Chapter 6
English Language Teaching Development
in the Midst of Morocco’s Continuing
Language Policy Conundrum
Awatif Boudihaj and Meriem Sahli
Abstract Language policy in multilingual Morocco has been extremely contro-
versial and largely politicized. It has historically sparked an enormous debate and
engendered multiple reforms that have relied on political manoeuvers rather than
educational and experts’ opinions. This chapter provides a description of Morocco’s
complex linguistic landscape and discusses the impacts of the implemented language
policy reforms on multilingualism in Morocco and the quality of education. It further
evaluates the development of English language teaching (ELT)/English as a medium
of instruction (EMI) in Morocco and its relation to other existing languages. The
chapter then highlights the challenges in promoting a linguistic environment where
national/official languages (Modern Standard Arabic and Tamazight) and foreign
languages (French, English, and Spanish) can coexist and develop under cultural
harmony.
1 Introduction
Morocco is a linguistically rich country with a variety of dialects and multiple
languages that play a key role in maintaining and enhancing the country’s intangible
cultural heritage. Morocco is a historically multilingual and multicultural nation
that has encountered different linguistic cultures since the beginning of the twentieth
century as a result of the French and Spanish colonization and recently globalization.
Despite multilingualism, Moroccans are largely loyal to their vernaculars (Moroccan
Arabic and Berber) as they constitute a core value of their Arabo-Islamic and Berber
cultural identity. The Moroccan speakers range from monolingual speakers of either
Moroccan Arabic or Berber, bilingual speakers of Arabic and Berber or Arabic and
French to multilingual speakers of Arabic, Berber, French, and Spanish/English.
A. Boudihaj (B ) · M. Sahli
Al Akhawayn University, Ifran, Morocco
e-mail: a.boudihaj@aui.ma
M. Sahli
e-mail: m.sahli@aui.ma
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
K. Raza et al. (eds.), Policy Development in TESOL and Multilingualism,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3603-5_6
65