Algerian linguist Lameen Souag asks: “The key issue in Algerian linguistic politics – substantially overshadowing the question of the role of Berber – is what should be the language of bureaucracy and education: Standard Arabic (the official language, and the primary pre-colonial language of literacy for all Algeria) or French (the colonial language, and hence ironically
the language which most of the few educated Algerians at independence had studied in.)”
Written byAmira Al Hussaini
1 comment
The elites in Algeria, Morocco and perhaps Tunisia use French to deny their fellow citizens access to power and wealth. I think they will continue to use, or misuse, French even if it becomes extinct in France, Switzerland, Belgium and Quebec. That’s because they use French for internal purposes.