Introduction
Morocco is a multilingual country where the official languages, as indicated in the constitution of 2011, are standard Arabic and Tamazight, while French is the nation's second language, pervading sectors of business, administration, diplomacy and higher education. English and Spanish are used as foreign languages in many contexts for different purposes and tasks (Ennaji, Reference Ennaji2009). Unlike French and Spanish, whose presence in the Moroccan linguistic situation is due to colonial policy in the 20th century, English does not ‘have a colonial legacy in Morocco’ (Buckner, Reference Buckner, Al-issa and Dahan2011: 213). With ‘strong demand for a lingua franca’ brought about by the media, economic incentives and globalization, the presence of English has consequently been furthered in Morocco ‘as a global language’ (Zouhir, Reference Zouhir2013: 275).
In particular, the higher education sector has exhibited a growing interest in embracing English, and the general educational policy adopted by decision-makers has appreciably contributed to its spread in Morocco (Sadiqi, Reference Sadiqi1991: 106). Recent endeavors to internationalize and improve the outcomes of tertiary education have been accompanied by calls to replace French with English as a medium of instruction (Belhiah & Abdelatif, Reference Belhiah and Abdelatif2016; Ben Haman, Reference Ben Haman2020; Kachoub & Hilgendorf, Reference Kachoub and Hilgendorf2019). One key aspect of this spread is that Moroccan universities have witnessed an increasing number of students enrolling in the English department (El Kirat & Laaraj, Reference El Kirat and Laaraj2016; Jebbour, Reference Jebbour2019). Moroccan scholars have ascribed this spread to the influence of the ideology of modernity on language attitudes (Chakrani, Reference Chakrani2013; Chakrani & Huang, Reference Chakrani and Huang2014), achieving socioeconomic goals (Buckner, Reference Buckner, Al-issa and Dahan2011; Jaafari, Reference Jaafari2019; Ouakrime, Reference Ouakrime2016), instrumental perspective (Marley, Reference Marley2004) and English language's lack of association with any colonial connotations for Moroccans (Ennaji, Reference Ennaji1991; Zouhir, Reference Zouhir2013). However, considering that most university students are young, it is important to examine other factors that might have been unaddressed by previous studies.
This article aims at examining students and professors’ perspectives and engagements with the English language. The concept of ‘language ontology’ is used throughout this paper to denote how a speaker either perceives or uses a particular language to construct a reality. In other words, it refers to the process by which a language is used as an analogue of another reality. Therefore, using a language entails a specific understanding of entities, morals, behaviours and lifestyles. While this may be contingent on individuals’ perspective, it remains interesting to investigate the extent to which a particular group of people share similar language ontology. The objective is not only to identify which factors underpin the current growing interest in English, but also to further clarify whether students and professors’ language ontologies are developed in alignment with national cultural frameworks.
By drawing on a number of group discussions and observations (inside and outside classrooms) conducted in different Moroccan universities, this paper makes the case for cultural factors in Moroccan English speakers’ language ontologies. These factors serve as clear testaments of (a) how these individuals, who might consider themselves to be cultural representatives of English, are not simultaneously keen on maintaining their identification with Moroccan culture; and (b) English is used as a deliberate projection of self-representation and disclosure that is constructed under the rubrics of desirable socio-cultural realities.
This paper recognizes that Moroccan youth's proclivity to learn English is driven by (a) the usual association of English language with high education, socio-economic privilege, and modernism whereas (b) Darija (the Moroccan dialect of Arabic), or one of the various forms of Tamazight that constitute Moroccans’ mother tongues, are identified with traditions, religion, non-modernity and conservatism. Accordingly, this paper considers that an important factor behind this recognized English expansion in Morocco is dissatisfaction with Moroccan culture and its characterizing elements and social dynamics. With exposure to the popular culture associated with English (Hilgendorf, Reference Hilgendorf2007), Moroccan youth may come to develop a particular understanding that their language and culture hinders their possibilities of leading similar lifestyles due to restrictions, beliefs, norms and moral standards. Such an assumption would often concurrently entail cultural submission to more modern, permissive, and liberal western values.
English, culture and society
The increased prominence of the English language as a form of global communication has expedited the worldwide diffusion and consumption of its often associated cultures (Baker, Reference Baker2009). This is a worldwide phenomenon that infiltrates all layers of society including the cultural fabric (see, e.g., Kuppens, Reference Kuppens2013; Low & Ao, Reference Low and Ao2018; Pennycook, Reference Pennycook2017; Schulzke, Reference Schulzke2014) and even local speech communities, e.g., ‘nativisation’ of some English words (Lee & Choe, Reference Lee and Choe2019: 8). However, this spread is not always perceived positively. English, in the current sociolinguistic conditions of unprecedented authority, is sometimes seen as ‘a language of fluidity and fixity . . . [a] language of imagined communities and refashioning identities’ (Pennycook, Reference Pennycook2006: 5–6). Some assumptions have supported that the spread of English may entail a threat to local languages and cultures (Pan & Seargeant, Reference Pan and Seargeant2012) through growing attitudes of westernization and detachment to local countries, traditions and even religions (Haq & Smadi, Reference Haq and Smadi1996).
Moroccan context
In the Moroccan context, there has been a power struggle between local and foreign languages (Boukous, Reference Boukous, Vigourous and Mufwene2009; Zouhir, Reference Zouhir2013). While Arabic, Darija and different varieties of Tamazight are perceived as the languages of local identity, cultural authenticity, and traditions (Marley, Reference Marley2004: 29), French and English are portrayed as high-prestige languages (Jaafari, Reference Jaafari2019: 128), which represent modernity and status-bearing significance (Bentahila, Reference Bentahila1983; Chakrani, Reference Chakrani and Bokamba2011; Chakrani & Huang, Reference Chakrani and Huang2014; Mouhssine, Reference Mouhssine1995). In recent years, the emergence of English as the second foreign language in Morocco has presented some competition to French by reducing the latter's linguistic authority. Such a transformation in Moroccan linguistic situation has given way to a ‘drastic reduction of the space of French’ (Zouhir, Reference Zouhir2013: 275) in numerous domains including education. This may, indeed, at some point result in English overtaking French in the long term (Marley, Reference Marley2004).
While English has been introduced in many fields in Morocco, it has specifically been viewed favorably by young people (Chakrani, Reference Chakrani2013). Recent statistics on the number of students enrolling to study English in Moroccan universities reveal a constant considerable increase while the number of students enrolling in French studies program has been continually decreasing; English has gained considerable popularity in recent years and it has become ‘the most favourable and important language (French being the second) among Moroccan students’ (Jebbour, Reference Jebbour2019: 7). Belhiah (Reference Belhiah, Belhiah, Zeddari, Amrous, Bahmad and Bejjit2020) investigated the motivations of 268 Moroccan university students for choosing English as a field of study. By adopting qualitative approaches, the researcher concluded that ten typologies accounted for students’ motivations: ‘(i) Language attitudes and beliefs, (ii) Cultural interest, (iii) Ideal L2 self, (iv) Instrumentality (v) International orientation, (vi) Language facility, (vii) Linguistic vitality, (viii) Social milieu, (ix) School Milieu, and (x) Multilingual orientation’ (p. 33). Chakrani (Reference Chakrani2013) compared the language attitudes of 454 university students from four colleges using a questionnaire and Matched Guise Test (MGT). By examining both overt and covert attitudes, findings revealed that students’ attitudes were affected by their tendency to embrace the ideology of modernity. Students’ perspectives emphasized that modernity and open-mindedness were closely associated with French and English, but were not ‘synonymous with the local languages of MA [Moroccan Arabic], SA [Standard Arabic], or Berber’ (433). It can be, thus, safely assumed that the linguistic dominance of French and increasingly English is further reinforced by ‘their exclusive attribution to a modern lifestyle’ (Chakrani, Reference Chakrani and Bokamba2011: 172).
Younger generations such as university students have often been shown to hold positive attitudes towards English in different contexts (Lin, Reference Lin2012; Menking, Reference Menking2015; Sung, Reference Sung2018). Young people also play a significant role in introducing English into their communities (Lee & Choe, Reference Lee and Choe2019: 2). Drawing on previous research, this paper endeavours to understand Moroccan university students’ rationale for their attitudes and whether they feel like a different person when speaking in English (Seilhamer, Reference Seilhamer2013).
The study
This paper is based on a qualitative study conducted at a major university in Kenitra, Morocco. A total of 32 participants took part in the study. 28 of the participants were undergraduates and master students (aged between 19 and 28), and four were professors, whose teaching experience in higher education ranged between one and 25 years. Students reported that they used English not only on campus but also sometimes in their daily lives and on social media. Also, all professors reported that they visited English-speaking countries regularly and had done some of their postgraduate studies either in the UK or in the US.
Data collection involved the use of focus group discussions, unstructured interviews, and classroom observations. The researcher used unstructured interviews and focus group discussions in order to (a) develop a deeper understanding of participants’ perception of a situation, and (b) modify questions according to participants’ responses and beliefs. Classroom observations allowed more insights into different topics and noticing any further attitudes not elicited during the interviews.
There were four group discussions conducted in the university library; each one involved seven students and lasted approximately 45 minutes. Individual interviews were used with professors and lasted 20 minutes. There were a total of ten classroom observations, which lasted for one hour and a half; two sessions with each professor. During the observations, a template was used to record any remarks and comments.
Interviews and group discussions were conducted in English. All interviews and group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis (Guest, MacQueen & Namey, Reference Guest, MacQueen and Namey2012) was used to code and group responses into recurring themes. Selected extracts from interviews and group discussion data have been included for illustration. Randomly assigned numbers are used to identify participants. S refers to a student and P to a professor.
Results and discussion
It is worth noting that most of the discussions were about the range of differences between Moroccan and Anglophone cultures. Based on the analysis of the data collected, there has been a conspicuous phrasing of dissatisfaction with Moroccan cultures and their inherent ontological features in participants’ discourses resulting in a deliberate acculturation process. Since most students’ opinions were based on the contrast between two cultures (local and foreign), their perspectives were accompanied by an idealization of the Western culture and lifestyle. For these students, English is a prerequisite for being seen as modern in Morocco (Chakrani, Reference Chakrani2013; Mouhssine, Reference Mouhssine1995).
The following two sections present the two main themes of the study's findings. The first section discusses students’ perceptions of their use of English and how it entails the construction of a different reality. The second section examines how English helps students in performing a modern identity which is associated with Americans or British.
Students’ language ontologies
During group discussion, most students indicated that the Moroccan ‘self’ and ‘personal identity’ were fundamentally different from their western (associated with English) counterpart. Moroccan culture and its perceptions of reality were presented as ‘incapable of modernity’, while those associated with English cultures were perceived as modern. Cultural deracination – ‘the erosion of belief in the ability of native culture and language to deal with the modern world’ (Hyde, Reference Hyde1994: 296) was also reported. Students stated:
Although I have never been there, I mean in the US; I feel like people there are receptive of differences. (S16)
I think the main difference between us and natives is that it would be an issue if you like . . . have an idea that is different from what all people believe. (S3)
Traditions are so restrictive, like we can't even challenge them. It is the 21st century. Everything is different now. (S22)
I live in another city which is small, so I commute every day; here things are a bit better, but I wish people could mind their business. (S15)
For students, reflecting the values, norms and behaviours represented by English native speakers implied an endeavour to compensate for the restrictions embedded in local cultures. Concepts of ‘freedom’, ‘living the dream’, and ‘owning one's fate’ were recurrent in most participants’ discourses. It can be inferred from students’ narratives that speaking English created a new sense of belonging to a more valued culture. In other words, speaking English signalized an ontological and intellectual distancing from local socio-cultural realities and thought commonalities. Several students indicated that English represented a mindset of ‘freedom and mind your own business’ (S21).
Many students and teachers at both secondary and tertiary levels from rich and middle-class families in Morocco do not identify culturally with dominant Moroccan culture. They used English as an instrument for participating in international elite culture, especially identifying culturally with American culture. For them, English symbolizes the absence of intellectual censorship, sexual freedom, and penchant for individualism. This portion of the Moroccan population accentuates the proposition that ‘language is used as a symbol for status and power, and therefore influences and shapes people's responses and values’ (Hyde, Reference Hyde1994: 299).
Some students perceived their parents as being immersed in the past, and thus they rejected the hegemonic non-modern group and its language. They were trying to be encapsulated in English-speaking culture (mostly the US and its popular culture) in terms of clothing, lifestyle, mindset, etc. This quote illustrates that view: ‘If I were in the US, I could easily invite my girlfriend to my place, but since I have Moroccan parents, I doubt I can do that one day’ (S5).
Other students exhibited hybrid cultural identities as they referred to some positive qualities in local cultures. Particularly, three students (S28, S14 and S4) were keen on confirming the value of local language, culture and traditions:
I understand that Anglophone people and culture may be more modern but we should not forget about our identity; we will never be them (S26)
I believe that we can speak English, and speak it very fluently, but still be Moroccan; we should not succumb to a foreign culture; we won't be respected (S14)
I don't like how those in other countries don't care about their parents and put them in care homes; I would never do that (S4)
It seems that some aspects of Western culture were not appreciated. Although students may have shown a positive attitude towards English, some elements of that culture were perceived as undesirable since they were the opposite to what they had learnt; e.g., the lack of family bonds. The giving up of some characteristics of one's culture does not necessarily mean complete endorsement of the norms and values of another cultural group. Some students seemed to be trying to balance the conflicting components of the local and foreign culture. They seemed to be establishing a bicultural self that interweaved elements from both cultures.
Many participants indicated that students majoring in English are perceived by other students to be more sexually open-minded, tolerant to differences and characterized by the inclination to reject Islam (the dominant religion in Morocco). Participants explained that:
You know, there are some assumptions about students in the English department. People usually say that there are a lot of beautiful girls there, and those guys with weird clothes and haircuts. (S10)
That's true, in my class, there are like more gays, lesbians and atheists than in any other department. (S11)
Participants further noted that students of English were the ones more inclined to wear earrings (men), tattoos and relatively indecent clothing according to the dominant Moroccan dressing standards. It is often said, as a joke, that ‘it is impossibly difficult to convince students majoring in English studies that they are Moroccans’ (S6). In this context, cultural misrecognition might be the cause of such perceptions. One important point to consider is that these assumptions could be construed on two different bases; students embraced another culture because they were studying English = they were studying English because they were embracing another culture.
Importantly, English was presented as a means of emphasizing a particular type of self-expression. In other words, speaking English displays a modern identity that is perceived by students to be laudable and alluring to the others given its prominence and cultural puissance. However, this is may not be the case for other students either in the same class or belonging to other departments. During an observation with P2, some students were making fun of a student who was talking and waving his hands in a way that was perceived as feminine. Also, as I asked P1 about the type of students in his class, he said that ‘some of the students are hardworking while the others are fully immersed in appearances and looking cool’. University professors, during classroom observation and interviews, expressed that using English (unlike Arabic) allowed them to discuss matters that were largely perceived as taboo and better left undiscussed (e.g., sexuality, religion, politics).
For them, English provided a disguise that enabled them to freely voice their opinions about critical issues without being criticized. P4 stated that ‘using Arabic to articulate some ideas would draw more criticism compared to articulating the same ideas in English’. One explanation for this behaviour would be that professors and their students had an additional linguistic resource that allowed them to discuss such topics without feeling embarrassed. This could also be indicative of how language affects our cognition since ‘language as a subsystem of culture transformatively interacts with cognition and how cognition at a cultural level is manifested in language’ (Sharifian, Reference Sharifian2011: ii).
Interestingly, P3 recounted an incident that had taken place 3 years earlier, which showed that some students were more attached to their local culture, language and religion than others:
In the first semester, there is this course about Greek and Christian Mythology; so, we have to provide some information about Greek gods and discuss Christianity. One day, a number of students came to me, among them were some girls wearing a headscarf and ‘Hijab’, and they were sceptical why we had this course. They were mentioning things about converting to other religions which I did not understand. In the end, I had to assure them it was nothing more than a course we have to teach. But I can say that the course of ‘gender studies’ is always controversial; always students debating about feminism, women and men and their rights. Some students are liberal while the others are not, and this happens every year (P3)
It is safe to assume that cultural contestation or assimilation are two possible outcomes of the current frameworks underpinning English language education in Morocco since ‘a pervasive ideology within ELT, characterized by the belief that ‘native-speaker’ teachers represent a ‘Western culture’ from which spring the ideals both of the English language and of English language teaching methodology’ (Holliday, Reference Holliday2006: 385). Moreover, these particular incidents demonstrate that individuals exhibit varying degrees of association with a particular culture since cultural globalization/glocalization is increasingly accepted as a relatively accurate characterization of socio-cultural realities in current times. Novel perceptions of culture and identity maintain that both culture and identity cannot be assumed to be strictly nation-wide and collective in terms of shared conception realities. Individuals are continuously oscillating between different cultures and identities and, thus, creating a personalized sense of cultural belonging and identity framing (Dervin, Reference Dervin and Jackson2012).
These findings may indicate that the cultural switch is further reinforced by linguistic choices. Another evidence of this assumption is that a lot of Moroccans have been using French before and after English started to spread. Therefore, a pertinent question is: If it was not English, would it be another language since students are driven by the willingness to substitute their culture with a more modern and popular one? However, this is not the case for all Moroccans. Some ethnic groups such as Amazigh have preserved their language and culture despite different waves of settlements and the spread of foreign languages.
English, sociocultural reality and self-image
English and local languages may have a different ontological understanding of reality. Using Arabic, for instance, may entail a particular outlook to life that might be seen as traditional and conservative to students; while using English may allow for a different set of values and lifestyle and, therefore, alter students’ perception of some realities. For instance, discussing ‘homosexuality or atheism in standard Arabic sounds so obnoxious’ while referring to ‘the same topics in English feels more comfortable’ (S3). These perceptions indicate that languages come with different ontologies regarding a wide range of topics. The cultural conceptualizations embedded in a specific language pertain to the ontological perceptions of life and death, body, humour, sexuality, religion, gender, and politics (Sharifian, Reference Sharifian2017a). Some languages are closely related to religion and conservatism while others denote liberty and individualism. However, this can only be applied to the young people we have analyzed since they are students in the English department, and their ontological perspective on English is more likely to be favourable. Having the same type of discussion with other groups of young people may yield different findings.
The disparities between Morocco and the developed western world in terms of economy, national status, and international reputation may prompt a feeling of inferiority. In multiple occasions, students implicitly noted that Moroccan culture may be characterized by cultural humility that does not level up to the current modern cultural manifestations. Based on observations in the classroom and campus, it can be inferred that students’ self-image and their interpretation of their own experience are not characteristic of their local society. For them, English seems to reflect desirable socio-cultural realities and ontologies. This particularly confirms not only how ‘language in social and psychological terms is, therefore, value-laden’ (Hyde, Reference Hyde1994: 299), but also that cultural cognition is transmitted through language and is instantiated in the content and use of language (Sharifian, Reference Sharifian2011). Since every language constructs and maintains a particular sociocultural reality (Marmaridou, Reference Marmaridou2000: 279), English is used as a social resource that allows students to live another reality.
By speaking English, students believe that they are living the first world in the third world and enjoying the privileges of North Americans. For them, English managed to create a different ontological understanding. They were ostensibly living another reality by speaking English and leading a similar lifestyle to Americans specifically. S7 stated that: ‘watching a lot of movies and series, you know, make you feel like you want to have that life’. S8 agreed and further noted that ‘I wanna live in the US someday; I have a friend who went there by the immigration lottery, and I already speak English, so I will blend in quite smoothly’. The feeling of dissatisfaction with local lifestyles, practices and values came as a reaction to the ‘visions of affluence, democracy and consumer lifestyles on television’ (Fairclough, Reference Fairclough2006: 87).
These self-projections are particularly meaningful for these students when they compare themselves to other individuals. In other words, students feel that ‘I speak English, therefore, I am’. They believe that speaking English makes them different from those who do not. It, thus, offers them a space for ‘becoming’ someone else or living another life. Since language accentuates certain realities, ontologies and epistemologies, students were using English as a meaning-making process, reality-creating (Alsagoff, Reference Alsagoff, Alsagoff, Mckay, Hu and Renandya2012).
Conclusion
This paper tried to account for the main factors behind university students’ choice of English and how they seemed to be encapsulated in a different culture associated with English; a language whose cultural logic is different from the Moroccan one. Based on the analysis of individuals’ discourses, it was concluded that the cultural grounding of the English language is a significant underlying factor in the spread of English in Morocco. While acquiring the linguistic forms, students simultaneously acquire the social and cultural knowledge associated with that language. Also, the cultural cognition of English is perceived with appreciation and likeability. Students’ desire to reflect modernism and liberal individualism meant a rupture with local traditions and values, which were not seen as neoteric, but rather as representing conservatism and collectivism. It appeared that both the willingness to study English and the ongoing process of studying English may sometimes entail a relative abandonment of one's cultural identity. This practice was sometimes underpinned by proclivities to experience the sociocultural conditions of English-speaking cultures. However, students may display positive attitudes towards English because it is not associated with colonialism as opposed to French which is the ex-colonial code (Chakrani & Huang, Reference Chakrani and Huang2014; Ennaji, Reference Ennaji2005; Sadiqi, Reference Sadiqi1991).
By embracing English linguistically and culturally, students appeared to be constructing an alternative subjectivity. English enabled them to have a novel cultural filter through which one's decisions, choices, epistemologies and perceptions were evaluated differently and could be either reinforced or depreciated. What is deemed as shameful or embarrassing in Moroccan culture could be acceptable in cultures associated with English. Moreover, by speaking English, students felt that they were living another reality without having to change their sociocultural context. For them, speaking English offered similar conditions and experiences to living in the US or UK. Such an attitude may be due to students’ exposure to popular culture or the type of teaching embraced by instructors that implies the need to speak and act like native speakers (R'boul, Reference R'boul2020). English language's cultural schemas and its beliefs, values and expectations of behaviour pertinent to different aspects and components of experience (Sharifian, Reference Sharifian2017b) were visible in English speakers’ language ontologies. These assumptions not only justify young people's interest in English in Morocco but also emphasize how language can manifest cultural conceptualizations of reality.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. M. Camino Bueno-Alastuey and this journal's reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. Also, I appreciate Dr. Abdelmjid Kettioui's input which has inspired some ideas in this paper.
HAMZA R'BOUL is a PhD candidate in the department of Humanities and Education Sciences at the Public University of Navarre. He is currently working on coloniality of language and inner, outer and expanding circle power relations. His research interests include politics of language education, language use, intercultural communication and intercultural education. Email: hamzarboul4@gmail.com
