By Hicham Zerhouni
Chicago - This article will not go into priorities: Arabic and Tamazight (Berber) are the official languages of Morocco, Tamazight language should be taught to all Moroccans as a national language with multiple dialects. We will devote this article to talk about Morocco’s linguistic future. Should Morocco keep French or adopt English as a second language?
Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of talk in the Moroccan media about educational reform. In particular, the problem of language, this is mainly associated with identity and culture, since language is one of their key components. If we filter the media hype about this topic, we can see there has not been much discussion in the influence circles about this extremely important topic from many stakeholders, either relunctantly or arrongantly; which is extremely dangerous. - We are in the the process of making a fateful decision that will affect the future of Morocco for years to come without opening a discussion involving all key stakeholders.
The first revealed data about the Supreme Educational Council’s (SEC) report, which will be submitted to King Mohammed VI in a matter of weeks, shows a sudden shift from the Committee’s recommendations, which was in charge of coordinating and reporting on the language of instruction at all levels. The bulk of the initial recommendations called for the need to adopt English as the first foreign language instead of French. This was before the leaked surprise a few days ago, that the “Francophone Lobby in Morocco,” who have loyalists in the team editing of the final report ignored this vital recommendation which happened to be extremelry important for the future of Morocco and the emerging generations scientifically, economically and politically.
According to a poll result conducted by the electronic newspaper Hespress where 41,526 participated, 85.98% of respondents said that English should replace French in Morocco. These figures, alongside the strong signals from senior Moroccan government officials such as the Moroccan Prime Minister, Mr. Abdelillah Benkirane, and the Moroccan Minister of Higher Education Mr. Lahcen Daoudi as well as many Moroccan business leaders, such as by Mr. Abdeslam Ahizoune, Chairman and CEO of Maroc Telecom, during the presentation of the company's 2014 annual report last February where he emphasized on the importance of the English language and "called on those present to focus on the English language." He also stressed that "[he] urges [his] children to learn it." All of these indicators lead us to beleive the importance of English for the future of Morocco as forcasted by Morocco’s political figures, business leaders and a lot of academics and those who are interested with education in particular, and the future of Morocco in general.
All these indicators call on us to have an open discussion about the future of Morocco. This is a crucial topic that will impact the Moroccan culture, identity as well as Morocco’ strategic positioning politically, economically, and scientifically. If we pass this historical test, we can declare that our generation has achieved its promised revolution in completing Morocco’s independance by freeing our nation from the French linguistic protectorate and cultural trusteeship imposed on Morocco from its historic colonial power. Now the question: Why English?
Politically
English will give Morocco a strategically prestigious position on the global scene. Politically, we see that the balance of global powers is orbiting around English speaking countries; UN Security Council, for example, (America, U.K) and even those emerging international powers that Morocco is strategically trying to align with (China, Russia), adopt English as their second language and have nothing to do with "the language of Molière.” Additionally, most politically and economically vital international institutions are located either in Washington D.C. or New York (the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund).
Adopting English in Morocco will enable emeging Moroccan leaders to broadly understand the Anglo-Saxon culture that seems to be in charge of the international political scene. This will obviously translate into a better delivery of Morocco’s fatefule messages on key issues in a more accurate, effective and sophisticated manners. Considering cultural-understanding of key decision-makers of international politics - who are either Anglosaxons or have assimilated well to that culture as a prequisite to access the halls of world international politics - is key to success in international politics and becoming influential.
Economically
Thanks to the enormous human resources and capacity of Moroccans to learn languages quickly, Morocco will be able to quickly attract multinational corporations wishing to invest abroad, but prefer English-speaking destinations for easy communication and a broader understanding of Anglophone culture. From this perspective, we can see that some neighboring countries (such as Turkey and Egypt) attract more investors than Morocco and often, English is the last persuasion card if the investment perks and incentives are comparable between a French-speaking country and a country where English is the second language.
Additonally, the gradual shift to English would inevitably lead to gradually adopt a “love-of-work culture” which comes from the American culture that values work and productivity. Unlike Francophone culture that became synonymous for “Joie-de-vivre” which is becoming a threat to Francophone countries in general. In addition, English will open new horizons for Moroccan investors and businessmen to have a bigger impact on global markets; especially if they master the English language, such as their mastery and proficiency of the French.
Scientifically
Because it is the language of innovation and world sciences, the bulk of valuable research across disciplines is published in English. It usually wouldn’t get translated into French and other languages until years later, unless entities such as the EU or countries such as France or Canada translated them. Otherwise they never find their ways to Moroccan universities due to the lack of linguistic accees that Moroccan students and Moroccan university professors have when it comes to English. This delay in access to information disrupts the development of scientific reseach in Morocco, inhibits innovation and keeps Morocco under the “linguistic” French Protectorate.
Adopting English as a Second Language ESL, will enable Moroccan universities to establish genuine and meaningful partnerships with their global counterparts, whether in America, England or in countries that use English as their second language. This will empower our students and offer them the opportunity to experience first-hand in major international universities, be parts of study expeditions, and take full advantage of what global academia has to offer. It will also elevate us from the quagmire of the linguistic trusteeship imposed on Morocco by France since the beginning of twentieth century to a linguistic independence and an openness to embrace global opportunities.
Despite the fact the those in charge are well-aware of the importance of the English language to the future of Morocco as a tool to access global markets smoothly, the Francophone Lobby that controls key vital councils such as what happened with the SEC is still hampering the process of reform in Morocco and insisting that Morocco does not acheive its complete independence - Linguistic that is - by freely choosing a sound guarantee for the future of our upcoming Moroccan generation.
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