ENGLISH STUDIES IN ISRAEL

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27098, 22 July 1953, Page 12

ENGLISH STUDIES IN ISRAEL

CONTROVERSY ABOUT

STANDARDS

EXAMINATIONS SAID TO BE TOO DIFFICULT

(From a Reuter Correspondent.) TEL AVIV. High school pupils in Tel Aviv, have launched a bitter campaign against Shakespeare. They are protesting against the high standards of their English examination papers, and claim that they are more difficult than those in Britain and the United States. Educationalists, university professors, and the press have joined in the discussion, and a heated controversy over the methods and objects of English teaching in this country has begun. Whether the aim of English teaching should be a practical, working knowledge to enable Israeli youth to conduct a simple conversation in English, read an English newspaper, and understand English books in specialised fields of higher education, is one of the questions brought to the forefront by the controversy. Another is whether the high school syllabus in English should attempt to introduce pupils to more than a surface knowledge of British and American culture, literature and history. The pupils themselves argue that the high percentage of those who fail the English examination is evidence enough that some is needed. Some of their elders sigh at what they consider the undeniable deteripration of the standard of English in high schools during the last few years. Study of Shakespeare

• Critics of the present syllabus deplore the fact that two years and a half out of seven are mainly devoted to the Study of Shakespeare instead of the study of English language. They , claim that examination papers contain ‘ over-ambitious questions, demanding ■ an ease of expression beyond that ac- ‘ quired in Israeli schools where 1 English is taught as a secondary < language. They quote as an example such 1 matriculation examination questions as: “Some critics argue that Pope was not a Poet. Do you agree or disagree with these critics? Refer to poems in your textbook.” “Discuss the work of one of the twentieth century poets as compared with nineteenth century poetry that you have read.” The critics compare these questions with the relatively easier type of examinations in American schools, where the pupil has to choose from a , group of answers to a question and mark, the correct one, and with the “true or false” type of question. A letter by the “committees of the graduating classes of Tel Aviv high schools” sent to the Council of English Teachers, claimed that the number of students who failed in English was increasing from year to year. The letter said that more than half the students were forced to engage private tutors to prepare them for the matriculation examination in

English. A circular letter to principals of . high schools from the Ministry of , Education denied the students’ allega- ; tions that the papers set in Israel are more difficult'than those in Britain or the United States. Pupils threatened to strike and newspapers devoted long columns to the controversy. Lecturer’s Views Professor A. A. Mendilow, lecturer in English at the Hebrew University, declared that “there is an unwillingness to face the necessity of mastering, not merely a foreign language, but a second language, in a country like ours.” Professor Mendilow blamed “the unqualified teacher and the subconscious or conscious hostility generated by teachers of other subjects in the poorer schools.” Raising the issue , from its classroom level, he said that the interests of Israel were closely bound up with an adequate knowledge by its future citizens of at least one foreign language. “We cannot afford to live in a linguistic ghetto, culturally, economically or politically,7 Professor Mendilow said. Replying to the onslaught on the teaching of Shakespeare, he retorted: “From visits to dozens of schools, I have gained the impression that the pupils really enjoy even difficult texts like Shakespeare’s plays, provided that they are intelligently taught.” In terms of statistics, the problem is reduced to the following facts. During the last four years, 4610 pupils have sat the matriculation examination in English, and of these 565, or about 12 per cent, failed. But these figures do not reveal another fact, namely, that the average mark for all pupils was only 53, while in mathematics it was 67, in physics 66, in history 64. in Hebrew literature 73, and ■in biology 67. More and more ‘ educationalists are taking the view that the proper place for the study of English literature is in the Hebrew-taught class of world ■ literature. They argue that pupils will better understand the English classics when they are taught in the Hebrew translations, with illustrations from the originals. English classes, they say, should be devoted purely to the teaching of the English language to enable students to converse freely in that language, ’to read an English newspaper, and to use English text books on science, art and other specialised fields when they reach the university.