Abstract
The paper attempts to tell the story of the English department at Mohammed V University in Rabat for the period between 1975 and 1982, a period which roughly corresponds with the author’s three terms as chair. After a brief overview on the general background and the situation of higher education in Morocco, the document focuses on the multiple challenges of building and managing a foreign language department that saw enrolment increase at unsustainable rates. Challenges included the transformation of a French-based department of études anglaises to a theoretically based four-year EFL program with specializations in literature, linguistics and cultural studies; dealing with a centralized, politicized system and unwieldy curricula; and ensuring academic standards despite the constraints of insufficient teaching and library resources. It further details, in a highly concentrated manner, how the department met the challenges, introduced and generalized new pedagogic practices and made proposals that impacted the on-going debates on curricular reform, particularly the license program and the FF/CEUS 10-year experiment whose graduates from our department now constitute the mainstays of English in several Moroccan universities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Dahir n° 1-58-390 du 15 moharram 1379 (21 juillet 1959) portant création et organisation de l’Université de Rabat (Bulletin Officiel n° 2441 7/8/1959).
- 2.
The Istiqlal Party and the Union Nationale des Forces Populaires (UNFP), later the Union socialiste des forces populaires (USFP). Cf. History of Morocco: A Work of Synthesis and Update, edited by Mohammed Kabli (Rabat: Publications of the Royal Institute for Research on the History of Morocco, 2015, (627–645).
- 3.
Dahir portant loi n° 1-75-102 du 13 safar 1395 (25 février 1975) relatif à l’organisation des universités et alia. Bulletin officiel n° 3252 du 26/2/1975.
- 4.
Assia Bensaleh Alaoui.
- 5.
The Moroccan baccalauréat was delivered in several categories: lettres modernes, sciences, etc. Faculties of Sciences and Faculties of Medicine could only enroll students with scientific or technical baccalauréats. Engineering schools accepted only students with scientific baccalauréats who passed the two-year program and competitive exam of Préparations aux Grandes Ecoles. But Faculties of Letters were open to all students regardless of their baccalauréat specialization.
- 6.
Moroccan institutions of higher education could have as many coopérants (paid by both governments) who applied, as they were still needed for positions in science and technology, but also in foreign language departments including English.
- 7.
Course materials in medicine, sciences, social sciences and the humanities were typed on stencil and bound into booklets under the professor’s name and sold in dedicated shops. In some specializations, these polycopiés were the only resources available for students, who all considered at that time that the sole requirement is to memorize the contents.
- 8.
Examples of headings from the text in effect between 1974 and 1981: “Deuxième Année (second year)/Comprehension and grammar 5/Essay and précis/Translation 2” etc., in Arrêté du ministre de l’éducation nationale n° 297-74 du 3 chaoual 1398 (3 octobre 1973) portant réorganisation du régime des études et des examens en vue de la licence ès lettres (Bulletin Officiel n° 3207, page 606).
- 9.
Arrêté n° 297-74 op cit, p. 606.
- 10.
XL for “ex-loo.”
- 11.
CEUS. Décret n° 2-82-435 du 16 rebia II 1403 (31 janvier 1983) fixant le régime des études et des examens en vue de l’obtention du certificat d’études universitaires supérieures en langues et sciences humaines. Bulletin officiel n° 3666 du 18 rebia II 1403 (2/2/1983).
- 12.
Most institutions used the formula to distinguish between lectures delivered in amphitheaters (cours magistraux by full professors) and travaux dirigés/travaux pratiques taught in smaller rooms and laboratories by assistants and maître assistants.
- 13.
Décret n° 2-82-472 du 16 rebia II 1403 (31 janvier 1983) portant réforme du régime des études et des examens en vue de l'obtention du diplôme de la licence ès lettres Bulletin Officiel n°: 3666 (02/02/1983).
- 14.
The competition for the CEUS program would be open every two years, with no concurrent classes whereas registration for the licence is done every year.
- 15.
Assia Bensaleh Alaoui, Mohammed Dahbi, Said Graiouid, Lahcen Haddad, Bouchaib Bouyahyaoui Idrissi, Abdelkrim Kriem, Abdelhamid Lotfi, Mohammed Laamiri, Hassan Mekouar, Nagib Mokhtari, Driss Ouaouicha, Mohammed Saleh Tamek, Fouzia Rhissassi.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mekouar, H. (2020). The Making of an English Department (1975–1982): A Personal Account. In: Belhiah, H., Zeddari, I., Amrous, N., Bahmad, J., Bejjit, N. (eds) English Language Teaching in Moroccan Higher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3805-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3805-6_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-3804-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-3805-6
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)