Abstract
Normative and empirical research in pedagogy suggests that a monolingual approach at school may result in underperformance of students from immigrant families. This calls for changes in educational concepts. The key question however remains: What would a change towards multilingualism imply? This article focuses on the ways in which a respective transformation was intended by the Israeli “New Language Education Policy” in 1995, introducing multilingualism as an educational concept. The present study is based on qualitative data. The analysis illustrates how these changes were perceived by the interviewed multilinguals. The findings indicate the central role of peers’ and teachers’ reaction towards the development of self-perception. Multilinguals who were socialized during the monolingual context remember being insulted and beaten, and mention their wish to assimilate as reason for having changed their names and speaking only Hebrew to their family. By contrast, no particular negative experience is narrated by those interview partners who experienced the multilingual context. Strikingly, not all of the interviewed subjects who went to school after 1995 remember having experienced the shift, which opens a further question on limitations of language policy making.
Zusammenfassung
In normativ-theoretischem Diskurs und einigen empirischen Untersuchungen wird argumentiert, dass die schulische Einsprachigkeit für den Bildungsmisserfolg von Kindern mit Zuwanderungsgeschichte mitverantwortlich ist, so dass ein Wandel erforderlich sei. Offen ist die Frage, wie ein Wandel hin zur Mehrsprachigkeit gestaltet sein kann. Im Fokus des Artikels steht „New Language Education Policy“, eine bildungspolitische Maßnahme in Israel, in der 1995 Mehrsprachigkeit zum Leitgedanken von Bildung erklärt wurde. In der vorliegenden qualitativen Studie wurde die Wahrnehmung dieser Veränderung durch mehrsprachige Individuen untersucht. Die Ergebnisse illustrieren Prozesse von Selbstverortung: Die interviewten Mehrsprachigen, die in einem monolingualen Kontext sozialisiert wurden, erinnern sich an Beleidigungen und nennen den Wunsch nach Anpassung als Grund dafür, dass sie ihre Namen geändert und zu Hebräisch gewechselt haben. Keine negativen Erlebnisse wurden hingegen von den Interviewten berichtet, die einen mehrsprachigen Kontext erlebt haben. Indes ließ sich nicht in allen Interviews mit Mehrsprachigen, die nach 1995 die Schule besucht haben, der bildungspolitische Wandel rekonstruieren. Dies eröffnet eine Frage nach Möglichkeiten und Grenzen bildungspolitischer Maßnahmen.
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Notes
This inscription was usually on the dishes given to the new arrivals in the receiving communities kibbutzim (cf. Burteisen 2003, p. 227).
All participants work as teachers today, but their current profession is not in centre of the present study.
Acknowledgements to Ksenija Gumenik and Olga Logunova.
In order to contextualize the examples, they start by the pseudonym of the person and the year of school entering, followed by translation in English by the author.
Here and further the original statements in English appear in italics.
Ethiopians are another Israeli immigrant group, often mentioned in the interviews. Participant’s perception of this group will be analyzed elsewhere as it is not in the focus of the study.
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Putjata, G. “New Language Education Policy” – Policy making and enhancement of migrant-related multilingualism in student’s own perception. Z Erziehungswiss 20, 259–278 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-017-0742-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-017-0742-6