This paper studies one ultra-Orthodox group--Habad community, exploring its members' attitudes towards four languages: Hebrew, Loshen Koydesh (LK), English, and Yiddish, and focusing on usage, affection for the language, ascribed importance, and holiness. Research questions were: (1) What are the attitudes of Habad members towards these languages?…

Israeli university students who have difficulty reading academic texts in English are required to take reading comprehension courses in English for academic purposes (EAP) in order to complete their BA degree. Whereas most students pass the courses, some repeatedly fail. Since Israel is a multilingual country, there is also a question about…

A theoretical model featuring the relationship between identity and language orientations within the broader constellation of variables impacting immigration and acculturation processes was proposed within the framework of the current study and its applicability was tested with regards to 152 immigrant university students from the Former Soviet…

For many decades now, applied linguistics studies have investigated the impact of second language acquisition on various aspects of the development of school children. Few studies, however, have focused on the simultaneous acquisition of two additional/second languages in the classroom. The present paper explores the impact of a spoken Arabic…

This paper article on a study focusing on Israel's Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jews) community, exploring its members' perceptions of Hebrew, Yiddish and English in terms of the language's importance, usage, holiness and related emotions. Questionnaires were distributed to 180 participants from five prominent subgroups within the community. Analysis…

Israeli students need to be multilingually literate to read academic texts, mainly in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and English. In fact, little is known about students' reading habits despite a variety of university reading comprehension courses in different languages. The present study examines students' reading preferences and textual expectations,…

The present study describes factors affecting the home and school literacy patterns in the Ethiopian immigrant community in Israel. Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire evaluating their child's development, literacy, schooling, and language proficiency (L1 and L2). The results indicate that while non-Ethiopian and Ethiopian parents seek…

The family unit and home domain have been and remain important in heritage language maintenance efforts. There are complex relationships between parental language attitudes, their application in everyday language management activities and the children's knowledge of home language vocabulary. The present large-scale study examined the family policy…

The dynamic nature of the social conditions measured by the Subjective Vitality Questionnaire and their susceptibility to change as a result of social and historical events was investigated. Results of three-years of data-gathering from Israeli Jewish and Arab high school students are discussed in terms of Israeli Arab identity. (18 references)…