Reflections on the Linguistic Landscape and the Prospects of English Language Teaching in Algeria

The paper is bi-pillared: first is an allowance for the Algerian sociolinguistic panorama; then follows an account for the status of English in the Algerian sphere of schooling. Education, history, geography and ethnicity are the four quintessential factors underlying the Algerian involved linguistic situation. As a meeting ground for a multiplicity of tongues, Algeria is by and large regarded as an intricate plurilingual country. Indeed, plurilingualism, in the Algerian context, is organized in essence around three linguistic spheres consisting of Arabic (with its two varieties), Tamazight and foreign languages. The other pillar upon which rests the present paper concerns the status and image of English as a foreign language in didactic subjects, i.e. teaching/learning English in Algeria, and more specifically in its consideration of added value. The effort lies in tracking down whether this state could have taken a place of choice (privileged) as a whole with reference to its teaching/learning within the contextualized linguistic chessboard. The idea of the didactic dimension of English clarifies its weight and sheds light on academic conceptions installed in Algeria.