Elementary Teachers’ Attitudes towards Teaching of Tamazight Language in Moroccan Elementary Schools

Abstract

Morocco is a multilingual country with rich antiquity. Seemingly, the sociolinguistic status quo in Morocco is marked by its diverse tongues, which are in regular contact. Given this assortment and variety in its linguistic landscape, Morocco opted for teaching Tamazight language in some of its elementary schools since 2003. The current paper brings to the forepart the status of Tamazight in Moroccan elementary schools to know the attitudes of Moroccan elementary teachers towards the teaching of Tamazight in Moroccan Elementary Schools. This study is based on structured interviews targeting Moroccan elementary teachers in different districts of Morocco, using content analysis as the primary method to process the data of this study. In undertaking the aim of this study, this paper addresses the following research questions: (i) what is the status of Tamazight in Moroccan schools? (ii) What is the nature of Moroccan teachers’ attitudes towards Tamazight in Moroccan elementary schools? To see whether Moroccan elementary teachers clutch favourable or unfavourable attitudes towards the teaching of Tamazight in Moroccan elementary schools and to what extent those teachers are ready for this change that touches upon the instructive Moroccan context. The findings of this study highlight that Moroccan elementary teachers hold positive and strong attitudes toward Tamazight and its use in Moroccan elementary schools. Participants stated that Tamazight witnessed a period of high-spiritedness and vivacity.