[etni] Re: Session with Judy Steiner in Jerusalem

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After I posted my first message about the session with Judy Steiner in 
Jerusalem about a week and a half ago, I began receiving e-mails asking what 
Judy had to say about English speakers and their rather unspectacular 
performace on some of the modules. I apologize for not posting a response 
immediately, but Erev Pesach was rather chaotic by us, and I didn't have a 
minute to spare, not even for ETNI!

Now that I have time to breathe, I'll give you Judy's answer. According to her, 
the reading comprehension part of the Bagrut is meant to test reading 
comprehension rather than English. Just as in the United States or England, not 
all native speakers pass reading comprehension tests, even though they are 
totally fluent in English, so too here, our native speaker students may know 
the language yet fail the test because they don't have the strategies necessary 
to cope with reading comprehension tests. The same, of course, happens with 
Israelis taking reading comprehension exams - many of them fail despite being 
native Hebrew speakers. Judy's solution was to make sure to thoroughly teach 
our students reading strategies which will allow them to deal with any and all 
texts and questions thrown at them.

Has that convinced you? In mu opinion, this answer is just not good enough, and 
here's why: I agree that knowing a language doesn't automatically make you a 
good reader, and as a result, I wouldn't expect all native speakers to pass the 
Bagrut exam with high grades. However, we have to remember that this is not an 
exam designed for native speakers, which means that the reading comprehension 
shouldn't be on the same level of difficulty as an American SAT test, for 
example. We can't expect non-native speakers to have the same degree of 
comprehension as native speakers, so an exam written primarily for Israelis 
should be relatively easy for native speakers who were taught basic reading 
comprehension skills. And knowing the caliber of the teachers who teach native 
speakers, I have no doubt that 99% of native speaker students were indeed 
taught those skills plus much more. 

Second, while once again agreeing that in all English-speaking countries, a 
certain percentage of the population fails reading comprehensiont tests, that 
percentage is high when testing all segments of the population, from kids in 
the slums to kids in top private schools, and a full range of IQs. However, my 
feeling is (and correct me if I'm wrong) that in Israel, only the best and the 
brightest are allowed entrance into the English speakers groups. Other native 
speakers who don't cut the grade usually end up in the regular hakbatzot. 
Therefore, the percentage of students learning in native speaker groups who 
fail the Bagrut should be extremely low.

In addition, Judy's answer in no way explains the discrepancies in grades 
between one moed and the next, as have been posted here on ETNI. (That, BTW, is 
a general problem, not connected only to English speakers, but I won't get into 
that here.) 

I'd love to hear what the rest of you feel about this issue.

Have a happy and kosher Pesach,

Rivka

 

 

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