Competing foreign languages in the Algerian learning context

Abstract EN

The effects of globalisation have affected all countries in the world, including Algeria.

In this globalized era, English has become the dominant language used worldwide.

As for Algeria, an Arabic-speaking country, French, a colonial legacy, has for a long time been the dominant foreign language.

However, in the last few decades, English is gaining ground and seriously challenging French.

The coexistence of the two languages has engendered complementarity and competition among Algerians.

This article examines Algerians' attitudes towards French and English.

A group of 50 participants were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of a few questions about learning foreign languages.

The results show that almost all participants are in favour of learning foreign languages in different ways (public/private language schools or alone).

The findings also reveal that they have different attitudes towards French and English, the latter being the most important language to learn for most respondents.

Additionally, the results disclose that learning a new language is unproblematic for most of the participants.