchness of accents Speaker A Speaker B 58 39

Speaker C 23

The respondents were also asked if they could detect the place of origin of any of the three speakers. Seventeen suggested that Speaker C came from Fez, but there was no general agreement about either of the others; this suggests that the Fez accent is easily identifiable.

< previous page

page_97

next page >

< previous page

page_98

next page > Page 98

Previous matched guise tests have selected the traits on which the guises are evaluated in various ways. Some have been based on observation and general impressions (e.g. Lieberman 1975, Saint-Jacques 1977), some on information provided by previous literature about the particular language situation (e.g. Amastae & Olivares 1977). Some borrow traits from other matched guise tests, carried out in different language situations (e.g. Strong-man & Woosley 1967). Others carried out preliminary tests of various kinds in order to elicit descriptions of the various types of speaker represented, the most frequently offered then being used in the rating sheets (e.g. Williams 1970, Bourhis, Giles & Tajfel 1973, E1 Dash & Tucker 1976). The selection in the present study was largely based on information obtained from the questionnaires described in Chapters Three and Four, which had suggested, for instance, that French rather than Arabic would be associated with modernity, education, sophistication and formality, while Arabic would be more closely linked with religion, tradition, national heritage, simplicity and solidarity. Account was also taken of observations in the previous literature on Arabic-French bilingualism, including Abou (1962), Gordon (1962), Gallagher (1968), Tessler (1969), Bounfour (1973) and Ibaaquil (1978), and of comments overheard or elicited in conversations with Moroccan bilinguals about the nature of the Arabisants who are reluctant to learn or use French and of those who promote the use of French. A total of fifteen traits were finally selected; these included properties relating to both status and solidarity and moral qualities, and were as follows: likeable, entertaining, sociable, emotional, placid, modest, honest, intelligent, educated, open-minded, important, rich, modern, religious and patriotic. The respondents were also asked how much they would like the speaker to be their friend or their employer, how much they desired to be like the speaker, how much they considered themselves to resemble him, and how much they liked his way of speaking. The respondents were asked to rate the speakers for each of these traits on a scale which in most cases had seven points, following the pattern of the semantic differential scales devised by Osgood et al (1957). For instance, for the property intelligent the scale would cover the range from very intelligent, through the neutral point, neither intelligent nor stupid, to the other extreme of very stupid; a rating of very intelligent would be represented by the number 7, that of very stupid by the number 1, and so on. The questionnaire which was administered at the end of the test provided us with background information about the respondents, who were fifty-one Moroccan bilinguals, both males and females, aged between fourteen and thirty, and of various occupations, including students, teachers, office workers, doctors and technicians. Table 49 shows that the majority of

< previous page

page_98

next page >

< previous page

page_99

next page > Page 99

these respondents were confident of their proficiency in both languages, the scatter of results being fairly similar for the two languages. TABLE 49

Respondents' ratings of their proficiency in French and Arabic Very well Fairly well A little Not at all Speak French 35.29% 52.94% 11.76% Understand French 41.17% 52.94% 5.88% Speak Arabic 39.21% 54.90% 5.88% Understand Arabic 56.86% 39.21% 3.92% Table 50 shows the languages the respondents named as their favourites, while Table 51 reveals something of their attitudes towards French and towards bilingualism. TABLE 50 Respondents' favourite languages Arabic 47.0% French 23.5% Arabic and French 5.8% Berber 5.8% Others/Blank 17.6% TABLE 51 Attitudes to French (l) Desire to improve their French Do not wish to improve their French Blank (2) Desire their children to learn French Do not wish children to learn French Blank (3) Favour bilingualism Favour Arabization Blank

80.39% 9.80% 9.80% 78.43% 9.80% 11.70% 64.70% 25.49% 9.80%

It can be seen from these figures that, although French is not the favourite language of a large proportion of the respondents, the majority of them have favourable attitudes towards it and want it to continue in use in Morocco. This information is of interest because it may help to explain some of the results of the matched guise test. (A larger scale survey of the kinds of attitude referred to in Table 51 is reported on in Chapter Six, where similar attitudes are discovered.)

< previous page

page_99

next page >

< previous page

page_100

next page > Page 100

When the results of the test were collected as was described earlier, we obtained, for each speaker and on each trait, a pair of ratings from every respondent, one for the speaker's Arabic version of the text and one for his French one. For each speaker we assembled the entire set of judgements on a particular trait. The difference between each pair of judgements was calculated, and the t-test was applied to determine the degree of significance of the overall differences between the two sets of judgements. In using the t-test to analyze the results of a matched guise test, we are following the precedent set by others such as Lambert et al (1960), Anisfeld, Bogo & Lambert (1962), Anisfeld & Lambert (1964) and Strongman & Woosley (1967), all of whom also used this test. Results were computed both for the differences between the two guises of each individual speaker, and for the overall differences between the set of three Arabic guises on the one hand and the three French guises on the other. The full results obtained in this way are summarized in Table 52, which gives the values of t for the differences between the evaluations of the French and Arabic guises for each speaker and also for the combination of all three speakers. Where the value of t indicates that the difference is a significant one, this is indicated by an asterisk or asterisks; the number of asterisks corresponds to the level of this significance. Thus * indicates a degree of probability equal to or less than 0.05, ** one which is equal to or less than 0.02, *** one equal to or less than 0.01, and **** one which is equal to or less than 0.001. This shorthand method of representing degrees of significance will also be used in the rest of the tables of results. It can be seen immediately from Table 52 that for each speaker there were significant contrasts between the way he was perceived when he spoke French and the way he was perceived when he spoke Arabic. The general trends in the contrasts between the French guises on the one hand and the Arabic ones on the other are reflected in the significant contrasts in the overall column. However, it is worth looking at each of the individual speakers in more detail. Of the three, the contrasts between the two guises are most pronounced in the case of Speaker A. Table 53 summarizes the results for this speaker by listing just those traits where the differences between the two guises are significant; the traits are listed in order of the degree of significance of the differences, the most highly significant contrast being listed first. TABLE 52 t Values for significance of differences in evaluations of Arabic and French guises: First test Trait Speaker A Speaker B Speaker C Overall Likeable 1.602 0.3872 -1.547 0.0375 Entertaining 2.856*** -2.581** -2.146*** -0.8702 (table continued on next page)

< previous page

page_100

next page >

< previous page

page_101

next page > Page 101

(table continued from previous page) Trait Speaker A Speaker B Speaker C Overall Sociable 0.5253 -1.753 -3.664**** -2.262* Placid -0.1267 2.417** -0.7111 0.9612 Emotional 0.9948 -1.883 -2.685*** - .968* Modest 2.596** 1.012 0.1294 2.145* Honest 2.995*** 1.224 -1.051 1.280 Religious -2.342* 0.8682 -1.612 - 1.774 Modern 6.400**** -0.4217 0.4924 3.059*** Intelligent 5.109**** -1.480 -3.027*** 0.3687 Educated 4.437**** 1.376 0 3.480**** Open-minded 1.869 2.062* -1.925 0.9846 Patriotic 1.302 0.1175 -0.4886 0.6469 Rich 1.264 I -1.588 0.3338 Important 4.836**** 2.223* -1.497 3.271*** Desired as friend 3.169*** 0 -0.6509 1.708 Desired as employer 4.298**** 1.043 -0.3304 2.956*** Resemblance desired 4.135**** 0.4166 0.3400 2.562** Resemblance thought 1.947 0.4166 -1.477 0.7059 Way of speaking liked 3.357*** -1.561 -2.096* 0.0864 Positive entries indicate that French guises are rated higher on the scale than Arabic guises, while minus entries indicate that Arabic guises are more highly rated than French ones. For A, B and C, df = 50 For overall, df = 152 Key to Asterisks * p<0.05 ** p<0.02 *** p<0.01 Two-tailed Tests **** p<0.001 TABLE 53 Significant contrasts between A's Arabic and French guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic Modern**** Religious* Intelligent**** Important**** Educated**** Desired as employer**** Resemblance desired**** Way of speaking liked*** Desired as friend*** Honest*** Entertaining*** Modest** Of the traits for which the French guise is rated more highly, the four where the contrast was most pronounced can be seen to relate to status and sophistication. The fact that A is judged more modern, more important, more intelligent and educated when he speaks French obviously accords with

< previous page

page_101

next page >

< previous page

page_102

next page > Page 102

the evidence already examined in Chapters Three and Four that French is associated with education, modernity, prestige and power. However, A also seems to have made a more generally favourable impression in speaking French, since the respondents prefer him in this guise as a friend and employer and also evaluate him more highly for the moral qualities modest and honest. That he is judged more religious when he speaks Arabic is perhaps not surprising in view of the earlier findings that Arabic is closely associated with religion. But overall this speaker clearly receives a more favourable evaluation when he speaks French. While A received significantly different evaluations on eleven out of the twenty traits, with Speaker B the contrast is less pronounced, as can be seen from Table 54. TABLE 54 Significant contrasts between B's Arabic and French guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic Placid** Entertaining** Important* Open-minded* Again we find that two of the traits on which the French guise is more highly rated are ones associated with prestige and sophistication, namely important and open-minded. The French guise is also rated higher for placid; this might perhaps be related to the finding in Chapter Three (Table 18) that bilinguals tend to resort to Arabic rather than French when angry. B contrasts with A in that while the latter is judged more entertaining in his French guise, with B it is the Arabic guise which is more highly rated on this point. The result with B is perhaps the one we might have expected, since this quality is one we associate with solidarity and informality. The differences between the results for A and B can be related to the differences in their manner of speaking French. The fact that the contrasts between the two guises are more pronounced with A than with B could be explained by the fact that the High Moroccan French spoken by A contrasts sharply, in its prestigious associations, with his rather ordinary Moroccan Arabic, whereas the degree of contrast is less with B because his French is of a more average and everyday type. The French guise still produces a more prestigious effect, but to a much lesser extent than with A; for instance, the difference with regard to the trait important is significant to p<0.001 for A but only to p<0.05 for B, and with other traits, such as educated, the difference in the case of B fails to be significant at all (see Table 52). Support for the view that the differences between A and B are related to their

< previous page

page_102

next page >

< previous page

page_103

next page > Page 103

different accents is provided by the fact that with A, but not B, the French guise is significantly more highly rated for the extent to which the respondents like his way of speaking. It would seem, then, that while there is a tendency for the French guises to be rated higher for status and sophistication, the degree of this contrast between the two guises varies according to the type of French spoken. The results for Speaker C also suggest that the evaluations are influenced not merely by what language is spoken but also by the way in which it is spoken. These are shown in Table 55. TABLE 55 Significant contrasts between C's Arabic and French guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic None Sociable**** Intelligent*** Emotional*** Entertaining*** Way of speaking liked* Here, too, the tendency for the Arabic guises to give a more solidary effect is reflected in the higher ratings the Arabic guise receives for the traits sociable, emotional and entertaining. However, while A was perceived as more intelligent in his French guise, here the Arabic guise is more highly rated for this quality. The reasons may again be sought in the special qualities of each speaker. Table 48 showed that of the three speakers C is judged to have the most pronounced Moroccan accent in French; and it could be that French, when spoken with an accent as pronounced as his, is less highly regarded by Moroccans. The results with C could then be seen as a further extension of the contrast already noted in the comparison of A and B. The French guise of A, which shows the least interference from Arabic, is more favourably perceived than his Arabic guise; with B, the tendency to rate the French guise higher is less pronounced; and with C, whose French is the most heavily accented, the ratings for the French guise fall below those of the Arabic one. However, there is another factor which may have influenced the results for C; this is the fact that in both his guises he is clearly recognizable as originating from Fez. In Moroccan culture, the people of Fez are seen as in a sense intellectually privileged, because Fez is thought of as the intellectual capital of Morocco (see for instance the description of Berque 1967), possessing the oldest university in North Africa, which traditionally attracted distinguished scholars (see Chapter 1). However, these associations do not hold within the context of French culture, where the people of Fez are no more reputed than any other Moroccans. In fact, the Fez accent in French

< previous page

page_103

next page >

< previous page

page_104

next page > Page 104

seems to evoke strong negative reactions among Moroccans; it has been variously described to me as amusing, effeminate, affected and ridiculous. These negative attitudes may perhaps explain why the French guise of Speaker C is not more highly evaluated. However, this is a complex question which we cannot investigate more fully here, as our interest is mainly in the contrast between French and Arabic and not between the regional accents of Moroccan Arabic. The contrast between C and the others might perhaps be related to the special connotations which the Fez accent carries. The results of the second matched guise test may help to suggest which is the more likely explanation. 5.2 Second Matched Guise Test The second test was carried out to obtain further evidence which might verify the findings of the first test and help to clarify some aspects of the interpretation of the results. It followed the same procedure as the first test, apart from a few modifications. No filler voices were used in the second test; since the respondents in the first test had not experienced any difficulty in grasping the task required of them, it was felt unnecessary to provide an initial filler voice for practice purposes, and preferable to keep the test as short as possible to avoid the risk of boring the respondents. The same passage was used as in the first test, except that it was made slightly longer; and the same adjective scales were used again. The selection of speakers was again based on their proficiency in French and Arabic. Care was taken this time to avoid choosing any speaker with a pronounced regional accent, because of the complications this was suspected to have caused in the first test. Three speakers were chosentwo males and one female, in order to see whether the speech of a woman would be perceived differently from that of men. Speaker F was a male primary school teacher, who spoke French with a strong Moroccan accent, though without any distinctive regional accent. Speaker E was a female general practitioner, whose accent in French was very close to, perhaps indistinguishable from, that of a native French person. Speaker D was a university lecturer, whose French was characterized by a slight Moroccan intonation only. Both D and E could be described as speakers of High Moroccan French, like Speaker A in the first test, whereas F could be grouped with B and C as a speaker of Average Moroccan French. The generality of this impression was checked in the same way as in the first test, by asking twenty people to evaluate the ''Frenchness" of the three accents. As the figures in Table 56 show, Speakers D and E were judged to have accents much closer to that of a native speaker of French than Speaker F.

< previous page

page_104

next page >

< previous page

page_105

next page > Page 105

TABLE 56 Total score

Degree of Frenchness of accents Speaker D Speaker E 53 48

Speaker F 20

The respondents for the second test were twenty-two bilinguals, males and females aged between nineteen and thirtyfive, of various occupations, including students, teachers and office-workers. Their ratings of their own proficiency in Arabic and French are shown in Table 57. TABLE 57

Respondents' ratings of their proficiency in French and Arabic Very well Fairly well A little Not at all Speak French 9.09% 72.70% 18.10% Understand French 36.36% 54.54% 9.09% Speak Arabic 45.45% 40.90% 13.60% Understand Arabic 45.45% 40.90% 13.60% These ratings are fairly similar to those given by the respondents in the first test, except that this second set of respondents seem to be rather less confident of, or more modest about, their proficiency at speaking French. Again, Arabic was the language named as favourite by the largest number of respondents, as is seen from Table 58. TABLE 58 Respondents' favourite languages Arabic 54.54% French 31.81% Arabic and French 4.54% Others/Blank 9.09% However, the responses to the other questions suggest that the second group of respondents may have had overall rather more favourable attitudes towards French and towards the maintenance of bilingualism than those in the first test. This can be seen by comparing Table 59 with Table 51. TABLE 59 Attitudes to French (1) Desire to improve their French Do not wish to improve their French (2) Desire their children to learn French Do not wish children to learn French

100.00% 0.00% 95.45% 4.55%

(table continued on next page)

< previous page

page_105

next page >

< previous page

page_106

next page > Page 106

(table continues from previous page) (3) Favour bilingualism Favour Arabization Blank

72.72% 22.72% 4.55%

The results of the second test were computed in the same way as were those of the first test. Table 60 shows the values of t for the differences in ratings, first for each speaker separately, and then for the three speakers grouped together. The most striking fact about these results is the very large proportion of highly significant differences in the overall result; here there are significant differences on fourteen out of the twenty traits, half of these being significant to p<0.001. These very clear-cut overall contrasts can be seen to reflect the fact that in this second test the results of each of the three speakers show the same trends, exhibiting the same kinds of contrast. There is no exceptional case comparable to that of Speaker C in the first test. Of the three speakers in this second test, the most similar results are those for D and E, the two speakers of High Moroccan French. The significant contrasts for these two speakers are summarized in Tables 61 and 62. TABLE 60 t Values for significance of differences in evaluations of Arabic and French guises: Second test Trait Speaker D Speaker E Speaker F Overall Likeable 0.9647 0.9750 3.750*** 2.915*** Entertaining 1.249 0.5256 0.2134 0.4194 Sociable 2.338* 3.144*** 0.0881 2.530** Placid 0.5533 -0.4703 2.46* 1.304 Emotional 2.644** 3.498*** 1.111 3.707**** Modest 2.090* 0.3808 0.6627 1. 831 Honest 1.626 -2.160* 2.309 1.744 Religious -2.907*** 2.460* -0.4565 -3 203*** Modern 3.221*** 1.747 0.4044 3.055*** Intelligent 2.729** 1.701 1.835 3.637**** Educated 2.083* 2.338* 1.311 3.342*** Open-minded 1.546 I 1.667 2.419** Patriotic 1.689 1.063 1.219 2.392** Rich 2.160* 3.578*** 1.439 3.565**** Important 4.465**** 2* 0.7195 3.791**** Desired as friend 1.418 0.6988 0.7673 1.895 Desired as employer 0.2526 1.742 1.072 1.642 Resemblance desired 2.880*** 2.889*** 1.546 4.183**** Resemblance thought 2.246* 1.669 2.663** 3.814**** Way of speaking liked 2.215* 1.311 2.338* 3.456**** Positive entries indicate that French guises are rated higher on the scale than Arabic guises, while minus entries indicate that Arabic guises are more highly rated than French ones (table continued on next page)

< previous page

page_106

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_107

Page 107 (table continued from previous page) Trait Speaker D For D. E and F, df = 21 Key to Asterisks * p<0.05 ** p<0.02 *** p<0.01 **** p<0.001

Speaker E Speaker F For overall, df = 65

Overall

Two-tailed Tests

TABLE 61 Significant contrasts between D's Arabic and French guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic Important**** Religious* Modern*** Resemblance desired*** Intelligent** Emotional** Sociable** Resemblance thought* Way of speaking liked* Rich* Modest* Educated* TABLE 62 Significant contrasts between E's Arabic and French guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic Rich*** Religious* Emotional*** Honest* Sociable*** Resemblance desired*** Educated* Important* Both these speakers receive higher ratings in their French guises on a number of traits relating to status and sophistication; D is judged more important, rich, modern, intelligent and educated when he speaks French, and E more important, rich and educated. This provides further confirmation of the tendency to associate French with prestige and education and to attribute greater prestige and education to those who use French. It is also striking, however, that both these speakers are more highly rated on some traits related to solidarity, namely emotional and sociable, when they speak French; evidently they make generally more favourable impressions when they speak French, as is reflected also by the significantly greater degree to

< previous page

page_107

next page >

< previous page

page_108

next page > Page 108

which the respondents desire to be like them in their French guises. These results could perhaps be related to the nature of the respondents in the second test, whom Table 59 showed to have generally more favourable attitudes to French than those in the first test. The fact that both D and E are judged more religious when they speak Arabic is again predictable given the strong links between Arabic and Islam. The results for Speaker F present a rather different pattern; his French guise is not more highly rated for any of the traits relating to status or education which produced significant contrasts with the other two speakers. However, as can be seen from Table 63, his French guise does seem to make a generally more favourable impression. TABLE 63 Significant contrasts between F's Arabic and French guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic Likeable*** None Resemblance thought*** Placid* Way of speaking liked* Honest* The fact that F, unlike D and E, is not judged to be more important or educated when he speaks French can probably be explained in terms of the speakers' accents in French, as was suggested in the discussion of the first test. Once again it appears that French spoken with a pronounced Moroccan accent, such as F's, does not contrast significantly with Moroccan Arabic in this respect; it is only the less heavily accented High Moroccan French which carries the strong associations with prestige and sophistication. If we compare Speaker F with Speaker C from the first test, we find that although both speak Average Moroccan French they are perceived in quite different ways; while F is more favourably viewed in his French guise, C was preferred when he spoke Arabic (cf Tables 55 and 63). This might be thought to lend some support for the view, suggested as a possibility in 5.1, that the fact that C was less favourably perceived in French was due to his pronounced Fez accent. In every other case, even that of F, the French guise is more favourably judged, so it cannot simply be the case that French with a pronounced Moroccan accent is less favoured than Arabic. It seems that the speaker of French, whether of the high or average variety, is more favourably perceived than the speaker of Moroccan Arabic, except in the special case of French with a Fez accent.

< previous page

page_108

next page >

< previous page

page_109

next page > Page 109

5.3 Third Matched Guise Test The third test had a different purpose from the others, the main concern here being to investigate the way speakers were perceived when they used, not French alone or Arabic alone, but a mixture of French and Arabic involving much codeswitching from one language to the other. The attitudes to code-switching expressed by respondents in answer to direct questioning were discussed in 3.2, but it is interesting to compare these with their possibly unconscious reactions to speakers using code-switching. The same procedure was used as in the other tests. To begin with, a one-minute sample of connected free speech including much code-switching was selected as the stimulus passage; to ensure that the effect was that of natural spontaneous code-switching, we used a passage which had been spoken spontaneously by someone unaware that he was being recorded. (This sample, like that given in 3.2, was taken from the corpus of recorded conversations used in Bentahila [1981].) Before use it was also played to five Moroccans to check that there was nothing unusual about it; all agreed that it sounded like the ordinary everyday speech of casual conversation. The relevant parts of this passage were then translated to produce two further versions of it, one entirely in French and one entirely in Moroccan Arabic. Care was taken to ensure that the conversational style was maintained in these versions too. The content of the passage was felt to be emotionally neutral, so there seemed no danger of the respondents' reactions being particularly influenced by any ideas in it. The two speakers were chosen because they were observed to code-switch frequently and naturally in their own conversations, and after some practice each recorded the passage three times, once in French, once in Moroccan Arabic and once in the original code-switching version. Six versions were thus collected. The selection of the traits for the rating sheets was based mainly on the findings reported in 3.2 about the respondents' expressed views on code-switching. Their comments about the habit of code-switching and the personalities of those who use code-switching suggested a number of properties which were included. Others were based on the study of code-switching in Bentahila (1981), which suggested that code-switching was typical of casual, relaxed conversations and could contribute to the impact of the speaker's message in a variety of ways. In addition, some of the adjectives used in the previous tests were included again. A total of nineteen properties was finally selected, these being selfconfident, competent, eloquent, educated, intelligent, patriotic, clumsy, lazy, boring, mixed-up, pre-

< previous page

page_109

next page >

< previous page

page_110

next page > Page 110

tentious, relaxed, sociable, likeable, worthy of respect, important and influenced by colonization. The respondents were also asked whether they liked the person's way of speaking and whether he expressed himself clearly. The respondents were forty-seven bilinguals, males and females, aged between seventeen and twenty-six. They included members of a number of professions, but the majority of them were students. Their ratings of their own proficiency in French and Arabic are shown in Table 64. TABLE 64 Arabic

Respondents' ratings of their proficiency in French and

Speak French Understand French Speak Arabic Understand Arabic

Very well 6.38% 14.89% 57.44% 70.21%

Fairly well 78.72% 76.59% 40.42% 27.65c/c

A little 14.89% 8.51% 2.12% 2.12%

Not at all

It can be seen by comparing Table 64 with Tables 49 and 57 that the respondents in this third test are on the whole less confident about their proficiency in French and rather more confident about their proficiency in Arabic than the respondents in the other two tests. Moreover, fewer respondents in this third test named French as their favourite language, as can be seen in Table 65; and their responses to the other questions, shown in Table 66, reveal that as a group they tend to favour French less and Arabization more than the other groups of respondents. TABLE 65 Arabic French

Respondents' favourite languages 93 61% 6 38%

TABLE 66 Attitudes to French (1) Desire to improve their French Desire to improve their Arabic Desire to improve both French and Arabic Blank (2) Desire their children to learn French Do not wish children to learn French Blank (3) Favour bilingualism Fax our Arabization

< previous page

31.91% 34 .01 % 31.91% 2 .12% 89.36% 8.51% 2.12% 55.31% 44.68%

page_110

next page >

< previous page

page_111

next page > Page 111

The respondents of this third test were also asked to give their opinions of those who use much code-switching; the most frequent comments are summarized in Table 67. TABLE 67 Respondents' views of code-switching Moroccans who code-switch are. . . Victims of colonization Incompetent in both Arabic and French Showing off Stupid Uneducated Mixed up Lacking in personalty

31.91% 29.78% 23.4% 17% 12.76% 10.63% 6.38%

All these comments of course reveal very negative attitudes towards code-switching, the views expressed being similar to those revealed in the survey in 3.2. It is perhaps worth quoting a comment by one particular respondent, who seems to sum up all the respondents' objections to code-switching when he says: "They (Moroccans who code-switch between Arabic and French) have no sense of patriotism because they abandon their true language and speak French and Arabic together, so that the language is torn apart, and they think that they are modern and superior to others. They want to show their personality, and if they are questioned about Arabic, it may turn out that they don't know the answers. Thus they are not well educated because they have abandoned Arabic, and the cause of all this is that they have been influenced by colonization." The results of the third test were grouped and analysed in the same way as in the previous tests. The ratings for the code-switching guises are compared first with those of the French guises, then with those of the Arabic guises, and finally with those of both the French and the Arabic guises grouped together. It was also thought worthwhile to compare the results for the Arabic and French guises, so that these could be compared with the results in the first two tests. Table 68 gives the values of t for the differences between the evaluations of the French and C.S. (code-switching) guises, both for the individual speakers and for the two speakers grouped together. The significant contrasts in the case of each speaker are summarized in Tables 69 and 70.

< previous page

page_111

next page >

< previous page

page_112

next page > Page 112

TABLE 68 t Values for significance of differences in evaluations of French and C.S. guises Trait Speaker G Speaker H Overall Mixed-up 1.919 2.005* 2.740*** Patriotic -2.426** -1.795 -3.020**** Pretentious 0.6079 1.511 1.506 Self-confident -2.048* -4.557**** -4.398**** Boring 0.3753 2.219* 1.861 Expresses self clearly -5.408**** -7.123**** -8.840**** Influenced by colonization 3.909**** 3.209*** 5.050**** Intelligent -3.507**** -6.928**** -7.123**** Clumsy 1.485 1.882 2.392** At ease -0.8928 -2.952*** -2.500** Lazy -0.0550 2.950*** 1.896 Competent -1.663 -4.608**** -4.305**** Worthy of respect -2.343** -6.335**** -6.008**** Eloquent -5.800**** -5.635**** -8.127**** Educated -3.254*** -6.947**** -6.928**** Sociable -3.747**** -3.278*** -4.987**** Likeable -2.704*** -6.431**** -6.259**** Important -3.963**** -4.310**** -5.881**** Way of speaking liked -7.446**** -7.156**** -10.23**** Positive entries indicate that C.S. guises are rated higher on the scale than French guises, while minus entries indicate a higher evaluation for the French guises. For G and H, df = 46 For overall, df = 93 Key to Asterisks * p<0.05 Two-tailed Tests ** p<0.02 *** p<0.01 **** p<0.001 TABLE 69 Significant contrasts between G's French and C.S. guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in C.S. Way of speaking liked**** Influenced by colonization**** Eloquent**** Expresses self clearly**** Important**** Sociable**** Intelligent**** Educated*** Likeable*** Patriotic** Worthy of respect** Self-confident*

< previous page

page_112

next page >

< previous page

page_113

next page > Page 113

TABLE 70 Significant contrasts between H's French and C.S. guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in C. S Way of speaking liked**** Influenced by colonization*** Expresses self clearly**** Lazy*** Educated**** Boring* Intelligent**** Mixed up* Likeable**** Worthy of respect**** Eloquent**** Competent**** Self-confident**** Important**** Sociable*** At ease*** Clearly, there are very sharp contrasts between the impressions created by the French guises and those created by the C.S. guises, for both speakers; both make a much more favourable impression when they speak French, though the contrast is rather more pronounced in the case of H. It is interesting that the three most significant contrasts, in both cases, are those directly relating to the speech styles of the two types of guise; the C.S. guises contrast sharply with the French ones in that they are found to be less eloquent and less clearly expressed, and most of all in that the way of speaking is much less liked in the former case than in the latter. This very pronounced difference in attitudes reflects the strongly critical views of code-switching expressed by the respondents in their explicit comments about this way of speaking. The fact that the French guises are perceived to be more educated, intelligent, important and, in the case of H, more competent than the C.S. ones of course accords with the overtly expressed views that people who code-switch are stupid and ignorant (see Table 67 of this chapter and also 3.2). Similarly, the idea that those who code-switch suffer from personality problems, also mentioned in the explicit comments, is reflected in the fact that both are judged to be less self-confident in their C.S. guises, and that H is also judged to be less at ease and more mixed up. The tendency to see code-switching as evidence of laziness is also reflected in the judgement of H as lazier in his C.S. guise. Moreover, the C.S. guises of both speakers are also more negatively evaluated with regard to the solidary traits likeable and sociable, and H's C.S. guise is judged to be more boring, all of which suggests that those who code-switch may make such a bad impression that they are denied solidarity. The fact that both are judged less worthy of

< previous page

page_113

next page >

< previous page

page_114

next page > Page 114

respect when they code-switch recalls some of the hostile comments noted in 3.2, by respondents who feel that those who code-switch are to be despised or pitied. It might at first sight appear rather surprising that G is judged significantly more patriotic when he uses French than when he mixes Arabic and French. Evidently the respondents feel that it is better to abandon Arabic and not speak it at all than to mix it with French, an attitude which could be linked to the view that to mix Arabic with French is somehow to debase or even destroy it, which was expressed by some of the respondents in the earlier survey. That both speakers are judged to be more influenced by colonization when they code-switch than when they stick to French alone is probably for similar reasons. It would seem that the Moroccan who speaks French fluently is not felt to exhibit the effects of colonization to as great an extent as the one who makes it obvious that he cannot even speak his own language properly, which is what the use of code-switching apparently suggests to many respondents (see Table 67). A comparison of the impressions created by the Arabic guises with those of the C.S. guises reveals similar contrasts. The full results, including those for each speaker individually and those for both grouped together, are set out in Table 71, while the summary Tables 72 and 73 indicate the significant contrasts between the two guises for each speaker. TABLE 71 t Values for significance of differences in evaluations of Arabic and C.S. guises Trait Speaker G Speaker H Overall Mixed-up 2.605** 1.274 2.745*** Patriotic -2.770*** -1.176 -2.722*** Pretentious 0.0610 0 0.0429 Self-confident -2.319** 0.1549 -1.754 Boring 0.6518 -0.3471 0.2292 Expresses self clearly -3.904**** -4.376**** -5.897**** Influenced by colonization 4.681**** 3.703**** 5.950**** Intelligent -4.489**** -1.456 -3.988**** Clumsy 0.3755 0.6067 0.6869 At ease -2.859*** -1.433 -2.908*** Lazy 0.2974 0.6040 0.6265 Competent -3.525**** -0.7491 -2.892*** Worthy of respect -3.830**** -3.983**** -5.534**** Eloquent -6.618**** -2.024* -5.389**** Educated -1.669 -2.215* - 2.724*** Sociable -3.996**** -6.522**** -7.053**** Likeable -3.743**** -2.043* -4.127**** Important -3.029*** -0.5732 -2.394** Way of speaking liked -7.668**** -4.744**** -8.618**** (table continued on next page)

< previous page

page_114

next page >

< previous page

page_115

next page > Page 115

(table continued from previous page) Trait Speaker G Speaker H Overall Positive entries indicate that C.S. guises are rated higher than Arabic ones, while negative entries indicate that Arabic guises are rated higher than C.S. ones. For G and H, df = 46 For overall, df = 93 Key to Asterisks * p<0.05 Two-tailed Tests ** p<0.02 *** p<0.01 **** p<0.001 TABLE 72 Significant contrasts between G's Arabic and C.S. guises Traits rated higher in Arabic Traits rated higher in C S Way of speaking liked**** Influenced by colonization**** Eloquent**** Mixed up** Intelligent**** Sociable**** Expresses self clearly**** Worthy of respect**** Likeable**** Competent**** Important*** At ease*** Patriotic*** Self-confident** TABLE 73 Significant contrasts between H's Arabic and C.S. guises Traits rated higher in Arabic Traits rated higher in C.S. Sociable**** Influenced by colonization**** Way of speaking liked**** Expresses self clearly**** Worthy of respect**** Educated* Likeable* Eloquent* The C.S. guises can be seen to be compared unfavourably with the Arabic ones, just as they are with the French ones; again the speakers are judged to be more influenced by colonization when they use code-switching,

< previous page

page_115

next page >

< previous page

page_116

next page > Page 116

less worthy of respect, and their speech style is judged to be inferior. On the other hand, while the French and C.S. guises contrasted to a highly significant degree for the trait educated, with the Arabic and C.S. guises this is significant only for H, and then only to p<0.05; this is easily explained by the fact, demonstrated by the results of the earlier matched guise tests, that the use of Moroccan Arabic does not give the same impression of education as does the use of French. It is interesting to compare the two speakers for the way in which their Arabic guises contrast with the C.S. ones and the way in which their French ones do. It is striking that whereas for G the C.S. guise seems to contrast slightly more unfavourably with the Arabic guise than with the French one, for H the opposite is the case; overall the contrast between his Arabic and C.S. guises is less pronounced than that between his French and C.S. ones. In particular, H's Arabic guise is not more highly rated than his C.S. guise for the kinds of trait relating to status and sophistication (important, competent, intelligent, self-confident) which produce significant contrasts between his French and C.S. guises. The reasons for this difference between the two speakers will become clear when they are compared for the contrasts between their French and Arabic guises later. Having compared individually the effect of the C.S. guises with those of the French ones and those of the Arabic ones, it may be of interest for us to group the French and Arabic guises together and examine the contrast between the use of a mixture of the two languages involving code-switching on the one hand, and the use of a single language (whether this is French or Arabic) on the other. Accordingly, Table 74 shows the values of t for the differences between the evaluation of the mixed and ''pure" languages, while the significant contrasts for each speaker are summarized in Tables 75 and 76. The number of significant contrasts here (fifteen out of nineteen for G and sixteen out of nineteen for H) and the extent of their significance (p<0.001 in nine cases for each speaker) show the very sharp differences between the impressions made on the respondents by those who mix the two languages and those who stick to one language or the other. The former are judged to be inferior in all kinds of respects, in status, personality and above all in their manner of speaking. One could hardly seek more conclusive evidence of the low esteem in which code-switching is evidently held by bilinguals; the explicit criticisms expressed in response to direct questioning, both by the matched guise test respondents and by the respondents discussed in 3.2, are fully backed up by the results of this matched guise test.

< previous page

page_116

next page >

< previous page

page_117

next page > Page 117

TABLE 74 t Values for significance of differences in evaluations. of C.S. and French/Arabic guises Traits Speaker G Speaker H Overall Mixed-up 3.239*** 2.360** 3.889**** Patriotic -3.689**** -2.043* -4.055**** Pretentious 0.5318 1.061 1.122 Self-confident -3.107*** -2.792*** -4.186**** Boring 0.7370 1.368 1.488 Expresses self clearly -6.536**** -8083**** -10.31**** Influenced by colonization 6.100**** 4.862**** 7.774**** Intelligent -5.640**** -5.291**** -7.739**** Clumsy 1.308 1.799 2.191* At case -2.407** -2.998*** -3.822**** Lazy 0.1624 2.554** 1.828 Competent -3.661**** -3.462**** -5.046**** Worth y of respect -4.344**** -7.220**** -7.958**** Eloquent -8.800**** -5.009**** -9.386**** Educated -3.418*** -6.095**** -6.619**** Sociable -5.504**** -6.487**** -8.467**** Likeable -4.597**** -5.685**** -7.272**** Important -4.978**** -3.352*** -5.821**** Way of speaking liked -10.70**** -8.336**** -13.31**** Positive entries indicate that C.S. guises are rated higher than French/Arabic ones, while negative entries indicate that the higher rating is for the French/Arabic guises. For G and H, df = 93 For overall, df = 187 Key to Asterisks * p<0.05 Two-tailed Tests ** p<0.02 *** p<0.01 **** p<0.001 TABLE 75 Significant contrasts between G's French/Arabic and C.S. guises Traits rated higher m French/Arabic Traits rated higher in C S. Way of speaking liked**** Influenced by colonization**** Eloquent**** Mixed-up*** Expresses self clearly**** Intelligent**** Sociable**** Important**** Likeable**** Worthy of respect**** Patriotic**** Competent**** Educated*** Self-confident*** At case**

< previous page

page_117

next page >

< previous page

page_118

next page > Page 118

TABLE 76 Significant contrasts between H's French/Arabic and C.S. guises Traits rated higher in French/Arabic Traits rated higher in C S. Way of speaking liked**** Influenced by colonization**** Expresses self clearly**** Lazy** Worthy of respect**** Mixed-up** Sociable**** Educated**** Likeable**** Intelligent**** Eloquent**** Competent**** Important**** At ease*** Self-confident*** Patriotic* TABLE 77 t Values for significance of differences in evaluations of French and Arabic guises Traits Speaker G Speaker H Overall Mixed-up 0.9502 -0.7666 0 Patriotic -0.3234 0.1322 0 Pretentious -0.6876 -1.750 -1.683 Self-confident -0.2450 3.314*** 1.972 Boring 0.0991 -3.246*** 1.778 Expresses self clearly 1.089 2.479** 2.560** Influenced by 1.824 1.763 2.544** colonization Intelligent -0.6576 5.034**** 2.988*** Clumsy -1.306 1.215 -0.769 At ease -1.566 1.097 -0.2638 Lazy 0.3590 -2.408** -1.397 Competent -2.009* 4.042**** 1.078 Worthy of respect -1.455 4.889**** 1.891 Eloquent -0.4027 2.514** 1.723 Educated 1.533 5.155**** 4.492**** Sociable -0.5386 -2.448** -2.000* Likeable -1.310 3.818**** 1.313 Important 1.317 4.057**** 3.709**** Way of speaking liked -0.7125 2.480** 1.166 Positive entries indicate that French guises are rated higher on the scale than Arabic ones, while negative entries indicate higher ratings for Arabic guises. For G and H, df = 46 For overall, df = 93 Key to Asterisks * p<0.05 *** p<0.01 ** p<0.02 Two-tailed **** p<0.001 Two-tailed Tests Tests

< previous page

page_118

next page >

< previous page

page_119

next page > Page 119

While the main concern of this third matched guise test was of course to investigate the contrasts between guises involving code-switching on the one hand and those using pure French or pure Arabic on the other, the results can also be used to provide further information about the contrast between French and Arabic guises which was the concern of the first and second tests. Accordingly, the t values were also calculated for the differences between the evaluations of the French and Arabic guises, and these are shown in Table 77. These results reveal a sharp contrast between the two speakers, which can be most clearly seen from the two summary Tables 78 and 79. TABLE 78 Significant contrasts between G's French and Arabic guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic None Competent* Speaker H's French and Arabic guises differ significantly on thirteen traits, and the same tendency for the French guise to be more favourably viewed which was observed in the earlier tests is clearly evidenced here. Thus his French guise is, as might be expected after the other tests, more highly rated on traits relating to prestige and general sophistication important, worthy of respect, educated, intelligent, competent, self-confident and eloquent. On the other hand, his Arabic guise is found more sociable, but it is also judged more boring and lazier, and less likeable than the French one, which thus seems to give the impression of a more pleasant character as well as a more sophisticated one. One could perhaps relate the fact that the Arabic guise is judged lazier to some of the results of the completion test described in 3.3, where it was found that many respondents gave an impression of greater laziness and passivity in their Arabic completions than in their French ones. TABLE 79 Significant contrasts between H's French and Arabic guises Traits rated higher in French Traits rated higher in Arabic Educated**** Boring*** Intelligent**** Sociable** Worthy of respect**** Lazy** Important**** Competent**** Likeable**** Self-confident*** Way of speaking liked** Eloquent** Expresses self clearly**

< previous page

page_119

next page >

< previous page

page_120

next page > Page 120

On the other hand, G's guises contrast significantly on only one trait, and instead of his French guise being judged superior, it is his Arabic one which is judged more competent. The contrast between G and H can probably, like the differences between the individual speakers in the other tests, be explained in terms of differences of accent. H could be groupd with A, D, and E as a speaker of High Moroccan French, while G has a far more pronounced Moroccan accent in French, and therefore more closely resembles B, C and F, who speak Average Moroccan French. Once again, then, the results suggest that the impression of greater status and education which may accompany a French guise is conditional on the type of accent used. French with a strong Moroccan accent does not carry the same connotations of education and prestige as does a French accent which approximates more closely to that of a native speaker; and thus, while H clearly gives an impression of greater sophistication when he speaks French, G's heavily accented French has no such effect, but even makes him appear less competent than when he speaks Arabic. To conclude, then, the results of the three matched guise tests described in this chapter suggest that Moroccan bilinguals' judgements of a person are quite radically influenced by what language he speaks, and that they may gain significantly different impressions of a person's character, status and level of education according to whether he is using French, Arabic or a mixture of the two. It seems to be generally the case that a bilingual is more favourably perceived when he speaks French than when he speaks Arabic. However, the respondents in our survey also seemed to discriminate quite consistently between different types of accent in French speakers. Most striking is the strong tendency for those who speak what we have called High Moroccan French to be more highly evaluated with regard to social status, education and general sophistication when they use this than when they use Arabic, whereas this is not necessarily true of those who speak only Average Moroccan French. Besides the contrasting impressions given by French and Arabic guises, however, there is evidently an even sharper contrast between the way a speaker is judged when he sticks to French alone or Arabic alone and the way he is judged when he mixes the two, switching back and forward between them. The third test showed that when a speaker uses a lot of code-switching he is perceived more negatively from a variety of angles, both in regard to his status and education and in regard to his personality. Findings such as these are clearly of considerable importance to the bilingual. If he is aware of the effect of his speech on the way he is perceived, then he may be able to influence others' attitudes to him by his deliberate choice of one language rather than the other or a mixture of the two, or by

< previous page

page_120

next page >

< previous page

page_121

next page > Page 121

cultivating one accent rather than another. It is of course possible to see links between the variations in judgement exposed in this chapter and the kinds of attitude and association revealed in the previous chapters, and the patterns of usage described in Chapter Four suggest that bilinguals may be to some extent aware that the different languages produce different effects. However, it seems unlikely that they are conscious of the very great extent to which the language they use may affect others' view of them.

< previous page

page_121

next page >

< previous page

page_122

next page > Page 122

6 Problems of Language Planning So far we have examined the Moroccan bilingual's attitudes, both conscious and possibly unconscious, to his languages, the way he uses them, and the role they play in influencing his perception of others and of the world. It is now appropriate to consider whether the situation described in this study is likely to continue, or indeed whether it is desirable that it should continue. Ever since Morocco obtained its Independence in 1956, the bilingual situation has been a controversial issue. Many proposals have been made for changing the situation by bringing about a decrease in the amount of French used in Morocco and a corresponding increase in the use of Arabic, which is intended eventually to replace French in many or all domains. It is worth looking at some of the efforts that have been made in this direction, and the difficulties they have encountered, before making any suggestions about the policies to be adopted in the future. 6.1 Arabization: The Aspiration and the Obstacles Once Independence had been achieved, one of the major concerns for Morocco was to return to its original culture by establishing "an education that is Moroccan in its thinking, Arabic in its language and Muslim in its spirit" (King's speech from the throne, 1958, as quoted by Zartman 1964, pp. 155-156). The Moroccan government set out a five-year plan for reorganizing the system of education, which was concerned with the achievement of four main goals. These were unification of the system, by eliminating the dualism produced by co-existence of the traditional and French systems side by side; universalization of education, by making it compulsory for all children of a certain age; Moroccanization, or the replacement of foreign teachers and other staff by Moroccan nationals; and Arabization, with the aim of making Arabic the sole medium of instruction in Moroccan schools.

< previous page

page_122

next page >

< previous page

page_123

next page > Page 123

Considerable progress has been made towards the first three of these four goals, which seem to be widely accepted as desirable ends; but the fourth, which is our concern here, has remained a controversial and much debated issue. As was seen in Chapter One, the process of Arabization has still not been fully completed, and there are still important areas of the education system, particularly in the domain of science teaching and at the more advanced levels, where French is important as a medium of instruction. A quarter of a century has passed since Independence, and Arabization is still a burning issue for every government. There are a number of reasons for this. Past failures to apply Arabization projects effectively may in part be attributed to the lack of overall agreement among policy-makers, not all of whom have the same support for Arabization or the same view of its wider role. One can distinguish a number of groups, of differing attitudes to the problem. First there are the traditionalists, who originated with the nationalist movement which came to power at Independence in 1956. They are in favour of total Arabization of the Moroccan education system and a return to the traditional schools which existed before the Protectorate (see Chapter One); above all they emphasize the need to uphold Arabic traditions and to safeguard the Muslim culture of Morocco. Another group, the modernists, are less committed to Arabization; they are more concerned to ensure an effective education which prepares Moroccans for an industrialized modern world, rather than to carry out a hasty Arabization which might result in Morocco's being isolated from the West. They are more interested in safeguarding the economic status of Morocco than in preserving the cultural image which the traditionalists are so concerned with, and they feel that French is more adequate than Arabic for the teaching of science and technical skills. The third group is the nationalists, whose attitudes to Arabization are linked with ideas of patriotism, and who see Arabization as a political and post-colonial problem rather than a cultural or economic one. For them, Arabization represents a liberation from colonialism, and will allow Morocco to take its proper place in the Arab world; it is seen as the key to unity and solidarity between all the Arabs. Their over-riding concern is for Morocco's political image, and they have been very active in expressing their views to the policy-makers and in constantly criticizing the ministers and other officials who use French in their correspondence. (For instance, such criticisms were being voiced in the newspaper La Nation as early as 1958. and are still being voiced today; similar complaints were expressed in the newspaper Al Mouharir in 1978.) The fourth group, which we can call the

< previous page

page_123

next page >

< previous page

page_124

next page > Page 124

bureaucrats, is made up of employees in the ministries, who recognize the importance of Arabization, but are all too conscious of the practical problems it entails. They are not in favour of Arabization if this results in a lowering of standards, and they do not find the total replacement of French with Arabic to be a very practical proposition. It can be seen, then, that those Moroccans who express a view about Arabization are by no means united in their opinions about its value, its implications and its effects. Moreover, besides these disagreements between groups of Moroccans, even individuals do not always maintain consistent attitudes to it. To illustrate this, one could point to those members of the élite many of whom are directly involved in decisions and plans to promote Arabization who nevertheless send their own children to French schools, while still preaching Arabization as best for the masses. (These are the schools run by the Mission Universitaire Culturelle Française, which were described in Chapter One. According to Gordon [1978, p. 160] there were in 1975 9,529 Moroccan pupils in these schools.) While such people may publicly express support for the teaching of traditional culture in schools, they are at the same time reluctant to abandon the advantages of a knowledge of the French language and culture for their own children; and this ambivalent attitude may prevent them from making a definite choice. Brown (1965) suggests that such uncertainty may be attributed to a fear of causing chaos in the educational and administrative sectors. In the early years after Independence, a serious obstacle to Arabization was the shortage of teachers who could work through the medium of Arabic. At first it was thought that this problem could be solved by employing teachers from the Middle East, especially Egypt. However, a scheme which introduced such teachers was a complete failure and has now been largely abandoned. This was because the teaching methods used by the Middle Eastern teachers were not found to be appropriate to the Moroccan system, based as it was on French lines, and, as Zartman (1964, p. 166) puts it, "the Moroccans found the Egyptians better orators than teachers, more eloquent in praising their native land than in teaching their subject matter". Instead, France remained the most convenient source of qualified teachers for a variety of subjects, and large numbers of expatriate French teachers continued to work in Morocco after Independence, despite the enthusiasm for Arabization; as was noted in Chapter One, their numbers went on increasing every year until very recently. Because of this shortage of suitable teachers, Arabization was at first implemented on a rather irregular basis, being applied only where and when teachers and funds were available. In the second year of Independence, the

< previous page

page_124

next page >

< previous page

page_125

next page > Page 125

first minister of education carried out a complete Arabization of the first year of primary education, while adopting a bilingual policy for the remaining four years, in which pupils had fifteen hours of Arabic and fifteen hours of French per week. He intended to progress from this to a situation with twenty hours a week of Arabic and only ten of French, and where elementary natural science and arithmetic would be taught through the medium of Arabic. However, the further advancement of the plan was halted by the lack of teachers and appropriate textbooks, which led to a lowering of the teaching standards. This produced strong protests from the modernists, who insisted that the choice of language for teaching should be dependent on the availability of competent teachers, and that it was not acceptable to promote Arabization regardless of the consequences for general educational standards. The lack of suitably trained teachers has thus been an important factor in delaying the fulfilment of Arabization plans, and even today this lack is an obstacle to Arabization in certain areas of the curriculum, notably in science. Plans for Arabization have also been disturbed by frequent changes of governments and ministers. Indeed, in the early years there were "a half-dozen educational plans for less than a half-dozen school years" (Zartman 1964, p. 185), and plans were constantly being abandoned and replaced before they had been properly put into operation. For instance, there were at one time plans to complete the Arabization of science teaching by 1965, but this aim has still not been achieved. The situation is summed up in the words of one Moroccan pupil of the time, which are reported by Gordon (1962, pp. 68-69): "They are confused in the ministry . . . they don't know what they are doing. One day they want to arabise everything and the next day they return to French". Fox instance, inconsistency in planning meant that pupils who, after the early attempts at Arabization mentioned above, began elementary science and arithmetic in Arabic, later had to change their routine and suddenly adapt to studying these subjects in French at the end of their primary education. The present minister of education, in an annual report (Le Marin, 14th September 1978, p. 3) refers to the fact that Moroccan children are today experiencing difficulty in assimilating science subjects because the standards of proficiency in French have fallen: "Nous continuons à apprendre à nos élèves le calcul dans le primaire et les sciences naturelles et les mathématiques dans le secondaire en français. Cette

< previous page

("We continue to teach our pupils arithmetic in primary school and natural science and mathematics in secondary school in French. This situation

page_125

next page >

< previous page

page_126

next page > Page 126

situation a fait que nos means that our children and enfants et ceux de la majorité those of the overwhelming écrasante des citoyens ne sont majority of citizens are no plus en mesure d'assimiler les longer capable of absorbing concepts et les notions the scientific concepts and scientifiques du fait qu'ils ideas because they are ignorent jusqu'à la langue par ignorant even of the language laquelle ces notions leur through which these ideas are seront transmises.'' transmitted to them.") (Le Matin, 14/9/78, p. 3) This problem can also be seen to arise from inconsistency in planning. Moroccanization has resulted in there being no native French teachers left in the primary schools, and the standard of French among Moroccan primary teachers may leave something to be desired. Moreover, children also begin French at a later age than they used to, since it is not now introduced until the third year of primary education. Thirdly, the gradual Arabization of the subjects taught in primary school means that the children get less practice in French than formerly. Yet when they reach secondary school, they are still expected to perform adequately in these subjects through the medium of French, which may cause them considerable difficulty, as is recognized by Souali & Merrouni (1981). In fact, French may be said to constitute more of an obstacle now than it did in the days before Arabization began, when pupils at least acquired the habit of working in French early on in their education; nowadays students who have had a more Arabic-dominated primary and secondary education may experience serious difficulties when they reach university, where a high standard of French is still essential for certain subjects. There may thus be some truth in the claim made by Guessous (1976) that the majority of Moroccan children who fail their examinations do so because of problems with French. Skik (1977) maintains that in Tunisia Arabization plans have had the effect of making French synonymous with difficulty and examination failure. Planning for Arabization has also been inadequate in that emphasis has been placed on the Arabization of the pupils rather than on that of the teachers. Clearly, effective Arabization must begin with the preparation of competent teaching staff, so that the teaching of a subject in Arabic can continue throughout the system. Before applying Arabization at the lower levels, it would seem logical to ensure that teachers at the higher levels are adequately prepared; this would avoid the problem of Arabized pupils who, reaching a more advanced stage in their education, find no teachers competent to teach them in the language in which they have hitherto pursued their studies.

< previous page

page_126

next page >

< previous page

page_127

next page > Page 127

Another reason for the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of Arabization programmes may be the fact that policies tend to come direct from the ministry, without being based on consultation with any independent body. Little effort seems to have been made to carry out an objective assessment of the situation and the implications of changing it, and plans have often been motivated by considerations which are primarily political rather than by a concern for educational values, as is observed by Berque (1974). Moatassime (1974) also observes that confusion arises from the fact that the pedagogical problems of Arabization are constantly entangled with politics, nationalism and most of all passion, and Lahjomri (1974) deplores the lack of objectivity in dealing with Arabization and the political and ideological quarrels among Moroccan journalists which obscure the real issue further. The same complaint is made about the Arabization programmes in Algeria by Mazouni (1973, p. 34), who observes that: ("Passion leaves little place "La passion laisse peu de for lucid reflection and champ à une réflexion lucide relegates technical problems et relègue les problèmes and public interests to techniques et l'interêt général positions of secondary au dernier rang, outre que les importance, besides which the compétences sont rares ou expertise is rare or bien insuffisantes." inadequate.") The problem seems to be one common to all the North African countries; language planners are primarily motivated by nationalistic, political and economic purposes, while the practical needs of the people tend to be neglected or completely ignored. Yet those who have discussed language planning have emphasized that there are other factors besides the political ones which must be considered. Rubin (1971) lists a number of requirements for successful language planning, stressing that the planner needs to have adequate information about the views of the people who are to be subject to the plan. An illustration of how important this is is given by Macnamara (1966), who concludes from his study of English-Irish bilingualism in Ireland that Irish students are simply not motivated to learn Irish, and objects that the policy-makers, who are eager to promote Irish, have simply ignored this fact, which must of course be taken into account if their plans are to succeed. O Riagáin (1980) also emphasizes the need for this realistic approach, since "a language policy has to be implemented in the social world of attitudes, behavioural patterns and resources" (O Riagáin 1980, p. 13). The importance of taking account of people's attitudes is also stressed by Lewis (1981), who sums up the situation as follows:

< previous page

page_127

next page >

< previous page

page_128

next page > Page 128

"Any policy for language, especially in the system of education, has to take account of the attitude of those likely to be affected. In the long run, no policy will succeed which does not do one of three things: conform to the expressed attitudes of those involved; persuade those who express negative attitudes about the rightness of the policy; or seek to remove the causes of the disagreement. In any case, knowledge about attitudes is fundamental to the formulation of a policy as well as to success in its implementation." (Lewis 1981, p. 262) The criticisms levelled by Macnamara at the Irish language planners can also be made of the approach to language planning in Morocco, where little effort seems to have been made to consult the ordinary, non-political Moroccan for his or her views on Arabization, or even to obtain the opinion of those who would seem well qualified to assess the situation, such as professional educators and specialists in such areas as education, sociology and economics. An objective assessment of the present state of affairs and the implications of Arabization for education, independent of political considerations, seems long overdue. 6.2 The Arabic Language Before we go on to look at the feelings of ordinary bilinguals about Morocco's language situation, as advocated above, we must look at another factor which has often been claimed to constitute a serious obstacle to successful Arabization. This is the nature of the Arabic language itself. It has often been suggested that Arabic has certain shortcomings that make it unable to meet the needs of Morocco in the twentieth century, and that it must be adapted in various ways before Arabization can be successful. Some of the problems felt to be posed by the language are discussed below. In the first place, the question of Arabization is complicated by the diglossic relationship which holds between the two varieties of Arabic used in Morocco, where Classical Arabic, the written language which is learnt in school, exists side by side with the unwritten colloquial variety which is the real mother tongue; this was described in Chapter One. The diglossic situation is further complicated by the religious status of Classical Arabic, which is considered to be the language used by God. It was seen in 3.1 that Moroccan bilinguals have very different attitudes to the two varieties, tending to value the high variety and hold the low one in contempt. Arabization may be expected to heighten the problems which are posed by the co-existence of these two varieties and the need to determine which

< previous page

page_128

next page >

< previous page

page_129

next page > Page 129

should be used for which purpose. At present, Moroccan bilinguals can avoid this problem by using French; they are then at least able to speak and write the same language. However, if French is to be abandoned in favour of Arabic, then they will be faced to a greater extent with the problem of not being able to write down things they would say, and not finding it appropriate to utter things they would write. Those who have considered this problem seem to feel that Classical Arabic should be used as the vehicle for Arabization, and that this variety can most conveniently replace French. Two main reasons have been offered for this conclusion. Firstly, there is the status of Classical Arabic as the medium for religious matters, and that in which the cultural heritage of Moroccans is preserved. Cachia (1967) for instance considers this to determine that Classical Arabic must be used, quoting Abu Hafid, who suggests that if it were not for the religious and literary heritage of Classical Arabic we could instead devote our attention to developing the colloquial variety until it met all our needs. Secondly, Classical Arabic is seen as essential to the cultural unity of the Arabs, since unlike the colloquial varieties it enables the Arabs from different countries to communicate. If Morocco were to adopt Moroccan Arabic as an official language upon Arabization, it would risk becoming isolated from these other countries. The unifying and consolidating function of Classical Arabic in the Islamic world is emphasized by Hurreiz (1975) and Berque (1958), who contrast it with the colloquials, which they feel can only produce division and disparity; and Moatassime (1974) suggests that Classical Arabic can have a unifying effect, not only over the Arabic-speaking world, but also within Morocco itself. The merits of Classical and Moroccan Arabic with regard to Arabization will be discussed further in 6.4. The reasons for adopting Classical Arabic mentioned here can be seen to parallel closely the comments made by the respondents in 3.1 in explaining why they value Classical Arabic. Assuming that Classical Arabic is the language which is intended to replace French, a further problem is posed by the way this language has to be learnt by all Moroccans. Classical Arabic has no native speakers, and the extent to which it differs from the Moroccan Arabic which children know before they go to school should not be underestimated; it must be learnt through formal education, just as French must be. Replacing French with Classical Arabic, then, is replacing one non-native language with another. Unfortunately, the methods of teaching Classical Arabic in schools are perhaps not as effective as might be desired. While efforts have constantly been made to update the teaching of French and make it a more attractive subject, new developments in language teaching seem to have had no

< previous page

page_129

next page >

< previous page

page_130

next page > Page 130

influence on the way Arabic is taught; as Lahjomri (1974, p. 64) points out, there has been: "une modernisation abusive de l'enseignement de la langue française (outils, méhodes, moyens audiovisuels) alors que l'enseignement de l'arabe reste statique, traditionnel."

("an abusive modernization of the teaching of the French language (equipment, methods, audio-visual materials), whereas the teaching of Arabic remains static and traditional. ")

Pupils are made to memorize lists of rules of grammar, together with extracts from the Koran and old poetry; and the language is learnt almost entirely from written materials, the teacher spending most of his time reading passages from books to his pupils, with little spontaneous discussion. This is perhaps inevitable, since, as Chejne (1958. p. 34) points out, "there is not a fully disseminated standard Arabic for oral communication that could be called classic or neoclassic"; so Classical Arabic remains basically a written language, which no doubt contributes to the fact that Arabic lessons are rarely lively. Perhaps the most serious problem is the fact that Classical Arabic, as presented to the learner, is constantly associated with the past; the texts studied tend to be concerned with historical events and ancient legends, as was revealed in Ibaaquil's analysis of textbook content, described in 3.1. This constant association of Classical Arabic with things of long ago may have implications for the learner's attitude to the language long after he has left school. If Classical Arabic is to replace French, then, efforts must be made to improve the way it is taught in schools; a change in methods and materials might lead to an improvement both in standards of proficiency and in general attitudes to the language. Another aspect of the Arabic language which has been felt to present problems for the progress of Arabization is the Arabic writing system. It has often been claimed that the present system poses problems of comprehension for the reader. The fact that short vowels are not indicated in the script can cause considerable uncertainty; for example, the same orthographic form is used to represent the five quite different words [malik] "king", [malak] "angel", [mulk] "power'', [milk] "property", and [malaka] "to own". Difficulties also arise from the fact that, apart from the full stop to signal the end of a sentence, Arabic has no system of punctuation. Monteuil (1960) points out, however, that in recent times the convention of putting transcribed foreign words between brackets or inverted commas has been adopted. Moreover, some modern Arabic writers, perhaps influenced by the conventions of other languages, avoid writing complex non-punctuated sentences.

< previous page

page_130

next page >

< previous page

page_131

next page > Page 131

Lecerf (1954) describes the Arabic system of writing as obscure and anachronistic in comparison to those of other languages: "Cette écriture est une plaie pour la lecture, pour l'enseignement, et pour tout usage pratique de la langue." (p. 38)

("This writing system is a plague for reading, for teaching and for any practical use of the language.")

He claims that English spelling, though irregular, does not affect comprehension, whereas in Arabic the reader may be uncertain about words which are essential to understanding the content of a passage. Others, including Marçais (1930), Monteuil (1960), Lakhdar (1976) and Benyakhlef (1979) make similar points about the difficulty of working out the relationships between constituents without the assistance of the information which the vowels could provide: "Toute sa vie, l'arabisant, écureuil en cage, tourne ("All his life, the Arabophone, dans ce cercle vicieux qu'il like a squirrel in a cage, is doit résti-ruer les voyelles caught in a vicious circle; he has non écrites pour to fill in the vowels which are comprendre le texte et qu'il not written in order to lui faut l'avoir compris understand the text, and he pour les réstituer." needs to have understood it (Marçais 1930, p. 403). before he can fill them in." Lakhdar (1976) quotes Father Karmali as saying that: "Les Arabes étudient les lois ("The Arabs study the rules of de la langue arabe pour the Arabic language in order apprendre à lire alors que les to learn to read, whereas étrangers lisent pour apprendreforeigners read in order to les sciences." (p. 55) learn sciences.") However, these claims may be somewhat exaggerated. The exercise of providing the short vowels becomes easier with practice, and texts can always be vocalized by the addition of vowel diacritics if necessary, as is done in the Koran and in children's introductory readers. Reading, with or without vowels, is a skill which can be learnt only with effort, and one which may take some time to acquire but this is surely true of any language. The Arabic writing system has also been criticized on the grounds that it is not adequate for the representation of words borrowed from other languages. In 1936 the Arabic Academy of Cairo decided to supplement the Arabic alphabet with new letters to represent such sounds as [v] and [g] which were needed to transcribe foreign place names. However, other

< previous page

page_131

next page >

< previous page

page_132

next page > Page 132

countries such as Syria adopted different symbols for the same purposes, while in others like Morocco two symbols may be used interchangeably. This is one illustration of the unnecessary complications which result from a lack of coordination between the various Arab countries. A more serious problem might be the representation of foreign vowel sounds; for instance, the nine French vowel phonemes must all be represented by the three Arabic characters, so that /o/, /u/, /y/ and /ø/ are all transcribed with the same symbol, and this sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish different French words when they are transcribed in Arabic script. However, the Arabic writing system can hardly be considered unusual in being unable to represent some foreign sounds; and in any case this will not pose any problem if borrowed words are integrated into the Arabic phonological system. More serious, perhaps, are the problems posed by the complexity of the Arabic writing system for printing purposes. Monteuil (1960) points out that printing in Arabic did not appear until 1514 in Italy, 1610 in Lebanon, and 1821 in Egypt a delay which may be explained in terms of the Arabs' veneration of calligraphy and their view that the Koran should not be printed. As Arabic is written in cursive form, each letter has different forms depending on whether it is in word-initial, medial or final position, and, according to Lakhdar (1976), Arabic typewriters require 117 characters to represent only twenty-nine consonants. It is hardly surprising, then, that in Morocco Arabic script typewriters are expensive and relatively rare, in comparison to French ones. With the aim of making Arabic printing more accessible, but without changing the traditional form of the letters, Lakhdar (1976) has devised a simplified system which reduces the number of symbols required to either forty-two or sixty-six, excluding the vowels. Other more radical reform proposals, such as Khatar's (1955) plan to reduce the number of characters by thirty, and Fahmi's (1943) proposal to replace the Arabic script by the Roman alphabet, have not been well received. Arabic scholars have opposed the use of the Roman alphabet on such subjective grounds as the suggestion that "any change in the alphabet would instead of helping to preserve the soundness and purity of the language contribute to its decay and would invite untold foreign or colloquial expression to it" (Qudsi, quoted by Chejne 1958, p. 33). This kind of highly emotive objection may not be considered convincing, but I would agree that one should be reluctant to abandon the Arabic script altogether in favour of the Roman one, simply because this would make access to all past Arabic literature very difficult for future generations. Lakhdar's proposal, however, has been found acceptable, since it is economical and practical but at the same time is felt to preserve the aesthetic qualities of the original script.

< previous page

page_132

next page >

< previous page

page_133

next page > Page 133

Morocco has now officially adopted Lakhdar's system, and other countries could follow. This system could help to produce Arabic textbooks and other publications at more moderate prices, and this in turn may accelerate and enhance the process of Arabization by making available adequate materials for the learning of Classical Arabic. Besides the more specific difficulties discussed above, which seem to have fairly straightforward solutions, there is a very widespread feeling that the Arabic language is in some way inadequate for the needs of Morocco today, that it is not flexible enough to meet the requirements of a developing nation in the modern world. The generality of this opinion is noted by Douiri, Minister of Planning, in his lecture on Arabization and Training, reported in L'Opinion (7th May 1982); and it is a feeling shared not only by Moroccans but by scholars throughout the Arab world. However, many of the claims that Arabic is inherently unsuited for the world today seem to be based on rather vague impressions rather than any real evidence. The fact that Classical Arabic, for instance, has undergone little change since the days of the Prophet has led some people to regard it as out of touch with the modern world and unable to cope with the everyday needs of science and technology. Thus Pellat (1956) claims that Classical Arabic is more suited to the needs of the Bedouin Arabs than to the requirements of the Western world. However, others point to the Arabs' reputation in science in the Middle Ages and argue that there is no reason why Arabic cannot again be a successful vehicle for scientific debate. Gordon (1978, p. 148) points out that Arabic "was a highly developed language, bearer of the rich heritage of a civilisation which once, in the sphere of science, was superior to that of the West and from which, in large part, Greek philosophy (Aristotle in particular) came to the West". In view of the obvious success of Classical Arabic as a medium for scientific discourse in mediaeval times, it is worth asking how the demands for a technical terminology were met in these earlier times. According to Bielawski (1956), the Arab translators and scientists of this period exploited the derivational processes of the Arabic language to create new words, adapted existing words by giving them new, abstract meanings, and borrowed terms from Syriac, Greek and Persian. (For a fuller account of the development of science in the Arab world during the Middle Ages, and the role played by the Arabic language in this development, see Bentahila [1981].) Yet today, when the position of the Arabs in the world of science is of course very different, it is often maintained that Arabic is inadequate in the domain of terminology. A complaint often made is that Arabic terms are not sufficiently clearly defined. According to Monteuil (1960) and Shouby (1951), this problem

< previous page

page_133

next page >

< previous page

page_134

next page > Page 134

arises from the fact that Arabic is particularly rich in synonyms. Monteuil, for instance, points out that there are four Arabic terms all of which mean "behaviour", and goes on to claim that this tendency to have a multiplicity of words with the same referent is something peculiarly inherent in the Bedouin's way of life. Yet surely redundancy in the form of synonyms is a feature of all human languages. In any case, the fact that Arabic possesses large numbers of synonyms need not necessarily make its lexical items any vaguer than those in any other language. Terms can always be defined more exactly when necessary, where they are used in scientific contexts; this is normal practice among authors of technical works in all languages, who may need to redefine an existing term in order to express a new concept. Guessous (1976) also claims that the number of synonyms in Arabic is a hindrance to Arabization, maintaining that the Moroccan child faces the difficulty of having to learn several names for the same thing. He gives the example of a classroom, for which there is only one term in common use in French (classe), but which has four different names in Classical Arabic: [al huzra * - aSSaf- al faSl - al qa: ]. (Interestingly, despite the wide choice of terms offered by Classical Arabic, in Moroccan Arabic none of these terms is used; instead, the most common term used to refer to a classroom is [kla:Sa], which is a borrowed word derived from French classe.) Again, however, this problem could be easily overcome by teaching the child only one of these four terms to begin with. There seems no need to confront the learner with all these different terms when he begins Classical Arabic; he can widen his vocabulary later through reading. A well-designed course in Classical Arabic would select the terms to be taught at an early stage for their frequency, productivity and coverage. It has also been suggested that Arabic is inadequate for scientific discussion because of its lack of precision and rigour in analysis. Shouby (1951) notes that it is difficult to understand Arabic when it deals with more abstract content because the sentences are generally not clearly organized; "words and even sentences may be transmitted, not as units but as whole structures, from one context to an entirely different one without sufficient modification (or even without modification at all)" (Shouby 1951, p. 291). He lists four features which he considers contribute to the vagueness of Arabic texts. These are that some words were never defined when they first came into use; that some terms have changed their original meaning and have since been used in a number of senses; that some old terms are used to denote new meanings; and that the rigidity of Arabic grammar limits the writer's freedom, forcing him to accommodate his thoughts to the rigid rules of grammar. However, such allegations that Arabic is vague, imprecise and

< previous page

page_134

next page >

< previous page

page_135

next page > Page 135

therefore inadequate for scientific discussion seem to be quite beside the point. The properties for which Arabic is criticized by Shouby, and also by Monteuil (1960), are ones which exist in all human languages; Classical Arabic is not unique or exceptional in the fact that the meaning of its words changes with time or that people use its words in different ways to denote different concepts. It would seem that those who criticize Classical Arabic for its inadequacy in these respects have never looked at any other languages, and are unaware that the same so-called problems exist with other languages too. In my opinion, the problems with the Arabic language do not arise from the nature of the language itself, but rather from the people who use the language, and the attitudes they have towards it. The fact is that Arabic speakers are taught to see Arabic as something valuable in itself, and not just as a means of communicating ideas; this attitude was revealed both in the comments in 3.1 of the respondents giving reasons for their preference for Classical Arabic, and in the comments in 4.1.7 by those who said they preferred publications or broadcasts in Arabic to those in French. This attitude leads them to give more importance to the medium than to the message. As Shouby (1951) observes, more importance is given to the words themselves than to the ideas they express; he gives the extreme example of Arabic poetry, where meaning is often sacrificed for the sake of rhythm and musicality. Style and eloquence are the features most valued in written Arabic, and those which are emphasized in the teaching of Arabic composition in schools. In French lessons, on the other hand, quite the opposite emphasis is given. The teaching of writing in French rédaction and dissertation lays stress on aspects such as the organization of material, paraphrasing and presentation of arguments; the content is shown to be as important as the style. Those writing in Arabic do not feel that they can simply use the language to make their point as directly as possible; instead they have to pay considerable attention to the question of how to express this point in the most eloquent style. The possibility of merely stating their ideas in the simplest possible way does not accord with the training they received when learning Arabic, which taught them that Arabic is to be regarded as an end in itself rather than simply a means of communication. This view is summed up by Laroui (1967, p. 91) when he refers to Arabic as the Arabs' only technology: "La langue arabe devient elle- ("The Arabic language même une valeur parce que, becomes itself a value dans un monde où nous because, in a world where we sommes de simples invités, are mere guests, where every où element

< previous page

page_135

next page >

< previous page

page_136

next page > Page 136

chaque élément résiste é nos resists our desires, it is the désirs, elle est le seul bien dont only possession which we nous soyons maîtres pleinement master fully and exclusively. et exclusivement. Exilés dans Exiled as we are in a worm un monde de technique hostile, of hostile technology, the la langue est notre seule language is our only technique." technology.") Problems may thus arise from the habits which people have acquired of using Arabic in a certain way. If it were absolutely necessary to communicate simple facts as directly and clearly as possible in Arabic, of course this could be done. However, instead of just writing whatever they want to say, people are so obsessed with the need to use Arabic properly that they are always worried about how best to express themselves. As a result, they waste time debating how to use the language, instead of simply getting on with the task of using it, facing the problems as they arise and providing immediate solutions for them. Inertia and hesitancy to use Arabic may constitute more serious problems for Arabization than the so-called problems posed by the Arabic language itself. The practice of borrowing from other languages, which was used in the Middle Ages to provide new terminology, has been considered as a means of filling the gaps in scientific terminology which exist in Arabic today. However, it has been objected that the word formation processes of Arabic, which involve the addition of affixes to roots consisting of a number of consonants, cannot readily be applied to words borrowed from other languages such as French and English, and so these are limited in productivity. Attempts have also been made to apply French derivational processes to some Arabic words, but again the results are judged unsatisfactory, since they sound foreign to the Arabic patterns. Lakhdar (1976) gives the example of the Arabic word [kibrit], "sulphur", to which the French suffixes -ate and -ure, as in sulfate and sulfure, have been added to produce [kibritat] and [kibritur], both of which are judged to sound very odd. Other problems are posed by the complex words, based on Latin and Greek roots, which are characteristic of French and English scientific terminology, but which can only be transferred into Arabic by means of long and unwieldy paraphrases. It has been suggested that Arabic should borrow foreign words in their original form, merely transliterating them without adapting them to Arabic morphology, in order to avoid all these problems. Once again, it seems to me that the real problem is not that Arabic lacks the necessary flexibility to absorb borrowings, but instead arises from people's attitudes to Arabic and their view that it should be preserved from

< previous page

page_136

next page >

< previous page

page_137

next page > Page 137

foreign influence. It is after all this kind of attitude which has given Classical Arabic its intrinsic character as a language which has changed little over many centuries. On the other hand, borrowings seem to be readily incorporated into the colloquial dialects, though the objection even to these is so strong that there is still criticism of words which have long been established and integrated into Moroccan Arabic; for instance, it has often been suggested that the word [tilifu:n], "telephone", in common use in Moroccan Arabic, should be replaced with a "pure" Arabic word, and at least four have been suggested, these being [miSara], [ha:tif], [na:di] and [?irzi:z], yet none of these four has come into general use. The ease with which foreign words are borrowed into the colloquial dialects may lead one to suspect that the morphological problems which have been claimed to arise with borrowings in Classical Arabic have perhaps been exaggerated, and that the root of the problem is instead the very strong feeling that Classical Arabic should not receive such borrowings. People are taught from an early age that the purity of Classical Arabic is something to be safeguarded, and borrowings may be seen as a threat to this. A further problem lies in the lack of agreement between the various Arabic-speaking countries with regard to the standardization of the terms used. A survey of French-Arabic bilingual dictionaries carried out by Lakhdar (1976) reveals a noticeable lack of uniformity; one example he gives is of the French word cheville, "ankle", for which four dictionaries give four different Arabic terms, which, when checked in other dictionaries, turn out to have each quite different definitions. Such discrepancies clearly pose a problem for attempts to establish parallel terminologies. They reflect the tendency for each Arabic-speaking country to devise its own terminology, taking little notice of the terms which have been adopted by other countries, to the extent that where reference points are needed they must be provided by English or French. Whereas in the Middle Ages, when the Arabs succeeded in developing a rich scientific terminology, they were more politically united, as one Islamic community, today the Arab world is made up of very diverse nations. Bielawski (1956) suggests that the present lack of co-ordination is partly caused by the geographical distribution of the Arab countries, which makes communication between them difficult. However, this factor would seem to be less of a problem today, in the age of air traffic and telecommunications, than in the past. A more serious problem would seem to be the fact that nowadays science constitutes such a vast body of knowledge that a high degree of specialization is necessary, whereas in the Middle Ages the same individual could be respected as an authority in a number of widely differing

< previous page

page_137

next page >

< previous page

page_138

next page > Page 138

fields. Today, then, there is a great need for careful co-ordination of the various specialized bodies; lack of proper communication between these may well have contributed to the problems of standardizing terminology. The lack of consistency may also be related to the effects of colonization. The medium for science in the formerly colonized Arab countries was and remains the language of their colonizers, so that for North Africans science is usually presented through the medium of French, while in the Middle East it is English which serves this purpose. Disagreement about terminology may thus arise from the fact that the different countries approach the subjects through different languages and will tend to favour borrowings from these languages. Certainly the development of an adequate scientific terminology in Arabic is not helped by this diversity of usage. However, a co-ordinated effort by the various institutes of Arabization may speed up progress towards the goal which is expressed in a wish by Al Boustani (quoted in Monteuil 1960, p. 220): "Qu'il y ait entre ceux qui parlent arabe dans les pays ("May there be between those différents une sorte de lien who speak Arabic in the (rabita), de trait d'union, different countries a kind of destiné à unifier la link, as it were a hyphen, terminologie scientifique designed to unify Arabic arabe pour qu'une expression scientific terminology, so that scientifique en Egypte, par a scientific expression in exemple, ne puisse être Egypt, for instance, may not contredite au Liban ou différer be at variance with one in totalement de son équivalente Lebanon, or differ completely iraquienne." from its Iraqi equivalent." There are signs that greater co-operation is developing in this respect, with the setting up of the computer system which now links the Moroccan Institute of Arabization with those of other Arab countries. 6.3 The Bilingual's Viewpoint In view of the fact, noted in 6.1, that those developing Arabization programmes have failed to pay much attention to the feelings of ordinary Moroccans, it was felt worthwhile to carry out a small-scale survey in order to obtain some information about the attitudes of Moroccan bilinguals towards the present and future language situations. The information was obtained by means of two kinds of questionnaire. The first of these was a straightforward questionnaire involving open-ended questions which consulted the respondents about aspects of their

< previous page

page_138

next page >

< previous page

page_139

next page > Page 139

attitudes towards the present situation and their views about possible future developments. The second was an agreement scale test, which consisted of a number of statements expressing attitudes, some positive and some negative, towards Morocco's language situation, the task of the respondents being to indicate the degree of their agreement or disagreement with each statement by providing a score ranging from + 1 to + 3 for agreement or - 1 to - 3 for disagreement. Tests with this kind of format have previously been used by Jakobovits (1970) to assess the intensity and nature of Canadian students' attitudes towards the learning of French. Such a format provides a framework in which respondents can indicate the strength of their feelings, rather than merely express agreement or disagreement. This of course provides the researcher with more detailed information; but according to Oppenheim (1966) who evaluated this kind of test, the respondents, too, much prefer this method of grading their responses. Care was taken to construct relevant, meaningful and sometimes provocative statements which would stimulate the respondents' interest in the issues raised. The selection of topics covered by these statements was based on a variety of sources such as material from newspapers, periodicals and literature, information from interviews and discussions with Moroccans, and some of the findings described in the previous chapters. Many of the statements expressed views which would be familiar to the respondents from discussions in the Moroccan press, which is an important forum for debates on the relative merits of bilingualism and Arabization, so that literate Moroccans are constantly exposed to such arguments. Others were suggested by discussion with Moroccans who live the problems of bilingualism in their everyday life; for instance, conversations with students and teachers suggested the topics of relative proficiency in the two languages and the appropriate age of introduction of the second language. Among ideas which arose from the findings of the other investigations were statements about the roles of the languages in Morocco and the kinds of association linked with each one. The two open-ended questionnaires used were completed by 109 and 120 respondents respectively, while the agreement scale questionnaire was completed by 203 respondents. The ages of these respondents ranged from fourteen to fortyfive, and they included people from a wide range of professions, such as teachers, secretaries, clerks, doctors, physicists, chemists, pilots, as well as students and schoolchildren. All could be described as balanced bilinguals, proficient in both French and Arabic, who had received a bilingual education. The present survey is thus concerned with the attitudes of Arabic-French bilinguals. They are, of course, the class of people

< previous page

page_139

next page >

< previous page

page_140

next page > Page 140

with whom this whole study has been concerned; it is their attitudes and their language use which have been discussed in the preceding chapters. This survey has similarly been confined to bilinguals because it is their experience as bilinguals which is of particular interest here; given that they know what it is to be bilingual in Arabic and French, and have experienced the advantages and disadvantages of this state, it is interesting to enquire whether they feel that the next generation should have this same bilingual experience, or whether they think some other language situation should be encouraged. This alone is my interest here; but it is of course necessary to recognize that these bilingual respondents cannot be regarded as representative of the Moroccan population as a whole, and that the views of those Moroccans who are not bilingual in Arabic and French may well differ from those revealed here. The results of the open-ended questions are presented in the form of percentages of the total numbers of respondents. Where appropriate the Chi-Squared test was applied to determine the significance of the differences between answers. As for the results of the agreement scale items, first all the numerical scores obtained for a particular statement were summed, to obtain a single score which indicates the strength of the respondents' agreement, if it is positive, and the strength of their disagreement, if it is negative. However, while this single figure does give an impression of the overall feeling towards the statement by the respondents as a group, it may not reflect interesting variations between different groups of respondents; for instance, a case where half the respondents gave a score of + 1 and half a score of - 1 would produce the same overall score as if half had given + 3 and half - 3 (a point which is made by Henerson, Morris & FitzGibbon [1978]). In order to represent the different degrees of agreement and disagreement as well as the overall tendency, then, we also include in the results the numbers of respondents who assigned each of the possible scores. Moreover, while the overall sums certainly reveal the contrasts between the respondents' attitudes to one statement and their attitudes to another, the actual extent of their agreement or disagreement may not be immediately obvious from these figures. Accordingly, we also calculated the mean score for each statement, which is a figure between + 3 and - 3 from which the actual measure of agreement or disagreement is more immediately obvious. In the first place we can look at what the questionnaires revealed about the respondents' feelings towards the current language situation in Morocco. The earlier chapters of this work have already revealed something of bilinguals' attitudes to their two languages, their associations and the roles they are felt to fulfil, and some of the preferences revealed in these investigations

< previous page

page_140

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_141

Page 141 may be expected to have implications for the bilinguals' attitudes to proposed language policies; one example which seems to have important implications is the finding that bilinguals show a strong preference for French in the press and in radio and television broadcasts, and that this seems to be because of the greater attractiveness of the material available through the medium of French. The present survey provided further evidence of the bilinguals' tendency to value French. The respondents clearly feel that Moroccans have favourable attitudes towards speaking French, as revealed by the figures shown below. Question 1. In your opinion, do Moroccans like speaking French or not? Explain your answer. Yes No Blank No. of Respondents p< 80.73% 9.17% 10.09% 109 0.001 Statement 1. Moroccans speak French, not because they are obliged to, but because they like to. Overall score: +216 Mean: +1.064 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 65 55 29 6 32 16 Among the reasons which the respondents suggested for why Moroccans enjoy speaking French were that this allows them to show that they are educated (mentioned by 19.26% of the respondents), or of superior status (mentioned by 10.09%) or that they are modern (9.17%). These comments of course reveal some awareness of the fact, demonstrated in the matched guise tests of Chapter Five, that bilinguals tend to be judged more educated, more important and more modern when they speak French than when they speak Arabic; and if bilinguals are aware of the different impression they make when speaking French, they will certainly value their ability to speak it highly. The other reason mentioned was that French allows them to communicate more easily, a fact mentioned by 10.09% of the respondents. The respondents' own positive attitude towards French is revealed in their answers to the following three questions. Question 2. Do you want to improve your knowledge of French? Yes No Blank No. of Respondents 78.33% 16.66% 5% 120 Question 3. Do you want your children to learn French? Why? Yes No Blank No. of Respondents 76.85% 18.34% 4.8% 229 Question 4. Do you want your children to be bilingual or Arabized? Bilingual Arabized Blank No. of Respondents 86.23% 3.66% 10.09% 109

p< 0.001 p< 0.001 p< 0.001

The majority are obviously not in favour of abandoning French, and do not wish their children to be the products of an Arabized education system. In

< previous page

page_141

next page >

< previous page

page_142

next page > Page 142

their comments on these answers, over half (53.2%) of the respondents referred to the instrumental value of bilingualism, pointing out that French gives access to education, to science, and to better jobs. Some see bilingualism itself as a mark of education; so one respondent says that ''knowledge of a single language is a kind of illiteracy in the twentieth century" and another says that "the monolingual is considered to be an ignorant person in Morocco". 11.92% go so far as to say that bilingualism in Arabic and French is absolutely essential for a Moroccan. The same feeling that French is of considerable value to a Moroccan is revealed in the following responses. Statement 2. It is absolutely necessary for a young Moroccan to know French. Overall score: +279 Mean: +1.395 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No of Respondents: 63 62 37 13 17 8 Statement 3. It is a disadvantage for a Moroccan not to know French Overall score: +46 Mean: +0.23 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No of Respondents: 46 43 21 22 36 35 Question 5. Do you think it is a disadvantage for a Moroccan not to know French? Why? Yes No Blank No. of Respondents p< 66.97% 29.35% 3.66% 109 0.001 The fact that the respondents show more conviction for the truth of Statement 2 than they do for that of Statement 3 can be attributed to the specification of young Moroccans made in the former but not the latter; undoubtedly a knowledge of French is seen as far more important for young people than it is for the older generation, most of whom do not know French. Again, those who feel that it is a disadvantage not to know French point to the instrumental value of French, mentioning its value for career purposes (10.09%), its importance for scientific studies (13.76%), and its importance in administration (15.59%); their comments are summed up in the words of one respondent who says, "Everything depends on this language (= French), since French is always asked for, no matter what circle, no matter what domain". 16.58% mention the cultural opportunities which the monolingual is felt to miss, and the fact that he has less of an opening on the rest of the world. When asked to name the advantages of being a bilingual in Morocco, the respondents made the same points. The most commonly mentioned advantages are listed under Question 6, together with the numbers of respondents mentioning them.

< previous page

page_142

next page >

< previous page

page_143

next page > Page 143

Question 6. What are the advantages of Arabic-French bilingualism for the Moroccan? Access to French culture and the modern world 37.61% Access to education and science 35.77% Access to money and prestige 11.92% Source of enriched experience 11% No advantage 3.69% The value of bilingualism in giving Moroccans access to the Western world is a point often mentioned by those writers who favour bilingual policies. Monteuil (1960, p. 103) claims that: "Le bilinguisme scolaire éviter-ait ainsi pour les Arabes le risque d'isolationnisme culturel, tout en maintenant l'ouverture internationale des états et des peuples Arabes",

"Bilingualism in schools would thus avoid the risk of cultural isolationism for the Arabs, while maintaining the international opening of the Arab states and nations",

and Moroccan writers like Moatassime (1974), and journalists like Alaoui (1978) and Sawri (1977) also see bilingualism as an opening onto the world, which will assist in the country's modernization. Baccar (1971), writing of Tunisia, goes so far as to suggest that Arabic-French bilingualism not only opens new horizons, but even contributes to the enrichment of the Arabic language: "Les notions intellectuelles modernes véhiculées par le français sont directement assimilées par le Tunisien biculturé, puis renversées dans la langue arabe qui s'en trouve enrichie d'autant. Le français sert très souvent de modèle à l'arabe pour évoluer, se moderniser." (Baccar 1971, p. 47)

("Modern intellectual ideas conveyed through French are directly assimilated by the bicultural Tunisian, then spill over into the Arabic language which is proportionally enriched. French often serves as a model for Arabic to evolve and become modernized.")

The majority of the respondents evidently agree with such views, as is shown by the scores for Statement 4. Statement 4. For the Moroccan, the French language is an opening onto the world. Overall score: +256 Mean: +1.256 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 61 72 29 6 16 20

< previous page

page_143

next page >

< previous page

page_144

next page > Page 144

The recognition that bilingualism is of instrumental value to the individual, as a means to education and social advancement, was revealed also in the findings of the earlier chapters and of course in the comments cited earlier in this section. As for the fourth advantage mentioned, the view that bilingualism is a source of enrichment, we may recall the view of Blondel & Décorsière (1962), discussed in 2.5, that whether or not it does represent "une possibilitè d'enrichissement" for North Africans will depend on their degree of proficiency and acculturation. The respondents here, all of whom are fluent and literate in both languages, evidently feel that it does have this enriching effect, as is shown by their endorsement of Statement 5. Statement 5. Arabic-French bilingualism is a source of enrichment to a Moroccan. Overall score: +365 Mean: +1.806 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 87 63 28 6 10 8 Clearly, then, the majority of the respondents in this survey are very aware of the advantages they gain from being bilingual. The respondents were also asked to mention what they considered to be the disadvantages of bilingualism. The problems most often mentioned are listed under Question 7. Question 7. What are the disadvantages of Arabic-French bilingualism for the Moroccan? Leads to neglect of Arabic and domination of French 21.1% Leads to lack of proficiency in both Arabic and French 16.51% Leads to contradictions between the two cultures 12% Leads to mixing of the two languages 11% Leads to loss of identity 10% No disadvantage 29.35% The problems mentioned by the respondents can be divided into two groups, those relating to language proficiency and use, and those relating to the bilingual's psychological welfare. That bilingualism leads to linguistic problems is a view often expressed by North Africans, including Garmadi (1971), Memmi (1973), Guessous (1976) and Baina (1978), all of whom claim that knowing two languages may well mean having less than perfect proficiency in both: "Si le bilingue . . . a l'avantage de connaître deux langues, il n'en maîtrise totalement aucune."

("If the bilingual . . . has the advantage of knowing two languages, he does not totally master either.")

(Memmi 1973, p. 138)

< previous page

page_144

next page >

< previous page

page_145

next page > Page 145

However, some evidence from the agreement test suggests that this view is not accepted by the majority of these respondents, who are of course themselves fairly balanced bilinguals. Thus there is overall disagreement with Statements 6 and 7, but agreement with the converse view expressed by Statement 8. Statement 6. In general, those who know two languages are not successful in mastering either of them. Overall score: -120 Mean: -0.594 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 28 34 22 11 38 69 Statement 7. The fact of knowing two languages, Arabic and French, prevents the Moroccan from expressing himself well. Overall score: -135 Mean: -0.714 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 18 29 23 13 40 59 Statement 8. The fact of knowing two languages, Arabic and French, enables the Moroccan to express himself better. Overall score: +269 Mean: +1.351 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 74 62 20 9 14 20 In fact, the only one of the linguistic problems mentioned in response to Question 7 which does seem to be acknowledged by the majority of the respondents is the fact that bilingualism leads to the undesirable habit of mixing Arabic and French. The same highly critical opinion of the phenomenon of frequent code-switching which was revealed by the questionnaire described in 3.2 and the matched guise test described in 5.3 is evidently shared also by the respondents of the agreement scale test, for there is strong endorsement for the following statement: Statement 9. Moroccans should never mix French and Arabic. Overall score: +398 Mean: +1.96 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 129 26 19 7 13 9 The psychological problems associated with bilingualism are also frequently pointed out; for instance, the suggestion that the bilingual ends up belonging to neither the Arabic nor the French culture is made by, among others, Garmadi (1971), Memmi (1973), Lahjomri (1974) and Guessous (1976) (see 2.5). There was slight overall agreement with statements identifying such problems, as is shown overleaf:

< previous page

page_145

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_146

Page 146 Statement 10. The Moroccan bilingual is divided between two cultures (Arabic and French), and he does not seem to fully belong to either. Overall score: +21 Mean: 0.136 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 35 36 29 19 44 27 Statement 11. Arabic-French bilingualism produces in Moroccans a cultural crisis and lack of identity. Overall score: +68 Mean: 0.348 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No of Respondents: 45 43 23 19 38 27 However, the overall agreement in these two cases is only slight, and when the respondents were confronted with a rather stronger statement of the same idea, the overall result was a slight disagreement. Statement 12. Arabic-French bilingualism produces in Moroccans a lack of culture and originality Overall score: -23 Mean: -0.115 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 34 40 28 12 37 49 While there is an awareness of certain problems arising from bilingualism, then, the concern about these problems seems to be outweighed by the recognition of the advantages of bilingualism. Thus 29.35% of the respondents fail to suggest any disadvantage of bilingualism, while only 3.69% do not mention any advantage of bilingualism. (See responses to Questions 6 and 7.) The overall impression then is that the respondents' feelings towards the bilingual situation which currently exists are basically positive; bilingualism is felt to benefit those who possess it more than it causes them problems. It would seem that for the fairly balanced bilingual, fluent in both Arabic and French, with which our survey is concerned, Arabic-French bilingualism is of what Lambert calls the "additive" rather than the "subtractive" type (Lambert 1977, p. 19). The vast majority of the respondents are evidently not sorry that they themselves are bilingual, as is shown by the responses to Question 8. Question 8. Do you regret being bilingual? Yes No Blank No. of Respondents 8.25% 87.15% 4.58% 109

p< 0.001

We may now turn to the respondents' views about how the language situation should develop in the future. Information about public opinion' on this question is of course essential if it is desired to find a future situation which will satisfy the needs of the ordinary young Moroccans of today. The tendency among the respondents is to believe that the influence of French will decrease in the future, as is shown in their responses to Question 9.

< previous page

page_146

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_147

Page 147 Question 9. Do you think that the influence of French is going to lessen, increase or be maintained at its present level? Lessen Increase Be maintained Blank No of Respondents p< 44.03% 23.85% 24.77% 7.33% 109 0.02 However, on the whole the view seems to be that French will not disappear completely from Morocco, for there is slight disagreement with Statement 13. Statement 13. One day French will no longer be used in Morocco Overall score: -44 Mean: -0.221 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 34 33 31 17 26 58 When asked about their wishes for future language policies, a significant majority of the respondents expressed a desire for bilingualism to continue rather than to be replaced with Arabization. Question 10. A re you for bilingualism or Arabization? For bilingualism For Arabization Blank No. of Respondents 62.5% 32.5% 5% 120

p< 0.001

The results of this survey accord with those of two other North African studies, carried out in Tunisia. To my knowledge, no survey of this kind has yet been done in Morocco. Ounali (1970) found that three quarters of his sample of Tunisian students preferred the maintenance of Arabic-French bilingualism to Arabization, and Tessler (1969) similarly found that his respondents were opposed to Arabization and wanted their children to learn French. This tendency to prefer bilingualism is hardly surprising in view of the value placed upon a knowledge of French in the present circumstances. Another reason for this preference is suggested by the response to Statement 14, with which there is overall agreement. Statement 14. In their conception of things Moroccans feel closer to Europe than to the Middle East Overall score: +226 Mean: +1.141 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 40 79 38 5 23 13 This feeling may reflect the fact that Morocco, along with Algeria and Tunisia, remains a quite distinct sub-culture within the Arabo-Islamic world, and one which is in close geographical proximity to Europe. The close bond between Morocco and Europe has often been noted, for instance by Berque (1958, p. 102), and the Moroccan writer Laroui talks of "l'occident toujours parmi nous et en nous" ("the West which is always among us and within us") (Laroui 1967, p. 55).

< previous page

page_147

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_148

Page 148 Moreover, the respondents seem to feel that Moroccan children should become bilingual in French and Arabic at an early age, and that this is not a problem for them. Statement 15. It is better to teach French to Moroccan children as early as possible. Overall score: +62 Mean: +0.331 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 +3 No. of Respondents: 57 24 26 17 23 40 Statement 16. It is not good for our children to learn two languages (French and Arabic) when they are still young. Overall score: -178 Mean: -0.885 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 26 24 20 13 43 75 The view that it is desirable for Moroccan children to learn French at an early age is also expressed by Moatassime (1974), though with the proviso that they should first have become competent in Classical Arabic, and by Elayed (1974), who, writing about Tunisia, says that the earlier the child is introduced to French the better. The respondents were also consulted for their views about which language or languages should be used as a medium of instruction at the three levels of education, and their opinions are shown below. Question 11. In your opinion, what languages should be used as the languages of instruction in primary, secondary and higher education? Justify your answers. Primary education French Arabic Arabic & French Blank No of Respondents p< 2.62% 35.8% 51.52% 10.04% 229 0.001 Secondary education French Arabic Arabic & French 9.6% 10 .48% 70.74%

Blank 7.89%

No. of Respondents 229

p< 0.001

Higher education French Arabic 13.1% 13.53%

Blank 15.27%

No of Respondents 229

p< 0.001

Arabic & French 58.07%

It can be seen that for each of the three levels of education, a majority of the respondents favour a bilingual policy, where both Arabic and French are used as media of instruction. In the case of secondary and higher education, the numbers favouring education through French alone and those favouring education through Arabic alone are almost equal, but these are in each case small minorities. The two languages are thus very evenly balanced as regards the amount of support they receive, with a significant majority favouring the use of both. With respect to primary education, the attitudes are slightly

< previous page

page_148

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_149

Page 149 different. While here, too, a majority favour a bilingual policy, a substantial minority (35.8%) feel that instruction should be through the medium of Arabic alone, while hardly anyone believes in using French alone. Evidently, then, while roughly a third of the respondents favour full Arabization of primary education, the majority of these do not feel that this should be extended to secondary and tertiary levels. In fact, these results reveal a striking lack of support for Arabization, with high numbers of respondents feeling that French should be used as a medium of instruction, either in combination with Arabic or even to its exclusion. Altogether 80.34% of the respondents feel that French should be used as a medium of instruction in secondary education, 71.17% that it should serve this purpose in higher education, and 54.14% that it should be a medium of instruction even in primary school. The view that French should continue to be used alongside Arabic in the Moroccan education system has also been expressed by Moroccan journalists (e.g. Alaoui 1978) and other writers (e.g. Moatassime 1974), but it is of course in total conflict with the ideals of the policy-makers who are attempting to carry out Arabization and eliminate French as a medium of instruction in state schools. Incidentally, it is interesting that some respondents suggested that the media of instruction should include other languages, such as Berber, Spanish and, most commonly, English. This may reflect a general awareness among Moroccan bilinguals of the value of knowing and using further languages, which is also revealed in their responses to the following question. Question 12. Are foreign languages useful? Yes No Blank 89.99% 3.66% 6.4% Which ones would you prefer to study? Why? English French Spanish German 58 32 17 14

No. of Respondents 109 Russian 5

p< 0.001 Others 2

Again, there is a clear preference for English, and the main reasons given by those choosing English were its usefulness for future studies, its importance as an international language, and the access it gives to a rich fund of material. Similar reasons for learning English were found to be common among Moroccan secondary school pupils in Guebels' (1976) study of their motivations for learning foreign languages. The area where there has been most controversy over what should be the language of instruction is perhaps that of mathematics and the sciences. As was noted in 6.2, there has been much debate over the question of whether Arabic can be an effective vehicle for scientific discussion. The

< previous page

page_149

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_150

Page 150 survey shows that a majority of the respondents feel that it is possible to use Arabic as a medium for the teaching of science, as seen from their responses to Question 13 and Statement 17. Question 13. Do you think it is possible to teach science in Arabic? Yes No Blank No. of Respondents 70.83% 24.99% 4.16% 120 Statement 17. It is impossible to teach science in Arabic in Morocco. Overall score: -197 Mean: -0.98 Scores. +3 +2 +1 -1 No. of Respondents: 26 19 23 23

-2 37

p< 0.001

-3 83

The view that Arabic is a feasible medium for science instruction is also argued by Moatassime (1974). Za'rour & Nashif (1977), in their study of students' attitudes to the language of instruction in Jordan, report that all the members of their sample group believe in the possibility of teaching science through Arabic. On the other hand, Ounali (1970) finds that only 21.53% of his sample of Tunisian students consider that Arabic can serve this purpose, while the others claim that it lacks the necessary rigour and precision. And while a significant majority of our respondents feel that teaching science through the medium of Arabic is a possibility, 16.66% of them suggest in their comments that this will be difficult to achieve, demanding much translation and the development of more adequate Arabic terminology. It is very interesting that, while the majority of the respondents believe in the possibility of using Arabic to teach science, most of them do not favour the realization of this possibility: Question 14. In your opinion, should scientific subjects be taught in French or in Arabic? French Arabic Arabic & French Blank No of Respondents 47.5% 39.16% 7.5% 5.88% 120 The same kind of view is reflected in the slight overall agreement with Statement 18. Statement 18. French should keep its privileged place in the country and be used in the technical and scientific training of staff. Overall score: +51 Mean: +0.257 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No of Respondents: 35 54 25 16 33 35 This preference for French to be used for science and technology is particularly interesting because those debating the question of science and Arabization seem to have largely assumed that people would like to study science in Arabic if they were given the opportunity, hence the motivation for develop-

< previous page

page_150

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_151

Page 151 ing terminology in order to make this a more feasible possibility. However, the results of our survey suggest that while a majority of the bilinguals represented by our respondents do recognize the possibility of using Arabic for science, only a minority actually wants to take advantage of this possibility. If these results are indicative of more general attitudes, then it seems that those planning for Arabization are either unaware of what is really desired by people in Morocco today, or are motivated by concerns other than this. It is interesting, too, to look at the respondents' expressed attitudes to Arabization itself. From the findings discussed earlier, where it was seen that the respondents highly valued their own knowledge of French, it would appear that the majority of them do not want Arabization to be carried out. Nevertheless, their agreement with statements like the following suggests that they do hold a favourable attitude to Arabization. Statement 19. Arabization will restore the true identity of Morocco as an Arab and Muslim country. Overall score: +246 Mean: +1.248 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 69 55 27 9 22 15 Statement 20. Moroccans should above all protect Arabic and not encourage people to use French Overall score: +161 Mean: +0.8 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 No. of Respondents: 68 39 31 8 21

-3 34

Evidently there is a feeling among the respondents that using Arabic is somehow the right thing to do, and that there is some kind of obligation on them to uphold the value of Arabic, even though this may not seem attractive in other respects. The same kind of view was reflected in the results of the questionnaire described in 3.1, where Table 6 shows that Arabic, and in particular Classical Arabic, was the language the respondents felt Moroccans should use above all. The respondents of the agreement scale test are clearly in agreement that Arabization should involve the use of Classical Arabic, not the colloquial variety: Statement 21. Classical Arabic is the language suitable for Arabization and not Colloquial Moroccan Arabic Overall score: +451 Mean: +2.255 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 116 46 14 5 9 10 Moreover, there is overall disagreement with the claims that Arabization will lead to disadvantages made in Statements 22 and 23.

< previous page

page_151

next page >

< previous page

page_152

next page > Page 152

Statement 22. Arabization in Morocco will isolate the country from the modern world Overall score: -160 Mean: -0.792 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 25 27 23 75 35 17 Statement 23. Total Arabization could block the development and the progress of the country Overall score: -33 Mean: -0.169 Scores: +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 No. of Respondents: 39 28 24 26 30 48 It would seem from the above results that there is a general trend to refute criticism of Arabization, to acknowledge its validity and to recognize a need to protect Arabic. On the other hand, it was seen earlier that these same respondents have very favourable attitudes towards the present bilingual situation, seeing bilingualism as an opening onto the world and a source of enrichment for the Moroccan. These different reactions, which might seem rather hard to reconcile, suggest that there is something of a conflict in the minds of bilinguals like these respondents. On the one hand, they may well feel, for idealistic and patriotic reasons, that Arabization is a worthy cause; but on the other, although they may value the principles underlying Arabization proposals, they also, for practical purposes, want French to remain in use. The conflict between ideology and practicality which these feelings represent has also been noted by Berque (1958) and Hamzaoui (1970), and Lahjomri (1974) describes the attitudes of Moroccan students, torn between the practical need for French and the idealistic need for Arabic. It may also be at the root of the inconsistencies which have existed between the idealistic principles of governments and their actual policies, which are emphasized by Gordon (1962). Gallagher (1968) refers to the ''split between official dogma and observable reality" with regard to language use, which he considers to reflect the contrast between "the Symbolic and the Utilitarian" (p. 130). It would seem that one of the fundamental problems for Arabization programmes is the fact that it is difficult to combine ideals with practicality. While our respondents do seem to uphold the ideals of Arabization, they are also very conscious of the practical value of bilingualism; and at present it seems likely that they will be more swayed by the very real advantages they can draw from the bilingual situation than by the desire to uphold principles which would seem to deny them these advantages. They might well agree with Mazouni (1973), who, in discussing the problems of Arabization in Algeria, emphasizes that practical needs must come first, and that these cannot be sacrificed for the ideal of Arabic. Perhaps the most important problem for language planning in Morocco, then, is the need to ensure that practical values are not sacrificed for the sake of ideals.

< previous page

page_152

next page >

< previous page

page_153

next page > Page 153

6.4 Re-asessment and Proposals From the findings described in 6.3, as well as the information obtained in other parts of this study, it would seem that the kind of bilingual respresented by our respondents is very conscious of the value of his bilingualism. While he may support the ideals which lie behind the move towards Arabization, he does not wish to lose the advantages which his knowledge of French gives him, nor does he want his children to miss these opportunities. And it is after all bilinguals like him who represent the majority of the reasonably educated younger generation, those who are under forty-five and have received a bilingual education at least to secondary school level. Those who have received a monolingual Arabic education in the traditional style schools may well feel differently about the position of French; but these represent only a very small minority, currently 1.11% of those in secondary education (Baina 1981, p. 235). It is upon bilinguals like the respondents, then, that the task of running Morocco and leading it into the next century is likely to fall; and their feelings about the present and possible future language situation must not be ignored. Yet those currently working towards Arabization seem to have taken little interest in the feelings of young bilinguals. Instead they are fired mainly by political and ideological motives. They feel strongly that the use of French in Morocco is a scar left by colonization, a source of conflict and confusion, and that the country can only establish its own authentic identity when it operates solely in Arabic. Unfortunately, they do not seem to have investigated in depth the extent to which these theories are reflected in the feelings of ordinary Moroccans who experience the pains and pleasures of bilingualism in their everyday life. Their arguments are based on emotive claims, often presented without any supporting evidence, such as the remark that: "Le génie d'un peuple ne peut s'exprimer et s'épanouir que dans la langue maternelle avec tout ce qu'elle comporte d'exigeance." (Report of a speech by the Minister of Planning, L'Opinion, 7/5/1982)

("The spirit of a nation can blossom and be expressed only in the mother tongue with all the demands that this entails.")

Yet remarks like this one do not stand up to examination at all. In the first place, we should recall that for a large proportion of Moroccans the mother tongue is not Arabic at all, but Berber; but those who advocate Arabization

< previous page

page_153

next page >

< previous page

page_154

next page > Page 154

do not seem concerned that these people should be able to express their identity in their mother tongue. Secondly, there is the fact that the Arabic which they propose should replace French in the education system and elsewhere is not Moroccan Arabic, but Classical Arabic, which again is not the mother tongue of any Moroccan. One of the most convincing arguments for eradicating bilingualism in the early years of a child's education is the problem children face when not only do they have to absorb unfamiliar subject matter, but they have to absorb this through the medium of a language which is itself unfamiliar to them; it is strongly felt that children can build the foundations of knowledge more easily if these are presented to them in their mother tongue, which leads to agreement that "the earliest stages of schooling not only must but should be conducted through the medium of the child's mothertongue" (Sharp 1973, p. 45). However, this argument cannot be used to support the policy of Arabization, as it has been proposed up to the present; for the supporters of Arabization are planning to replace French, not with the Moroccans' mother tongue, but with another language, Classical Arabic, which they will not be called on to speak in their everyday life outside the classroom. The difficulty which the present diglossic situation poses for children should not be underestimated, and can be summed up in the words of Gal (1955): "Children of Arabic speaking countries are astonished, when entering the primary school, to find that the language of their mother was wrong and faulty and they have to acquire a totally new idiom . . . The little pupil is at variance with his 'mother tongue' and vacillates between two extremes: shall he speak as he learned to write at school, or write as he naturally speaks?" (Gal 1955, p. 32) While there are differences between the written and spoken varieties of any language, including French, these do not usually represent anything like the profound contrasts separating Classical and Moroccan Arabic, in the domains of phonology, syntax and lexis; so in this respect learning French could even be regarded as a help for the child, since he is then at least learning a language which he can speak as well as write. The kind of argument used in support of Arabization by the minister quoted above, then, seems very ill-chosen, since Arabization, as it is usually envisaged, will not really allow the Moroccan to function entirely in his mother tongue. It seems to me that before Arabization can be considered desirable and successful the problems posed by the coexistence of two such divergent

< previous page

page_154

next page >

< previous page

page_155

next page > Page 155

varieties of Arabic must be solved. One approach to this would be to regard Moroccan Arabic, rather than Classical Arabic, as the language which should replace French in the education system and elsewhere. This solution has not been much discussed, although Hamzaoui (1970) does advocate the use of the colloquial dialect in Tunisian schools. The main problem with it is the somewhat negative attitudes which Moroccans express towards Moroccan Arabic, some of which were seen in 3.1; it is associated with illiteracy and not felt to be an appropriate vehicle for intellectual or specialized topics, as was seen in 4.1.3. The kind of extreme distaste with which Moroccans may regard the colloquial variety is illustrated in some remarks by Cachia (1967): "The colloquial is one of the diseases from which the people are suffering, and of which they are bound to rid themselves as they progress. I consider the colloquial one of the failings of our society, exactly like ignorance, poverty and disease." (Cachia 1967, p. 20) The other difficulty is of course that Moroccan Arabic is not a written language; as Brunot (1950a) notes, Moroccans do not even attempt to write it. "Nul Marocain n'oserait affronter la rèprobration générale qu'il encourrait s'il écrivait dans sa langue maternelle. Quand on tient une plume, on ne peut employer que l'arabe classique." (Brunot 1950a, p. 20)

("No Moroccan would dare to brave the general disapproval he would incur if he wrote in his mother tongue. When one holds a pen one can use only Classical Arabic."

However, if these attitudes could be overcome, and it were possible to use Moroccan Arabic in the schools, then this would in itself serve to promote the development of a standard writing system for Moroccan Arabic, which would enable children to write as well as they speak it. The use of an originally unwritten dialect in schools has been found useful in this respect elsewhere; Deval (1975), writing about the language situation in the Aosta valley, argues that the use of the dialect in schools will serve this purpose: "Avec le patois à l'école on peut commencer à inventer avec les enfants toutes les conventions de l'écriture, des règles de l'orthographe, parce que la patois en général n'a pas encore de codification de l'écriture." (Deval 1975, p. 11)

< previous page

("With the dialect in school, one can begin to develop with the children all the conventions of writing, the rules of spelling, since the dialect in general still has no codified writing system.")

page_155

next page >

< previous page

page_156

next page > Page 156

It would also then be possible to enrich Moroccan Arabic with vocabulary from Classical Arabic and so make it feasible to use the dialect to talk about abstract topics which are at present expressible only in Classical Arabic. This in turn would lead to a blunting of the sharp division between the high and low varieties. However, the possibility of creating a simplified yet flexible form of Arabic by starting with Colloquial Moroccan Arabic and enriching this with vocabulary from Classical Arabic does not seem to have found favour with those who have looked for a solution to the present diglossic situation. Instead it is the possibility of adapting Classical Arabic which is most often discussed and proposed as a solution. It was seen in 6.2 that many scholars feel Classical Arabic is inadequate for the requirements of Morocco today, criticizing it for its lack of terminology, its lack of clarity, and the difficulties of its writing system. However, it was argued there that the most fundamental problem in adapting Classical Arabic to Morocco's modern needs is that posed by the image it possesses in the minds of Moroccans. Firstly, there is the association of Classical Arabic with religion and the past, as opposed to the association of French with modernity and technology, both of which have been noted at many points in this work; for those concerned with the future development of Morocco and its place in the modern world, Classical Arabic may simply not have the right connotations. Another difficulty is the emphasis which is placed on elegance of expression in writing Classical Arabic, which may lead to the content's being sacrificed for the medium, and hinder the communication of straightforward facts. It is people's attitudes, too, which have presented the obstacle to plans for simplifying Classical Arabic and developing a variety which will be adequate for modern needs. Various names have been used for this modem form of Arabic; it has been called "l'arabe fondamental" (Guessous 1976, Mazouni 1973), "l'arabe médian" (Berque 1974), "une tierce langue" (Berque 1969), "l'arabe intermédiaire'' (Riahi 1970, Ounali 1970) and "la langue acceptable" (Lakhdar 1959). While there seems to be no shortage of labels for this new Arabic, proposals for how it should be defined and established are less forthcoming; however, Mitchell (1980) attempts to establish a characterization of what he calls Educated Spoken Arabic. Clearly some kind of description of the new variety is needed, which will identify its lexical, morphological and syntactic characteristics, so that it can then be taught in schools. However, the evolution of such a variety, and its official acceptance, have been hindered by the attitudes of the Arab purists, who feel that Classical Arabic, as the language of Islam and the symbol of Arab identity, should not be modified in any way but must be preserved unchanged. Garmadi (1971), for instance, reports that Tunisian Arabo-

< previous page

page_156

next page >

< previous page

page_157

next page > Page 157

phones are opposed to this simplification of Classical Arabic on the grounds that it is an act of desecration, which will lead to the deterioration of the language and the loss of its purity. People may also feel that such changes would constitute a threat to the unity of the Arabic-speaking nations. As Mazouni (1973) points out, however, the success of any Arabization policy which proposes to replace French with Classical Arabic depends on the secularization of Classical Arabic, which will allow it to function in other domains of life; for, as he says: "Une langue n'est jamais une fin pieusement cultivée pour elle-même. Désacraliser la langue, c'est en rendre l'usage accessible à d'autres qu'aux prêtres et qu'aux érudits." (Mazouni 1973, p. 36)

("A language is never an end piously cultivated for its own sake. To secularize a language is to make its use available to those other than the holy and the learned.")

The development of a simplified form of Arabic, which would be wider in its applications and therefore of greater practicality than either Classical or Moroccan Arabic, is thus dependent on there being a change in Moroccans' attitudes towards the two varieties. There seems no other reason why Arabic cannot become an adequate vehicle for all the communicative needs of Moroccans. Certainly, contrary to some of the claims noted in 6.2, there is no inadequacy inherent in the nature of Arabic itself, which like any other language can surely be adapted to cope with the needs of its speakers. The problem lies not with the nature of the language, but with its image. As Gallagher (1969) points out, "all languages as systems are potentially equal for the expression of new thought and ideas, but as social realities they vary according to the attitudes and values which underlie them and in respect of the historical ciccumstances that have shaped their present structures and content" (p. 61). There are already precedents for this kind of development, for other languages have recently undergone dramatic changes in adapting to the needs of the technological age. Gallagher (1969) gives the example of Hebrew, which in fifty years has been adapted to modern needs. Its technical vocabulary has grown rapidly, and although it is a Semitic language like Arabic there has been successful borrowing from European languages; the morphological problems which have been claimed to make borrowing from European into Semitic languages very difficult (see 6.2) have been resolved by borrowing even suffixes and prefixes directly into Hebrew. Gallagher also mentions the case of Turkish, where he suggests that the people's attitudes towards their language contributed a lot to making it possible to

< previous page

page_157

next page >

< previous page

page_158

next page > Page 158

adapt it to modern requirements and even to change its writing system. One could also consider the case of Japanese, which has been adapted in an exceptional way, by extensive borrowing, the reduction of diglossia, a considerable simplification of its writing system, the characters of which have been reduced from 7,000 to 1,850, and the introduction of new spelling rules. Again, the success of this adaptation seems to have been made possible by the existence of attitudes favourable to such developments. Clearly, then, change is possible where sufficient motivation exists. The development of a more practical form of Arabic, which can be both written and spoken, should not be considered an unattainable aim; but before it can be achieved a certain change in the Arabic-speaker's attitudes towards his languages must take place. As long as Classical Arabic is considered inseparable from sacred values and Arab nationalism, and Moroccan Arabic is associated with ignorance, diglossia will be maintained; and as long as this diglossic situation continues, it represents a serious obstacle to successful Arabization. Even if this more practical variety of Arabic were available, there are still other respects in which the adequacy of Arabization as an alternative to bilingualism seems doubtful. One of the most impressive advantages which the Moroccan gains from his proficiency in French is of course the access this gives him to a wealth of material, printed, filmed and recorded, which records a vast heritage of culture, ideas and entertainment. Once he has the key to all this, in his knowledge of French, he can reach it merely by turning on the radio or television, or taking a walk to his nearest bookshop or cinema. This study has revealed that bilinguals are very much aware of this advantage of knowing French; over and over again we have seen the respondents' view of French as the key to education and knowledge, the link with Western thought and tastes. In comparison, the material available through the medium of Arabic may seem less attractive. This impression may be acquired very early in the bilingual's encounters with the two languages; it was seen in 3.1 that the content of the Arabic textbooks used in Moroccan schools tends to relate to the past, to religion and moral themes, while the French textbooks have themes which are more up-to-date and in touch with the tastes of young readers. Moreover, it was seen in 4.1.7 that the respondents are more attracted to the publications, radio and television programmes and films which are available to them through the medium of French than to those available in Arabic. The former are felt to be more interesting, entertaining and fashionable, and generally to offer a much wider range of choice; and altogether the respondents' comments suggested that they felt the Arabic material available could not compete with what was

< previous page

page_158

next page >

< previous page

page_159

next page > Page 159

offered in French. It is hardly surprising, then, if Arabization does not seem an attractive prospect to them. Before Moroccan bilinguals can be persuaded that Arabic is an adequate replacement for French, it will be necessary to show them that Arabic can give them access to material of the same quality as that available through French. In the first place, the material offered within the education system must be improved. The inclusion in Arabic textbooks of material more appealing to the young people of Morocco today could go a long way towards helping to change the image of Arabic, which we have argued to be such an essential step. At the higher levels of education, of course, the success of Arabization is dependent on the creation of suitable academic texts, and the translation of important material in many fields; until this is done, it will be impossible to persuade people that Arabic can give the same access to modern thought, in both science and the humanities, that French undoubtedly can. Secondly, attempts should be made to offer a wider range of entertaining material in Arabic. To take the example of films, it is quite unrealistic to expect people to embrace enthusiastically an Arabization programme when all they are offered in place of a wealth of French productions is historical films about the glory of the Arabs, or plays in a mixture of Classical and Egyptian Arabic which Moroccans find hard to understand and which often do not appeal to their taste at all (see 4.1.7). The same point could be made about other areas such as the provision of light reading matter and magazines; here too there is a wealth of material available in French, but no real equivalents in Arabic which could meet the same needs. The oral literature, in the form of folk tales and plays, which exists in Moroccan Arabic is of some entertainment value. (The richness of this folk literature is described by Brunot [1950a].) However, this is not what appeals to sophisticated young people in search of novelty and excitement; and unfortunately even the fact that it is in Moroccan Arabic affects people's attitudes towards it, since it is associated with the uneducated and judged to be of little appeal to the educated. The Moroccans of today seem to be well aware that if they were not proficient in French they would have no access to the wide range of material which is readily available to and evidently much appreciated by the Moroccan bilingual. Naturally they will not wish to relinquish this advantage for themselves or their children; clearly we cannot expect people willingly to accept boring, unappealing material instead of a wealth of choice to suit all tastes. The provision of attractive material in Arabic, of appeal to the general public, seems to me to be crucial to the success of Arabization.

< previous page

page_159

next page >

< previous page

page_160

next page > Page 160

Surprisingly enough, those who discuss the problems of Arabization do not seem to have drawn attention to this pressing need. Another fact which may make Moroccans reluctant to abandon their bilingualism is that at present studies in Arabic do not provide access to a wide variety of interesting and worthwhile jobs. Again, the respondents in our study showed themselves to be very conscious of the present advantages of bilingualism in this respect. As long as certain fields of work remain open only to those with a good knowledge of French, people will not be inclined to endorse Arabization by encouraging their own children to pursue their studies through Arabic. Once again, the point is that we cannot expect people to be willing to abandon something as instrumentally important as French is today unless viable alternatives are offered. Our study suggests that Moroccan bilinguals consider their knowledge of French to be a considerable asset, which offers them greater knowledge, wider experience, access to the Western world and to an endless supply of material which they would not otherwise be able to reach. The language planners who seek to impose a policy of Arabization should pay considerable attention to what they are offering to Moroccans as an alternative to the present bilingual situation, for they are unlikely to succeed in gaining the support of ordinary Moroccans unless they can offer an equally practical and adequate alternative. In the world today, the opportunities which the Moroccan gains through his bilingualism are becoming more and more valuable. As the world grows smaller, and international communications grow more commonplace, the double viewpoint, the opportunity to partake of two contrasting cultures and in so doing to gain a privileged view of both, seems more precious than ever. A too hasty and ill-planned Arabization involving the exclusion of French at all costs would lead to the closing of doors which can profitably be left open, at least for the present. It seems to me that the most important objectives, on which work should now be concentrated, are not those of eradicating French from this field and that, but those of developing as effectively as possible a practical and enriched form of Arabic, and of improving both the quality and the quantity of the material available in Arabic, to provide a wider range both of light entertainment and of specialist texts in Arabic. Progress towards these ends will do more than anything else to improve the image of Arabic in Morocco today, to create more favourable attitudes towards it and to reinforce its position as the official language of Morocco. Perhaps the most important point to which the attention of the policy-makers should be drawn is the fact that Moroccan bilinguals are not simply

< previous page

page_160

next page >

< previous page

page_161

next page > Page 161

people who can speak French as well as Arabic. Along with their proficiency in the languages, they possess a complex set of attitudes and assumptions linked to these languages. The process of Arabization is thus not simply a matter of excluding one language in favour of another; as well as replacing a language, it is necessary to replace all that that language stands for in people's minds, and all that it gives access to. Changes in habits of language use must go hand in hand with changes of attitude; and while the use of one language rather than another in some domains may be determined by legislation, society's attitudes to the languages can be manipulated only by more subtle means.Excellent, although small caps needed stripping from some of the NL tables; Heading 3s in Notes section had the m-dash but not the soft-return.

< previous page

page_161

next page >

< previous page

page_162

next page > Page 162

7 Conclusion This study has looked at the phenomenon of Arabic-French bilingualism in Morocco from a variety of angles. We have examined the relationship between the bilingual and his languages on a number of levels, using both information which was directly elicited about the bilingual's attitudes to his languages, as revealed in his own explicit comments on them, and also evidence obtained more indirectly, from information about his behaviour and reactions. As well as looking at the psychological implications of bilingualism, in its influence on the individual, we also considered its implications for the society in which it exists, examining the roles fulfilled by the two languages in this society and the values with which they are associated. Throughout we were concerned with respondents who are typical of the majority of Moroccan French-Arabic bilinguals, being of the younger generations, and having received their education either in the French-style schools set up under the Protectorate, or in the bilingual state schools which evolved after Independence. French for them is a language first encountered at school, and it is unlikely that they have parents who are French-speaking. Of course, these bilinguals cannot be considered representative of the Moroccan population as a whole, and their attitudes are likely to be different from those of other sectors of Moroccan society: the older generation, those who have received little or no education, few of whom know more than a few phrases of French, and those who have been educated entirely through the medium of Arabic in the traditional schools. A wider investigation examining the attitudes of these other groups as well would doubtless reveal interesting contrasts, but has been beyond the scope of the present work. The bilinguals to whom this study has restricted its attention are a particularly interesting group, both because of their language background and because they represent the majority of the educated younger generation and should therefore be in a position to influence the future evolution of the situation.

< previous page

page_162

next page >

< previous page

page_163

next page > Page 163

The various parts of this study have all revealed a pattern of contrasts between the languages concerned -- contrasts of image, of function and of effect. Firstly, there are the clear differences which exist among the bilinguals' own attitudes towards the languages, which were revealed through the questionnaires described in 3.1, 3.2 and 6.3. From these it is clear that the respondents associate French, Classical Arabic and Moroccan Arabic each with a different type of values, and regard each as useful for different purposes. Interesting contrasts were also discovered in the kinds of association linked with the two languages, and the ways in which the bilingual's attitudes may be influenced by which one he is using. It was seen in 3.3 that the use of one language rather than the other may influence the kinds of idea which spring to his mind and the type of personality which he projects. It was concluded that this reflects the way a language, as part of a culture, may be closely linked with other aspects of that culture. The bilingual is familiar with two cultures, but on any particular occasion his behaviour or opinions may reflect the norms of one more closely than those of the other; and it does not seem surprising that the choice of one language rather than the other on some occasion may also lead to one outlook and set of assumptions being temporarily preferred over those of the other culture. Thirdly, very clear contrasts emerged from the investigation of language choice in various situations, described in Chapter Four. The results here suggested that the differences between bilinguals' views of their languages are paralleled by differences in the way they use them. It was seen that the choice of language in a particular situation is by no means arbitrary, but is influenced by a variety of factors, such as the type of setting, topic and interlocutor. French and Arabic are evidently felt to be appropriate in different types of context and they serve different types of function. We may also recall the apparently strong conviction of the respondents that the two languages should be kept separate, as revealed in their severe criticisms of the tendency to mix the two by code-switching (3.2 and 5.3) and their unfavourable judgements of speakers displaying this tendency (5.3). A further contrast, which can be related to all those already mentioned, concerns the kinds of impression which can be created by speaking the two languages. The matched guise tests described in Chapter Five showed that there are quite dramatic differences between the ways the same bilingual is perceived by a group of similar bilinguals, depending on which language he uses. It was seen that an individual's status, education and personality all tend to be evaluated differently when he speaks French from when he speaks Arabic. Within the various types of contrast mentioned above, we can see certain overall tendencies in the relationships between the two languages.

< previous page

page_163

next page >

< previous page

page_164

next page > Page 164

The findings of one area of study can be seen to correlate with those of another. To sum up, then, the most obvious contrast between French and Arabic for the Moroccan bilingual is perhaps the associations which link French with education, sophistication, modernity and social advancement. These associations are constantly made explicit by the respondents in their own comments, in which French is frequently described as modern, lively, and as an opening onto the Western world; it is felt to be the key to education, to new horizons of knowledge, particularly in such areas as science and technology, and to a vast heritage of material of all kinds (see in particular 3.1, 3.3, 4.1.7 and 6.3). The same association between French and education and prestige is also revealed in other aspects of the respondents' behaviour. The study of language choice revealed a significant tendency for French rather than Arabic to be chosen in situations demanding a degree of formality or sophistication. The choice of French rather than Arabic is favoured by such factors as the existence of a relationship of power rather than one of solidarity between interlocutors, the need to discuss a specialized or intellectual topic rather than an everyday one, and the fact that the conversation takes place in a formal, public setting rather than a relaxed, intimate one. French is evidently used where there is a need for refinement, social distance, formality or technicality, whereas Arabic is preferred in an atmosphere of intimacy, simplicity and domesticity. The results of the matched guise tests also reflect the same tendencies. The most striking of the significant contrasts between the French and Arabic guises, and one which emerged in all three tests, was the fact that in each case the French guises were judged to be more educated and more important than the Arabic ones. The French guises were also more highly rated on other traits relating to education and sophistication, modernity and open-mindedness. All this suggests a strong tendency to associate French with education and prestige, but the degree of the association also seems to relate to the standard of French used, the impression of greater education and importance being most pronounced with those speakers whose French accent most closely approximates to that of an educated French native speaker. As for the attitudes to Arabic which emerge from this study, here, besides the contrast with French noted above, we also have that between Classical Arabic and Moroccan Arabic; the two provoke rather different responses. Moroccan Arabic is evidently considered a practical tool for everyday use, but in contrast to both French and Classical Arabic it does not seem to carry any kind of prestige (see 3.1 and Chapter Six). As was

< previous page

page_164

next page >

< previous page

page_165

next page > Page 165

mentioned above, its use is strongly favoured in informal, intimate situations, and it is particularly associated with the home. Moreover, the matched guise tests suggest that its speakers are less favourably judged than speakers of French, not only on the kind of status traits discussed above, but sometimes also on personal qualities. The respondents' explicit comments on Moroccan Arabic also tend to be negative, and it is evidently not viewed as the appropriate vehicle for Arabization (see 6.3). Classical Arabic, on the other hand, is highly valued for its beauty and richness, and acquires prestige from its associations with Islam, with the past glories of the Arabs, with the country's national heritage and with the unity of the Arabic-speaking world. It can be seen, then, that the three varieties each have quite different roles to fulfil; Moroccan Arabic serves as the language of intimacy and the home, Classical Arabic as the language of religion and Arabic culture and identity, and French as the language of education and modernity. Accordingly, they are each valued for different reasons, Moroccan Arabic having a purely practical value, while the value of Classical Arabic is largely aesthetic and that of French is clearly instrumental. Each is recognized as useful in Moroccan society, and bilinguals evidently feel that each is necessary to the Moroccan. The contrasting images possessed by the three suggest that they are complementary to one another, no one being surplus to the requirements of daily life. These sharp contrasts between the ways the languages are perceived, and the roles they play in society, perhaps explain why it is that Arabic-French bilingualism has been maintained so long after Morocco obtained its independence, despite repeated efforts to eradicate the use of French. The possession of two languages, for the Moroccan bilingual, does not simply mean a reduplication of the possibilities, giving him two equivalent modes of behaviour instead of a single one; the two languages do not reduplicate each other so much as complement each other, each fulfilling a different role and being viewed in a different way. Clearly, it would be difficult to persuade the Moroccan bilingual to abandon one of his languages, because this would inevitably be felt as a loss. It might be possible to alleviate the present disadvantages of those who do not know French by careful planning, ensuring that Arabic provides the desired access to education, jobs, information and other opportunities; but there is also the linguistic enrichment which bilingualism provides. The bilingual benefits from his extended repertoire, which is clearly not redundant but well-exploited; he uses the languages for different purposes and to create different effects. The co-existence of the two languages has given rise to complex patterns of habits and associations, which it would not seem easy to change.

< previous page

page_165

next page >

< previous page

page_166

next page > Page 166

In these respects the language situation in Morocco today has much in common with those of other nations which are seeking to establish themselves after emerging from colonial rule. The kinds of attitude revealed in this study undoubtedly have counterparts in many other such nations, and the examination of this one situation in detail may serve to illustrate patterns and problems which are common to many other emergent nations. In particular there is the difficulty of reconciling ideals with practicality. Many countries are faced with a conflict in this area. On the one hand, there is the desire to reaffirm the national identity, of which the indigenous language or languages may naturally be considered one of the salient markers; on the other there is the need for contact with the Western world, the source of the specialized materials, knowledge and expertise which such countries need, and to which the language of the colonizers usually provides convenient access. The ideal of throwing off all links with the colonial past must be balanced against the very practical value of a continued use of the colonizers' language. The intermediate and indeed the ultimate solutions to this conflict will not be the same for each nation, since they will be determined by the particular attitudes, aspirations and opportunities of each specific language situation. The present study has illustrated the kinds of pattern which may exist in such a situation. The situation in Morocco, and also in its neighbouring countries, Algeria and Tunisia, is perhaps of special interest because it is more equally balanced than some others between the two alternatives; here the ideal of Arab identity and the awareness of the advantages of using French counterbalance each other to an extent which makes it very difficult to conclude that one should be sought to the detriment of the other. In this respect, the situation in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia can be contrasted to some extent with those in some other developing nations. In the first place, it is rather different from the situation in the many African countries for which French remains even today the official language, such as Chad, Zaire, Gabon, Mali and Senegal. The dominant position which French has retained in these countries even after Independence can be related to the fact that as well as providing access to the Western world, it also fulfils a unifying role. In many cases there is no single indigenous language which could be considered to rival French in any practical sense, but instead a large number of different languages, each known by one sector of the population, and which may have no widely recognized written form. Clearly the position of French in such situations is quite different from its position in Morocco, where it has to compete with Arabic, a language uniting many nations, which has a very long written history and a rich literary heritage.

< previous page

page_166

next page >

< previous page

page_167

next page > Page 167

On the other hand, Morocco can also be contrasted with most of the other Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East in the extent to which it has maintained use of the colonizers' language. The other Arab countries have undergone a far more thorough Arabization than Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. This may be related to the different patterns colonization took in the various countries, but could also be linked to the geographical position of these three countries, which are after all on the periphery of the Arab world and in close proximity to Europe, so that communications and especially trade may flourish more with the latter than with the former. There is also the fact that Arabic itself was perhaps never in such a strong position in Morocco as it was in the Middle Eastern countries, since there was always the presence of Berber alongside Arabic, which was not the mother tongue of all the inhabitants. The position of Morocco, then, poised at the edge of Europe, at the extreme point of the Arabic-speaking world, and at the tip of Africa, and with a population accustomed to bilingualism long before the French arrived, is clearly reflected in its current language situation. Its inhabitants could be said to be in a particularly privileged position, in that they have access to not one but two world languages, each with its own highly respected cultural, intellectual and literary heritage. On the other hand, this position at one of the world's crossroads may make it even more difficult than elsewhere to maintain a coherent identity and image. The dilemmas faced by the language planners in Morocco, who must try to maintain the delicate balance between the ideal and the practical, then, may reflect, to a greater or lesser degree, the problems of many other bilingual communities among the developing nations. The main aim of the present study has been to explore the patterns of attitudes which underlie the language situation of a bilingual community. It has been shown that the use of both French and Arabic in Moroccan society is accompanied by a complex network of associations involving the images of the two languages and of their users, the material presented through them and the cultures they are felt to represent. These attitudes cannot be expected to remain static; on the contrary, it has been observed that the language attitudes of a community may change quickly and apparently quite suddenly (Bourhis 1982), so that it is essential to keep up a close observation in order to monitor the development of the situation. The importance of an awareness of the attitudes underlying a bilingual situation cannot, I think, be overestimated. It is only by studying these attitudes that one can hope to reach a full understanding of a bilingual community and the forces acting upon the bilingual individuals within it, and thereby assess their needs and difficulties. Such an understanding is essential if we wish to predict the

< previous page

page_167

next page >

< previous page

page_168

next page > Page 168

probable future evolution of the language situation, in order to prepare for the future requirements of the community; and it should certainly be considered indispensable for those who actually seek to direct the course of this evolution in one way or another.

< previous page

page_168

next page >

< previous page

page_169

next page > Page 169

Bibliography ABBASSI, A. 1977, A sociolinguistic analysis of multilingualism in Morocco. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas. ABOU, S. 1962, Le bilinguisme arabe-français au Liban. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ADAM, A. 1963, Une enquête auprès de la jeunesse Musulmane du Maroc. Publications des Annales de la Faculté des Lettres, Aix-en-Provence. 1968, Casablanca: essai sur la transformation de la société Marocaine au contact de l'Occident. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. AGHEYSI, R. & FISHMAN, J. 1970, ''Language attitude studies: a brief survey of methodological approaches". Anthropological Linguistics 12(5), 137-53. AL-ANI, S. H. 1978, Readings in Arabic Linguistics. University of Indiana publications. ALAOUI, A. 1978, Editorial, Le Matin du Sahara, 29/9/78. AL-JABIRI, M. A. 1973, muskil *

:m bi l

. Casablanca: Dar Nachr.

AMASTAE, J. & OLIVARES, L. 1977, "Attitudes towards varieties of Spanish". In M. PARADIS (ed.), The Fourth LACUS Forum. Columbia, S.C.: Hornbeam Press. ANISFELD, M., BOGO, N. & LAMBERT, W. E. 1962, "Evaluational reactions to accented English speech". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 65(4), 223-31. & LAMBERT, W. E. 1961. "Social and psychological variables in learning Hebrew". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 63(3), 524-9. BACCAR, T. 1971, Comments in Alif 1, December 1971. BALKAN, L. 1970, Les effets du bilinguisme français-anglais sur les aptitudes intellectuelles. Brussels: AIMAV. BAINA, A. 1978, "hawla*

:b

:m bilma

". In Al Mouharir, 27/9/78.

1981, Le systême de l'enseignement au Maroc. Casablanca: Editions Maghrebines. BEN JELLOUN, T. 1973, "De la différence". Ethnopsychologie 2/3, 219-24. BENTAHILA, A. 1975, The influence of L2 on the learning of L3. M.A. dissertation, University of Wales. 1981, Attitudinal aspects of Arabic-French bilingualism in Morocco. Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales.

< previous page

page_169

next page >

< previous page

page_170

next page > Page 170

BENYAKHLEF, M. 1979, "Propositions pour une arabisation de niveau". Lamalif No. 104, February 1979. BEN ZEEV, S. 1977, "Mechanisms by which childhood bilingualism affects understanding of language and cognitive structures". In P. A. HORNBY (1977). BERQUE, J. 1958, "L'inquiétude Arabe des temps modernes". Revue des Etudes Islamiques 1958, 87-109. 1967, French North Africa: the Maghrib between two world wars. Translated by J. STEWART. New York: Praeger. 1969, Les Arabes d'hier à demain. Third edition. Paris: Editions du Seuil. 1974, Langages arabes du présent. Paris: Editions Gallimard. BIDWELL, R. 1973, Morocco under colonial rule. London: Frank Cass. BIELAWSKI, J. 1956, "Deux périodes dans la formation de la terminologie scientifique arabe". Rocznik Orientalistyczny Vol. 20, Warsaw, 263-309. BLAU, J. 1965, "The emergence and linguistic background of Judaeo-Arabic: a study of the origins of Middle Arabic". Scripta Judaica 5, 1-18. BLONDEL, A. M. & DÉCORSIÈRE, F. 1962, "Une possibilité d'enrichissement". Esprit, October-December 1962, 787-91. BLOOMFIELD, L. 1933, Language. London: George Allen and Unwin. BOUNFOUR, A. 1973, "Le bilinguisme des lycéens: essai de description". Lamalif, April 1973. BOURHIS, R. Y. 1982, "Language policies and language attitudes: 'le monde de la francophonie'". Mimeographed preliminary version. To appear in E. BOUCHARD RYAN and H. GILES (eds), Attitudes towards language variation: social and applied contexts. London: Edward Arnold. & GILES, H. 1974, "Welsh is beautiful". New Society 4/4/74, 15-16. GILES, H. & TAJFEL, H. 1973, "Language as a determinant of Welsh identity". European Journal of Social Psychology, 3(4), 447-60. BROWN, L. C. 1965, "Changing cultures and new loyalties in North Africa". In W. H. LEWIS (ed.). BROWN, R. & GILMAN, A. 1968, "The pronouns of power and solidarity". In J. A. FISHMAN (ed.) (1968). BRUNOT, L. 1950a, Introduction à l'arabe marocain. Paris: Maisonneuve et Cie. 1950b, Au seuil de la vie marocaine. Casablanca: Librairie Farairre. CACHIA, P. J. E. 1967, "The use of the colloquial in modern Arabic literature". Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 82(1), 12-22. CALVET, L. J. 1974, Linguistique et colonialisme. Paris: Payot. CARRANZA, M. A. & RYAN, E. B. 1976, "Evaluative reactions of bilingual Anglo and Mexican American adolescents toward speakers of English and Spanish". International Journal of the Sociology of Language 6, 83-104. CHAMBERS, E. G. 1964, Statistical calculation for beginners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CHEJNE, A. 1958, "The role of Arabic in present-day Arab society". The Islamic Literature 10, 195-234. Reprinted in S. H. AL-ANI (ed.) (1978). CHRISTOPHERSEN, P. 1948, Bilingualism. London: Methuen.

< previous page

page_170

next page >

< previous page

page_171

next page > Page 171

COHEN, A. D. 1974, "Mexican-American evaluational judgements about language varieties". Linguistics 136, 33-51. COHEN, D. 1962, "Koine, langues communes et dialectes arabes". Arabica 9, 119-44. COOPER, R. L. & FISHMAN, J. A. 1974, "Language Attitudes". International Journal of the Sociology of Language 3, 5-19. CORDER, S. P. 1971, "Idiosyncratic dialects and error analysis". IRAL Vol. 9(2), 147-60. D'ANGLEJAN, A. & TUCKER, G. R. 1973, "Sociolinguistic correlates of speech style in Quebec". In R. W. SHUY and R. W. FASOLD (eds) (1973). DEVAL, F. 1975, "Le patois à l'école". In Besoins Linguistiques et Systèmes d'Enseignement. CMIEB, Acte de la Table Ronde d'Aoste, 23/1/75, 8-12. DIEBOLD, A. R. 1961, "Incipient bilingualism". Language 37, 97-112. DIL, A. S. (ed.) 1972, Language, Psychology and Culture. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ELAYED, A. 1974, Plurilinguisme et interférences au second degré de l'enseignement primaire en Tunisie. Collection CMIEB No. 1. Paris: Centre Mondial d'Information sur l'Education Bilingue. EL-DASH, L. & TUCKER, G. R. 1976, "Subjective reactions to various speech styles in Egypt". International Journal of the Sociology of Language 6, 33-54. ELLIS, D. S. 1967, "Speech and social status in America". Social Forces 45, 431-7. ERVIN-TRIPP, S. 1964, "Language and T.A.T. content in bilinguals". Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology 68, 500-7. Reprinted in A. S. DIL (ed.), Language acquisition and communicative choice. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press (1973). 1967, "An Issei learns English". Journal of Social Issues 23(2), 78-90. FAHMI, A. P. 1943, al kitabah al

bilharf * al latini. Cairo.

FERGUSON, C. A. 1959a, "The Arabic Koine". Language 35, 616-30. Reprinted in S. H. AL-ANI (ed.) (1978). 1959b, "Diglossia". Word 15, 325-40. 1968, "Myths about Arabic". In J. A. FISHMAN (ed.) (1968). FISHMAN, J. A. 1966, Language loyalty in the United States. The Hague: Mouton. 1968, "Sociolinguistic perspective on the study of bilingualism". Linguistics 39, 21-49. (ed.) 1968, Readings in the sociology of language. The Hague: Mouton. 1971, "Societal bilingualism: stable and transitional". In J. A. FISHMAN, R. L. COOPER & R. MA (1971). 1972, "The relationship between micro- and macro- sociolinguistics in the study of who speaks what language to whom and when". In J. B. PRIDE & J. HOLMES (eds) (1972). , COOPER, R. L. & MA, R. 1971, Bilingualism in the Barrio. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Publications. FRAYHA, A. 1955, nahwa*

mujja Sara. Beirut.

GAL, L. 1955, "Whither Arabic?" Islamic Culture, January 1955, 32-53.

< previous page

page_171

next page >

< previous page

page_172

next page > Page 172

GALLAGHER, C. F. 1968, "North African problems and prospects: language and identity". In J. A. FISHMAN, C. A. FERGUSON & J. DAS GUPTA (eds), Language problems of developing Nations. New York: John Wiley, 1968. 1969, "Language rationalization and scientific progress'. In K. H. SILVERT (ed.), The social reality of scientific myth: science and social change. American University Field Staff Inc. GARMADI, S. 1971, Comments in Alif 1, December 1971. 1973, "Bilinguisme et sociétés bilingues". Ethnies 3, Linguistique et relations interethniques, 37-53. GELLNER, E. 1973, "Introduction". In E. GELLNER & C. MICAUD (eds), Arabs and Berbers: from tribe to nation in North Africa. London: Duckworth. GIBB, H. A. R. 1926, Arabic literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press. GILES, H. BOURHIS, R. Y. & TAYLOR, D. M. 1977, "Towards a theory of language in ethnic group relations". In H. GILES (ed.), Language, ethnicity and intergroup relations. London: Academic Press, 1977. & ST CLAIR, R. N. (eds) 1979, Language and social psychology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. GORDON, D. C. 1962, North Africa's French legacy 1954-1962. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 1978, The French language and national identity (1930-1975). The Hague: Mouton. GRAVEL, L. 1979, A sociolinguistic investigation of multilingualism in Morocco. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University Teachers College. GREEN, J. 1941, "An experiment in English". Harper's Magazine No. 183, 397-405. GREENFIELD, L. 1968, "Spanish and English usage self-ratings in various situational contexts". In J. A. FISHMAN (ed.), The measurement and description of language dominance in bilinguals. Seventh Progress Report. New York: Yeshiva University. & FISHMAN, J. A. 1971, "Situational measures of normative language views of person, place and topic among Puerto Rican bilinguals". In J. A. FISHMAN, R. L. COOPER & R. MA (1971). GUEBELS, V. 1976, La motivation pour les langues étrangéres chez les lycéens de Rabat. Rabat: Ecole Normale Supérieure. GUESSOUS, M. 1976, "al

w ta:qa:fija". In Al Mouharir, 2/5/76 and 9/5/76.

GUMPERZ, J. J. 1964, "Linguistic and social interaction in two communities". American Anthropologist 66, 6: Special Issue - The ethnography of communication, 137-54. 1976, "The sociolinguistic significance of conversational code-switching". In J. COOK-GUMPERZ & J. J. GUMPERZ (eds), Papers on Language and Context (Working Paper 46), 1-46. Berkeley: University of California, Language Behaviour Research Laboratory. HAMZAOUI, R. 1970, "L'arabisation au Ministère de l'Intérieur". In Quelques aspects du bilinguisme en Tunisie. Cahiers du C.E.R.E.S. Série Linguistique 3. Tunis: C.E.R.E.S.

< previous page

page_172

next page >

< previous page

page_173

next page > Page 173

HAPGOOD, D. 1965, "Sub-Saharan education and rural development". In W. H. LEWIS (ed.) (1965). HASSELMO, N. 1970, "Code-switching and modes of speaking". In G. G. GILBERT (ed.), Texas studies in bilingualism. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. HENERSON, M. MORRIS, L. L. & FITZ-GIBBON, C. T. 1978, How to measure attitudes. Beverley Hills: Sage Publications. HERMAN, S. R. 1968, "Explorations in the social psychology of language choice". In J. A. FISHMAN (ed.) (1968). HORNBY, P. A. (ed.) 1977, Bilingualism: psychological, social and educational implications. New York: Academic Press. HURREIZ, S. H. 1975, "Arabic in the Sudan". In Language Planning Newsletter, East-West Learning Institute, 1(4), 14. IBAAQUIL, L. 1978, "Le discours scolaire et l'idéologie au Maroc". Lamalif No. 95, March 1978. JAKOBOVITS, L. A. 1970, Foreign language learning: a psycholinguistic analysis of the issues. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House. JONES, W. R. 1966, Bilingualism in Welsh education. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. KACHRU, B. B. 1977, "Code-switching as a communicative strategy in India". In M. SAVILLE-TROIKE (ed.), Linguistics and Anthropology. Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1977. KAYE, A. S. 1970, "Modern standard Arabic and the colloquials". Lingua 24, 374-391. KHATAR, N. 1955, "Unified Arabic: weapon against illiteracy". Al Kulliyah 30, 8-12. LABOV, W. 1966, The social stratification of English in New York City. Washington D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics. 1972, "The study of language in its social context". In J. B. PRIDE & J. HOLMES (eds) (1972). LAHJOMRI, A. 1974, "Langue et société dans le Maroc contemporain". Proculture 3-4, 57-65. LAKHDAR, G. A. 1959, Comments in Al Istiqla:l, 18/4/59. 1976, Méthodologie générale de l'arabisation de niveau. Rabat: Institut d'études et de recherches pour l'arabisation. LAMBERT, W. E. 1967, "A social psychology of bilingualism". Journal of Social Issues 23(2), 91-109. 1969, "Psychological studies of the interdependencies of the bilingual's two languages". In J. PUHVEL (ed.), Substance and Structure of Language. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1977, "The effects of bilingualism on the individual: cognitive and sociocultural consequences". In P. A. HORNBY (ed.) (1977). & FILLENBAUM, S. 1959, "A pilot study of aphasia among bilinguals". Canadian Journal of Psychology 13, 28-34. Reprinted in A. S. DIL (ed.) (1972). , FRANKEL, H. & TUCKER, G. R. 1966, "Judging personality through speech: a French-Canadian example". Journal of Communication 16(4), 305-21.

< previous page

page_173

next page >

< previous page

page_174

next page > Page 174

, HAVELKA, J. & CROSBY, C. 1958, "The influence of language acquisition contexts on bilingualism". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 56, 239-44. , HAVELKA, J. & GARDNER, R. C. 1959, "Linguistic manifestations of bilingualism". American Journal of Psychology 72, 77-82. Reprinted in A. S. DIL (ed.) (1972). , HODSON, R. C., GARDNER, R. C. & FILLENBAUM, S. 1960, "Evaluational reactions to spoken languages". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 66(1), 44-51. LANDAU, R. 1956, Moroccan Drama 1900-1955. London: Robert Hale Ltd. LANLY, A. 1962, Le français d'Afrique du Nord. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. LAROUI, A. 1967, L'Idéologie arabe contemporaine. Paris: François Maspéro. LECERF, J. 1954, "Esquisse d'une problématique de l'arabe actuel". Afrique et Asie 26, 31-46. LEWIS, E. G. 1981, Bilingualism and bilingual education. Oxford: Pergamon Press. LEWIS, W. H. 1965, French-speaking Africa: the search for identity. New York: Walker and Co. LIEBERMAN, D. 1975, "Language attitudes in St Lucia". Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology 6(4), 471-81. LUDOVICY, E. 1954, "Notes sur le bilinguisme". Revue de Psychologie des Peuples 2, 153-69. MA, R. & HERASIMCHUK, E. 1971, "The linguistic dimensions of a bilingual neighbourhood". In J. A. FISHMAN, R. L. COOPER & R. MA (1971). MACNAMARA, J. 1966, Bilingualism and primary education: a study of the Irish experience. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 1967, "The bilingual's linguistic performance: psychological overview". Journal of Social Issues 23(2), 58-77. MARÇAIS, W. 1930, "La diglossie arabe". L'enseignement public 97, 401-9. 1961, "L'arabe écrit et l'arabe parlé dans l'enseignement secondaire". In W. MARÇAIS, Articles et Conférences. Paris: Librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient. MAZOUNI, A. 1973, "L'arabisation en Algérie". Lamalif 58, April 1973. MCCLURE, E. & WENTZ, J. 1975, "Functions of code-switching among Mexican-American children". Papers from the Parasession on Functionalism, 421-32. University of Chicago: Chicago Linguistics Society. MEISELES, G. 1980, "Educated spoken Arabic and the Arabic Language continuum". Archivum Linguisticum 11(2), 118-143. MEMMI, A. 1973, Portrait du colonisé. Paris: Payot. MITCHELL, T. F. 1980, "Dimensions of style in a grammar of educated spoken Arabic". Archivum Linguisticum 11(2), 86-105. MOATASSIME, A. 1974, "Le bilinguisme sauvage au Maroc". Revue du Tiers Monde 15, Nos. 59-60, 619-70. MONTEUIL, V. 1960, L'arabe moderne. Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck. OHANNESSIAN, S., FERGUSON, C. A. & PALOMÉ, C. 1975, Language surveys in developing nations. Papers and Reports on Sociolinguistic Surveys. Arlington, Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics.

< previous page

page_174

next page >

< previous page

next page >

page_175

Page 175 OPPENHEIM, A. N. 1966, Questionnaire design and attitude measurement. London: Heinemann. O RIAGÁIN, P. 1980, "Language Planning". Teangeolas 2, 11-16. ORTEGO, P. D. 1970, "Some cultural implications of a Mexican-American border dialect of American English". Studies in Linguistics 21, 77-84. OSGOOD, C. & ERVIN, S. M. 1954, "Second language learning and bilingualism". In C. OSGOOD & T. A. SEBEOK (eds), Supplement to the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1954, 1-23. , SUCI, G. J. & TANNENBAUM, P. H. 1957, The measurement of meaning. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. OUNALI, H. 1970, "La langue des étudiants". In Quelques Aspects du bilinguisme en Tunisie. Cahiers du C.E.R.E.S. Série Linguistique 3. Tunis: Centre d'études et de recherches économiques et sociales. PEAL, E. & LAMBERT, W. E. 1962, "The relation of bilingualism to intelligence". Psychological Monographs 76, No. 27, 1-23. PELLAT, C. 1956, Introduction à l'Arabe Moderne. Paris: P.U.F. PIERIS, R. 1951, "Bilingualism and cultural marginality". British Journal of Sociology 2, 328-39. PFAFF, C. W. 1976, "Functional and structural constraints on syntactic variation in code-switching". In Papers from the parassession on diachronic syntax, 248-259. University of Chicago: Chicago Linguistics Society. 1979, "Constraints on language mixing: intra-sentential code-switching and borrowing in Spanish-English". Language 55(2), 291-318. POPLACK, S. 1980, "Sometimes I'll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en Espanol: toward a typology of codeswitching". Linguistics 18, 581-618 PRIDE, J. B. & HOLMES, J. (eds) 1972, Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin. RABIN, C. 1955, "The beginnings of Classical Arabic". Studia Islamica 4, 19-37. RIAHI, Z. 1970, "La langue des élèves de secondaire". In Quelques aspects du bilinguisme en Tunisie. Cahiers du C.E.R.E.S. Série Linguistique 3. Tunis: Centre d'études et de recherches économiques et sociales. & OUNALI, H. 1973, "L'arabisation en Tunisie". Lamalif No. 58, April 1973. RUBIN, J. 1968, National bilingualism in Paraguay. The Hague: Mouton. 1971, "Evaluation and language planning". In J. RUBIN & B. H. JERNUDD (eds), Can language be planned? Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. SAER, D. J. 1923, "The effects of bilingualism on intelligence". British Journal of Psychology 14, 24-38. SAINT-JACQUES, B. 1977, "Elicitation of cultural stereotypes through the presentation of voices in two languages". In M. PARADIS (ed.), The fourth LACUS forum. Columbia, S.C.: Hornbeam Press. SAWRI, A. 1977, "?irtiSa:ma:t uwalija hawla * iska*:lja:t al

al

bi l

". ?aqla:m, 9/12/77.

SELINKER, L. 1972, "Interlanguage". IRAL Vol. 10, No. 3, 209-31. SHAFFER, D. 1976, "Is bilingualism compound or co-ordinate?" Lingua 40, 69-77. SHARP, D. 1973, Language in bilingual communities. London: Edward Arnold.

< previous page

page_175

next page >

< previous page

page_176

next page > Page 176

SHOUBY, E. 1951, "The influence of the Arabic language on the psychology of the Arabs". Middle East Journal 5, 284-302. SHUY, R. W. 1969, "Subjective judgements in sociolinguistic analysis". In J. E. ALATIS (ed.), Linguistics and the teaching of Standard English to speakers of other languages or dialects. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. & FASOLD, R. W. (eds) 1973, Language Attitudes: Current Trends and Prospects. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. & WILLIAMS, F. 1973, "Stereotyped attitudes of selected English dialect communities". In R. W. SHUY & R. W. FASOLD (eds) (1973). SKIK, H. 1977, Le bilinguisme à l'école primaire Tunisienne. Collection CMIEB No. 8. Paris: Centre Mondial d'Information sur l'Education Bilingue. SOUALI, M. & MERROUNI, M. 1981, Question de l'enseignement au Maroc. Bulletin Economique et Social du Maroc, No. 143-4. STEVENS, P. S. 1974, French and Arabic bilingualism in North Africa with special reference to Tunisia: a study of language attitudes and language use patterns. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Georgetown University. STEWART, W. A. 1962, "Creole languages in the Caribbean". In F. A. RICE (ed.), Study of the role of second languages in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics. STRONGMAN, K. T. & WOOSLEY, J. 1967, "Stereotyped reactions to regional accents". British Journal of Social Clinical Psychology 6, 164-7. TESSLER, M. A. 1969, The nature of modernity in a transitional society: the case of Tunisia. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Northwestern University. TIERS, J. & RUF, K. 1975, "La presse au Maghreb". In Introduction à l'Afrique du Nord Contemporaine. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. TIMM, L. 1975, "Spanish-English code-switching: el porque y how-not-to". Romance Philology 28, 473-82. 1977, "Code-switching in War and Peace". In M. PARADIS (ed.), The Fourth LACUS Forum. Columbia, S.C.: Hornbeam Press. TUCKER, G. R. & LAMBERT, W. E. 1969, "White and negro listeners' reactions to various American-English dialects". Social Forces 47, 463-8. WEINREICH, U. 1974, Languages in contact. The Hague: Mouton. WESTERMARCK, E. 1926, Ritual and belief in Morocco, Vol. 1. London: Macmillan. WHORF, B. L. 1956, Language, thought and reality (ed. J. B. CARROLL). Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press. WILLIAMS, F. 1970, "Psychological correlates of speech characteristics: on sounding 'disadvantaged'". Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 13, 472-88. 1974, "The identification of linguistic attitudes". International Journal of the Sociology of Language 3, 21-31. WÖLCK, W. 1973, "Attitudes toward Spanish and Quechua in bilingual Peru". In R. W. SHUY & R. W. FASOLD (eds) (1973). ZAROUR, G. & NASHIF, R. Z. 1977, "Attitudes towards the language of science teaching at the secondary level in Jordan". Linguistics 198, 109-18. ZARTMAN, J. W. 1964, Morocco: problems of new power. New York: Alberton Press.

< previous page

page_176

next page >

< previous page

page_177

next page > Page 177

Author Index A Abbassi, A., 25, 28, 52, 56, 65, 71 Abou, S., 21, 68, 69, 98 Abu Hafid, 129 Adam, A., 30, 42, 47, 71 Agheysi, R., 96 Al-Boustani, 138 Alaoui, A., 143, 149 Al-Jabiri, M. A., 6, 8, 11 Amastae, J., 98 Anisfeld, M., 100 B Baccar, T., 143 Balkan, L., 17 Baina, A., 10, 12, 13, 24, 144, 153 Ben Jelloun, T., 25 Bentahila, A., 17, 36, 37, 41, 53, 78, 109, 133 Benyakhlef, M., 131 Ben Zeev, S., 17, 18 Berque, J., 103, 127, 129, 147, 152, 156 Besnard, 6 Bidwell, R., 6 Bielawski, J., 133, 137 Blau, J., 3 Blondel, A. W., 22, 24, 144 Bloomfield, L., 16 Bogo, N., 100 Bounfour, A., 28, 30, 43, 52, 56, 65, 98 Bourhis, R. Y., 6, 51, 95, 98, 167 Brown, L. C., 6, 124 Brown, R., 19, 51, 55, 57 Brunot, L., 1, 2, 3, 4, 155, 159 C Cachia, P. J. E., 129, 155 Calvet, L. J. 9 Carranza, M. A., 94 Chambers, E. G., 75 Chejne, A., 4, 130, 132 Christophersen, P., 16 Cohen, A. D., 93 Cohen, D., 3

Cooper, R. L., 18, 93 Corder, S. P., 17 Crosby, C., 18 D D'Anglejan, A., 95 Décorsière, F., 22, 24, 144 Deval, F., 155 Diebold, A. R., 16, 17 E Elayed, A., 148 El-Dash, 94, 96, 98 Ellis, D. S., 96 Ervin, S. M., 17 Ervin-Tripp, S., 19, 40 F Fahmi, A. P., 132 Ferguson, C. A., 3, 4, 18, 31, 51, 52 Fillenbaum, S., 17 Fishman, J. A., 18, 19, 50, 73, 91, 93, 96 Fitz-Gibbon, C. T., 140 Frayha, A., 5 G Gal, L., 154 Gallagher, C. F., 13, 15, 39, 98, 152, 157 Gardner, R. C., 16 Garmadi, S., 24, 25, 144, 145, 156 Gellner, E., 2, 15 Gibb, H. A. R., 3 Giles, H., 51, 95, 98 Gilman, A., 19, 51, 55, 57 Gordon, D. C., 6, 10, 68, 98, 124, 125, 133, 152 Gravel, L., 25, 28, 52, 56, 71 Green, J., 48

< previous page

page_177

next page >

< previous page

page_178

next page > Page 178

Greenfield, L., 19, 73 Guebels, V., 149 Guessous, M., 23, 24, 27, 37, 55, 126, 134, 144, 145, 156 Gumperz, J. J., 17, 19, 37, 50 H Haddad, 24, 25 Hamzaoui, R., 152, 155 Hapgood, D., 10, 42 Hasselmo, N., 52 Havelka, J., 16, 18 Henerson, M., 140 Herasimchuk, E., 16 Herman, S. R., 51, 56, 65, 66 Holmes, J., 18 Hornby, P. A., 16, 19 Hurreiz, S. H., 129 I Ibaaquil, L., 29, 30, 41, 43, 45, 98, 130 J Jakobovits, L. A., 139 Jones, W R., 53 K Kachru, B. B., 17, 37 Karmali, A. M., 131 Kaye, A. S., 4 Khatar, N., 132 L Labov, W., 19, 94 Lahjomri, A., 24, 27, 56, 67, 127, 130, 145, 152 Lakhdar, G. A., 58, 131, 132, 136, 137, 156 Lambert, W. E., 16, 17, 18, 19, 93, 94, 95, 100, 146 Landau, R., 47 Lanly, A., 13 Laroui, A., 135, 136, 147 Lecerf, J., 131 Lewis, E. G., 18, 127, 128 Lieberman, D., 93, 94, 98 Ludovicy, E., 20 M Ma, R., 16 Macnamara, J., 18, 127, 128 Marçais, W., 3, 4, 18, 131 Mazouni, A., 127, 152, 156, 157

McClure, E., 17 Meiseles, G., 3 Memmi, A., 6, 7, 144, 145 Merrouni, M., 126 Mitchell, T. F., 3, 156 Moatassime, A., 37, 127, 129, 143, 148, 149, 150 Monteuil, V, 3, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 138, 143 Morris. L L., 140 N Nashif, R. Z., 150 O Ohannessian, S., 52 Olivares, L., 98 Oppenheim, A. M., 139 O Riagáin, P., 127 Ortego, P. D., 94 Osgood, C., 17, 98 Ounali, H., 25, 30, 52, 57, 58, 147, 150, 156 P Palomé, C., 52 Peal, E., 17 Pellat, C., 133 Pieris, R, 22 Pfaff, C. W., 17 Poplack. S., 17 Pride, J. B., 18 Q Qudsi, 132 R Rabin, C., 3, 4 Riahi, Z., 25, 30, 52, 57, 58, 66, 156 Rubin, J., 51, 52, 66, 127 Ruf, K., 14 Ryan, E. B., 94 S Saer, D. J., 17 Saint-Jacques, B., 95, 98 Sawri, A., 4, 67, 143 Selinker, L., 17 Shaffer, D., 18 Sharp, D., 20, 154 Shouby, E., 3, 31, 133, 134, 135 Shuy, R. W., 94, 96 Skik, H., 126

Souali, M., 126 St. Clair, R. N., 51 Stevens, P. S., 25, 28, 30, 52, 56, 57 Stewart, W. A., 51 Strongman, K. T., 94, 98, 100 T Tajfel, H., 98 Taylor, D. M., 51 Tessler, M. A., 28, 30, 31, 71, 98, 147 Tiers, J., 14 Timm, L., 17 Tucker, G. R., 94, 95 W Weinreich, U., 17, 54, 56 Wentz, J., 17 Westermarck, E., 47 Whorf, B. L., 40, 48 Williams, F., 93, 94, 98 Wölck, W., 94 Woosley. J., 94, 98, 100 Z Za'rour, G., 150 Zartman, J W, 12, 122, 124, 125

< previous page

page_178

next page >

< previous page

page_179

next page > Page 179

Subject Index A Accent 94-5, 97, 102-5, 108, 120 Acculturation 23, 144 Administration 7, 9, 14, 33, 58, 124, 142 Advantages of bilingualism 22-5, 142-4, 153 Advertising 14, 71 Age factor 17, 28, 51, 56, 59 Agreement scale test 139-52 Algeria 4, 21, 24, 127, 147, 152, 166, 167 Algiers 7 Anger 65-6, 102 Anomie 18 Aphasia 17 Arabs, Arab countries 2, 4, 9, 10, 14, 32, 39, 47, 69, 123, 129, 132, 137, 151, 157, 165 Arabic Academy of Cairo 131 Arabisants, Arabophones 9, 23, 95, 98, 131, 156-7 Arabization 22, 24, 92, 96, 99, 106, 110, 122-61, 165, 167 Aristotle 133 Arithmetic 5, 12, 125 Average Moroccan French 97, 102, 104, 108, 120 B Baccalauréat 8, 10 Balanced bilinguals 16, 30, 53, 139, 146 Banks 9, 15 Beauty (of languages) 30, 31-2, 165 Bedouins 3, 133, 134 Beggars 55 Belgium 21 Berber, Berbers 1-3, 5, 8-9, 10, 21, 25, 28, 54, 99, 149, 153, 167 Biculturalism 19, 49 Bordeaux 7 Boring (quality). boredom 44, 70, 109, 113, 119 Borrowings 2, 4, 131-2, 136-7 Broadcasting see Television, Radio Brother see Siblings Bureaucrats 124 C Canada 21, 94, 139 Casablanca 11, 14, 25 Certificat d'Etudes Primaires 8 Certificat d'Etudes Secondaires 10

Chad 166 Charity 41 Chemist's 59 Chi-Squared test 30, 61, 140 Cinema see Films Clumsy (quality) 38, 109 Code-switching 17, 25, 27, 36-9, 109-18, 120, 144, 145, 163 Coefficient of concordance 75, 77-8, 89-90 Colonization 6-10, 21, 35, 37, 38, 42, 57, 110, 111, 114, 115, 123, 138, 153, 166 Commerce 9, 14, 15 Commitment measure 93 Competent (quality) 109, 111, 113, 116, 119, 120 Completion test 40-49 Compound bilinguals 17 Congruent situations 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 88 Content of material 69, 70, 71 Convergence 51 Coordinate bilinguals 17, 49 Courtship 28, 51, 65-7 Culture 2, 3, 6-7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 38, 47-9, 62-3, 64, 122, 123, 128, 142-3, 145, 146, 158, 163 Curriculum 11, 28, 125 D Dahir Berbère 8-9

< previous page

page_179

next page >

< previous page

page_180

next page > Page 180

Diglossia 4-5, 18, 31, 51, 91, 96, 128, 154-6, 158 Disadvantages of bilingualism 22-5, 27, 144-6 Distance see Impersonality Divorce 44, 47 Doctors 37, 57, 58, 64, 72 Dogs 48 Domains 19, 50-1, 73, 88 Domestic topics 63-4 Domesticity see Home Driving test 67 Duties 41, 42-3 Dyslexia 23 E Easy (quality) 32, 69 Economics 12, 14, 28, 123, 127, 128 Education (general) 21, 26, 33, 41, 43, 45, 57-8, 59, 66, 67, 73, 91, 98, 101-2, 107, 108, 109, 111, 113, 116, 119, 120, 124-6, 128, 141, 142, 143, 158, 159, 164, 165 Education system in Morocco 5-13, 24, 34, 68, 122-8, 148-51 Egypt 21, 94, 124, 132, 138, 159 Eloquent (quality) 109, 113, 119 Emotional (quality) 98, 103, 107 Employer 57, 60, 98, 101 Engineering 15 English 21, 22, 25, 28, 94, 138, 149 English Canadians see Canada English-Irish bilinguals 127 Entertaining (quality) 98, 102, 103 Entertainment 70, 71, 158-9 Euphemism 58 Europe 14, 147, 167 F Family 42, 44-5, 46-7, 59, 66, 67, 70 Fate 29, 41-2 Fez 11, 97, 103-4, 108 Films 14, 70-1, 158 Finland 21 Folk literature 5, 159 Foreign languages 149 Foreign teachers 12-13, 124 Formal/informal 19, 51, 57, 58, 59, 64, 72-92, 93, 98, 102, 164 France 10, 12, 14 Free situations see Variable situations Freedom 28, 43, 47 French Canadians see Canada

French colonization see Colonization French cultural centres 16 French education system 7-11 French expatriates 10, 12-13, 15, 124 ''Frenchness" of accents 97, 104-5 Friends 55, 57, 73, 91, 98, 101 Future 33, 41, 45, 146-168 G Gabon 166 German 21, 149 Ghana 21 Grammar (of Classical Arabic) 3, 35, 130, 134 Grandparents 55, 67 Graphs 74-87 Greek 133, 136 Greetings 64-5 Grocer's 60 H Hebrew 157 Hebrew-Arabic bilinguals 93 High Moroccan French 97, 102, 104, 105, 108, 120 High variety 5, 31, 51, 63, 128, 156 History 1-12, 69 Hobbies 43-4 Home 22, 54, 56, 59, 63-4, 90-91, 164, 165 Honest (quality) 98, 102 Hospital 59 Hospitality 47 Hotels 17, 60 I Identity (loss of) 22, 38, 144, 146 Ignorant see Uneducated Independence 10-11, 122-3 Industry 15, 62-3, 123 Instrumental motivation 18, 142-4, 160 Insults 64 Integrative motivation 18 Intellectual topics 61, 62-3, 72-3, 164 Intelligence 17, 66, 98, 101, 103, 107, 109, 111, 113, 116, 119 Interdisciplinary approach 19-20 Interference 16, 103 Interlanguage 17 Interlocutor 19, 51, 52, 53, 54-9, 72-92 Interlocutory constraint 54, 56, 59 Impersonality 57, 58, 72, 164

Importance (in society) see Prestige Ireland 127 Italy 132 J Japan 158 Japanese-English bilinguals 19, 40, 95 Jews 7, 21 Jobs 15, 66, 142, 160, 165 Jokes 64 Jordan 150 K Karaouine (University of) 5, 6, 11, 103 Koran 2, 3, 5, 32, 130, 131, 132 Kuwait 4 L Latin 136 Language choice 19, 50-92, 163

< previous page

page_180

next page >

< previous page

page_181

next page > Page 181

Language loyalty 56 Language planning 26, 69, 122-61, 167 Language proficiency (of bilinguals) 16, 24, 53, 66, 99, 105, 110, 130, 139, 144-5 Languages of instruction 5, 7, 10, 12, 53, 148-51 Lazy (quality) 38, 109, 113, 119 Lebanon 21, 68, 132, 138 Likeable (quality) 98, 110, 113, 119 Liking (for languages) 34-5, 69, 96, 99, 105, 110, 141 Liking (for way of speaking) 98, 103, 113, 116 Lingua franca 21 Literature (Arabic) 4, 27, 31, 135, 159, 166 Literature (North African) 24-5 Lively (quality) 30, 34 Love letters 66 Low variety 5, 31, 51, 63, 128, 156 Luxemburg 21 M Magazines 14, 159 Maids 55 Mali 166 Marrakech 11 Marriage 41, 43, 44, 46 Matched guise 19, 93-121, 141, 163 Mathematics 6, 12, 73, 125, 149 Media see Newspapers, Radio, Television Medicine 6, 15, 58, 59, 72, 73, 91 Mexican-American bilinguals 94 Mission Universitaire Culturelle Française 10, 97, 124 Mixed up 109, 111, 113 Mixture see Code-switching Modernity, modernism 9, 12, 15, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 39, 69, 70, 98, 101-2, 107, 111, 123, 125, 130, 133, 141, 143, 152, 156, 159, 164, 165 Modest 98, 102 Money see Wealth Monolinguals 15, 22, 24, 49, 50, 54, 95, 142, 153 Morals, morality 28, 29, 43, 61, 98, 158 Moroccan Institute of Arabization 138 Moroccanization 122, 126 Morphology (in Arabic) 136-7, 156, 157 Musicality (of Arabic) 31, 135 N Nationalism 9, 10, 31, 32, 38, 98, 123, 127, 158 Necessity (of languages) 30, 34-5, 142 Newspapers 5, 13, 21, 24, 27, 44, 68-9, 139, 141

North Africa 1, 2, 6, 13, 15, 20-26, 28, 37, 39, 68, 71, 103, 127, 138, 144 Notices 15 O Official language 15, 129 Open-minded (quality) 98, 102 Orthography see Writing system Outdatedness 9, 27, 30, 35, 131 Oujda 11 Oulama 6 P Parents 42, 55, 67 Passivity 29, 44, 119 Past (associations with) 28, 29, 34, 130, 156, 158, 165 Patriotism 31, 42, 57, 69, 70, 71, 98, 109, 111, 114, 123, 152 Persian 133 Personality problems see Psychological problems Philosophical topics 61 Phonology 4, 16, 97, 132, 154 Placid (quality) 98, 102 Policemen 56-7 Politeness 56, 59 Poverty 28, 34, 41 Power 19, 51, 57, 59, 72, 164 Practicality 30, 32-4, 39, 91, 152, 166 Press see Newspapers Prestige 27, 28, 32, 45-6, 51, 66, 91, 98, 101-2, 107, 108, 109, 113, 116, 119, 120, 141, 143, 164 Pretentious (quality) 109-10 Prosperity see Wealth Protectorate see Colonization Psychological problems 22, 24, 38, 111, 113, 145 Puerto Rico 51, 73, 93 Purpose (communicative) 53, 64-6, 91 Q Questionnaire 25, 29, 37, 52-3, 72-4, 98, 138-9 R Rabat 14, 25 Radio 5, 14, 70, 141, 158 Ranking 75, 77-8, 88-90 Reading 44, 68-9, 131, 158 Relaxed (quality) 110 Religion 2, 5, 7, 9, 21, 28, 31, 32, 39, 41, 42, 44, 48, 61, 62, 98, 102, 108, 128, 129, 156, 158 Respondents 29-30, 40, 53-4, 74, 98, 105, 110, 139-40 Restaurants 15, 60 Riches see Wealth Richness (of language) 30-32, 165

R.P. 95 Russian 149

< previous page

page_181

next page >

< previous page

page_182 Page 182

S Schools, types of: European 7, 10, 42, 162; Franco-Islamic 7, 97, 162; Franco-Jewish 7, 11; Islamic 9; Koranic 5; Private 10; Traditional 5-6, 9, 10, 42, 67, 162 Science 8, 12, 13, 15, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 39, 44, 59, 61-3, 123, 125, 126, 133-8, 142, 143, 149-51, 164 Second language learning 17, 18 Self-confidence 38, 109, 113, 116, 119 Self-expression 68, clarity of 110, 113, 145 Senegal 166 Setting 19, 51, 52, 53, 59-61, 72-92 Showing off 38, 46, 111 Siblings 55-6, 67 Sociable (quality) 98, 103, 107, 110, 113, 119 Sociolinguistics 18-9 Solidarity 19, 51, 57, 59, 72, 91, 93, 98, 102, 107, 113, 164 Sophistication 32, 38, 60, 61, 73, 91, 93, 98, 101-2, 103, 107, 116, 119, 120, 164 Spanish 4, 22, 51, 94, 149 Spanish-English bilinguals 37 Sports topics 63-4 Status see Prestige St Lucia 94 Strangers 56 Studies see Education Stupid see Intelligent Swedish-American bilinguals 52 Switzerland 21 Synonymy 134 Syntax 4, 17, 35, 36, 154, 156 Syria 21, 132 Syriac 133 T Taboo words 58, 64, 65 Teaching methods 7, 67, 124, 129-30, 135 Technicality 58, 72, 164 Technology 15, 27, 33, 39, 62, 133, 136, 156, 164 Television 5, 14, 70-1, 141, 158 Terminology 30, 133-5, 136-8, 150, 156 Textbooks 29, 41, 125, 133, 158, 159 Tiredness 65-6

Topic 19, 50-51, 52, 53, 58, 59, 61-4, 72-92 Tradition 9, 28, 32, 39, 48, 98, 123 t-test 100, 106-7, 111-2, 114-5, 116, 117, 118-9 Tunisia 21, 25, 28, 52, 57, 58, 66, 126, 143, 147, 148, 150, 155, 156, 166, 167 Turkey 157-8 U Usefulness see Practicality Uneducated (quality) 33, 37, 111, 113 United States 20 V Variable/invariable situations 90 Versatility see Flexibility W Wales 20, 53, 95 Wealth 28, 29, 45, 46, 98, 107, 143 Welsh see Wales West Africa 21 World view 17, 27, 39-49 Worthy of respect (quality) 110, 113-4, 116, 119 Writing system (of Arabic) 130-3. 156 Written language 31, 66-7, 129, 130, 155 Z Zaire 166

< previous page

page_182