30
LANGUAGE POLICY AND
PLANNING IN MOROCCO
A critical approach
Adil Moustaoui
1 Introduction
The study of language policy and planning (LPP) is a relatively recent phenomenon. However,
the process of intervention into language as social practice has had a long history. As Ricento
(2000) mentioned, the history of LPP can be examined in terms of three main stages. The first
stage was characterized by optimism in which any language problems were resolved by the
implementation of systematic procedures. The second stage is considered as the period of
disillusionment but with a more critical rise of the role that linguists could play in the society.
Nevertheless, in this chapter I am interested in the third stage in which the aim of the study
and analysis of the LPP is to reconstruct it “as a multidisciplinary and politicised approach,
since the issues it grapples with are complex and represent interests that can pervade multiple
levels” (Wee 2012, p. 11).
So, this contribution is a critical sociolinguistic overview of language policy in Morocco.
For this purpose, I will analyse the language policy model implemented by the Moroccan
state since independence. I will also present the evolution of Moroccan language policy
since 2000, and how this evolution has created a dynamic of change in the linguistic market. Looking at LPP from a critical perspective, I will try to analyse some new categories
introduced into a new agenda concerning the analysis of language policy in Morocco. This
analysis will be focused on two aspects: firstly, I will examine how a new socio-political
context, which has emerged since the Arab Spring, has introduced a new power relationship between the languages used in Morocco, as seen in new language practices. Thus we
observe a new glotto-political model that resists the Moroccan sociolinguistic regime and its
approach to language policy. Secondly, I wish to explore how the new Moroccan economy
is currently considered a key element in the emergence of a Moroccan cultural model of
communication. In this model, the local languages (Moroccan Arabic and Amazigh) are
resourced, valued, and measured in accordance with the process of construction of a new
language policy in Morocco. Finally, I will propose a new direction for the study of LPP
in Morocco, from an ethnographic sociolinguistic perspective (Duchêne and Heller 2007;
Madison 2012; McCarty 2011).
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2 Historical background and perspective
2.1 Scholars studying LPP in Morocco: a relatively short history
Sociolinguistics literature in the Maghreb in general and in Morocco in particular is extensive, due to the approaches that have been used in the different studies that have looked
at language and society, linguistic diversity, and language policy. Thus, there are studies
focused on the sociolinguistic analysis of multilingualism in Morocco, for example that of
Abbassi (1977). Other works, such as Bentahila (1983), provide an analysis of language attitudes – especially towards Arabic and French. Of particular interest are works such as that
of El Gherbi (1993), in which the process of language planning and the teaching of French
are examined, or that of Moatassime (1992) on the policy of Arabization and its impact on
French and other languages.
Other sociolinguistic research projects to consider are those dealing with language policy in
Morocco, either (i) through the analysis of development plans in education (see Chadli 1994);
or (ii) by analysing Arabisation, as the main language policy in Morocco since independence,
and the ideological foundations of such a policy (for example in the work of (Grandguillaume
1983, Boukous 1995, and El Qadery 1995); or (iii) studies examining the role of globalization
and English in Morocco’s new language policy (see Essakalli 1999); and (iv) works looking
at multilingualism in Morocco in relation to ways of belonging, to identity, and to education
(Ennaji 2005).With regard to the Amazigh language, I should highlight studies analysing the
discourses of the Amazigh cultural movement in relation to language and Amazigh identity in
Morocco (see Aourid 1999), as well as the research on standardization and language planning
initiated by Castellanos i Llorenç (2000) and Ameur and Boumalk (2003).
However, the studies I consider most relevant to the present investigation are those of
Boukous (1995) and particularly Boukous (1999). This is for two reasons: firstly, because
the latter treated discourse as an aspect forming part of the analysis of language policy; and
secondly, because it follows an historical approach to the analysis of the LPP that was implemented in Morocco from independence until today.
2.2 Defining concepts
Our conception of language policy in terms of (i) institutional decisions, (ii) political
commitment to the neutralisation of sociolinguistic conflicts, and (iii) discursive practice,
which has consequences of a sociolinguistic nature, and through which power relations
emerge, leads us to consider language policy as a manifestation of a political process in
evolution. Also important in this process are social groups, with their different practices
– linguistic as much as social. From a glotto-political perspective, this process is seen as
a phenomenon that gives rise to power relations and confrontations between rival models
and ideologies.
Therefore, discourse is a component of the process of valuation of languages and of the
creation and implementation of language policy. For this reason, I will adopt a functionalist
perspective (Labrie 1997, p. 201), in which I consider the exercise of power relations in language politics as a structured and organized activity carried out by an individual, a given social
group or, of course, a State with its various functions, systems and institutions. All aspects of
this will be reflected in legitimized institutional discourses and legitimating discursive practices. Labrie (2001, p. 1) considered that language policy, in this sense, is a social construction
emerging from multiple discourses found in specific places – among which are included “les
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agences exerçant le pouvoir politique, les médias et le monde scientifique” [the agencies exercising political power, the media and the scientific world].
Thus, both the practice surrounding language policy and its analysis are interrelated and
form parts of an axis, not merely thematic and dialogical, but also dialectical. In the same vein,
Blommaert agrees with Labrie in considering language policy as a discursive practice emerging from an ideology. As Blommaert (1996, p. 215) points out, “From all the above, it should
be clear that the field of language planning could benefit from a critical assessment of its past
performances, not only approached in”, given that any decision made in the past is equally
laden with ideology, and carries implicit assumptions as to what is beneficial for society, for
its people or for progress, among others.
Ricento (2000, 2006), along the same lines as Blommaert (1999) and Labrie (2001), also
identifies the study of ideologies as a key issue in the critical sociolinguistic approach to LPP.
He acknowledges that ideology is a crucial topic for debate and an important component of
language policy, thus it is important not to ignore its role “or to relegate it to a bin of ‘extraneous’ variables” (Ricento 2000, p. 7).
Spolsky (2004, p. 41) argues that, as a complex object, LPP involves “a wide range of linguistic and non-linguistic elements”. Meanwhile, following Spolsky’s argument, Wee (2012,
p. 16) suggested that “to make this complexity more tractable, LPP needs to consistently distinguish between the language practices of a community, the language beliefs or ideology, and
any efforts to modify or influence the practices.”
3 Critical issues and topics
3.1 Theoretical and methodological framework
As my methodological objective is to provide both description and critical analysis using a
critical sociolinguistic approach, the choice of a theoretical and methodological framework
has to do directly with the subject of study and the research questions. To achieve this objective I follow the sociolinguistic critique defined by (Heller 2003, p. 14) as “a sociolinguistics
capable of revealing what interests underlie actions, representations and discourses, and who
benefits from the evolution of social processes”.
My study focuses on the evolution and dynamics of change in Moroccan language policy
through the analysis of the new linguistic practices in the Moroccan institutional sociolinguistic regime (Blommaert 2007) that is stratified and hierarchical (Boukous 2008). Linguistic
practices can be defined as the exercise of a set of actions and interventions that have to do
with the use of language as a social practice. In addition, linguistic practices are continuously
changing, depending on the different social, political, economic, and ideological dynamics of
change that occur both at micro and macro levels in any communication event or communicative process in society.
I also consider the notion of language as a resource (Heller 2010, p. 344), situated in a
sociolinguistic of globalization, to be relevant to my object of study.
Finally, I use the notion of language activism, understood, on the one hand, as a set of
actions and mobilizations undertaken by minority groups and social movements in order to
develop and promote their local languages for use in significant domains (see Nyika 2008 and
Kriel 2003). On the other hand, as Phyak and Ngoc Bui (2014, p. 103) argue, activism is also
a way to transform language policy, “in which the social actors are active agents in resisting and appropriating hegemonic language ideologies for maintaining linguistic and cultural
diversity” (see also Shohamy 2006).
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3.2 The language policy model implemented by the
Moroccan state since independence
When many of the Maghreb countries, including Morocco, gained independence, most of
them faced a complex linguistic situation: a local multilingualism, represented by different
linguistic varieties of Arabic and Amazigh, alongside a clear prevalence of the colonial language, specifically the French language in some domains such as administration, education,
and the economic sector, both public and private. Regarding the model of language policy
implemented in Morocco, we might assert that it is “unimodal”, characterized by the presence
of a national linguistic tradition; at the same time, however, the state, in the face of this situation, felt obliged to:
1
2
preserve what it considered authentic to its tradition, manifested in the maintenance of the
local language – that of the majority group – and consequently the selection of Arabic as
the only official language; and
comply with the requirements of a modern nation-state, in the maintenance of French in
the institutional sphere, but without any juridical status.
After Morocco implemented this model, an authoritarian state structure was imposed by means
of a strong identification of language with national identity and nation-state. This linkage was
central to creating and legitimizing the Moroccan nation-state and its sociolinguistic institutional regime; in fact it has been used to lend symbolic legitimacy at different times during
Morocco’s history, post-independence. The consequences of enshrining this ideology in the
Moroccan model of language politics since independence were manifested socio-economically
in the creation of (i) a population allied to the world of technology and the capitalism of big
business (industrial, financial and so on), which has the ability to use Fusha or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), French and English languages, and controls material and symbolic goods;
and (ii) a population with Moroccan Arabic (MoA) or Amazigh as its mother tongue, excluded
from the world of technology and large capitalist enterprises. The latter group was unable
to use MSA or French since neither of these is the mother tongue of the Moroccan people.
Consequently, this Moroccan population has not enjoyed any kind of social, economic, or
political advancement. This language policy model has created, on the one hand, a lack of
equality between languages and linguistic communities in their choice of language practices
and, on the other, a sociolinguistic and economic conflict in the country (see Moustaoui 2004,
2007). According to Tollefson (1991, p. 15) “in general, economic disadvantage is associated
with constrained linguistic choices, indeed, around the world many peasants and urban poor
may have no alternatives available to them to resolve their language problems.” Therefore, the
control of linguistic diversity in Morocco since its independence has resulted in the implementation of a hierarchy and a sociolinguistic subordination (not diglossia) of linguistic varieties,
discursively manifested and reinforced, wherein MoA and Amazigh are considered commodities of lesser value in the Moroccan linguistic market (Boukous 1999; Bourdieu 1982). From
Bourdieu’s point of view, this notion of linguistic market refers to a process of interpretation
of how linguistic varieties are embedded in social and historical hierarchies and subordination.
3.3 Educational policy in Morocco
It should be noted that until 1965, education was in French. At that point Morocco began its
Arabization policy, which was gradually introduced. The Arabization of primary education
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took three years and secondary education was Arabized over the following years. Pursuing
this policy, Morocco had fully Arabized the first four grades of primary education by 1980,
while in secondary education 25% to 50% of the students were taught exclusively in Arabic.
It was not until 1990 that both primary and secondary education were totally Arabized. As for
state universities, even today some courses are bilingual (Arabic and French), for instance, in
the study of law or economics. Meanwhile, science studies, and higher-education colleges and
institutes still use French.
In 1999 a new Moroccan education policy was initiated with the aim of reforming the education system and establishing a new language policy in this field. Shortly afterwards, during the
1999–2000 school year, the National Charter of Education and Training was adopted; its aim
was to restructure Moroccan education and recognize other local languages, in this case the
Amazigh language. The National Charter of Education and Training also included a series of articles related to the future language policy for the education system, including foreign languages.
3.4 Moroccan language politics since 2000:
a critical discursive approach
Between 2003 and 2007 I carried out research for my PhD dissertation entitled Linguistic
diversity, identities and discourses in Morocco: the struggle for legitimacy (see Moustaoui
2010). The objective of the research was to analyse the history of language policy in Morocco
through a critical analysis of different discourses about language, identity, and multilingualism. In this research, I found that knowledge had been built through the various discourses on
language, identity, and language policy that reflect the multilingualism and linguistic diversity
of Morocco: (i) the official discourse, including the legislative discourse; (ii) the traditional
discourse; (iii) the alternative discourse (focused on defending the Amazigh language); and
finally, (iv) the modern and liberal discourse (which focuses on the defence of mother tongues
and the language rights of individuals and communities). In addition to language politics as an
interactive, linked process, the discursive dialogue that arose in the field of language politics
was structured around three basic topics: Arabization/Arabism, autochthonous/Amazighness,
French-speaking (Francophony)/Frenchness.
The analysis of the different discourses demonstrates that there has been a change from
2000 to the present in the discursive representation of language, identity, and multilingualism
in official discourse and, consequently, in other discourses. Consequently, a discursive order
has become established that is dominated by a power relationship between different discourses
and different models of language policy. There was a causal relationship between the fact that
language(s)/identity(ies) are in a subordinate position and the discourse that occurs around
these languages and identities. Finally, the process of representing linguistic diversity and
constructing national (ethno-linguistic, cultural, and social) identity varies according to the
discursive interaction and depending on the socio-political context in which the different discourses on language policy occurred.
In 2008 I started to investigate the practices of revitalization and empowerment of local
languages (Amazigh and MoA), specifically practices regarding Moroccan Arabic that have
arisen in recent years. My objective in this research is to examine how the processes of recognition and standardization of these local languages are directly influenced by a new sociopolitical and economic context.
Concerning the empowerment of MoA, it should be noted that this is made apparent in two
main ways: through the appearance of a discourse that reasserts MoA as the national language,
and through the expansion of its sphere of use.
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With respect to the discursive aspect, I should remark that in June 2002, the magazine
Telquel published its issue number 34, which is considered historic and was entitled “Darija
langue nationale”. From this date on, and especially following the terrorist attacks in Casablanca on 23 May 2003, the question of MoA, something that, until then, had been the subject
of much controversy, began to appear prominently on the social and political scene. Furthermore, it began to be championed by independent publications such as Khbar Bladna, Nichane,
and Telquel, while a parallel discourse also began to appear, in the form of protest songs that
demanded recognition of MoA as a symbol of identity in Morocco, irrespective of the identity
represented by the Fusha or MSA (see Moustaoui 2009). Certain discourses and linguistic
practices were also produced in academic circles, and to some extent these, too, participated in
the process of empowerment. The socio-political discourse that has emerged aims to empower
and put pressure on the state language policy, and defend Moroccanness (language, identity,
culture, and society). As examples of some of the actors and institutions that represent this
discourse, I might mention: (i) Laraoui (2009) who has proposed the notion of.ﺗﻌﻤﯿﻢ اﻟﻔﺼﺤﻰ,
which we can interpret as either the linguistic levelling/simplification of MSA or the extension
of MSA; (ii) Ahmed Benchemsi, as ex-director of Nichane magazine, who has defended MoA
as a national language for years and has also used MoA in some articles in the magazine; and
(iii) Foued Laraoui and Abderrahim Youssi, both of whom are intellectuals with a discourse
that promotes the standardization and use of MoA in different formal contexts. I must also
emphasise the work developed by the Zagoura Foundation, an institution that defends a literacy programme through the use of the mother tongue. And finally, it should be noted that a
peripheral-regional discourse with a certain degree of nationalism, both north and south, currently exists. This peripheral movement also defends an ethno-linguistic regional and geographic identity that differs from the homogeneous model, represented by the state, concerning
the linguistic, ethnic, and cultural national identity (Benjelloun 2002; López García et al.
2011).
At the linguistic level, one of the linguistic features that plays an important role in the
empowerment of MoA is its script. There can be no doubt that the evolution from a language
that is fundamentally oral to one that is written – even though such a process is historical, dating back to ancient times – is currently a fact that should ensure its effective standardization
and allay possible criticisms of local speech forms. Thus, the existence of MA in written form
confers a prestige on this language variety and breaks down a series of prejudices related to a
popularly held view of what is meant by a language or dialect; this form is available both to
speakers of MoA and to anyone who wishes to approach this language variant.
On the legislative level, the final political and legal recognition of the local languages
(Amazigh specifically) aims to protect the language rights of communities, both majority and
minority. Concerning the Amazigh language, it is important to stress the recognition by the
new constitution of Amazigh as an official language in Morocco along with the recognition
of the spoken and vernacular varieties used in Morocco. For example, Hassanya has been
acknowledged as part of the Moroccan linguistic and cultural heritage in the new constitution.1
The extension of the use of MoA to areas where it was not commonly used previously also
prompts us to reflect on the relationship of this language with the rest of those present in the
linguistic market.
Moreover, the local languages, specifically MoA and Amazigh, continue to be undervalued
and dominated, in a Moroccan linguistic market characterised by ethno-linguistic stratification
(Boukous 1999, 2008).
This situation of domination and subordination, has conditioned the emergence of many
social movements, and some actors in Morocco resisting and protesting with the aim of
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Table 30.1 Domains of use of the local, official and foreign languages in the Moroccan linguistic regime
Linguistic
varieties
Institutional
and official
communications
Education and
literacy
Political and
religious
discourse
Oral and
written
literature
Mass media, social
communication and
publicity (public and
private sectors)
MSA
MoA
Amazigh
French
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
defending and promoting these languages, using and relocating them in the linguistic market.
At the same time, it should be noted that the new Moroccan economy now plays an important
role in changing the structuration of the linguistic field by relocating the local languages as
new, measured, and valued resources. Consequently, language, social communication, and
language politics have taken on a new prominence in this new political and economic context.
In the following section I will try to analyse these two contextual factors and their effects on
Moroccan LPP.
4 Current contributions: new agenda in the analysis of the
language politics of Morocco
4.1 The Arab Spring and a new socio-political context in Morocco
In Morocco, the Arab Spring raises questions about the importance of the new linguistic and
discursive practices of social movements as a new form of communication. These new communication strategies are also related to the establishment of a new social and political model
in which many local languages are resourced by the multilingual community (Warschauer and
De Florio-Hansen 2003).
Firstly, I should note that social movements in North Africa in the context of the Arab
Spring – specifically in Morocco with the emergence of the February 20 Movement (M20F)
– underwent a dynamic process of change that led to a kind of hybridization of political
and social movements, which in turn ensures a hybrid linguistic construction and creativity
(Stroud and Mpendunkana 2009) in the area of Moroccan multilingualism and identity that has
been characterised historically by social and political stratification. Secondly, I consider that
this hybrid linguistic construction has introduced new multilingual and local choices regarding the use/distribution and function of mother tongues, namely MoA and Amazigh in the new
language practices of the M20F. These practices aim not only to delegitimize the institutional,
political, social, and economic apparatus of the state, but also to exercise resistance against the
stratified and hierarchical Moroccan linguistic regime (Boukous 1999; Bourdieu 1977, 1982).
So, what questions can we ask in connection with this background? How do the new linguistic
practices used by the M20F contribute to restructuring the Moroccan linguistic field? Will the
new local multilingual practices, specifically the use MoA and Amazigh, have a direct relationship with the overall strategy of the M20F? Are we facing new forms, new organisations
and a relocation of local, national and foreign languages in Morocco in the wake of the Arab
Spring and glocalisation in Morocco? And finally, how is this process articulated politically
and socio-linguistically in the construction of social categories?
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4.2 New linguistic practices of the M20F:towards
a new model of language policy
As I have already pointed out, the hybrid social and political nature of the protest movements
in Morocco guaranteed, in turn, hybrid linguistic originality and creativity at the heart of these
movements. In the case of the M20F, this innovative character has been reinforced with the use
of multimodality as a communication strategy. This multimodality translates into: (i) the use
of both vertical and horizontal communication; (ii) the adaptation of new technologies to the
country’s multilingual sociolinguistic reality, maintaining a heterogeneous character in both
linguistic uses and the construction of collective identities; and (iii) the extension and creation of new social categories that emerged from the individual and collective levels and have
extended to the regional, national, and international levels. The aim is to influence and change
the state model in all spheres, including, obviously, the linguistic sphere. Concerning the new
linguistic practices, in my research – begun in 2012 – I have found the following aspects.
4.3 The use of Moroccan Arabic and Amazigh in a
rotational way in oral communication
The strategy of the use of MoA and Amazigh is reflected in Figures 30.1 and 30.2.
A translation of the text shown in Figure 30.1 follows:
We are the young people of Morocco. We love this country and are crying out for
change and our dignity. We want to change many things in our country and not to be
slighted. We want those who rob [the country] to be stopped. We are calling for an
end to thieving [politicians] and corruption.
The practice of combining MoA and Amazigh in rotational way has to do with the notion of
mixing of local language (King Tong and Hong Cheung 2011) insofar as it generates a winwin, de facto bilingualism that ties in with the Moroccan constitution’s line in defence and legislative protection of both languages, as well as the other official and institutional discourses.
That is, these are strategies that corroborate in practice and through action the notion of sustainable, lasting plurality among the languages of Morocco (Boukous 2008). This generates a
linguistic ecology in relation to local multilingualism in Morocco.
4.4 The script of Moroccan Arabic
According to Spolsky (2004), the choice and standardisation of writing systems is part of the
process of innovation and modernization of a linguistic variety. One of the innovative practices that the M20F has instigated, even though it has passed through a long historical process,
is the writing of MoA with Arabic characters (see Moustaoui 2012). As I have pointed out, the
importance of MoA in the oral communication of the M20F, as a lingua franca, caused this
variety to be written down. This way of writing MoA was used on the posters and placards that
were made for the different marches and demonstrations that the movement organised.
At the same time, MoA is also present in the written messages of the videos that have
appeared on YouTube as part of the different information and dissemination campaigns carried
out by the M20F.
Firstly, I believe that the use of written MoA could be interpreted as another linguistic
modality that enriches and extends the formal linguistic register in communication. The choice
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Figure 30.1 Example from the discourse of the first Moroccan February 20th Movement campaign
video (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0f6FSB7gxQ)
Figure 30.2 Example of the script of MoA in virtual space taken from the second Moroccan February 20th Movement campaign video (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lli6YpMjGO8)
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of using written MoA in these kinds of messages has to do mainly with the pragmatic function that it would fulfil in the comprehension of the message and the later identification of
the Moroccan participant with this message. Therefore, interaction is encouraged because the
discourse is presented, orally and in written form, in the mother tongue. Secondly, this practice
breaks away from the system of linguistic subordination in which MSA and French occupied a
position of prestige. Thirdly, the broadening and extension of the sphere of use of MoA to the
written form and to domains from which it was previously absent provides us with data on the
importance of local linguistic identity in the resistance carried out by the M20F. That is, both
the oral and the written use of MoA generate linguistic practice that is completely independent
of the other dominant languages in the Moroccan language market: i.e. standard Arabic and
French. Thus, these uses relocate and empower previously existing linguistic identities as well
as new ways of belonging, mainly based around that which is local – that which is Moroccan –
despite the fact that it continues to be Arabic. Finally, the fact that MoA is written, and that this
writing is spreading through the protest actions of the M20F, forces us to rethink its position
within the linguistic market.
5 Future directions
5.1 The new Moroccan economy and the new
model of language policy
Currently there are ongoing economic changes in Moroccan society in the form of the expansion of initiatives of local, regional, and transnational economic and social development. These
changes have introduced new linguistic practices and new power relations between languages.
As Duchêne and Heller (2012, p. 369) have mentioned: “The new economy has emerged as
fertile ground for linguistic research and derives its significance from the very nature of the
social transformations taking place today”. Such economic development has significant power
over policy decisions related to language and linguistic practices. Consequently, the new economy requires, as Heller (2010, p. 351) notes, a model of communication and reporting between
the different languages because:
there is a political-economic reason why economic arguments are now more authoritative than political ones, although the State still has a role to play in the advancement of the economic interests of its producers and consumers. The State and the
private sector, however, have to figure out how to manage the new communicationoriented forms of production, as well as the circulation and value of its communicative products.
AuQ92
My objective in this section is to explore the impact that economic transformations have had on
local languages and multilingual practices, and consequently on language politics in Morocco.
Firstly I should define the new economy in Morocco in relation to the old one. Over many
years the old Moroccan economy was based on agriculture and the refinement of raw materials, and one of its characteristics was greater participation and control from the state. However, the new Moroccan economy is shaped by the neoliberal economic reforms instigated
in Morocco over the past decade. These modern liberal reforms have led to an industrial and
technological expansion born of many projects. As a consequence, new and huge multinational companies were founded. Therefore, in parallel with the economic crisis occurring in
Spain and other European countries, several construction projects were undertaken, and new
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industrial and technological zones and scientific complexes were built in a number of large
cities. This development also encouraged tourism and other forms of investment in Morocco.
Moreover, it is worth mentioning the role played by financial transfers: approximately 6% of
the national income in 2009 came from Moroccans living abroad. Consequently, these local,
regional, and transnational initiatives have been key in the emergence of a Moroccan cultural
model of communication, which in turn ensures a hybrid linguistic construction. This situation
has introduced new multilingual choices regarding the use, distribution, and function of MoA
and Amazigh in the Moroccan sociolinguistic regime. Such language choice is considered by
Duchêne and Heller (2012, p. 373) as “a strategic choice that is contingent upon the desire to
target a specific market”. In this sense, the use of the local languages – MoA and Amazigh – is
considered a new linguistic and communicative resource in the economic area.
The emergence of these linguistic practices is due to what Duchêne and Heller (2012) refer
to as the “deregulation of the markets”, in which the private sector now has more economic
and political power in Morocco. One example of the new linguistic practices in the economic
domain is the use of MoA in posters, brochures, and advertising for different products and
services. Figure 30.3 illustrates this use.
The status of MoA as a mother tongue makes it a pragmatic option for social communication, a pragmatic option, rather than an ideological or symbolic option that is based
on immediacy, on proximity to the speakers and citizens, and on their participation as a
multilingual community providing sources of information and knowledge. In the examples
given earlier, there is also an equal distribution in terms of the use and the rotational order
in which MoA and MSA or French appear. The fact that the different languages are used
separately implies a process of socialization of the use of MoA, through its script appearing
in the linguistic landscape. That is, the writing of MoA generates linguistic uses that are
completely independent of the other dominant languages, MSA and French, in the Moroccan linguistic market.
Figure 30.3 Poster advertising in MoA for a telephone mobile company
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5.2 New direction in research on LPP in Morocco:
the ethnographic sociolinguistic approach
One of the challenges of the exercise of language politics can be to question and subvert an
existing hierarchy of values assigned to different languages as well as the direct relationship
between “Language Policy/ Planning and the construction of social, political and economic
inequality”, as argued by Tollefson (1991). So, how can we achieve LPP and guarantee at the
same time the promotion of equality? How can LPP promote democracy on all levels and in
all areas? In this regard, the pragmatic option needs to gain ground and overcome the symbolic
and ideological option defended by the institutions that exercise a certain power in society.
Also, the dynamics of change at the economic, political, and sociolinguistic levels should be
taken into consideration for any action in language politics.
One of the approaches that can be used to analyse the connection between all levels of
language politics is the critical and engaged approach, based on an ethnography of language
policy. Its objectives are:
1
2
3
to demonstrate how the state language politics can: (i) “create and sustain various forms
of social inequality”, and how “policy-makers usually promote the interests of dominant
social groups”; (ii) develop more democratic policies that reduce inequality and promote
the maintenance of minority and minoritised languages (Tollefson 2006, 2013);
to propose a heuristic methodology that considers it necessary to take the following into
considerations: the actors involved in the process, the objectives, the analysis of the process, the discourses that circulate, and finally, the social and political dynamics of change
and the context in which language politics are exercised; and
to see how different discourses in language politics, based on different linguistic ideologies, are interpreted and how they are absorbed at each level and in each context: on the
national, regional, and local levels, in public and private institutions, and by communities
and individuals.
According to Ricento (2000), language policy research has tended to fall short of fully accounting for precisely how micro-level interaction relates to the macro-levels of social organisation.
Moreover, Johnson (2009) observes that language policy can provide these descriptions of,
and contribute to, policy processes to validate and promote language diversity as a resource in
society. One example of the ethnography of language policy in Morocco, based on a triangulatory approach, is a research project in which I am investigating the micro/macro relationship
in terms of interpretation, absorption, and action of: (i) discourses and language practices of a
group of teachers, inspectors, and students in primary education regarding the use and choice
of language in the classroom in a primary school in Morocco; and (ii) the discourses and
language practices of social actors (intellectuals, private foundations, multinationals, social
movements, etc.) that put pressure on the social and political state with their dominant official
discourses.
5.3 Conclusions
Through this contribution my objective has been to demonstrate how the study of LPP contributes to an understanding of the complex nature of language in social life. With this critical
overview of the history of language policy and politics in Morocco, I hope to have revealed
the historical and ideological basis of LPP as explicit mechanisms that serve or undermine
particular socio-political and economic interests.
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Concerning why I opted for analysing the new socio-political context and how it affects the
exercise of LPP, it is appropriate to mention that this approach supports a perspective from the
bottom up. I believe that this bottom-up approach must be incorporated into any examination
of the explicit and implicit dimensions of language policy making, considered and interpreted
as language politics, due to the following reasons. Firstly, because the bottom-up approach is
explored as engaged language policy (ELP) and practices are incorporated into a critical theory. Secondly, because, in analysing the practices of the M20F as ELP, I have revealed how the
movement created inclusive language policies that are open and dynamic, in which political
and linguistic practices also interact and contribute to the proposal of an equitable and democratic model for managing and planning multilingualism and linguistic variation in Morocco.
Having analysed the economic dimension of LPP in Morocco, I have sketched how speakers, communities, and the new dominant economy are closely interconnected. But the question
that we have to ask is: can we consider the capitalisation of local languages and multilingualism in the new neoliberal Moroccan economy as a mark of cultural heritage, or is multilingualism merely a skill to be employed for socio-economic advancement, primarily benefiting
business enterprises?
Finally, I believe that a critical ethnography of LPP in schools provides a framework for
interpreting and understanding multiple actors’ perspectives, implicated at macro and micro
levels in the exercise of LPP. At the same time, using this approach, I will try to start rethinking
the ontological nature of language with its specific practices, taking into account the unique
profile of Moroccan society.
Note
1 See the preamble to the new Moroccan constitution.
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Further reading
Blommaert, J., ed., 1999. Language ideological debates. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter
This excellent edited book offers an analysis of the political debates around language.
Boukous, A., 1999. Dominance et différence. Essai sur les enjeux symboliques au Maroc. Casablanca :
Editions Le Fennec.
The author provides a critical analysis of the linguistic and social history of Morocco combined with an
excellent overview of its language policy.
Spolsky, B., 2004. Language policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
This is an important book in which the author provides an account of the key concepts in
the study of LPP examining at same time the complexities that characterise the field).
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