Lidentit et la francophilie au Maroc: Examining the interplay

of language attitudes and identity construction in Moroccan students

MAIN OBJECTIVE
Martin M. Horst SELECTED CONVERSATION DATA
University of Washington, Department of Linguistics,
Department of French and Italian Studies I. Distant
To understand the language attitudes of Moroccan students regarding
WM: [] identity has nothing to OG: There are a lot of people WM: Morocco was able to make a
their use and perception of, propensity for, or opposition to the French do with language [] but identi- who refuse [to speak French], very good transition to indepen-
language as a relic of colonial Africa. ty itself language, its not an ob- 7na we speak arabic, we are dence [...] and to construct its own
jective, its not a finality as you say, going to speak Arabic be- identity. And with its own mental-
language, its a manner, its a, its a, cause Arabic is our langauge. ity, identity, and also personality
Distant
its a tool like you say in English. regarding language.
MOTIVATIONS FOR STUDY OG: Il y a beaucoup de per-
WM: [] lidentit cela na rien sonnes que te disent non, WM: Mais le Maroc il a pu je crois
voir avec une langue [] mais 7na on parle lar abe, on de faire une trs bonne transi-
Linguistic and Historical Context Proximal la langue elle-mme, cest pas va parler larabe puisque tion [...] et de construire sa pro-
un objectif, cest pas une final- larabe cest notre langue. pre identit. Et avec sa propre
Arabization of post-colonial education system instills national pride it comme on dit, la langue cest (OG, 4/4/2015) mentalit, identit, et donc per-
(Salhi 2013) une manire cest une, cest un, Its sonnalit au niveau de la langue
Today, French holds no official position in Morocco according Na- a tool comme on dit en anglais. (WM, 9/4/2015)
(WM, 9/4/2015)
tional Charter on Education (Marley 2003; Congruent
Benzakour 2010)
French used mostly by urban elites, having II. Proximal
a monopoly of economic sector (Benzakour OG : Dailleurs Hassan II lex-roi MB: [] Puisque dj appren- SA : []Cest une question as-
du Maroc avait dit aujourdhui que dre une langue cest surtout tre sez dure parce que je naime
2010) Distant les personnes qui ne parlent que introduit une nouvelle culture, pas le systme franais et je
Occupation of Morocco by French admin- deux langues sont des personnes ce qui veut dire que cest une suis pas trop fan de la France
analphabtes [...] parce que cest la richesse, ce nest pas un fardeau, en gnral mais je dois avouer
istration with Treaty of Fez 1912 (Hall, base ici au Maroc. Cest quand tu et enfin personnellement je que avoir le franais maide
1992) Distant apprends langlais que tu deviens vois pas le franais comme un beaucoup au Maroc. Jaime
quelquun dexceptionnel. fardeau. bien la langue.

Language vs National Identity

Fig 1: Map of European-claimed
lands in Morocco in the
20th century
Fig. 2: Visual representation of identity portrayal in regards to the dis- OG: Furthermore, Hassan II the MB: [] Because firstly learn- SA: [] Its a tough question
tance from the French language. The outer circle represents identity
No overt interaction (Appel and Muysken 1987) category I, the inner circle represents category II, and the insignia rep-
resents category III.
former king of Morocco said that
today, people who only speak two
ing a language is above all be-
ing introduced to a new culture,
because I dont like the French
system, and Im not too much
National identity instrinsically linked with positive values of national languages are basically illiterate [] which means that its a benefit, it of a fan of France in general
language (Fishman 1999) because thats the base here in Mo- is not a burden, and personally but I have to admit that French
rocco. Its when you learn English I dont see French as a burden. helps me a lot in Morocco. I
[...]language is a major vehicle of identity, along with cultural heri- CONCLUSIONS that you become someone excep- (MB, 22/4/15) really like the language.
tage, assumptions, values, and beliefs (Simpson, 2008:44) tional. (OG, 4/4/15) (SA, 22/4/15)
I. Distant - Dichotomous separation of national identity with the
French language through statements suggesting a (perception of) funda-
mental distinction between language and identity.
II. Proximal - Mutually inclusive associtaion between national III. Congruent
identity and the French language through the lens of bilingualism; simul- AE: Il y a une espce de crises didentit chez Interviewer: Et les langues, elles sutilisent une moiti
METHODOLOGIES taneous acknowledgement of these concepts distinctions.
les jeunes ici au Maroc. Parfois on oublie nos
racines, nous nous sentons plus franais que
arabe ou une moiti franais, une pourcentage com-
me cela?
III. Congruent - No differentiation between national identity marocain. Moi aussi je loublie, de temps en
temps je me considre comme tant franais
MB: Ouais, ben en fait, quoique tu dises, Je ne ferais
pas une grosse diffrence l-dessus puisque des fois
Research Question and the French language; identity crisis and language mixing are key fac- autant que marocain. mmes un par un je peux utiliser dans une mme
How do Moroccan university students perceive their tors.
AE: Theres a type of identity crisis for the
phrase larabe et le franais au mme temps.

cultural and national identity (or identities) in relation youth of Morocco here. Sometimes we for- Interviewer: And your languages, you use fifty percent

to the French language? REFERENCES get our roots, we feel more French than Mo-
roccan. I do too, I forget it, sometimes I con-
French and fifty percent Arabic?
MB: Yeah, well in fact, concerning what you say,
sider myself just as French as Moroccan. I wouldnt make such a distinction there because
Method
Appel, R. & P. Muysken. Language contact and bilingualism. London: Edward Arnold, 1987. + Benzakour, F. (2010). Le franais au Maroc. Enjeux et ralit.Le franais
en Afrique, Revue du Rseau des Observatoires du Franais Contemporain en Afrique,25, 33-41. + Ennaji, M., & Sadiqi, F. (2008). Morocco: Language, nationalism, and
gender.Language and national identity in Africa, 44. + Fishman, J.A. (ed.) (1999) Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press + Fleming,
(AE, 8/4/15) sometimes even in the same phrase I use French
Standardized Open-ended Interview Style to elicit conversational S. E. (1991). Primo de Rivera and Abd-el-Krim.New York and London: Garland. + Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2003). Educational research: An introduction
(7th ed.). Boston, MA: A & B Publications. + Hall, S. (1992). The question of cultural identity.Modernity and its futures, 274-316. + Khatibi, Abdelkbir. (1983b), Le
and Arabic one after the other at the same time.
(MB, 22/4/15)
Maghreb pluriel, Paris, Denoel, 230 p. + Marley, D. (2004). Language attitudes in Morocco following recent changes in language policy.Language Policy,3(1), 25-46. +
data (Gal, Gal, and Borg 2003) Meisel, J. M. (1989). Early differentiation of languages in bilingual children.Bilingualism across the lifespan: Aspects of acquisition, maturity and loss, 13-40. + Simpson, A.
(2008).Language and national identity in Africa. Oxford University Press. + Stemler, Steve. An overview of content analysis. Practical assessment, research & evaluation

Interviews (N = 9) conducted by author in French

7.17 (2001): 137-146.

Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Author Information

Transcription and content analysis of data (Stemler, 2001)
Three main identity categories determined
A huge thank you to my adviser Dr. Maya Smith, my mentor Dr. Richard Watts, the department of French & Italian
Mattin Horst - mmhorst@uwedu - (206) 422-5431
12005 10th AVE NW Seattle, WA 98177
University of Washington Departments of Linguistics
Studies, my friends and colleagues at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, and the department of Linguistics at UW. This
project could not have been realized without contributions from every one of these people and organizations.
University of Washington Department of French and Italian Studies