This week Algeria has made the front page of the BBC news after President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced that the former French colony will start teaching English in primary schools later this year. "French is a spoil of war, but English is an international language," he has said.
In fact neither French nor English are the “official” languages of Algeria – that honour is taken by Arabic (since 1963), and Tamazight, which is spoken by the Amazigh or Berber minority and was recognised as an official language in 2016.
However, the sensitivities around the very widespread use of French as a lingua franca in Algeria are significant, ever since Algeria gained independence from France in 1962 after a long and violent 8-year war that left behind a bitter political (and linguistic) legacy.
During French rule, Arabic was banned at primary schools - and after independence the Algerian state reversed the situation. French continues to be understood and spoken by most people in Algeria (although certainly not all), and under the national curriculum is taught as a second language from age 9 - but there is increasing pressure to replace it with English as a language of instruction in Higher Education. Medicine and Engineering are already mostly being taught mostly in English, and with English now being introduced at primary school level it seems likely that the influence of French in the education system may diminish – perhaps eventually filtering through to a significant reduction in the number of French speakers in the country which currently has the highest number of French speakers outside France.
For companies and individuals wanting to know what language to learn to work in or visit Algeria the choice is even more complicated. Algerian Arabic and Algerian French are the two languages used in the street and the workplace – but both of these are colloquial languages, far removed from the so-called “purer” versions used elsewhere. Algerian French contains significant amounts of Arabic and other loan words, and even has its own grammar forms. Likewise with Algerian Arabic. The Algerians themselves can understand the Arabic spoken across the Middle east, but the reverse is not true – depending on their own background, many native Arabic speakers from, for example, the Gulf states, will not be able to either understand or pronounce Algerian Arabic. The likelihood today is they will probably end up conversing in English.
Most Algerians are multi-lingual, to one degree or another. If you listen to a conversation between a group of Algerians in a shop, or restaurant, or at work, it is very normal to hear them switching seamlessly between languages, and you will recognise Arabic and French and English all in the same sentence, and maybe even a few Turkish words thrown in for good measure! At home each person might use a different language than they speak at work – especially amongst the Berber communities – and even between the different generations of the same family it is perfectly possible to find those who have a greater preference towards one language than another.
Like many countries in north Africa, decisions around the question of “first languages” are more political than cultural or social. They can and do change over time, and they reflect not only the country’s historical legacies – but also its aspirations for the future. Algeria’s decision to introduce English from primary school age from now on is not a small decision- it is a significant statement of intent about a deliberate plan of internationalisation and the country’s future.
About the author:
Crispin had residency in Algeria for over 15 years and set up businesses in Algiers and Hassi Messaoud, employing over 100 Algerians. |
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