7.1 Introduction
Language used in public, among friends, provides a concrete image of the power of codes, their association with particular practices, and the attitudes of speakers towards what is socially ‘prestigious’ and what is ‘inappropriate’‘inappropriate.’ It is an open space for establishing flexible regular contacts and informal interactions away from the pressure of home and school regulations. Through these interactions, Chaouias, Arabs and Kabyles (to a lesser extent) come together with different attitudes towards each group and its variety. This serves as a channel for the transmission of language ideologies. Nurtured at home, reinforced at school, and transported through close networks, language preferences are explored across generations in Batna to inform our understanding of the mechanisms of language shift and networking.

Social networks are a powerful tool in “linguistic and cultural socialization” (Stoessel, 2002: 96). Similarly, linguistic choices signal a certain level of loyalty to group membership or distance from its identifiable regulations. While the focus of analysis in chapterchapters five and six was on speakers themselves, this chapter extends it to the identity of those whomwith whom they often interact with, as Gal stresses that “speakers’ linguistic behaviors are constrained and shaped by the sorts of social contacts they maintain” (1979:131-132).