“A gift from God,” is how one local characterized Moroccans’ multilingualism. Most of the Morccans I have met speak both Darija, the Moroccan Arabic dialect, as well as Standard Arabic and/or Classical Arabic, which is the language of the Quran. In addition, many people’s first language is Amazigh (also known as Berber) and most have learned at least some French as it was historically the language of instruction and continues to be required in both public and private schools. Today, many Moroccans are also proficient in English.
This reality has made wonder whether proficiency in a second language should be part of my conversations about 21st century skills. Will our American graduates be less competitive because they are unlikely to speak more than one language? Will technology save the day? Will everyone simply learn to speak English?
How would you - student, parent, teacher, administrator - feel about bilingual education, in which some classes are taught in another language?
