Kenitra - Two years ago, Muhammed Hbida, a professor of history and anthropology and a researcher at Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra said “What is brought up for discussion lately about Arabic and… [the] call [for] adopting Darija as an academic language (for writing and learning purposes), does not need sharp reactions but rather calm discussions.” Professor Hbida continued, “This issue recalls the debate on Latin which lost its social status and role [of] local [language] varieties during the Renaissance in different parts of Europe. But these varieties had regained their status amongst vital languages thanks to the considerable efforts of linguists who established their rules. As such, they were imposed on people and universities.”
Logical thinking on this matter allows for a balanced outlook on this cultural, cognitive, linguistic, social, and political conundrum in order to understand its complex tie to issues with religion and the modern economy. Hbida ruminated: “Can we successfully achieve such dynamic?” and replied to his own question, stating, “no one can possibly predict that…this accurate answer may carry a sensitiveness that requires more caution, consulting, and academic dialogue far from intellectual intolerance and ignorance.”
In an article for Hespress Newspaper, Bensalem Hamich, a Moroccan thinker and novelist, cynically criticized this so-called “Pro-Noureddin Ayouch” initiative, saying: “N. Ayouch’s call for adopting Darija resembles…Lyauté’s plan,” warning about the harm that may be caused to our linguistic situation or structure in light of previous political and cultural missteps. Many Moroccans are familiar with Lyauté’s famous suggestions, and this is a matter to be discussed in the upcoming days. The point at hand today is Hamich’s firm expression that language is an academic matter that should be treated by specialists and linguists alone.
In a response to Noureddin Ayouch and his fellows, Hamich agreed with Friedrich Nietzsche’s quote stating, “It is good to express a matter in two ways simultaneously so as to give it both a right foot and a left. Truth can stand on one leg, to be sure; but with two it can walk and get about.” Hamich went on to blame Abdullah Al-Aroui, the Moroccan thinker, for this debate and the controversy surrounding it. Two points are key in this debate, the first being that Ayouch was interviewed on a very sensitive academic issue in Moroccan Arabic, or Darija, and second, that Ayouch is a businessman who has no formal academic training in linguistics and philosophy.
Some scholars place bets on Darija becoming an academic language over Modern Standard Arabic perhaps to gain educational reforms and overcome the problems in unsolved educational issues. Indeed, poor education in the kingdom has led to violence, huge drop out rates, and overall low educational attainment.
Ayouch went on: “Democratic and active communities frame their policies on realism and clarity so that every individual would know his duties, possibilities, and challenges, [and] would also be aware of the reality with all of its details and varieties.” These issues are deeply and expressly involved in this debate, far from the flagrant speeches and idle talk.
Language planning is a cognitive and technical feature of society and cannot be decided on without deep research by trained academic minds. Otherwise, this matter may dissolve into emotion-fueled speculation.
I am not in a position to discuss the issue of the academic status of Darija and choose to leave this to the language experts and scholars. What we see in this case is that we cannot talk about educational reform in the absence of a real cultural project that promotes wise and mature communal practices and creates a socio-cultural and educational advantage for Moroccan schools to work more effectively. Such cultural projects need a political will; frankly, it needs a word from the King, a word that would radically change everything.
The necessity for reform that the minister and educational actors are discussing are rife with hypocritical phrasing. What most of people are discussing regarding language education in our schools is no more than speculation. However, what Noureddin Ayouch’s followers are involved in is truly a shame.
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