The status of french in the primary and secondary level : in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania: a historical review of linguistic policies and their implications

At the heart of cross-culturality in Mauritania, school is at the confluence of ethnic, tribal, identity and religious questions and is where linguistic quarrels take place. Indeed, Mauritania is made up of a multitude of pieces which were more or less arbitrarily combined together during the colonial period under the name of Mauritania. The official language of Mauritania is Arabic but the working language is primarily French especially in the written form. It would have been one second official language if the constitution stipulated it since it is adopted for the drafting of the official texts for teaching and sometimes for communication. The headings of the official letters and all the correspondences are in French. On the number plates of vehicles also appear a numbering system in French.