In Arabic Instruction in Israel Allon J. Uhlmann confronts two conundrums, namely the persistently poor level of Arabic proficiency among Jewish Arabic students and teachers, and the traumatic alienation of Arab students by university Arabic grammar instruction. These are not aberrations but rather direct, albeit unintended, systemic consequences of the field of Arabic instruction, where Jewish students encounter Arabic as a dead, hostile language; Jewish hegemony devalues native Arabic proficiency; and Arab students are locked into a fractured educational trajectory – encountering two alienating and mutually unintelligible grammars of Arabic at school and at university. By tracing systemic variabilities in cognition and learning Uhlmann exposes hitherto misrecognised dynamics that hinder Arabic instruction in Israel, thereby offering new avenues for possible change.

The Israeli reality points to a number of deep divisions among the population (such as between Sephardi-Ashkenazi, Orthodox-secular, men-women, Arab-Jew), most of which, in our opinion, are progressively decreasing as time passes. The Arab-Jewish divide is the deepest of all, and there is still no solution. In spite of its intensity, it did not enjoy a centrality whether in public debates or in academia. This subject has only come on the agenda after sharp tensions between Arabs and Jews. 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. A comprehensive examination was made of Arabic, Hebrew and English, as well as the teaching of French in a number of community schools. The target group for this book are people who are concerned with sociolinguistics, language education, and language policy and planning. This book will be also of special interest to Arab language teachers and policy-makers in Israel.

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.

This landmark volume offers an introduction to the field of teaching Arabic as a foreign or second language. Recent growth in student numbers and the demand for new and more diverse Arabic language programs of instruction have created a need that has outpaced the ability of teacher preparation programs to provide sufficient numbers of well-qualified professional teachers at the level of skill required. Arabic language program administrators anticipate that the increases in enrollment will continue into the next decades. More resources and more varied materials are seriously needed in Arabic teacher education and training. The goal of this Handbook is to address that need. The most significant feature of this volume is its pioneer role in approaching the field of Arabic language teaching from many different perspectives. It offers readers the opportunity to consider the role, status, and content of Arabic language teaching in the world today. The Handbook is intended as a resource to be used in building Arabic language and teacher education programs and in guiding future academic research. Thirty-four chapters authored by leaders in the field are organized around nine themes: *Background of Arabic Language Teaching; *Contexts of Arabic Language Teaching; *Communicative Competence in Arabic; *The Learners; *Assessment; *Technology Applications; *Curriculum Development, Design, and Models; *Arabic Language Program Administration and Management; and *Planning for the Future of Arabic Language Learning and Teaching. The Handbook for Arabic Language Teaching Professionals in the 21st Century will benefit and be welcomed by Arabic language teacher educators and trainers, administrators, graduate students, and scholars around the world. It is intended to create dialogue among scholars and professionals in the field and in related fields--dialogue that will contribute to creating new models for curriculum and course design, materials and assessment tools, and ultimately, better instructional effectiveness for all Arabic learners everywhere, in both Arabic-speaking and non-Arabic speaking countries.

This volume analyses the policymaking, expectations, implementation, progress, and outcomes of early language learning in various education policy contexts worldwide. The contributors to the volume are international researchers specialising in language policy and early language learning and their contributions aim to advance scholarship on early language learning policies and inform policymaking at the global level. The languages considered include learning English as a second language in primary schools in Japan, Mexico, Serbia, Argentina, and Tanzania; Spanish language education in the US and Australia; Arabic as a second language in Israel and Bangladesh; Chinese in South America and Oceania; and finally, early German teaching and learning in France and the UK.

Explores the contradictory position of Arabic being both the official language and marginalized in IsraelArabic became a minority language overnight in Israel in 1948, as a result of the Palestinian exodus from their land that year. Although it remains an official language, along with Hebrew, Israel has made continued attempts to marginalize Arabic on the one hand and securitize it on the other. Camelia Suleiman delves into these tensions and contradictions, exploring how language policy and language choice both reflect and challenge political identities of Arabs and Israelis. She explores the historic context of Arabic in Israel, the attempts at minoritising, Orientalising and securitising the language, the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of Arabic in Israel, the effect of globalization, modernization and citizenship status on the status of Arabic, Hebrew as a language choice of (semi) autobiographic production of three Israeli authors who are native speakers of Arabic, and lastly, a comparison with the status of Arabic in both Jordan and Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip) where Arabic is the official language.Key FeaturesCombines a variety of qualitative methods not commonly used together into the study of Arabic in Israel including ethnography, interviews with journalists and students, media discussion of the language situation of Israel, and analysis of the production of knowledge on Arabic in Israeli academiaProvides a comparative analysis of the language situation in Israel with that in Jordan and PalestineEmploys studies in post-colonial theory, theory of linguistic anthropology, and sociolinguistic concepts of 'indexicality' and 'linguistic landscape'

COVID wrought havoc on the world’s economic systems. Higher education did not escape the ravages brought on by the pandemic as institutions of higher education around the world faced major upheavals in their educational delivery systems. Some institutions were prepared for the required transition to online learning. Most were not. Whether prepared or not, educators rose to the challenge. The innovativeness of educators met the challenges as digital learning replaced the face-to-face environment. In fact, some of the distance models proved so engaging that many students no longer desire a return to the face-to-face model. As with all transitions, some things were lost while others were gained. This book examines practice in the field as institutions struggled to face the worst global pandemic in the last century. The book is organized into four sections on 'Embracing Quality Assurance”, 'Educational Standards and Quality Assurance”, 'Evaluating Educational Access” and 'Why Assessment?”. It presents various perspectives from educators around the world to illustrate the struggles and triumphs of those facing new challenges and implementing new ideas to empower the educational process. These discussions shed light on the impact of the pandemic and the future of higher education post-COVID. Higher education has been forever changed, and higher education as it once was may never return. While many questions arise, the achievements in meeting and overcoming the pandemic illustrate the creativity and innovativeness of educators around the world who inspired future generations of learners to reach new heights of accomplishment even in the face of the pandemic.

This Handbook maps the contours of an exciting and burgeoning interdisciplinary field concerned with the role of language and languages in situations of conflict. It explores conceptual approaches, sources of information that are available, and the institutions and actors that mediate language encounters. It examines case studies of the role that languages have played in specific conflicts, from colonial times through to the Middle East and Africa today. The contributors provide vibrant evidence to challenge the monolingual assumptions that have affected traditional views of war and conflict. They show that languages are woven into every aspect of the making of war and peace, and demonstrate how language shapes public policy and military strategy, setting frameworks and expectations. The Handbook's 22 chapters powerfully illustrate how the encounter between languages is integral to almost all conflicts, to every phase of military operations and to the lived experiences of those on the ground, who meet, work and fight with speakers of other languages. This comprehensive work will appeal to scholars from across the disciplines of linguistics, translation studies, history, and international relations; and provide fresh insights for a broad range of practitioners interested in understanding the role and implications of foreign languages in war.