ABSTRACT
After Algeria won its independence in July 1962, its leaders decided to choose “assimilation” as a model of nation-building. This model, which can be traced back to 18th century Liberal revolutions, aims at making most community members alike, sharing the same behavior habits and thought patterns. Within this type of integration, citizens are expected to learn and speak the same language. Monolingualism is considered to be the means by which the people can be most easily united. To make a good their case for this model, its supporters would ask: aren't the Americans, the Chinese or the French, who have adopted “assimilationist” language policies, among the most securely united nations in the world today? Authorities in Algeria have chosen to adopt the same philosophy for the national language policy best known as “the policy of Arabization” or “Arabization” for short.
