ARABIC AND THE PRIMARY SCHOOL IN ALGERIA FROM MOTHER TONGUE TO SCHOOL TONGUE

Abstract

This work is primarily concerned with the sociolinguistic situation of the Algerian child in two different backgrounds; before entering school and also when reaching school age. In other terms; the present research work is an attempt at analyzing the Child’s linguistic behavior before and after he enters school. In the first chapter, we try to consider the importance of the Mother Tongue and the role it plays in the development of Algerian child’s language acquisition process. The first part of the first chapter shows the linguistic situation of the Algerian child within his immediate environment i.e., his family that is, the language acquisition stages he goes through. The second part is about the pre-school phase which is considered as part and parcel of the linguistic development of the child. The final part of the first chapter involves the linguistic situation in Algeria as a whole; for; it is also part of his language development. The second chapter is devoted to the linguistic behavior of the Algerian child inside school i.e., within the classroom. We speak about the Arabic language which is considered as the language of instruction as compared to the language(s) that is used in the formal setting; namely, the classroom. We try to give some illustrations to demonstrate this fact. The third chapter presents a questionnaire addressed to teachers at the primary school. The aim is to show their attitudes towards language usage(s) inside the classroom. The analysis of the questionnaire allows for a better understanding of the linguistic behavior of the teachers as well as the learners under the formal setting which is the classroom.