Following its independence from France in 1956, Morocco declared Arabic its official language. Successive policies of Arabization have been devised with the aim of ultimately converting French language domains into Arabic ones. However, there are two kinds of problems with the way the Moroccan language situation has been described and analyzed for policy formation: (1) models of language use treating oral and written language varieties as distinct systems are inaccurate and idealized, and (2) implementing Arabization is a slow, uneven process. In the process of changing from one language use system to another, many individuals fall into the cracks created by the changeover. Some are trained in one language and expected to function in another, and some are partially trained in one language and expected to complete training in another, without adequate preparation. This is the case in Morocco, where the normative policies do not accurately reflect the sociolinguistic situation. These problems have important implications for planners and policymakers, who must accurately assess the situation before acting to change it. A three-page reference list concludes the document. (MSE)