The Language Planning Situation in Algeria

AbstractThis monograph describes the language planning situation in Algeria. It uses a historical perspective to understand the processes involved in language change, language policies and language-in-education practices of the polity. The monograph is divided into six parts. The first one presents a background on the country and the people to show its geographical and ethnic diversity on which linguistic plurality is grounded. The second part deals with the evolution of the economic situation—from centralised economic nationalism to market economy—and its repercussion on the issues mentioned above. The third part examines the language profile of Algeria and the diachronic evolution that led to it. Language policy and planning, described in the fourth part, considers, first, the unilingual demand of the nationalist period (in favour of Arabisation), then, the new language policy which promotes multilingualism within a democratising structure. The fifth part examines planned language spread and use via language-in-education, the milieu and the media in its first section, and unplanned developments in its second section. The final part of the monograph focuses on future prospects against the background of past practices and Algeria's new language policy. It argues that Arabisation led to crises and that recent policy decisions may produce changes that are more in tune with the country's linguistic situation.Keywords: AlgeriaArabicArabisationbilingualismdiglossiaFrenchmultilingualismTamazight