Attitudes Towards Amazigh Language Teaching in the Tagart Area: Current State and Future Prospects

Abstract

This paper investigates the status of Amazigh language teaching (ALT) in Tagart area, located in the High Atlas Mountain, and the attitudes of the members of the community towards it. The study seeks to determine the extent to which the participants’ age groups affect their attitudes. It also tries to determine the effect of the rural context on the community’s perceptions of the teaching of Amazigh. Three main questions are addressed, namely (i) What is the status of Amazigh language teaching in the Tagart area? (ii) what attitudes does the Tagart community hold towards Amazigh language teaching? (iii) to what extent do the participants’ age and the rural context condition their attitudes? And (iv) what are the future prospects for Amazigh language in the Tagart community? To answer these questions, a qualitative approach was adopted. The data was collected via participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 70 informants from sixteen families, representing four different age groups. The thematic analysis of the data revealed that Amazigh is not being taught in the Tagart schools. It also showed that Amazigh language teaching (ALT) is highly valued by the community members. The study calls for prioritizing the Amazigh homeland when it comes to the implementation of ALT.

Keywords

• Amazigh teaching, language attitudes, Tagart community, rural context, Morocco.