Paradoxes of Language Policy in Morocco

Deconstructing the Ideology of Language Alternation and the Resurgence of French in STEM Instruction

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5901477
AutoresBrahim Chakrani (0000-0001-9555-0141), Adam Ziad (0009-0003-2067-1020), Abdenbi Lachkar
Año2025
Volumen10
Número6
Páginas135
Fecha de publicación2025-06-09
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLanguages (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/languages10060135
OpenAlexW4411152191
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas60

Language-in-education policies often serve hidden political and economic agendas, and thus language policy research must examine policies beyond official state discourse. This article critically analyzes Morocco's Language Alternation Policy (LAP), introduced in 2019, using the historical-structural approach. It examines the broader historical context and structural factors that shape the adoption and implementation of LAP. While the official policy discourse frames LAP as an egalitarian reform aimed at promoting balanced multilingualism by alternating instructional media in science education, its de facto implementation reveals a stark contradiction. The ideological underpinnings of LAP are the resurgence of French as the exclusive medium of instruction in science and technology classrooms. This policy undercuts a decades-long Arabization of science and the promotion of the Amazigh language, as well as denying Moroccans the potential advantages of learning English. The disparity between official policy discourse and implementation reveals the influence of France's neocolonial agenda, exercised through Francophonie, international clientelism, and financial patronage. Through implementing LAP to align with France's interests in Morocco, French-trained political actors undermine the country's decolonization efforts and preserve the long-standing socioeconomic privileges of the francophone elite. We analyze how LAP functions ideologically to resolidify France's cultural and linguistic hegemony and reinforce pre- and post-independence linguistic and social inequalities

Alternation (linguistics · Ideology · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Second Language Learning and Teaching · Law · Philosophy