In this chapter we will examine the role and status of the French language in the Maghreb today, beginning with a brief historical overview to explain the background to this complex issue of language contact. It seems clear that despite an Arabization policy aiming to promote Arabic and reduce the role of French, or even eliminate it completely from the region, the French language continues to play a key role in the three countries of the Maghreb. Any conclusions, however, can only be provisional, as language contact situations are constantly evolving, and even as we complete this chapter new developments will be occurring.
This article outlines a research project conducted in Perpignan in 1988. The object of this project was to discover and describe the varieties of language present in the town, patterns of language use and language attitudes among inhabitants. The research took the form of a questionnaire survey, used with a representative sample of the population. The outline of the methodology and fieldwork of the project is followed by an assessment of the three major minority languages encountered, Catalan, Castilian and Arabic. This looks at the current language contact situations, in terms of individual and societal bilingualism, and the possibilities of maintenance or shift of the three languages in the future, taking into account the attitudes of informants towards their own and other minority languages.
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