The Teaching of Arabic in French Algeria and Contemporary France

This article examines the history of the teaching of Arabicin colonial Algeria as a means of clarifying the contemporarydebate on language policy in the French education system. Untilnow this history has only been explored in the limited contextof post-Independence Algeria and in a rather simplistic fashion,which suggests that the colonial authorities conducted a hostilecampaign against the Arab language. In fact, as will be seen,the situation was far more complex, with a much more sympatheticapproach being adopted than one might expect. However, therewere various forms of Arabic to take into account and attitudeswere in a constant state of flux throughout the colonial period.