`Ma` Language, `Ma` Choice: Code Switching and its Implications in Moroccan Universities

Abstract

According to Japanese aesthetics and philosophy, ‘Ma’ 間 is a concept that stands in for ‘space’, ‘pause’, or ‘gap’. In the arts, ‘Ma’ is that moment of stillness and void that creates rhythm and balance. Similarly, in sociolinguistics, it is the ‘breath’ between words, the ‘pause’ between languages, the empty moment before code-switching. The Moroccan linguistic scene is replete with such ‘gaps’, open to interpretations, where linguistic choices, use, and identities are negotiated, within a broader landscape marked by historically layered colonial and post-colonial conflicts. This article seeks to examine the complexity of silence and the ‘in between’ of languages. It draws on semi-structured interviews with 25 university student respondents, in an attempt to rethink code switching and the transitions that exist in language use and choice in education. This study also attempts to reaffirm that multilingualism creates a complex space of coexistence, conflict, and growth, exploring the ways silence is charged with complexities, meanings, and ideological tensions. Ultimately, this paper seeks to give meaning to the ‘pause’, the ‘breath’ between silence and sound. Finally, in its attempt to ascribe meaning to silence, this study demonstrates that the pauses between languages in multilingual exchanges are not mere voids, but dynamic, growth-focused spaces where identity, power, and cultural disparities, are expressed and impressed on university students, revealing the intricate dynamics of language use in Moroccan educational settings.