Attitudes towards the Instruction of Mother Tongues in

Morocco: Approval or Objection1

Hamid HAQOUNE
Mohammed V University- Rabat- Morocco

(Draft paper, 2012)

Hamid.haqoune@yahoo.com
Abstract

Without a shadow of a doubt, different languages existed in Morocco long time ago; namely
Amazigh (including its three variants Tarfit, Tashlhit, and Tamazight), Moroccan Arabic
(Darija), and Classical Arabic which came as a result of the Islams spread in the north
African countries. This multilingual property has given the country a cultural and linguistic
richness. However, the current situation of Morocco reflects a different image; none of the
maternal languages has a solid function and value in the country. Although Moroccan
Amazigh is brought into light in the Moroccan constitution as a second official language
along with Arabic, it is merely associated with informal contexts and its use is restricted to
pedagogical settings for people who want to learn it. While other rival languages, notably
Standard Arabic (the official language of the country and language of instruction at all levels),
French, English, and (or) Spanish are the predominant varieties, so to speak. In this regard,
this Moroccan complex linguistic market triggered a growing body of sociolinguistic research
dealing with language and society in Morocco. The current paper is no exception; it is
motivated by the issue of Moroccans attitudes towards the use of mother tongues as
languages of instruction. To meet this end, the paper will seek to answer the following three
research questions: (i) What are some of the attitudes of Moroccan speakers towards the
teaching of Amazigh and Darija in the Moroccan educational system? (ii)To what extent
standardization would help the mother tongue to gain a chair in the educational system?
(iii)To what extent can positive attitudes help pave the way to the (mother) language to be
highly accepted or rejected in instruction?
Keywords: Mother Tongues (Amazigh/ Moroccan Arabic), Standardization, Attitudes,
and Instruction

1
The current paper is part of an individual assignment of sociolinguistics course. on this account, I should like to thank
professor Albakry for his motivation and seriousness. As the disclaimer goes, any error of facts, interpretations is purely
mine.

1
Introduction

Mother tongues, which are languages of day-to-day linguistic exchanges, are not
languages of the Moroccan educational system. Building on this fact, the aim of this paper is
to investigate the instruction of mother tongues vis--vis the Moroccan educational system,
with a focus on attitudes of Moroccans towards both Amazigh (Berber) and Moroccan
Arabic. Very recently, Amazigh has started to enjoy its share in the linguistic market, albeit
discreet, it is now gaining a solid position, notably with the standardization policy. By
contrast, Moroccan Arabic (darija) has not been fully recognized as an official language yet,
though it is widely spoken at the local level. In essence, the paper seeks to explore whether
Moroccans fully endorse the idea of implementing their mother tongues as languages of
instruction, at least at the primary school level, or favor their rival languages; namely
standard Arabic, French, and English. Also, it touches on other related macro-
sociolinguistics aspects, such as Standardization and Arabization; the latter are fundamental
language policies which, by and large, contribute into making any language so important.
I- Theoretical background
The present section is devoted to review and discuss the languages spoken at the local
level and the status that each variety enjoys. It also shades light on the different works carried
out thus far.
1. Amazigh language
Amazigh is the language of indigenous inhabitants of Morocco (also known as
Berber2). This term sounds pejorative and has been dispensed with given its linkage with the
Latin word barbaros that bears negative connotation. This is the reason why the word
Amazigh is preferred to evade getting in the issue of sounding appropriate or non-appropriate
(Ennaji 2002). Speaking of the Amazigh language is speaking at same time about three
different varieties that are spoken in three distinct geographical places. (i) Tarfit in the Rif
Mountains of northern Morocco, (ii) Tamazight in the Middle Atlas Mountains and south-
eastern desert oasis, and (iii) Tashlhit in the Suss Valley, High Atlas Mountains (Becker,
Cynthia 2006:8). What is interesting to consider here is that the cover term Amazigh is the
maternal language of a number of people, notably those leaving in the countryside and farther
places in Morocco. These people are still conservative and still stick to their languages:
Tashlhit, Tamazight or Tarifit. Also, these monolinguals are looked down upon due to the

2
Throughout the paper, the word Berber might be used interchangeably with the word Amazigh without any etymological
sense of the term per se. knowing that in nowadays terminology the word has been dispensed with.

2
status of the language per se being an object of social disdain (El Kirat, 2009). As a
consequence, they themselves accepted the fact that the language they speak is but a dialect
that serves only a numerical value. Especially, when it comes to counting how many
languages Moroccans speak.
In addition, Amazigh is spoken not only in Morocco, but also in other neighboring
countries, namely Algeria and Tunisia. In these countries, Amazigh is a non-prestigious
language with no value on the linguistic market( El Kirat 2009:182). This certainly has had
unwilling repercussions on the language. Simply put, a language may become stigmatized if
their speakers distance themselves from it (Dorian, 1988 cited in El kirat 2009 :186).
Moreover, Amazigh has been greatly influenced by Islam. Dating back to seventh
century, a number of Arabs coming from the Middle East infiltrated to the Moroccan
linguistic field via the spread of Islam in the north of Africa. This resulted in the assimilation
of a number of Amazigh inhabitants. However,

many Berber groups living in inaccessible remote areas, such as the

mountainous regions of Morocco or its desert fringes, continued to
speak their own languages and retained their political autonomy from
the urban-based Arab dynasties that ruled Morocco over the
centuries. (Cynthia J. Becker 2006:2-3)

The author, in this quote, makes her claims explicit in the sense that the existence of
any language is contingent on its native speakers; their will to continue to speak the language
contributes in making that particular language far from getting subtracted, for example, in
favor of Standard Arabic.'
However, Amazigh variety became officially accepted as a part of Moroccos legacy,
only when the Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM ) was established (De Ruiter
2008:105). At this moment, the Moroccan Amazigh language received a de jure approval and
is now the language of instruction in many schools and institutions.

2. Arabization and Amazigh

If Arabization is considered as a process of revitalizing a particular linguistic system
and its culture (and here we allude to Arabic . i.e. Arabize what was affected by the colonizer
under the French protectorate in 1912 in terms of education, administration) what will, then,
happen to Amazigh language, a language that fights to safeguard its position from extinction

3
or dying out (Ennaji, 2009). In other terms, could this be a barrier against promoting this
maternal variety? And here Ennaji makes it glaringly obvious that:

Arabisation has had negative consequences on the Berber language

because it has led to its marginalization and to the assimilation of the
Berber culture and people. However, in 2001 the government decided
to revitalise Berber [Amazigh] and introduce it in the educational
system. (Ennaji 2009:18)

Indeed, Arabization policy was, in some years ago, an impediment to the development
of Amazigh language, which, at that time, was only a spoken language along with Moroccan
Arabic. However, Amazigh is now gaining a respectful status, especially under the new
constitution in 2011, wherein the King declares officially that Arabic is the official language
of the country alongside Amazigh. As far as the last part in the above quote is concerned, the
date 2001 was not really the starting point of Amazighs introduction to the Moroccan
linguistic market in general and to the educational system in particular, this was not clear-cut
until the last changes in the new constitution. To put it another way, in the first constitution
(the one before the aforesaid) only Arabic was the official language of Morocco.

3. Standardization and Amazigh

A standardized language is by definition a language that has passed through deliberate
intervention by society (Hudson 1980:32). There are a number of steps/processes involved in
making a dialect standard, and hence an official language by de jure ( suzane 2000). First and
foremost, there is the process of (i) selection That is, the variety has to be chosen by
authority and, of course, general consensus is important (El Mountassir, 2009). A case in
point would be Amazigh language. This language was a mere stigmatized variety which has
undergone selection. (ii) After the selection phase, the variety has to undergo the second
process known as codification. This implies that for a language to be regarded as standard, it
has to have written dictionaries and grammar books. As Sadiqqi and Ennaji remind us that
(1994:64-70) a language must be codified by standardizing its phonology, morphology ,
syntax , spelling and vocabulary. The same was done to Amazigh; a dictionary and system
of writing were invented. Its lexicon is a compilation of three dialects, namely: Tamazight,
Tarifit, and Tashlhit. (iii) The third step concerns the extent to which the grammar and
vocabulary of the selected variety is possible to be used in all domains, such as in court, and

4
other scientific fields; therefore, elaboration of function is needed so as to create a
terminology which is conventional and it can be used in such complex settings. The fourth
and the last process is acceptance. In this regard, Hudson (1980:32) points out that a variety
has to be accepted by the relevant populationOnce this happened, the Standard language
serves as strong unifying force for the state.
In a nutshell, although Standardization is a key factor in making a language one step
toward being official, it is to some extent a biased process, for it favors one variety over the
other. And here I allude to the case of Darija which was not selected though it is spoken by
almost 90% of the population.

4. Moroccan Arabic (Darija)

Moroccan Arabic is the mother tongue of almost all population in Morocco. It is

spoken by both Amazigh and non-Amazigh speakers. As such, sociolinguists (Boukous 2009,
et al.) view it as a lingua franca, basically because besides being used in every-day linguistic
exchanges, it is used by different Amazigh speakers, knowing that Amazigh is a cover term
for three distinct varieties, namely Tarifit, Tamazight, and Tashlhit. Therefore, all native
speakers of these varieties should at least know some Moroccan Arabic if they happen to be in
urban cities where only Darija is the dominant language.

Moroccan Arabic (MA) is a vernacular language par excellence, mainly because it is

not employed in formal settings, such as education, administration, and media3 (newspapers,
magazines, and news). Being the Low variety of a diglossic community like Morocco, MA is
not a prestigious variety; consequently, it is not given much attention as a language that
equates other formal languages spoken in Morocco such as Standard Arabic, French and
English.

5. Attitudes and Language

An attitude is a binary notion. It can be positive or negative. The way a person
perceives something or someone carries with it a particular opinion. Cambridge Advanced
Learners Dictionary defines attitude as a feeling or opinion about something or someone, or
a way of behaving that is caused by this. This can be explained when [we] talk to someone,
[we] start to form opinions about them, sometimes solely on the basis of the way they talk

3
It can be used in advertisement , especially in posters sign, usually short sentences, but this would not offer
Darija a respectful position as a formal language in media; rather it is mainly used to serve business affairs
(i.e. advertisers use it as a persuasive strategy to address particular audience )

5
(Chambers 2003: 211, cited in Meyerhoff 2006: 54). Thus, language and attitude are
entwined in the sense that through language, attitudes can be revealed. This is roughly the
same when it comes to Mother tongues in Morocco. It is mostly known based on negative
attitudes that MA and Amazigh are labeled as corrupt forms, especially Darija which the
closest variety in its terminology to Standard Arabic, and serve only daily interactions, so to
speak (Ennaji, 2005 et al.).

6. Other foreign languages

The use of a non-native language as an official language is a prevalent phenomenon in
almost all African countries irrespective of their authentic linguistic heritage (Ouane, 2003).
A case in point would be the French Language in Morocco as well as other adjacent
countries; such as Algeria and Tunisia. This foreign variety (French) is now a dominant
language of instruction and job markets. Dating back to March 30th, 1912, Morocco was
officially occupied by France, and on that day, the Treaty of Fez was signed declaring
Morocco as a French protectorate (Kelsey and Menzer, 2007). This was meant to stress the
fact that history plays a great role in giving a language its power.
Equally, Standard Arabic is a foreign language. It is a language studied at the first year
of primary school. Historically speaking, Classical 4/standard Arabic was introduced to the
Moroccan linguistic market via the spread of Islam. Additionally, French and English are
instrumental languages par excellence. In this respect, Rihani (2008:423) contends that one
should be armed with French and English so as to get a decent job and position in Morocco.
Indeed these languages are the dominant varieties; given their prestigious status.
Having discussed some of the sociolinguistic aspects, I should like move to tackle the
issue of Attitudes Towards the teaching of Mother Tongues drawing on fundamental research
methods and instruments such as observations, interviews, and questionnaires.

II- Methodology

The purpose of this part is to reveal the data elicitation procedures, namely the various
methods and instruments used in collecting the necessary data for the present paper, including

4
I personally do not see the difference in using the term Standard or Classical. Though it is said that Classical
Arabic is sophisticated because it the language of Suna and holly Quran, while Standard Arabic is a simplified
version of Arabic. I shall not delve into this issue for the time being. In fact, I will use them interchangeably to
mean Arabic.

6
the techniques that have been adopted to investigate the attitudes towards the instruction of
mother tongues in Morocco.
Of course, triangulation is the accurate research method, for it compensates the
limitations found in both quantitative and qualitative methods, and therefore helps providing
in-depth insights into the topic under investigation. In this regards, different methods have
employed to explore the attitudes towards maternal languages in Morocco apropos
implementing them in education.

The population sample of this study consists primarily of different subjects regardless of
their social status, age or educational level. The aim of this selection is to examine the role
attitudes play in the process of making a vernacular language possible used in the learning
process.

1. Observations and Interviews:

As a scientific instrument to approach the different dimensions of the current topic,

and its sensitive nature (the attitudes of Moroccans towards implementing mother tongues as
languages of instruction), I commenced with observation as a point of departure, knowing that
attitudes are difficult to capture (Rihanni 2008:142). Normally, any observer has to be
acquainted with the notorious constraint of observatio, that of observers Paradox. In this
regard, observation is the ideal way to go about the present investigation, especially attitudes
which are not easy to reveal. However, to overcome this constraint, I, as an observer , was
compelled to get on well with my participants by establishing friendly relationships as way to
minimize the aforementioned paradox.5.

Needless to say, the linguistic situation in Morocco is very complex, given the
multiplicity of languages spoken at the local level, and the asymmetrical power each-of-which
enjoys. This explains why, on the one hand, there are languages that do not enjoy high status
in the Moroccan linguistic market, for example, the maternal languages, namely Moroccan
Arabic (Darija) and Amazigh, and, on the other hand, there are those that are favored for a
variety of socio-economical factors; notably Standard/Classical Arabic, French (more will be
said shortly) and other foreign/instrumental languages such as English, Spanish and German.
Despite the official statement mentioned in the recent Moroccan constitution that says
publicly: Amazigh has to be a bedfellow of Arabic in terms of status; it is still regarded as a

5
This point will be discussed at length as we proceed and reach the testimonies stated by informants including
their own viewpoints and believes.

7
corrupted (Ennaji 2005: 165) variety, restricted merely to rural areas, and specific ethnic
groups. Not away from this viewpoint, Moroccan Arabic is also viewed as colloquial
discourse.

Through these general terms, the journey of observation revealed roughly a mirror-
image fact. The setting where the observations took place was unstructured. Of course, this
was done deliberately because of the nature of the topic, so as to accumulate different voices
from a large number of informants. For fear that we might be entangled in the observer
paradox, the topic was introduced in the middle of the conversations, as a sub-topic for
discussion to circumvent being a researcher of the talk; thus, giving the floor to the
observed informants to disclose their spontaneity vis--vis the notion of implementing mother
tongues as languages of instruction. Surprisingly, one of the informant sarcastically responded
when I posited the premise of instructing Moroccan children using Moroccan Arabic and
Amazigh, and here I quote:

it[Darija] is not even a language, I consider it as a dialect spoken by the

majority of non-educated peopleAfter all, I strongly disagree with idea of
promoting these languages. Plus, Classical Arabic should be our mother
tongue!

In a similar vein, a great deal of questions was posed in the conversation in the form of
turns-taking, and here are some of the testimonies collected, to name but few;

Have you ever thought of our local languages being used in school?

The informant ( A) was rather at ease and declared:

No! I have never thought about it and I wont do so. Learning our languages is
of no value

Interviewee (B) : also responded

Well, the question that should be asked is why learning a language we already
speak

As it clearly appears from the above statements, there is a negative attitude towards the
use of mother tongues as the language of instruction. They all agreed that local languages are
with no value. Thus, spending time to promote these languages in school is, according to
them, a waste of time. Again, one interesting idea that emerges from the observed respondents

8
is that there seem to be some confusion over what is actually meant by a mother tongue,
because one informant believed that Standard/classical Arabic should be our mother tongue.
This stresses the fact that attitudes play a vital role in promoting languages regardless of their
formality and use, and the principal idea one could retain from the foregoing observation is
that attitudes and language (no matter what this language would be) are closely related and the
positive side of the former affects hugely the implementation of the mother tongues as
language of instruction. One simple evidence is that if the parents hold negative believes
against, for example, Darija or Amazigh language, how would they allow their children to
learn them if they(mother tongues) happened to be integrated in the Moroccan educational
system. In this respect, Schiffman (1996 cited in Rihani, 2008:412) tells us that if peoples
attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes towards a language are not changed first, no authority and
no language policy will succeed in bringing about any change in the fate of a language.

2. Questionnaire:
The questionnaires6 were handed out to different respondents on a random basis. The
rationale behind this distribution is motivated by the nature of the topic, since I am dealing
with respondents attitudes. In order to meet the end of the holistic method explained earlier
(i.e. triangulation), the questioned were broken down into two related but different parts. The
first part was meant to collect subjects attitudes using qualitative questions in the form of
open questions, wherein the respondents were given much space to disclose and share their
standpoints. The second part, however, was meant to quantify their attitudes by designing
close questions that could be answered through choosing amongst the following options such
as agree, strongly disagree and disagree strongly disagree intermediated by a neutral
option of I dont know. This way, a numerical value was assigned to each question with its
options (viz, agree, disagree, etc.) so as to facilitate measuring them in terms of frequency.
The total number of questionnaires distributed was 100 questionnaires. 30 of them
were in English language, and these were given to students of the English Department in
Semester 4 and 6. The other ones were translated into Arabic, and were administered
haphazardly.

3. Results
The results were quantified in terms of frequency of each questionnaire. Since the number of
questionnaire was not large, I resorted to Microsoft Excel program to measure the frequency

6
Questionnare see the apendix

9
(%) of each statement. The table below offers a numerical calculation of the results
obtained:
1. Using mother tongues as the language of instruction in primary school is a necessity.
Frequency (%)
Strongly Agree 20
Agree 28
Disagree 40
Strongly Disagree 12
Total 100 (%)

2. I am a fluent speaker of Standard/classical Arabic

Frequency (%)
Strongly Agree 10
Agree 8
Disagree 50
Strongly Disagree 32
Total 100 (%)

3. I have never thought about having my mother tongue as language of Instruction

Frequency (%)
Strongly Agree 50
Agree 38
Disagree 8
Strongly Disagree 4
Total 100 (%)

4. In my previous Arabic classes, Moroccan Arabic was the most spoken language in
explaining lessons.

Frequency (%)
Strongly Agree 40
Agree 34
Disagree 18
Strongly Disagree 8
Total 100 (%)

10
 5. In chat rooms like Facebook, Twitter,MSN, etcMost of my conversations are written
in Mother tongues using a Latin keyboard
Frequency (%)
Strongly Agree 25
Agree 40
Disagree 23
Strongly Disagree 12
Total 100 (%)

6. Children in their first years of primary school would better understand the course if
their tutors use the mother tongues
Frequency (%)
Strongly Agree 30
Agree 44
Disagree 16
Strongly Disagree 10
Total 100 (%)

7. Learning latin languages (French , English, Spanish, etc.) is a necessity

Frequency (%)
Strongly Agree 28
Agree 52
Disagree 14
Strongly Disagree 6
Total 100 (%)

As displayed above, respondents attitudes towards the teaching of mother as

languages of instruction range between 22-28 %, on the other hand, 40 % of them did not
align themselves with the statement proposed. Though the idea of instruction seems new and
was the first time they thought about it, given the influence of Standard Arabic and it
closeness to Islam religion as such 50- 38% Strongly/agree. Besides, the second statement
revealed that only about 10% of respondents are fluent in Standard Arabic language. Another
important issue is mother tongues and classroom teaching. It shows that participants 34 - 40%
strongly/Agree that Moroccan Arabic ( Darija) is used by their tutors in Standard Arabic
Classes. This is a significant frequency because it stresses that fact that Darija is a language
that has presence in Education, albeit discreet. Speaking of social Network, chiefly in some

11
famous chartrooms namely Twitter MSN, and Facebook, it has been discovered that
respondents use it at an excessive rate; 40% of theagree. Last but not least, though Mother
Tongues have their strong presence in some domains, the notion of learning/or using them in
teaching is still non-tolerated.

III- Interpretation and conclusion

What should be retained from the aforementioned results is that Darija is still not
valued. This was explained in the disagree responses provided by the respondent. That is,
the majority of subjects are skeptical about its value as language that can have a respectable
chair in the Moroccan educational system; let alone other public sectors like administration
and court. Worse than that is the fact of considering it as a waste of time. This was
mentioned in one of the interviewees testimony, among others, who consider investing time
and energy to standardize the vernacular languages (darija or Amazigh) is but a waste of
time. In spite of officially introducing Amazigh to educational system since 2003 (Ennaji
2009), the teaching is limited to a small number of underprivileged schools. Again, Amazigh
like Darija though subjects know it is taught in some primary school are still holding a
negative attitude, basically because it is associated with non-elites, especially those living in
rural areas. The common tendency spotted in the questionnaire is that Moroccans, even the
elites rejects mother tongues as the language of school. As far as I am concerned, since attitudes
as discussed earlier in the rhetorical background are binary (positive and negative), they can be
changed into positive attitudes by sensitizing people of the importance mother tongue would play if
they are to be integrated in the educational system, but the problem, here, remains in the
standardization policy which singles out a specific variety over the other to be an official
language that can be used in all sectors, such education, court, and administration.
However, the qualitative part of the questionnaire revealed a positive trend, about 60%
of subjects disclosed that the result gained from introducing mother tongues as languages of
instruction may help in decreasing illiteracy level, knowing that in other devolved countries
like French and Germany use their mother tongues as languages of education, the slight
difference is in formality which is not a difficult task if to be compared with the Moroccan
situation where pupils have to assimilate other languages apart from their mother tongues if
they want to be regarded as literate.

12
 On the whole the present study is only step toward further research, a research that can
make up for the methodological limitations spotted, and tackle the issue from different
sociolinguistic angles, not solely attitudes but also in terms of use and fluency and use a
address a large sample of the Moroccan population

13
 References
Becker, Cynthia J., (2006) Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity.
Austin: University of Texas Press

De Ruiter , J.J., (2008b) Morocco's languages and gender: evidence from the field,
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, no 190, p. 103-119.

El Kirat , Y. (2009). Issues in the Representation of Amazigh Languages and Identity in

North in The journal of Langues ET Litteratures, Vol. 19, pp. 179 196

Ennaji, M. (2009) Multiculturalism, Citizenship, and Education in Morocco Mediterranean

Journal of Educational Studies, Vol. 14(1), pp. 5-26

Ennaji, M., (2005).Multilingualism, cultural identity, and education in Morocco. Springer:

New York.

Errihani, M. (2008) Language Attitudes and Language Use in Morocco: effects of attitudes
on Berber language policy, in The Journal of North African Studies, 13:4, 411-428

Hudson, R.A (1980).Sosiolinguistics.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Meyerhoff, M.(2006) Introducing Sociolinguistics. London and NewYork: Routledge

Ouane, A. (ed.) 2003. Towards a multilingual culture of education. Hamburg: UNESCO

Institute for Education

Suzanne Romaine (2000). Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics.

[2ndEdition]. New York: Oxford University Press

Weber, K. and Z. Menzer, (2007). The French Colonization of Morocco. (With Focus on the
Treaty of Fez). http:// scribd.com/doc/100064/The-French Colonization-of-Morocco

14
 APPENDIX
This questionnaire serves only academic purposes in the field of sociolinguistics. Your
co-operation would be highly appreciated, and your answers are of paramount
importance. Anonymity is guaranteed.

Do not write your name.

Please make sure you answer all the questions.
In answering the question you can put a cross sign (X) in the box that seems to be the most
suitable for your case, and whenever you are required to justify, please, you say why.
I-

1.Gender: Male Female

2.The language(s) you learned at home:

Languages spoken:
Moroccan Arabic (Darija) Arabic Tamazight

Spanish French English

German Italian Chinese

Others, please specify: ....................................

3. In your opinion, what language(s) should children learn? ( choose 3 languages)

Moroccan Arabic (Darija) Arabic Amazigh

Spanish French English
German Italian Chinese
Others specify: ..............................................................................................................

4. Put the sign (X) in front of the languages you believe are important in making the task of
learning amongst young learners easier. (Do not exceed 3 languages)

( ) French, ( ) Moroccan Arabic

( ) Standard Arabic ( ) Spanish,
( ) English ( ) German
( ) Chinese ( ) Amazigh

( ) Others: Specify : ............................

5. In your opinion , do you think standardizing (make the language of birth official language
of the country by writing its grammar and a dictionary) mother tongues (darija/ Amazigh)
would help the country combat the rate of illiteracy?

15



6. In your opinion, what do you think of the mother tongues become language of instruction inside
classrooms?



7. In your opinion, what is the expected outcome of teaching Mother Tongues in Moroccan
primary schools?




II-

Statement Strongly Agree neutral Disagree Strongly

diagree
agree

1.Using mother tongues as the language of instruction in

primary school is a necessity
2. I am a fluent speaker of Standard/classical Arabic

3. I have never thought about having my mother

tongue as language of teaching

4. In my previous Arabic classes, Moroccan Arabic was

the most spoken language in explaining lessons.

5. In chat rooms like Facebook, Twitter,MSN, etc

Most of my conversations are written in Moroccan
Arabic using a Latin keyboard

6. Children in their first years of primary school would

better understand the course if their tutors use mother
tongue
7.Learning Latin languages is a necessity

Thank you kindly for your cooperation

16