Berber unrest in Algeria: lessons for language policy

Many states face a conflict between the desire of cultural groups to maintain their ethnic identity, & hence their native lang, & the need for linguistic unification. The Algerian lang situation is a paradigm case. Not only are there tensions between French, the colonial lang, & the new national lang Arabic, but also between classical & colloq Arabic, & Arabic & the various dialects of Berber spoken by the masses. Algerian lang policy is analyzed, focusing on the following factors: (1) the place of French, (2) the problem of identifying a national lang, (3) the choice of a lang of government & administration, (4) the effect of Arabization on science pedagogy, (5) the status of regional dialects & the impact of rapid Arabization on local cultural diversity, & (6) the role of implementation speed in political, social, & economic adjustment to the lang policy. Certain lessons that can be learned from the Algerian experience are discussed. 28 References. P. Farrell