The English Language Teaching Situation in Palestine

Abstract

The modern-day areas of Palestine corresponding to the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip represent some interesting and dynamic sociolinguistic realities. First, although these are areas in which colloquial Arabic has traditionally been spoken by a majority of the population, several other languages have been in use in educational domains especially Classical Arabic, Turkish, and French among Christians. However, the British Mandate period saw the establishment of English as an important language of political, economic, and cultural power within Palestine. Yet with the establishment of the State of Israel in areas that were once part of British Mandate Palestine, a new language was introduced to the area, Modern Israeli Hebrew. Still, English has endured, partly as a colonial leftover, but also increasingly as a window onto the world for Palestinians. The present chapter explores the enduring yet changing role that English has played and continues to play in the educational system of Palestine. The chapter concludes with evaluations of current English teaching and educational policy in Palestine and provides suggestions for enhancing this policy in order to promote economic development and growth while maintaining cultural authenticity.