The Follow -up Committee on Arab Education

 

ACCESS Project:

Another Chance to Access English  

 

Rationale

 

English is the world’s lingua franca and mastering it is imperative to one’s mobility in life socially and economically. The Palestinian Arab community in Israel collectively faces serious challenges mastering this language for many reasons. Among these reasons is the fact that in addition to the major differences between English and Arabic, English is considered a fourth language for these students after Hebrew, classical Arabic  and their colloquial Arabic which significantly differs syntactically and semantically from their classical one. Other reasons for poor mastery over the language include socio-economic and cultural dimensions. Many Palestinian Arabs  towns and villages in Israel have a very poor contact with the western culture and lack the means and the financial resources to access it, therefore the pupils’ exposure to English is minimal, a thing that negatively affects the pupils’ competence in English and necessarily their performance on English matriculation tests. Furthermore, negative attitudes towards the language, based on many misconceptions, can hinder the progress of the students in acquiring English.

 

Recognizing the problem of English in the Palestinian Arab community in Israel Access project has been designed to address it. The American Embassy along with the Follow-up Committee on Arab Education are coordinating this project that is based on extending the Israeli-Arab pupils’ contact with English and raising their levels from 3 units to 4 or from 4 to 5 on the English matriculation exam. The Follow-up Committee provides the instructors with the necessary theoretical and methodological background of working with weak to average learners through a course especially designed for Access

 

 

Meta-goal: To enable the Palestinian Arab community in Israel to raise its level of English competence, performance and achievements and to minimize the gaps between its averages and the national ones in high-stakes English tests especially the English matriculation exam; English Bagrut.

 

Goals :

The activities designed for Access program are geared to achieving the following goals:

1. Energizing the weak-average  learners
2. Allowing the learners to extend their contact with English
3. Enabling the learners to raise their level of English from 3 to 4 units or from 4 to 5 , i.e. from lower levels of English Bagrut tests to higher ones.
4. Offering an alternative format of learning English
5. Enabling learners to overcome shyness  and manage in viable English through nurturing  self-confidence and rewarding even the simplest attempts of English production

 

 

Content

 

The English course designed for Access students is based on the principles of content-based instruction according to which thematic units are introduced and all skills are integrated in each lesson. The themes introduced are thought-provoking and appropriate for teenagers offering ample opportunities for performance-based tasks, pair and group work and alternative assessment.

 

This year’s main theme revolves around issues of civic rights; women’s rights, and struggles against racism. In addition to our newly modified Access units, we will be partially using lesson plans developed by Merchavim institute. Bagrut-like questions and exercises are integrated in these lesson plans as well in order for the students to get a proper preparation for the Bagrut test. However, to add a flavor of unconventionality and to increase motivation, gaming and extracurricular instruction underpin our Access activity in class. 

 

Method

 

Access classes have no more than 15 high-school students who meet weekly with their Access instructor in what is called Access Camp for a total of 100 hours of English lessons. Access Camp is a kind of a framework that legitimizes games and fun activities which include signing contracts ,accumulating points , receiving incentives and awards after the accumulation of a number of points, to mention only a few. In addition, Access students take part in activities initiated by the different American Corners in Israel , a thing that enables the different groups of Access students to meet with each other from time to time in especially designed Access programs.

 

For the third consecutive year, the project is being operated in 13 Palestinian Arab schools in Israel whose Access instructors meet monthly with the coordinator for exchange of experience and rejuvenation of didactic knowledge .Moreover, the coordinator of Access visits the schools and meets with the pupils for feedback. So far, the feedback received from the instructors and the pupils alike is very encouraging. The Follow-up Committee on Arab Education is looking forward to expanding the circle of its Access activity to reach and include other schools and students in the future, and wishes its current Access staff a smooth and productive new school year.

 

Rana Zaher

Access Coordinator

The Follow -up Committee on Arab Education