Morocco gained independence from France in 1956 and since then the question of language has been continuously debated. Nationalists wanted to elevate Arabic with many moving to eliminate French entirely. The goal of Arabisation was put forth and by 1970 primary schools were taught completely in Arabic. Conversely, STEM classes (science, technical, engineering, maths) continued to be taught in French. In 1983, while Morocco was having a resurgence of Arab nationalism, the government changed the language of STEM instruction from French to Arabic in an effort to further the nation's Arabization. University was another matter however, with almost all STEM university courses remaining in French. Then i n 2020, that decision was reversed. An if you've read this far and had ideas about only French and Arabic, that's understandable. In the national discourse, that's how the question is framed - as a binary between the two languages. But Morocco has many more than t...
A blog about the impact of politics on langugae