La situation sociolinguistique de l’Algérie: pratiques plurilingues et variétés à l’œuvre par Ibtissem Chachou (review)

French youth, which is discussed entirely from a theoretical perspective with no explanation for the absence of quantitative or qualitative data. Unevenness describes not just the incorporation and nature of empirical data in the book but also the writing style from chapter to chapter, with some sections conceptually and linguistically oriented to the specialist and others written as a true introduction to the topic. The mini-summary of the history of the French language and presentation and discussion of the use of French from an institutional and political perspective (ch. 4) offers, for example, a very clear and informative synthesis of various studies, even though the author does not address seemingly contradictory information presented from different sources. Information from one source (85) indicates that French is not one of the most commonly taught second languages in the United States, while a different source in a footnote (99) states that French is the third most commonly taught second language in the United States (after Spanish and Chinese). While inconsistencies in approach, writing style, and contextualization within the larger sociolinguistic sphere suggest that individual chapters were perhaps not originally designed to go together, each chapter does successfully demonstrate the potential social relevance of sociolinguistic research. The book also highlights the oftentimes enlightening and provocative role such research can play in uncovering the multifaceted social life not just of French, but of any language. University of Chicago Nadine O’Connor Di Vito Chachou, Ibtissem. La situation sociolinguistique de l’Algérie: pratiques plurilingues et variétés à l’œuvre. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2013. ISBN 978-2-343-00505-8. Pp. 317. 31,50 a. In investigating Algeria’s sociolinguistic situation by looking at multilingualism, language contact, language status, and language in media, Chachou’s stated goal is to offer a more empirical approach than previous studies, based on “des méthodes empirico-inductives recouvrant la compréhension et la contextualisation” (293). Chachou describes the general sociolinguistic context of Algeria and revisits the concept of diglossia and the language continuum as developed by Ferguson in 1959. She finds that Ferguson’s classifications do not adequately cover the complex roles of languages in Algeria. For instance, Algerian Arabic does not hold official status—the official languages are standard Arabic and Berber—despite being one of the most frequently used languages inAlgeria.Chachou reminds the reader that in 1999,Abdelaziz Bouteflika delivered his presidential campaign speeches mostly in Algerian Arabic. In her analysis of language status and her attempt to find the appropriate terminology to refer to the varieties of languages present in Algeria, Chachou rejects terms such as “dialectes berbères”(61) or“sabir”(61), as they are demeaning and result from a rigid, diglossic, hierarchical classification (118). She proposes instead to accord greater value to 276 FRENCH REVIEW 88.3 Reviews 277 vernacular languages, for example by teaching malhun—centuries-old popular poetry sung and written in the vernacular language found in the Maghreb—in the schools, since it represents remembrance and cultural traditions. Examining language in media such as cinema, theater, and songs, Chachou points to the absence of Algerian Arabic and Berber in newspapers even though those languages are present on national television. She notes the strong position of standard Arabic on the public radio while local radio stations increasingly broadcast Algerian Arabic or l’arabe médian, a variety situated between the standard and the vernacular. Algerian Arabic and Berber dominate in music, although Rai folk music uses borrowings from French and Algerian Arabic and code-switches between the two. The second half of the book deals with language in newspaper advertising, covering theory (for example, Bourdieu’s notion that language and values reflect power relationships, ideologies, and norms), linguistic strategies used by advertisers (“Algerianisms,” monolingual and bilingual signs, and the predominance of standard Arabic during Ramadan and other Muslim holidays), and English and Italian borrowings. Examples are followed by brief data analysis. Overall, this book contains a great deal of useful information, but its goals, which cover a wide range of contexts, may be overly ambitious and at times not particularly original. The chapters on advertising are the book’s strength, as they offer a rich set of data. The...