Key issues in the field of macro‐sociolinguistics of the Maghreb: Societal debates and contentious discourse

Abstract

Sociolinguistic debates and controversies in the Maghreb can be explained as a function of the complexity of the linguistic facts on the ground, their stereotypical representations and their essentialization in political, everyday and also academic discourses. This contribution aims to produce a critical synthesis of the important issues linked to the status of the official languages, namely institutional Arabic and school Tamazight, which some social actors oppose to the first languages of the people of the Maghreb, namely Maghrebi Arabic and Berber languages. Current debates also concern the question of the replacement of French by English in academia, English being defended by the Arabist elite in order to reduce the field of influence of the francophone elite.