Will Algeria (and can it) replace English with French?

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Three months before the start of the school year, on June 19, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Debon has ordered Introduction of English in primary cycle from next year. Was the decision well thought out or arbitrary? The debate has divided Algerians and continues to evoke reactions of incomprehension and, above all, concern among some proponents of Molière in a country with a long French-speaking tradition.

The announcement renews a highly sensitive and passionate debate on languages ​​in Algeria, a society that has been experiencing a kind of identity withdrawal since the end of the February 22, 2022 protest movement. This is reflected in the intensity of ideological and ethnic divisions, especially in social networks.

Two questions emerge as leitmotifs from this surprise announcement. First: Are there pedagogical mechanisms to ensure English is taught in such a short period of time in Algeria? Second: Will it affect French in the school curriculum?

Recruitment with a vengeance

On the first question, let us say that the government has won the race to produce a million and a half copies of a new textbook for the third year of primary school within two months. and distribute it throughout the national territory.

Even better, he had a record of hiring and training around 5,000 contract teachers. Since the first week of August, nearly 60,000 applicants have registered, the ministry said.

A New Textbook for Third Year Primary School Students. | Photo credit: Musa Acher

On September 7, the Minister of National Education, Abdelhakim Belabed, said Everything is ready to take over the teaching of English as planned, while insisting on recalling – now traditionally – the President’s instructions that his department used.

A precursor, it is only the introduction of a second foreign language in the primary cycle. But knowing the context in which it was decided, we wonder if it was not intended, in the long run, to replace the French language and thereby gradually cut itself off from Francophonie and French culture.

Anti-French sentiment

The feeling, shared by a certain number of local observers, is that the authority in the legal quest appears to be accommodating a powerful anti-French sentiment in society, where calls to replace French with English in teaching in public life have never been stronger than in recent years. In fact, the authorities had already begun to impose English, especially in the letters and signs of the military and some ministries, including, first, higher education.

The factor that seriously accelerated this “devaluation” process and the emergence of this ideological current was undoubtedly the sudden stiffening of Franco-Algerian relations after President Emmanuel Macron’s famous hardline declarations. “Politico-military system» AlgerianIn October 2021.

This is why many speakers accuse the government of wanting to impose a political choice that is detrimental to the educational future of millions of students. The latter will, from this year, learn four languages: Arabic, French, Damascene and English.

“The Impossible Equation”

Academics, including proponents of Arabization, are highly skeptical of this government commitment. Education and Educational Psychologist Malika Grefo He asks himself: “KWhich English do we want to teach our children, Tourist English or Literary English?» From a pedagogical point of view, he also considers that a student who is not fluent in Arabic (Algerian, of course) cannot assimilate English.

Ahmed Tessa Talks to him about “An impossible equation» Primary school students should be taught four languages ​​simultaneously. For his part, linguist Abtereszak Dourari believes that introducing English will not pose a problem. “This is not an ideological move.”.

In the pro-English camp, influencer Said Benzedira takes President Debon’s argument that English “The Universal language» And only the French one “The ravages of war» (Expression popularized by the author Yasin asked) But the exiled videographer from London doubts the Algerian government’s ability to take on such a challenge. Another Arab influence, Mustafa Bunif, had anticipated the head of state’s decision. By calling him in 1^R June English must be accepted in primary cycle “Reduce the number of hours of French language”.

Questioned by Slate, the pedagogue and sociologist Nasser Djabi writes that in five languages ​​(the four mentioned above, in addition to colloquial Arabic) “An Algerian child can finish his primary cycle without actually mastering any language». At another level, the researcher emphasizes that “Teaching all these languages ​​would be very expensive for the state”. Besides, according to him, the results of such a policy would appear only after generations.

“All this assumes that the officially announced approach is serious and does not fall within the framework of the traditional quarrel with the French side, which gives great interest to the question of language in its relations with Algeria. In the rest of the world”Our interlocutor warns.

On the French side, if no official reaction to the matter was made public, voices began to rise to express a certain disgust. An inscription on Emmanuel Macron’s desk during a visit to the Algerian presidential palace on August 26 reacted to the exclusion of French. “pResidence of the Republic» instead “pResidence of the Republic», Xavier Triancourt, former ambassador of France to Algeria, said: “I am not surprised, but I am shocked that Algeria would do something like this during the visit of a French president», American site Politico reports. It’s a safe bet that Americans were delighted.