Plurilingualism and Language Policy: The case of Algeria

Abstract

The present article will reveal the complexity observed on the national, institutional and individual levels to bring to satisfaction the language policy, known as the Arabization policy; the Algerian government has developed since independence. This policy which seeks to promote and generalize the Arabic language to all domains of use has been trapped within the challenge of global development. In fact, the importance and urgency attached to industrialization and modernism has cooled off the strong political enthusiasm for Arabization. The policy has been implemented in a de-facto plurilingual tendency for academic and professional purposes. As a process, it has evolved in the least scientific and technological disciplines and in the least demanding academic levels (the levels of education). In addition to French which is seen as the vehicle for technology, English is joining the sociolinguistic scene. The Algerian linguistic landscape displays strongly this tendency and calls for the Arabic language management along the evolving plurilingual situation.