Suchergebnisse

This article sets out to explore the historical development of educational provision in modem Algeria. It argues that despite the country's formal political independence, and despite the authorities' attempts to celebrate national identity, Algeria is still characterised by the wholesale adoption of European educational theories, policies and practices, even though these fail to connect with indigenous realities and needs. The article considers the tensions between fundamentalism on the one hand, and westernisation on the other, claiming that both positions fail to respond to the question of Algerian identity and to the development of an effective educational system that reflects that identity. ; peer-reviewed

In Algeria, the educational system, as much as the use of languages (foreign and national) are the preserve of politicians. Thus, these thorny domains are rarely dealt with in a way that avoids increasing the level of sensitivity about them, leading to a deepening social fracture. If the debates, more often than not, verge on partisanship rather than objectivity, it is because of the scramble for power between French- and Arabic-speaking intellectual communities. Politics rules even when the concern is that of the technicians or the experts in education or didactics. In a situation where the French language has lost much of its ground in the sociocultural and educational environments of the country, the introduction of English is being heralded as the magic solution to all possible ills-including economic, technological and educational ones. The whole process is being implemented with an immediate result: the popular vernaculars are outlawed, French is being compartmentalised in domains which are decreasing in number, while foreign languages are being called upon to supposedly help Arabic come to terms with the demands of a globalised and technological world. Language policy is not planned according to objective and realistic criteria. It is mostly the outcome of individual or group political take-over. The educational system is also taken hostage by jingoistic attitudes expressed in hasty and unrealistic educational reforms. This is no less the case of English teaching and its early introduction in the primary level, a roundabout way to end the influence of French inside and outside the school system. ; peer-reviewed