Abstract
This chapter examines the relationship between language and identity for French citizens of Maghrebian origin. It uses a small-scale questionnaire survey to explore the issues of language use and attitudes towards Maghrebian Arabic, the ‘heritage language’. The data suggests strong language loyalty, but little actual language use; the strong sense of ethnocultural identity does not involve use of the ‘heritage language’ on a regular basis, and so the community may be described, in Fishman’s terms, as ‘Maghrebians via French’.