Moroccans’ Attitudes towards Amazigh Language Teaching: Patterns and Perspectives

The goal of this study was to investigate Moroccans’ attitudes towards the incorporation of Amazigh into the educational system, and the extent to which self-reported ethnicity could potentially impact their attitudes towards the Amazigh teaching experience. The study was couched within a mixed-methods approach whereby data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. A sample of one hundred fifty-one informants were randomly selected from the region of Rabat-Sale on grounds of several social factors, including self-reported ethnicity, sex, age and mother tongue. Data analysis revealed that while the informants’ attitudes towards the Amazigh language are generally favorable; attitudes towards its incorporation into the Moroccan school system tended to significantly vary based on their self-reported ethnicity, i.e., Amazigh or Arab. The study calls for the horizontal and vertical generalization of the Amazigh teaching experience to reinforce its scope in the Moroccan educational system, and improve its social status among Moroccans.