Tamazight language (commonly known as Berber) has been always a subject of systemic governmental censure in media, scholarship, and even the public discourse in several North African nations. While language contraction has become unenviable status, preservation efforts continue to develop using various methods and models. Rural Tamazight women play a pivotal role in the maintenance and revitalization work of the language, but in locally-specific ways that are grounded in gendered laboring processes and language ideologies (Hoffman 2006). Subsequently, Tamazight rural women dwelling in the countryside remain monolingual while men are often perceived as unfit to farm and more suited for 'clean city work" (Huffman 2006), which enhances their bilingual practices. By repelling Arabic language influence, the dominant language in North Africa, Tamazight rural women face very limited access to resources. Not only that but also they are classified as "illiterate" including those who know how to read and write in Tamazight given only Arabic is considered the language of literacy. It was not until the last two decades that some organizations realized the criticality of addressing the literacy and illiteracy issues of those women.
The High Atlas Foundation (HAF), a U.S.-Moroccan NGO focusing on participatory sustainable development projects in Morocco is an example of an entity that has been working on implementing a participatory educational program to help expand those women's language abilities. Using interview data with four teachers in the HAF program and four enrolled women along with interpretive academic literature relating to social justice (Hudely & Flores 2022), socio-cultural theories (Vygotsky 1997), and minority language learning and understandings frameworks this study aims to evaluate the impact of the participatory educational modal on the improvement of Tamazight women's language bilingual practices. The study reveals that indigenous Tamazight rural women have benefited from the participatory program by learning Arabic while provided with the preconditions for successful reconfiguration of their Tamazight language repertoire.
The study suggests that teaching programs that validate minority languages in North Africa are necessary in the development and implementation processes of teaching policy intended to address issues of equity and social justice and avoid the replication of social order and historical injustices against Tamazight language speakers. Besides, in order to reduce language gendered practices that allow men to access literacy and bilingualism while delimiting monolingual women's resources, appropriate assessment tools should be incorporated into participatory educational programs. The study finishes by suggesting new directions for future research on educational models that will simultaneously serve to maintain Tamazight and enhance women's access to systems upheld by powerful groups.
Bibliography (some)
Charity Hudley, A., & Flores, N. (2022). Social justice in applied linguistics: Not a conclusion, but a way forward. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 42, 144-154
Corson, D. (1993). Language, minority education, and gender: Linking social justice and power (Vol. 6). Multilingual Matters.
Hoffman, K. E. (2006). Berber language ideologies, maintenance, and contraction: Gendered variation in the indigenous margins of Morocco. Language and Communication, 26(2), 144-167.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). Educational Psychology. Florida: St. Lucie Press.
