Controversy in Algeria over confusion between Arabic and French in the media

The Supreme Council of the Arabic Language in Algeria has expressed its interest in promoting the use of the Arabic language, in particular among media professionals, as opposed to the French language. 

The president of the Council, Saleh Belaid, hoped that the process of ‘Arabisation’ of the country would be completed by 2024. However, due to the spread of the internet, English has gradually infiltrated Algerian life, adding another aspect to the traditional linguistic problem between Arabic and French. 

University professor Eid Zoghlami said in a lecture on the reality of the Arabic language to students at the Faculty of Information at the University of Algiers that ‘the status of the Arabic language is linked to its status in society at large, as it has been exposed to changes and tensions since independence’. ‘I notice that the student does not control his access to university in any language, including Arabic, and this negatively affects the way he approaches his academic path,’ he added, as reported by Al-Arab. 

‘A large number of university master's students, for example, do not master the classical Arabic alphabet, and this is related to the environment, to Algerian society and even to the political class that prefers the French language,’ he says, who sees this as ‘an insult to the Arabic language, which is the official language of the state according to the constitution’.  

‘If the student is well educated and has mastered the Arabic language, he or she will not find this language outside the university. Therefore, the debate on this issue ends with the firm conviction that there is an undeclared policy of not promoting the Arabic language,’ he said.  

For his part, Mohieddine Amimour, former advisor to the Algerian president and former minister of culture, believes that local dialects in several Arab countries posed a major problem for them in attracting television programmes, which is why they decided to opt for French television programmes. On the other hand, the attempt to revive local Algerian dialects created a strong competition between Arabic and French on the one hand, and vulgar Arabic and colloquial Arabic on the other. 

As for education in Algeria, Amimour stressed that it is not possible to switch to Arabic in some scientific schools without Arabising its main references, indicating that this is an effort that concerns the League of Arab States. 

Journalists denounce the fact that some Arabised publishers compete to modify the Arabic language and mix it with French, including Latin words without justification in order to be in line with social networks, just as others use the names of administrative and service institutions in French letters in an Arabised form.  

On the other hand, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has mentioned the intention to integrate the English language into school curricula, opening a debate among Algerians about the French language and its place in the country's future.