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The subjects dealt with in this issue reflect faithfully
the sociolinguistic changes that postcolonial Maghreb
has undergone as a result of the effects of such
important factors as the spread of education,
Arabization, language diversity and modernity. There is
no article on Mauritania and Libya simply because I
could not get any response from the sociolinguists of
these countries.
This IJSL issue on the Maghreb aims primarily at studying and
presenting the perspectives of a linguistic community
which has its own sociolinguistic and sociocultural
features and concerns. I admit that any one perspective
could be expanded into a book. It is hoped that this
issue will stimulate such efforts and will further both
systematic inquiry and scientific research on the
Maghreb.
Most of the articles in this issue suggest directly or
indirectly that none of the sociolinguistic problems –
Arabization, Arabic-French bilingualism, etc. – can find
a real solution unless there is an awareness, on the
part of the language planners and people at large, of
the different functions and domains of the existing
languages in the Maghreb. Without this understanding,
multilingualism may be looked upon as a handicap rather
than as a source of enrichment. |