Language planning in education reform: The case of Morocco.

摘要

This study examined language planning in education reform in the North African country of Morocco. To answer some of the questions raised about Arabization---the replacement of French by Classical Arabic in the educational system, a questionnaire survey of high school and university students, teachers and civil servants was conducted to investigate the attitudes of these respondents not only towards Arabization but also towards the languages they are in contact with. Results showed that competence in Arabic, gender, ethnicity, language used for instruction in the case of the students, language used in teaching in the case of the teachers, and educational level (father's educational level in the case of the students) all influence the attitudes of the language users. The most striking results were the strong relationships found between father's educational level and attitudes and language used in the university and attitudes. The respondents, whose fathers' had a high level of education, have significantly more positive attitudes towards bilingualism and less favorable ones towards Arabization. This result was consistent with teachers with higher degrees as well. Students who were in majors that used French as a medium for instruction also had less favorable attitudes towards Arabization and more favorable results towards bilingualism. This relationship also occurred in the teacher sample; teachers who taught in French also had less favorable attitudes towards Arabization and more favorable attitudes towards bilingualism and French. Ethnicity to a lesser extent also proved to influence the attitudes of the respondents. Berbers although they share the same positive attitude towards Classical Arabic are less favorable towards Arabization and more favorable towards bilingualism. Gender to a lesser extent also influenced the attitudes of the respondents. Females reported a lesser competence in Arabic and more favorable attitudes towards French and bilingualism. A variable that was consistently a strong predictor of attitudes for all three groups was language competence. A higher competence in Arabic resulted in more favorable attitudes towards Arabization. Likewise, those who reported a lower proficiency in Arabic, reported less favorable attitudes towards it. A higher competence in French resulted in less favorable attitudes towards Arabization. A result that was unexpected is the lack of correlation between age and Arabic language competence. Age was hypothesized to have a relationship with competence in Arabic. The significance of attitude studies for evaluation of language policy cannot be emphasized enough. It is with studies such as the present one that language-planning officials can begin to become aware of what the people that are affected by these policies think.