Policy and Teaching French as a Second Foreign Language

Conclusion Though many Arabs express sympathetic views towards French as a language of a high culture, it is perceived today in their new political and sociolinguistic fabric in Israel to be of low linguistic capital and has no real value for advancement in the domains of work or study. French is taught in several Arab private schools, the historical heritage of mandatory Palestine. Even these schools do not give high priorities to French teaching. Most of these schools require French at the elementary level, while at the senior high school level it is optional, and the number of students taking the matriculation examination is quite small. Possibly the obligatory teaching of three languages among Arabs with their versatile complexities and the relatively low performance in them lead to less appreciation and motivation for learning other languages (For improving language education in French, see recommendations in Appendix I).