Hebrew Language Literacy in the Arab Society Standardizing Measurement and Assessment

Language literacy is one of the most important metrics of human capital, being essential for the successful integration of every individual in society and in the economy. The low level of Hebrew language proficiency is one of the major barriers to the integration of Arab society into tertiary and academic education, as well as the labor market.

In its current form, Hebrew language tuition in the education system is ineffective, and despite efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of Hebrew tuition in Arab education over the recent years, the level of Hebrew proficiency has been steadily declining among young adults in Arab society. Post high school frameworks – transition year programs, tertiary and academic education institutions, vocational training courses, and the labor market – have started developing their own solutions for the adult population, independently and without coordination with the Ministry of Education, and as a result, although some of these programs have begun to be adapted in line with the CEFR model, there is still no unified standard for tuition, or for measurement and assessment, which are mostly carried out internally and without reciprocal recognition.

This document summarizes an interministerial consultation process led by The Authority for Economic Development of the Minority Sectors, as part of the implementation of Government Decision no. 550, with the aim of formulating an action plan which would bring together all relevant government actors to promote key measures for the improvement of Hebrew language tuition in Arab society, along with the creation of a standardized, unified evaluation method for Hebrew proficiency levels, so that the level of Hebrew literacy would not constitute a barrier in academia and in the labor market. We propose a series of measures aiming to improve Hebrew language proficiency, and to create continuity and coordination among all the relevant actors throughout the course of life. Key recommendations include adopting the CEFR standard for tuition and assessment of foreign languages, developing unified tools for the measurement and assessment of Hebrew language mastery levels across all government agencies, and ensuring continuous measurement of Hebrew mastery levels throughout all phases of life, through the different stages of the education system and up to integration into employment.

 CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is a framework of reference for languages which is shared by European countries and defines the measurement of language proficiencies according to very clear criteria.