Language Education Policy The Arab Minority In Israel

In this book we will explore in more detail some aspects of the Arab-Jewish divide, which raise fundamental questions regarding the place of the Arabs and Arab language education in the Jewish State. More specifically, the aim of this book is to describe and analyze language education in the Arab society in Israel from the establishment of the state in 1948 until today. For this purpose, internal processes, which are embedded within the Arab population itself were examined, such as the socio-economic condition of the population, the diglossic situation in the Arabic language, and the wide use of Hebrew among Arabic speakers. Furthermore, the book also deals with external processes such as the policy of control and inspection of the Ministry of Education over the Arab education system in general and on language education in particular, the dominance of Hebrew, and the definition and perception of Israel as a Jewish State. The influence of both internal and external processes on language education and learning achievements will also be extensively discussed.

The practice and ideology of the treatment of the languages of Israel are examined in this book. It asks about the extent to which the present linguistic pattern may be attribited to explicit language planning activities.

In Arabic in Israel, Muhammad Amara analyses the status of Arabic following the creation of the State of Israel and documents its impact on the individual and collective identity of Israel’s Palestinian Arab citizens. The interplay of language and identity in conflict situations is also examined. This work represents the culmination of many years of research on Arabic linguistic repertoire and educational policy regarding the language of the Palestinian citizens of Israel. It draws all of these factors together while linking them to local, regional and global developments. Its perspective is interdisciplinary and, as such, examines the topic from a number of angles including linguistic, social, cultural and political.

Higher Education and the Palestinian Minority in Israel examines perceptions concerning the characteristics of higher education acquisition in the indigenous Palestinian Arab minority in Israel. Arar and Haj-Yehia show that Palestinian Arabs in Israel clearly understand the benefit of an academic degree as a lever for social status and integration within the state of Israel. The authors discuss difficulties met by Palestinian high school graduates when they attempt to enter Israel's higher education institutes, and the alternative phenomenon of studying abroad. The cultural difference between Palestinian traditional communities and 'Western' Israeli campuses exposes Arab students to a mix of ethnicities and nationalities, which proves to be a difficult, transformative experience. The book analyzes patterns of higher education acquisition among the indigenous Palestinian minority, describing the disciplines they choose, the challenges they encounter, particularly for Palestinian women students, and explore the implications for the Palestinian minority and Israeli society.

Education, Empowerment, and Control is about the education of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel from the establishment of the state of Israel to the present. Using a comparative approach, the study throughout juxtaposes Arab and Hebrew educational systems in terms of administration, resources, curricula contents, and returns. Developments in education are analyzed in conjunction with wide demographic, economic, and sociopolitical changes. Al-Haj explores the expectations of the Palestinian community on the one hand and dominant groups on the other, showing that whereas Palestinians have seen education as a source of empowerment, government groups have seen it as a mechanism of social control. The book also sheds light on the wider issue of education and social change among developing minorities in the postcolonial era. Al-Haj examines modernization, underdevelopment, and control in order to delineate the role education plays among a national minority that is marginalized at the group level and denied access to the national opportunity structure.

This formidable selection of papers reflects the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic underpinnings of the interface between language and education. Following an introduction that positions the field of educational linguistics historically and conceptually, the volume presents 15 contributions by leading scholars that cover the four areas most central to the field: - Language teaching, language learning and literacy (Widdowson, Bialistok, Cohen & Allison); - Language testing (Bachman, Davies, and Shohamy); - Multilingualism, minority languages and language planning (Bratt-Paulston, Fishman, Lambert, Amara, de Bot & van Els); - Language policy (Clyne, Tucker, Donato & Murday, McNamara & Lo Bianco, and Hornberger). New Perspectives and Issues in Educational Language Policy is published in honour of Bernard Dov Spolsky and reflects his impact on applied linguistics in general and educational linguistics in particular. The breadth and coverage makes this an indispensable title for future research in the field of educational linguistics.