Beyond Gender: Is English becoming exclusive in Morocco? Abdelmajid Bouziane Faculty of Letters and Humanities Ben Msik Casablanca MATE 33rd Annual Conference Marrakech 28-31 Jabuary 2013
1. MATE 33rd Annual Conference Marrakech 28-31 Jabuary 2013
Beyond Gender: Is Englishbecoming exclusive in Morocco? Abdelmajid
Bouziane Faculty of Letters and Humanities Ben Msik Casablanca
2. Outline Prospects related to English in Morocco State-of-the
art of English provisions in Morocco The English divide
3. Prospects The Financial Times specialist division FDI
Intelligence named Morocco the African Country of the Future
2011/12 due to its ongoing success in attracting foreign direct
investment (FDI). The average salary gap between non-English
speakers and English speakers is estimated at around 12% in Morocco
85% of Moroccans consider speaking English beneficial for the
country (Euromonitor reprt 2012: 24-25)
4. Which languages do we speak in Morocco?
5. How many speak English in Morocco?
6. Why do Moroccans learn English?
7. Sectors that demand English
8. Opportunities for development?Big projects in Morocco:
Nearshoring and offshoring (50,000 jobs in call centres; aeronautic
industry, IT services, ) Digital Morocco 2013 (e-gov, e-commerce,
10,000 engineers a year, ) Plan Azur (20M tourists by 2020) Plan
Maroc vert: agriculture to increase by 2.5 by 2020 The National
Initiative for Human Development (INDH) Environment: renewed energy
Education: literacy, languages, GENIE, quality,
9. English provisions in private / public sectors
10. ELT status in public institutions Starting English earlier
(back to 70s, shrinking) Oral in the Bac exams abolished
Preformation classes abolished Group hours abolished Number of
hours of English reduced Number of supervisors critically reduced
Pre-service training radically changed (less input) we must shift
our focus from knowledge to skills --shifting the focus from what
students know to what students know how to do with their English
(Buckner, 2008: 116)
11. English in Higher education and media Access to Departments
of English restricted Large size classes in HE (early retirement
DVD-) Most input in the departments of English related to
literature, linguistics, culture, English in schools of humanities
replaced with French English provisions in vocational training and
science/engineering/management schools need more structuring News
in English on TV abolished Learning English on TV abolished
(Aloula) Newspapers and journals stopped publishing
12. Is enthusiasm enough? the language of international
communication and scientific and technological development is, and
will remain for a long time, English. (Benyakhlef, 1987: 5) the
importance of English not only as a language of science and
technology but also that of economics, and trade on the whole, the
language of culture in the world. (Alaoui Mdaghri, 1994: 4) This
[the spread of English and its use in different international and
regional gatherings] all means that we Moroccans, whether we are in
government, in business, or simply as individuals, need to know
English, hence the importance of the role of your association
[addressing MATE members]. the motto for scientists is no longer
Publish or Perish but rather Use English or Perish. (Guedira, 1998:
6) English is no longer the language of the British [referring to
its native speakers] like French is the language of the French or
Japanese of the Japanese; rather, English is the language of
everyone (all). (Aourid, 2000: 6)
13. Spread of English in Morocco (1) Private schools (less than
10% of pupils) Through ICT (the Net), the media (social networks
=> hyper incidental learning!) Babysitters from Asia hired by
wealthy Moroccan families
14. Spread of English in Morocco (2)Places for elites:
proliferation of language centres (including in small towns),
primary thru high schools with English as a medium of instruction
(American and British schools, 65% are Moroccan pupils), HE
institutions with subjects provided in English (BAs, BScs, MAs,
MBAs sometimes at exorbitant fees!), increasing number of graduates
from English-speaking countriesAll the above address issues related
to development in Morocco: is this equal opportunity?
15. Same Same opportunities
16. Takeaway message! Unless we reduce the Englishdivide
now,
17. References MATE Proceedings (1987, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2008)
Bouziane, A. (in press) English Language Profile: Morocco. Report
written for the British Council Ramaswami, S., Sarraf, I., Haydon,
J. (2012) The Benefits of the English Language for Individuals and
Societies: Quantitative Indicators from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq,
Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen. Euromonitor
International. Available on:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/benefi
ts-english-language-individuals-societies-quantitative-
indicators-algeria-egypt
18. Thank you [email protected]
www.teachingenglish.org.uk/eltecs click2learn.ma
www.flbenmsik.ma
