PLURILINGUALISM AND THE STATUS OF FRENCH IN THE ALGERIAN PROFILE

Abstract

Today Algeria is known for its sociolinguistic diversity because there are many languages used by the Algerian speakers in their daily life. However, this diversity is still neglected by the Algerian authorities since they consider Arabic as the only official and national language of the country. In reality, the Algerians use classical Arabic, French, Algerian Arabic and Berber in different contexts and for different purposes. The contact between these languages triggers various phenomena such as code switching, bilingualism, diglossia and borrowing. This paper will provide a brief discussion of the history of Algeria with the successive invaders who ruled the country at different periods of time. It will also shed some light on the linguistic profile of Algeria showing the diversity of languages with a special focus on the French language which enjoys a prestigious place in the Algerian society. We will also have a look at the Arabisation policyundertaken by the Algerian authorities since the independence of the country. Finally the paper will then discuss the status of French after the independence and the domains in which it still retains a good place. To sum this abstract, we can say that the objective of thiswork will be to provide a general visionof the Algerian multilingualism within a sociolinguistic paradigm.