Attitudes towards Diglossia in an Algerian Educational Context: An Investigation of the Primary Level in Tlemcen

Abstract

Since diglossia has an immense impact on formal instruction, the present paper aims to detect teachers’ as well as pupils’ attitudes towards the forms of Arabic at play, Modern Standard Arabic on the one hand and Algerian Arabic on the other. To achieve the aims of this study, and try to find an answer as to the way teachers and learners react to Modern Standard Arabic and Algerian Arabic in attitudinal terms inside the school context, two instruments were utilized to collect data. First, a questionnaire was administered to a sample consisting of 12 teachers and then, the matched-guise technique was designed to 72 pupils from two different primary schools. Based on both a quantitative and qualitative approaches, the findings of this empirical study reveal that both teachers and pupils display positive attitudes towards Modern Standard Arabic since it is granted an outstanding predominance and prestige in the community, especially because of its tight association with the Qur’an. However, the findings also reveal that pre-school grade pupils hold a less positive attitude towards Modern Standard Arabic and favour Algerian Arabic instead.