University Science Students’ Views and Attitudes Towards the Educational Language Policies and the Status of Languages in Higher Education in Morocco

Abstract

Moroccan education has been subject to frequent reforms over the last decades. Regardless of what has been achieved in this respect, the question of language remains a stumbling block that reform efforts have been hitting against (Laaraj, 2020). While Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Amazigh are the official languages of Morocco, foreign languages, namely French and English, are highly valued. On the one side, French is restored as the medium of instruction of scientific subjects and the language required on the job market. On the other side, under the impact of globalisation, English is gaining grounds as the language of scientific and technical studies and scientific research. This study examines Moroccan language and educational policies within the context of globalization and the internationalization of higher education in Morocco. Its main objective is to determine the role and status of official and foreign languages in the Moroccan education system through the students’ lens and perspectives. The study adopts a mixed approach, and uses both the questionnaire and interview to elicit the university students’ views and attitudes and how they perceive the spread of foreign languages compared to the official national languages. The study addresses three main questions, namely (i) what are the students’ views and attitudes towards the Moroccan educational policy and the languages in use in Higher Education? (ii) What are the languages students value most and think they will have a better impact on their future? And why? And (iii) What are their views about the impact of foreign languages on their national and official languages? The study showed that revealed that students are discontent about the language policy in force. Around three quarters of the questioned students report they prefer English as a language of instruction and more than half the participants believe that the promotion of foreign languages in education has no direct impact on the national languages. In the main, students obviously do no approve of the current language policy and suggest the consideration of pragmatic parameters in language choice. This finding shows how crucial is language in students’ knowledge gaining and how concerning it is in their academic and professional endeavour eventually. The ultimate goal of the present research is to shed the light on the specific point of language policy and weigh the significance of instruction languages in the aspired education reform

Keywords

• language policy
• official languages
• foreign languages
• Moroccan education system
• internationalisation