salmi1987

hr. I. EducationolDrvelopmmr, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 21-31.1987 0?38-0593/87 $3.00 + .ml
Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Journals Ltd.
LANGUAGE AND SCHOOLING IN MOROCCO
JAMIL SALMI
Institute of Educational Planning, 29 rue Ouled Hariz, Rabat-Aviation, Morocco
Abstract-The prevailing language situation in Morocco is quite complex due to the presence
and interference of three Berber dialects, three variant forms of colloquial Arabic, two foreign
languages (French and Spanish) and one national language, classical Arabic. This article seeks to
examine the educational implications of this multilingualism. For this purpose, a three-step
analysis is carried out, involving a summary presentation of the linguistic setting in Morocco, an
outline of the language situation in the schooling system and an assessment of the pedagogical
impact of these factors. Two main conclusions are reached on the basis of this analysis. First, it
appears that the language policy constitutes a major source of wastage in educational terms.
Second, there is a close relationship between socio-cultural origin and the vehicles of instruction
used at school, which introduces an element of social bias in the educational process.
The object in which power has become inscribed, in all human eternity, is: language.
Rolind-Barthes
INTRODUCTION
Visitors unfamiliar with the Moroccan scene
are bound to find considerable difficulties
understanding the prevailing situation. Indeed,
any attempt to make out the complex interplay
of national, dialectal, and foreign vehicles of
expression at work in Moroccan society will be
confusing, as there is a clear divorce between
official doctrine and observable reality.
The preamble of the 1972 Constitution states
that the Kingdom of Morocco is ‘a sovereign
Muslim state, whose official language is
Arabic’. But to which Arabic is it referring?
Reading a newspaper, consulting Government
documents, listening to a radio broadcast or
watching a television programme demonstrate
that it is classical Arabic that the country’s
leadership has chosen as the official language.
This finding is very disconcerting, as any
attentive observer of Moroccan everyday life
can find out. For the only certainty, amidst the
linguistic imbroglio created by the presence
and interference of three Berber dialects, three
variants of colloquial Arabic, French and even
Spanish, is the fact that hardly anybody speaks
classical Arabic. Furthermore, a visit to some
scholastic institutions, where it is possible to
see students being taught in French, others in
Arabic, and still others in both French and
Arabic, would darken the whole picture and
leave the curious investigator in a state of total
perplexity.
What, then, are the educational implications
of this complex language situation? While the
present article is not concerned with a
thorough study of linguistics in Morocco, it
does seek to examine in detail those aspects of
the language issue which are relevant to what
happens in the schooling system. For this
purpose, a three-step analysis is carried out,
involving a summary presentation of the
linguistic setting in Moroccan society, .an
outline of the language situation in the schools
and an assessment of the pedagogical impact of
these factors. One of the main objectives of
this discussion is to evaluate the implications of
the language variable in terms of equality of
opportunity and ‘meritocracy’.
THE MOROCCAN LINGUISTIC
CONTEXT
As a child, the young Moroccan is immersed
in the linguistic world of the surrounding
milieu. Thus, whether of Berber or Arab
origin, it is within his family that he learns
gradually, without even being aware of it, his
mother tongue, or first language, as the
linguists call it.l It is this particular language,
Moroccan Arabic, or Berver (Tamazight),
which will normally remain for him, all through
21

22 JAMIL SALMI
his life, the most spontaneous and natural
means of expression and communication.
Moroccan Arabic was introduced in
Morocco in the 7th century A.D. and has
slowly become the most widespread language
among the population. Recent estimates made
by the linguist Boukous (1979) reveal that
Moroccan Arabic is the mother tongue of 60%
of the country’s inhabitants. Despite its
quantitative importance as the dominant
language, Moroccan Arabic has a very low
status in society. It has been confined to the
role of a spoken language, a dialect, and until
five years ago was not considered worth being
studied scientifically as a language. It is almost
systematically excluded from all official aspects
of public life, including TV and radio
broadcasts. Yet it is beyond all question the
most commonly used language in everyday life
(75% of the population if one includes Arabic-
speaking Berbers). For those Moroccans who
are illiterate (75% of the adult population), it
is the only means of communication available;
even for those who speak French and/or are
familiar with classical Arabic, Moroccan
Arabic is still the language in which private,
familial and social relations occur. In addition,
the so-called dialect has been the only vehicle
of transmission of a major part of Moroccan
history, art, folklore, traditions and custom.
Berber is the language originally spoken by
the people living in Morocco before the Arab
invasion (7th and 8th centuries). Today, it is
still the mother tongue of 40% of the
Moroccan population. Although Berber has
little in written form, it is also a fundamental
element of Moroccan culture, past and
present.
Most linguistic research research on the
Berber language has been undertaken by
European scholars. Their approach has often
been very ethnocentric, as they have tried to
show either that Berber was a Roman or Indo-
European language (as part of the ‘divide to
rule’ policy) or that there were so many
variations of that language that it could only be
considered as a ‘patois’ with different regional
forms (Julien, 1979). However, recent-and
more scientific-works reveal that Berber is
an autonomous language belonging, like
Arabic, to the group of ‘Chamito-Semitic’
languages (Boukous, 1979).
In spite of this, the existence and place of
Berber language and culture are not really
acknowledged in Moroccan society. Morocco
is officially an Arab state and the Berber
patrimony is hardly ever taken into account,
except in the form of folkloric exhibitions and
events intended for touristic purposes. Like
Moroccan Arabic, the Berber language is
virtually shut out from public life. The degree
of institutionalisation of this exclusion policy is
so high that, in 1962, when a national official
survey on literacy was conducted, the question
on ‘languages spoken’ did not mention Berber
at all. The recent riots of Tizi-Ouzou in Algeria
(April 1980), where the linguistic situation is
the same as in Morocco, have drawn the
attention of the Moroccan leadership to the
potential danger inherent in this state of
cultural oppression. The king himself, in a
recent international news conference, paid lip-
service to ‘the glory of the common past of
Berbers and Arabs’. But the fact remains that,
today, the Berber language is in an under-
privileged position, both as a vehicle of
expression and as an object of study.
Classical Arabic is basically a written,
erudite language, which developed originally
as a form of common code (koiizt) among the
pre-Islamic central Arabian tribes and which
acquired a privileged, sacred status as the
language through which the Koran was ‘re-
vealed’. Although classical Arabic and Moroc-
can Arabic have undoubtedly a common
origin, they nevertheless represent two distinct
forms of evolution of ancient Arabic languages.
Linguistic studies have shown that Moroccan
Arabic is not a degraded, simplified version of
classical Arabic (Indguiver, 1980). While the
latter was codified by eminent philologists after
centuries of written tradition (pre-Islamic
poetry, grammar works, dictionaries, etc.) and
has remained more or less unaltered for the
last thousand years, Moroccan Arabic, which
derives from the spoken language of some
ancient Bedouin tribes, has never ceased to
transform itself. Phonetics, vocabulary, mor-
phology, grammar and structure of Moroccan
Arabic have changed considerably. Thus,
according to Stewart’s definition of language
vitality, classical Arabic can be described as a
frozen code whereas Moroccan Arabic, which
is the mother tongue and affective language of
millions of people, shows typical features of
‘vitality’ (Stewart, 1970). For the sake of
illustration, it can be said that the distance
between Moroccan and classical Arabic is

LANGUAGE AND SCHOOLING IN MOROCCO 23
similar to the difference between Latin and
20th century French.
Not only is classical Arabic practically a
foreign language for the Moroccans, but in
addition it is very difficult and tedious to
assimilate. Notwithstanding its sacred nature
as a religious language or its beauty as a poetic
language, teaching and, therefore, learning
classical Arabic presents serious obstacles. For
example, the absence of vowels makes it
necessary to identify what the words are before
interpreting their meaning, which is not always
straightforward. Taha Hussein, the famous
Arab writer, was himself aware of these
intrinsic difficulties:
People write in order to read, and read in order to
understand, whereas us, we write in order to read, but
we do not read in order to understand: we need to
understand first in order to be able to read; and if this is
within the capacity of exceptional, experienced,
insightful people . . . how can you expect the multitude
of little children to understand the books they are given
at school so as to read them as they are supposed to be
read since they must understand them before reading
them. (Hussein, 1956)
Grammatical structures constitute another
important difficulty. For instance, the pattern
of flexional endings (Z’rub) is a constant source
of mistakes. Ibrahim El-Ban, an Arab linguist,
wrote in that respect:
The pronunciation of numbers is full of linguistic
difficulties, and most people, even well-educated, when
they read an article or a sentence in literary Arabic,
when they arrive at a number, switch from the literary
language to the dialect to avoid pronouncing the
number. (quoted in Moatassime, 1974, p. 626)
The consequence of this particular situation
is that classical Arabic is a very elitist language
which only a few scholars are capable of
mastering. In a speech at the Arab Academy of
Literature in Damascus, Taha Hussein ack-
nowledged this fact: ‘we can see that most of
those who read it and write it are unable to
express themselves in this literary language’.
Despite these inherent difficulties, classical
Arabic has been chosen as the official language
for political and religious reasons. As a result,
Government speeches, formal documents,
political meetings, and official statements are
in literary Arabic. The mass media also use
that language as a main vehicle of expression.
Finally, classical Arabic is taught in school and
in some university departments.
French is the other ‘literary’ language
operating in Moroccan society. Introduced
progressively during the French Protectorate
(1912-56), it is still spoken and written widely
among the educated minority and more or less
understood by approximately 30% of the
population. It is the unofficial but actual
working language of many Government de-
partments (technical ministries, public cor-
porations), institutions of higher education,
and of all major private firms. French is
equally used considerably in the press, on TV,
and on the radio (international channel).
Although Morocco was colonised by both
France (in the south) and Spain (in the north),
the Spanish language never became as impor-
tant as French. The two colonial powers had
very different cultural policies: while the
French authorities tried very hard to ‘assimi-
late’ the Moroccan population, i.e. to impose
the French culture and language, Spain’s
educational policy was more generous. The
Moroccan children who went to school were
taught in Arabic and there was no attempt to
integrate them into the Spanish educational
system. As a result, the number of Moroccans
who learned Spanish was not very high and,
after independence, the French language took
over gradually as first foreign language.
In sum, this presentation of the Moroccan
linguistic setting has shed light on three
fundamental paradoxes. The first one is the
minor position reserved to the two genuinely
Moroccan mother tongues, relegated to the
status of informal and emotional languages.
The second paradox is the de&to take-over of
French as the working language of the modern
sector of the economy. The third contradiction
lies in the adoption, as official language of the
country, of a literary code which the majority
of the Moroccan people are not able to
understanding or to utilise. A few symbolic
examples will serve to illustrate the absurdity
of this situation.
The day after the abortive attempt on his life
in 1972, King Hassan made a speech in
Moroccan Arabic for the first time since the be-
ginning of his reign, justifying this exceptional
behaviour by his desire to reach all citizens.
The exact opening words of the king were: ‘We
are talking to you in dialectal Arabic so as to be
understood perfectly by all elements of our
Royal Army and, generally speaking, by all
our people’ (Palazolli, 1974). In the same way,

24 JAMIL SALMI
just before the Green March towards Western
Sahara in 1975, all official TV and radio
statements were being broadcast in both
Moroccan Arabic and Berber, which was quite
exceptional. It was indeed vital to ensure
maximum popular mobilisation and, therefore,
adequate communication was necessary. Final-
ly, it is quite significant to note that the private
sector, which is perfectly aware of the real
linguistic situation and very much concerned
with efficiency, makes sure that it prepares TV
commercials spoken in Moroccan Arabic.
LANGUAGES IN THE EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM
The Moroccan educational system includes
three levels. Primary school is five years in
duration. Only about 35% of the children in
grade 5 succeed in entering secondary school.
Lower- and upper-cycle secondary last four
and three years respectively. Higher education
takes place in universities or in specialised
institutes (similar to the French ‘grundes
tcoles’). In 1984, total enrolments represented
2.5 millions in primary, 1 million in secondary
and 100,000 in university.
Two languages are used in the educational
system: classical Arabic and French. When a
child enters primary school, at the age of
seven, having learned the language of the
family and immediate community, Moroccan
Arabic or Berber, he/she starts being taught in
classical Arabic for two years. At nine, in third
grade, the child is introduced to French which
will serve as the vehicle for learning mathe-
matics and natural sciences, while Arabic is
devoted to the study of Islamic civilisation,
history, geography and civics. During these
years of acquiring basic literacy skills, the
mother tongue is strictly banned from the
classroom. One must emphasise that French is
not taught as a foreign language, but as a tool
of access to scientific and technical subjects.
At the secondary level, there are four
different tracks with respect to language.
‘Original’ education (enseignement originel),
which touches only 2.5% of the students, is
entirely in classical Arabic. Another 1.5% of
secondary school enrolments go through the
‘arabised’ stream, where all classes are also in
Arabic, except that French is taught a little as a
foreign language. A French-type stream,
where all courses were in French and classical
Arabic was taught as a foreign language, was in
operation until recently, but it is now being
Table 1. Distribution of languages in primary schooling (%)
Grades 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total
Arabic 100 100 54 54 54 66
French 0 0 46 46 46 44
Source: Bulletin statisque du Ministtre de 1’Education
Nationale, Minis&e de I’Education Nationale, Rabat,
1981.
Table 2. Distribution of secondary schooling (%)
Arabic French Arabic French
6th grade 46 54 10th grade -humanities 68 32
-sciences 43 57
7th grade 46 54 11th grade -humanities 74 26
-sciences 43 57
8th grade 51 49 12th grade -humanities 82 18
-sciences 42 58
9th grade 51 49
Source: Bulletin statisque du Minis&e de I’Education Nationale, Minis&e de I’Education Nationale,
Rabat. 1981.

LANGUAGE AND SCHOOLING IN MOROCCO 25
gradually suppressed. The main track, which
receives 95% of the students, is the bilingual
section where classical Arabic is used for social
science and humanities subjects while all
scientific courses are presented in French.
Furthermore, within the bilingual system,
there are two main curriculum tracks in the
second cycle: humanities and sciences. Tables
1 and 2 highlight the breakdown of the time-
schedule according to languages in primary and
secondary schooling.
Naturally, similar divisions can be found in
higher education. At the University, the
Departments of Theology, History and Geo-
graphy, Sociology, Philosophy and Arabic
Literature are entirely arabised. Law and
Public Administration are offered in both
Arabic and French. The other subjects are
taught only in French.
In the private and French schools, the young
Moroccans are taught exactly like their French
companions, i.e. entirely in French, apart from
the fact that they attend introductory Arabic
courses at the primary level and are compelled
to study Arabic as first foreign language in the
high school.
THE PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
OF MULTILINGUALISM
Besides, we should settle what is correct language.
Languages are created by the poor, who then go on
renewing them forever. The rich crystallise them in
order to put on the spot anybody who speaks in a
different way. Or in order to make him fail exams.
(School of Barbiana)
Going to school for the first time is a crucial
moment in a child’s life. In theory, it is during
this transitional period that the young pupil
goes beyond the stage of oral speech and starts
learning the written language in a systematic
way. Soon, the laborious exercise of decipher-
ing and scribbling transforms itself into a
thrilling experience: the thorough discovery of
one’s own language, when one becomes aware
that the signs drawn or read correspond to
familiar sounds and expressions. At this point,
it is not simply a matter of literacy; primary
school should not be concerned only with
teaching a child writing and reading skills.
What is even more important is the initiation
process to a higher dimension of language
which will be the beginning of a life-long
journey into the complex and rich world of
one’s own culture.
For the Moroccan child, however, schooling
does not really bring about such an experi-
ence. Instead of growing intellectually while
discovering increased means and opportunities
of cultural expression through writing and
reading his own language, the young pupil is
abruptly confronted with a different language.
This unpleasant event repeats itself two years
later with the introduction of a second foreign
language (French).
Yet it could be argued that, as Moroccan
Arabic and Berber are just ‘spoken dialects’, it
would be unfair to consider the language issue
as a case of genuine bilingualism. But the
works of linguists tend to indicate that any
form of bi- or multi-lingualism is likely to bring
in elements of complexity and disturbance.
Language contact and bilingualism will be considered
here in the broadest sense without qualifications about
the degree of difference between the two
languages . . . .
It is immaterial whether the two languages are
‘languages’, ‘dialects of the same language’ or ‘varieties
of the same dialect’ . . . . The mechanisms of inter-
ference would appear to be the same whether the
contact is between French and Chinese, or between two
sub-varieties of English used by neighbouring families.
(Weinrich, 1968)
What, then, are the pedagogical implications
of the situation of immersion in a multi-
lingualist environment experienced by the
Moroccan children? Being introduced to
literacy in a different language from one’s
mother tongue is deplorable from many points
of view. This concept was established long ago
as a principle of action by UNESCO and has
been supported by several recent studies (see
UNESCO, 1953; see also the special issues of
Prospects on language: Vol. XIII, No. 1, 1978;
Vol. XIX, No. 1, 1984). The fact is that
acquisition of classical Arabic by the Moroccan
pupil remains very artificial, since spoken
practice of the new language occurs almost
exclusively within the classroom context. Now,
schooling cannot be equated with education.
For the informal education which a child
benefits from outside the scholastic institutions
is as important -if not more- as the actual
teaching done by the teacher. Whether by
playing with his schoolmates, discussing with
his parents or just by living in his social