Resumen de The expansion of French and Spanish in the Maghreb: school as glottopolitical agent of colonialism

Laura Morgenthaler García

• The introduction of European educational models before, during and after the colonization of the African continent has played a fundamental role in the expansion of colonial languages and, in many cases, the displacement of native ones. This article analyses the means by which France and Spain administered linguistic-educational policies in Morocco and Western Sahara. It also focuses on the disputes these countries engaged in to secure both official language and social domains of use for French and Spanish as prestige languages in contrast to Arabic. As an important and innovative contribution, the present article analyses the nature of the strategies adopted in Western Sahara in the attempt to spread the Spanish and French languages to a nomadic population par excellence that was completely unconcerned with school attendance. Finally, the current consequences of colonial decision-making on the field of linguistic policies will be analysed.