[etni] Fw: re: The Oral Bagrut

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "sara g" <saragabai@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: The Oral Bagrut


And i think she meant that English grammar must be taught in the
mother tounge (hebrew / arabic) in order for it to be understood. but
other than that, english should be spoken in class.

and if esther's "text" was given to a class as an unseen? reading
comprehension, anyone?


Maxine wrote:
> Hi Leah. I think the writer meant not that she's against teaching grammar,
> but that she's against teaching English grammar in HEBREW, that she's
> against using Hebrew in English classes.

 Lea wrote:
> Dear Esther,
> I am afraid I have to disagree. Students of a foreign language need 
> Grammar
> in order to speak and write correctly. As far as mother tongue is 
> concerned,
> Grammar is important, but far less important than concerning a foreign
> language. As far as I know, this controversy has already been resolved and
> there is almost unanimous agreement among experts that Grammar should,
> actually, must be taught. The question is no longer IF, but HOW.

Esther wrote:
> A few points:
> I am adamantly against teaching grammar in any but the mother tongue.
> English grammar is diametrically opposed to that of our pupils' native
> tongues, (primarily Hebrew and Arabic, which my husband speaks fluently. )
> Thus, it is hard enough for pupils to grasp the intricacies of the grammar
> we teach without having the language barrier make understanding it even
> more difficult.
> HOWEVER, even in the weakest classes, English should be spoken with a
> minimum of Hebrew sentence thrown in here and there only if absolutely
> necessary. (i.e. 1 pointers cannot follow a lesson given entirely in
> English! People who think otherwise have never taught in what we used to
> categorize as Masmar/ Masmam classes!)
> In NY state (in the Middle Ages, :) I studied Spanish for 7 years
> culminating in a regents exam, on which I got a very high grade. We were
> taught in English; had listening comprehensions and unseens galore, but
> were never called upon to speak in Spanish. Hence, we could barely say a
> single
> complete sentence in that language! In college, thankfully, when required
> to speak entirely in Spanish (in our Spanish Literature Classics lesson,)
> only then did the flood waters of Spanish come gushing out of my mouth!
> Moral of
> the story? In classes taught in the mother tongue, with virtually no
> communication in the language being studied, oral proficiency is zilch!
> So, despite the faults of our present oral exam, in my opinion some oral
> exam must remain an intrinsic part of the bagrut. That is, if we want
> pupils who can speak English, albeit peppered with mistakes, and not just
> pupils
> who can successfully complete an unseen.



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