[etni] A dangerous misconception

From: skbyk <skbyk@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 27 May 2013 21:53:30 +0300
This is in response to a comment Batya's made in one of her recent emails in 
which she states:  "I fear for the future of ESL education in our country". 
Without denying the importance of the continuing dialogue regarding the log, 
this comment, unfortunately, reflects an even more fundamental issue and gross 
misconception that has been inculcated and perpetuated, first by the Ministry 
and now, I hope unwittingly, by many teachers.  
 

The misconception that I am referring to is that in Israel we can teach English 
as a second language. This is a misinterpretation of the meaning of the term 
and one that is doubtless responsible for the Ministry's attempt to import L2 
methodologies and 'shortcuts' from the U.S. and other native English-speaking 
countries. 

 

 In Israel, English is not the predominant language to which our population is 
exposed in schools or outside their homes and immediate neighborhoods. Unlike 
Spanish-speaking and often ghetto-living immigrants to the U.S., in Israel, 
Hebrew is our immigrants' 'second' language; and both for them and our 
native-born Hebrew speakers, English is a FOREIGN language; and needs to be 
taught as such.  

 

I don't have the statistics, but I would guess that the majority of English 
teachers in this country are not native English speakers and know from their 
own experiences that, for most people, learning a foreign language requires a 
great deal of discipline (self and class) and very hard, repetitive work.  
Moreover, despite the Ministry's 'New Age' slogans and the cartoon (and usually 
very distracting) textbooks, in the real world (our classrooms), not everybody 
can succeed in internalizing vocabulary and intuiting the grammatical and 
syntactical structures of a language which is not their own; and, NO amount of 
English-language television exposure or wishful, 'there must be an easier way', 
thinking will change that.  

 

This is not to say that the language-learning classroom need be boring or rigid 
or uncreative, but it's we, the teachers, that make those differences, not 
Ministry policies and mistaken, misleading definitions.  So Batya, don't fear 
for the future of ESL in Israel  it shouldn't have a future.  

 

As to EFL, well let's hope that a new broom will sweep away the nonsense and 
make it possible for the teachers to return the schools and classrooms to 
places of discipline, learning and education and not just 'bagrut' assembly 
lines. 



 Stephen Byk

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[etni] A dangerous misconception

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