Fall/Spring hours per week New York University Tel Aviv. The Languages of Israel

Transcription

1 The Languages of Israel Fall/Spring hours per week New York University Tel Aviv Instructor: Professor Benjamin Hary Office Hours: XXX and by appointment Content: Is Israel a multilingual or a monolingual country? This is a question with which many educators, linguists, politicians and laypeople have been struggling. In this course we will explore several issues of language use and practice in Israel, language ideology and language policy. We will start by learning the orthographies (spelling systems) of Hebrew and Arabic and practice them through the methodology of Linguistic Landscape. We will tour Tel Aviv-Jaffa and other places and study public signs and their use in Hebrew and Arabic as well as in other languages. We will look at signs, advertisements, instructions, buildings, streets, billboards, etc. This exercise will teach us much about the public space, who controls it and what cultutal and political messages it sends us. We will then study parts of the basic lexicon of Hebrew and Arabic and also review their grammatical structure as well as their historical background all of this in the larger context of the Semitic language family. Furthermore, in this course we will review the language policies of Israel. Language policies refer to decisions regarding language use in education and in society in general. Some language policies are explicit, others are not; some are top down, others are bottom-up; yet, policies are always derivatives of the groups that make up political entities (e.g., majority elites, minorities, immigrants, indigenous) interacting with a variety of political, ideological, social and economic factors. We will pay a special attention to the mechanisms used to determine language policies on the ground. We will also investigate language use in Israel; the practice and ideology behind the use Hebrew as well as of the participating language Arabic (standard and colloquial varieties); the use of English, everybody s second language in Isreal; the use of recent immigration languages, Russian and Amharic as well as previous immigrants (French, Polish, Rumanian, and more); the use and loss of hertigae Jewish languages in Israel, and much more. Course Objectives: After taking this course, you will have basic kowledge in the orthographies (spelling systems) of Hebrew and Arabic the basic vocabulary of Hebrew and Arabic

2 Required Texts: the grammatical structure of Hebrew and Arabic the respective historical developments of Hebrew and Arabic the language use in public space in Israel (Linguistic Landscape) the use of Hebrew as a mother tongue and as an acquired language in Israel the practice and ideology behind the use of Arabic in Israel the use of English, everybody s second language in Israel the use of languages in earlier and recent immigrations the use of Jewish languages in Israel Rubin, Aaron A Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. Spolsky, Bernard and Elana Shohamy The Languages of Israel: Policy, Ideology and Practice. Tonawanda, NY: The Cromwell Press Ltd. Course Requirements: No knowledge of any specific language is required. No prerequisites. Students are expected to attend class regularly and arrive in class on time. Students must complete all assigned readings before the class meeting and be prepared to participate actively in discussions of the readings. They are also expected to attend a few out-of-class activities, and especially two tours. There will be further readings for extra credit. Students are required to turn in all written assignments on the dates scheduled. Late work will not be accepted. Assignments: 1) Two short tests. 2) Three two-page reports on the readings. 3) An in-class oral presentation (using PowerPoint or the like) on the readings. 4) A final project (12 18 pages) to be determined with the instructor. Composition of Final Grade: Two-page reports & class participation 25% in-class presentation 10% writing project 40% tests 25% Attendance Policy Statement: Study abroad at Global Academic Centers is an academically intensive and immersive

3 experience, in which students from a wide range of backgrounds exchange ideas in discussion-based seminars. Learning in such an environment depends on the active participation of all students. And since classes typically meet once or twice a week, even a single absence can cause a student to miss a significant portion of a course. To ensure the integrity of this academic experience, class attendance at the centers is mandatory, and unexcused absences will affect students' semester grades. Students are responsible for making up any work missed due to absence. Repeated absences in a course may result in failure. During the spring 2014 semester students should adhere to the attendance policy posted on course syllabi and/or student handbooks at their host Global Academic Center. Beginning Fall 2014, at all Global Academic Centers, unexcused absences will be penalized with a two percent deduction from the student s final course grade. Cell phones must be turned off before entering the classroom.

4 Hary/ The Languages of Israel 4 Week 1 Language practice and policy in Israel The writing systems of Hebrew and Arabic I Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter 1, pp. 1 30; chapter 11, pp ; Daniels and Bright, pp Week 2 Hebrew as a mother tongue in Israel The writing systems of Hebrew and Arabic II Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter 2, pp ; Daniels and Bright, pp ; ; Week 3 Hebrew language acquisition; Hebrew as a second language; the Ulpanim in Israel The writing systems of Hebrew and Arabic III Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapters 3 4, pp ; Rubin, chapter 1, pp Week 4 Arabic as a participating language in Israel The writing systems of Hebrew and Arabic IV TOUR: Linguistic Landscape in Tel Aviv I Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter 5, pp ; Daniels and Bright, pp ; Rogers, pp ; Ben-Rafael et at, pp. 7 30; Gorter, pp Week 5 Ideology and practice in the teaching of Arabic as a second language in Israel The structure of Hebrew and Arabic the lexicon I Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter 6, pp ; Suleiman, pp ; Adler and Hary Week 6 The languages of earlier immigrations to Israel The structure of Hebrew and Arabic the lexicon II Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter 8, pp ; Harshav, pp ; Adler and Hary Week 7 The languages of recent immigrations to Israel: Amharic and Russian The structure of Hebrew and Arabic the lexicon III

5 Hary/ The Languages of Israel 5 Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter10, pp ; Harshav, pp ; Adler and Hary Week 8 The use of English in Israel: English as everybody s second language The structure of Hebrew and Arabic the verb system (root and pattern) I Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter 7, pp ; Rubin, pp ; Coffin & Bolozky, pp Week 9 The loss and maintenance of Jewish language varieties in Israel: Judeo-Arabic, Judeo- Spanish and Yiddish The structure of Hebrew and Arabic the verb system (root and pattern) II Readings: Spolsky and Shohamy, chapter 9, pp ; Versteegh, pp Week 10 The loss and maintenance of Jewish language varieties in Israel: Jewish English and more The structure of Hebrew and Arabic the noun system Readings: Benor 2008, pp ; Benor 2009, pp ; Hary 2009, chapter 1, pp. 5 27; Rubin, pp Week 11 The Tower of Babel: Language use in central station in South Tel Aviv TOUR: Linguistic landscape in Tel Aviv (south) II Readings: Sayer 2010 (11 pp); Backhouse (14 pp); Suleiman, pp. 1 57; ; Cenoz and Gorter (13 pp). Week 12 Language policy in Israel I The history of Hebrew and Arabic I Readings: Shohamy 2006, pp. 1 56; Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 1 49; Ferguson 1959 (15 pp); Rubin, pp Week 13 Language policy in Israel II The history of Hebrew and Arabic II Readings: Versteegh, pp ; Blau, pp Week 14 Summary and students presentations

6 Hary/ The Languages of Israel 6 Have a Productive Semester And Good Luck!!!

7 Hary/ The Languages of Israel 7 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Abu-Rabia, Salim Druze Minority Students Learning Hebrew in Israel: The Relationship of Attitude, Cultural Background, and Interest of Material to Reading Comprehension in a Second Language. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 17 (6). Adler Ben-Yehuna, Ruth and Benjamin Hary Daily Life in Israel: Listening and Viewing Comprehension. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Academon Press. Al-Haj, Majid Higher Education Among the Arabs in Israel: Formal Policy between Empowerment and Control. Higher Education Policy 16 (3). Amara, Muhammad and Abd Al-Rahman Mar'i Language Education Policy: The Arab Minority in Israel. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Backhaus, Peter Multlingualsim in Tokyo: A Look into the Linguistic Landscape. International Journal of Multilingualism 3 (1): Bekerman, Zvi Complex Contexts and Ideologies: Bilingual Education in Conflict- Ridden Areas. Journal of Language, Identity and Education 4 (1). Benor, Sarah Towards a New Understanding of Jewish Language in the Twenty- First Century. Religion Compass 2 (6): Benor, Sarah Do American Jews Speak a Jewish Language? A Model of Jewish Linguistic Distinctiveness. Jewish Quarterly Review 99 (2): Ben-Rafael, Eliezer, Elana Shohamy, Muhammad Amara, and Nira Trumper-Hecht Linguistic Landscape as A Symbolic Construction of the Public Space: The Case of Israel. International Journal of Multilingualism 3 (1): Blau, Joshua The Renaissance of Modern Hebrew and Modern Standard Arabic: Parallels and Differences in the Revival of Two Semitic Languages. Berkley: University of California Press. Bunis, David M A Comparative Linguistic Analysis of Judezmo and Yiddish. International Journal of the Sociology of Language Cenoz, Jasone and Durk Gorter Linguistic Landscape and Minority Languages. International Journal of Multilingualism 3 (1): Coffin, Edna and Shmuel Bolozky A Reference Grammar of Modern Hebrew. Cambridge: Cambridge Univesrity Press. Daniels, Peter and William Bright The World s Writing Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

8 Hary/ The Languages of Israel 8 Elazar, Daniel Education in a Society at a Crossroads: An Historical Perspective. Israel Studies 2 (2). Ferguson, Charles Diglossia. Word 15. Gorter, Durk Introduction: The Study of the Linguistic Landscape as a New Approach to Multilingualism. International Journal of Multilingualism 3 (1): 1 6. Harshav, Benjamin Language in Time of Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hary, Benjamin Corpus Linguistics and Modern Hebrew. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University. Hary, Benjamin Translating Religion: Linguistic Analysis of Judeo-Arabic Sacred Texts from Egypt. Leiden and Boston: Brill. Hary, Benjamin and M. J. Wein Religiolinguistics: On Jewish-, Christian, and Muslim- Defined Languages. International Journal for the Sociology of Language (220): Myhill, John Language in Jewish Society: Towards a New Understanding. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Rogers, Henry Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach. Oxford: Balckwell. Sáenz-Badillos, Angel The History of the Hebrew Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sayer, Peter Using the Linguistic Landscape as A Pedagogical Resource. ELT Journal 64 (2): Shohamy, Elana Language Policy: Hidden Agenda and New Approaches. London: Routledge. Stillman, Norman The Language and Culture of the Jews of Sefrou, Morocco: An Ethnolinguistic Study. Louvain: University of Manchester. Stillman, Norman Language Patterns in Islamic and Judaic Societies. In Islam and Judaism: 1400 Years of Shared Values. S. Wasserstrom [ed.]. Portland: Institute for Judaic Studies in the Pacific Northwest Suleiman, Yasir A War of Words: Language and Conflict in the Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge Univesrity Press. Versteegh, Kees The Arabic Language. New York: Columbia University Press.

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