Language policy in Morocco: Problems and prospects of teaching Tamazight

Abstract

The present paper examines the new language policy of teaching Berber (Tamazight) in Moroccan schools, which came into effect in the fall of 2003 when Tamazight was for the first time introduced in some 300 elementary schools across the country. This study aims primarily at discussing the status of this language policy while it is still in its initial stages of implementation. The findings discussed here are based on a qualitative research conducted in Morocco around the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005. The data was collected mostly through interviews and classroom observation. The interviews were conducted with several members of IRCAM, representatives of the Ministry of Education, inspectors and teachers of Tamazight, high school teachers, university professors as well as a large sampling of the Moroccan population, both Arabs and Imazighen. The classroom observations, which included both levels one and two of Tamazight, took place in several elementary schools, mostly in the region of Fez.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone in Morocco who has sat down with me, answered my questions and shared their thoughts on this topic. Thanks to AIMS for the short-term grant, and thanks especially to Agnieszka, Youssef and Hannah for their support and patience.

Notes

1. The word Berber derives from the Greek word Barbaroi (barbarian), a name that was used to refer to anyone who was a foreigner or did not speak Greek. The Amazigh people (the Berbers) prefer to be referred to as Amazigh (plural: Imazighen), a word that means free and noble, and their language is Tamazight, rather than Berber, which also refers to one of the three varieties of this language spoken in Morocco (Tarifit in the Rif Mountains, Tashelhit in the High Atlas and the South, and Tamazight in the Middle Atlas region).

2. IRCAM (Institut Royal pour la Culture Amazigh) is a research institution set up by the king of Morocco following his recognition of the Amazigh language and culture in his speech of 17 October 2001. IRCAM is responsible for research mostly in the area of corpus planning of Tamazight. It has six centres, each in charge of one aspect of the language. For more information on IRCAM, see <www.ircam.ma>.

3. It is extremely difficult to come up with an exact number of how many people actually speak Tamazight in Morocco. This is precisely because that question has never been raised in any census conducted in Morocco. Generally, the numbers vary, but about 40 to 60 per cent of the population speak one of the three varieties of this language: Tarifit in the northern Rif Mountains, Tamazight in the Middle Atlas region, and Tashelhit in the High Atlas region and the South of Morocco.

4. Establishing a human rights ministry, changing al-Moudawana (Family Code) to reflect new rights for women, the creation of a reconciliation committee to investigate human rights violations during the previous regime, reforming higher education, etc.

5. The recognition is official by virtue of the fact that the king of Morocco announced it publicly during his 17 October 2001 speech. Tamazight still has no official status: it is neither a national nor an official language. That is why many Amazigh activists are still not satisfied with this so-called ‘recognition’ and are calling for the constitutionalisation of the Amazigh language.

6. Interview with Mohamed Elmedlaoui (2004).