Introduction

The diglossic situation sketched above in Chapter 13also obtains in North African countries, but therethe situation is complicated by the presence of asecond prestigious language, the language of theformer colonial power, France. In the literature onthe Maghreb, this situation is often described asone of ‘bilingualism’. In the original version ofFerguson's model this term referred to thecoexistence of two unrelated languages within onespeech community (cf. above, p. 242). In more recentliterature, ‘bilingualism’ is used as apsycholinguistic term referring to a speaker'sproficiency in two or more languages. Yet the bulkof the literature on the linguistic situation in theMaghreb uses ‘bilingualism’ (or its Frenchequivalent bilinguisme) in Ferguson's original sense.It seemed, therefore, best in the present chapter toretain the term ‘bilingualism’ for the coexistenceof Arabic and French (and to some degree of Arabicand Berber/Tamazight) in the Maghreb.

In this chapter we shall first look at the Frenchcolonial policy in North Africa (and Lebanon) andits effects on the linguistic situation in theseregions (section 14.2). Then, we shall discuss thevarious ways in which these countries implemented apolicy of Arabicisation after independence (section14.3). After that, we shall investigate theattitudes towards French, and the patterns ofcode-mixing and borrowing between Arabic and French(section 14.4). Finally, we shall deal with thelanguage policy with regard to Berber (Tamazight,Amazighe) and the present situation of this languagein Morocco and Algeria (section 14.5).

Whatever the term that is used to describe the presentlinguistic situation in the Maghreb (and inLebanon), its roots lie in the colonial period, inwhich the French language became indissolublyconnected with this region. Unlike British colonialpolicy, the French authorities aimed at theassimilation and integration of the indigenouspopulation. The official point of view was thatFrance did not colonise other countries in order toexploit them, but in order to bring them Frenchcivilisation. French officials presented thecolonial policy as France's mission civilisatrice, and some of themmay even have believed in this, but this attitudewas certainly not shared by most French colonists(colons), whoopposed any effort to educate the indigenouspopulation.