Sign In

Identifier

Event

Language

Presentation type

Topic it belongs to

Subtopic it belongs to

Title of the presentation (use both uppercase and lowercase letters)

Presentation abstract

An assimiliationist language policy was implemented in Algeria by the French shortly after that they invaded the country in 1830. In the name of “civilising mission”, Frenchification was undertaken in all sectors with special reference to education to transfer colonial beliefs to the local population. According to this tendency, French culture and language are “superior” and “contemporary” while the Algerian indigenous and linguistic heritage is “backward” and “outdated”, and therefore needed to be urgently eradicated. Despite the dwellers’ resistance, the French secular education came to substitute for the traditional system of the country. After independence in 1962, the Algerian authorities imposed a new language policy, but in the same “dictatorial” way the French did, in an attempt to restore the identity of the country. Since Islam and Quranic language are inseparable, it was assumed that Classical Arabic could guarantee political stability and unification of the population majority. So, it was recognised as the national and official language of the state. Arabisation was launched to diffuse Classical Arabic by de-frenchifying totally Algeria at all levels (Benrabah, 2002, 2007, 2014), a fact which however did not take place. The inherited French of 132 years of conquest was indeed reduced in use but did not disappear. Significant proportions of it are observed to be employed among the Algerian youth today in daily conversations, but in many times differently from the French themselves. Items such as, entrainage training, taxieur taxi driver, gaz cooker are commonly heard in the Algerian speech community but not in France. Are there other innovated constructions in French language among the Algerians? On the basis of long-term observation, this paper aims at identifying and analysing the new French linguistic structures as they are used in the Algerian context. Is new French emerging in this speech community?

Long abstract of your presentation

Keywords (use both uppercase and lowercase letters)

Main author information

Zohra Labed 4069
Scientific production

Co-authors information

Status:

Approved