The above is the title of a book by Bernard Spolsky and Elena Shohamy. The sub-title of the book is policy, Ideology and Practice. As the book was published in 1999 it is too late to review it now. However, we in Pakistan know so little about the language policies and practices of Israel that it would be such a pity not to introduce this very informative book to the reading public in Pakistan. Those who want to acquire the book should know that it was published by Multilingual matters ______ which is a British publishing house located and Cleveden. They specialize in books on language policy, multilingualism and other linguistic issues (ISBN 1-85359-451-2 pbk).
But before talking about the book let us turn to its authors. The name spolsky inspires confidence in those who read about sociolinguistics and the role of language in education. After all he has written the Concise Encyclopedia of Educational Linguistics (Rergamon). Elena Shahamy is also a scholar in the field of education. Her book Second Language Research Methods is a classic in this field. The book is the product of the collaborative work of these two scholars and, according to them, took seven years in the making. It tells us about the policies and practices of Israel as for as languages are concerned.
Most people have heard that Hebrew was miraculously reform in Israel. It is the language of the government, the media, aviation, public signs and education. As Hebrew was considered a ‘dead language’ before Israel was created, this achievement is regarded as the greatest indicator of the motivation and will of the Israelis. However, Hebrew is not the only language of Israel. First, English is a world language now and the United States is a great supporter of Israel. Thus the pressure of English is a force to reckon with. Secondly, many Arabs live in Israel and even some Jews speak Arabic as a mother tongue. Indeed, Arabic in the second official language of Israel. Thirdly, Yiddish---a heritage language of the European Jews---is still used. Indeed, the ultra orthodox Jews (harndi Jews) still use Yiddish. Indeed, according to linguistic surveys, these are 32 languages spoken in Israel. The authors of this book maintain, however, that Hebrew and Arabic, the two official languages are in the bad. Russian, a language of emigrants, is closely behind. Then there are the languages of other Jewish immigrant groups followed by yet another thirty languages---this makes Israel multilingual and not monolingual in Hebrew as many Pakistan believe.
Language use is a consequence of many factors. First, there are policy statements of the state. Then, there are budget allocations which constitute the de facto language policies. Of course, the budget allocation create teachers, media persons, books, curricula and so on. Thus a country might declare a language to be its national language but provide no money and no official domain for its use. Then there are practices which are affected by official policy but either oppose them or simply keep up what they have been doing in the past.
In Israel the state has declared that Hebrew and Arabic are official languages. However, it is Hebrew which is fully supported by funds and official patronage. Arabic is not. There are Christian Arabs, Palestinians (residents of the West Bank and Gaza) and Muslim Arab citizens of Israel. However, Arabic does not, in practice, have the support which Hebrew has Arabic is used in the radio but only a few hours a day. It is used in schooling but only for Arab and Druae children. It is also taught in Jewish schools but the students do not take it seriously because they can get by in life without knowing it. Indeed, the number of students claiming to know Arabic as well as Hebrew has been going down and in 1983 only 15.9 per cent Jewish students claimed to know both. Moreover, tertiary education is not available in Arabic which encourages Hebraisation among the educated.
As for Hebrew, it is used in the widest range of functions like any other living language. It is also the first language of children born to parents who speak Hebrew. The parents themselves might have learnt it though the schools and made a conscious choice to speak it at home but for the children it is a living language. This is what makes the case of Hebrew so special---it has come back to life. A ‘dead language’ is not one which nobody speaks. Indeed, Sanskrit, Classical Greek, Classical Arabic and Latin are both spoken and written and used in certain domains even now. However, they are not the natural mother-tongues of children (though the Indian census does claim that status for Sanskrit). They are formally learnt at school for specific purposes and are confined to those domains. Hebrew is no longer confined to some formal domains alone and it is a mother-tongue. This is the achievement of high motivation, liberal funding and untiring effort for a very long period of time.
English, as in most countries of the world, is now so powerful a force that it appears to threaten Hebrew. It is because of popular pressure that it is taught in the schools in the early grades. Moreover, the television, tourism and computers carry it within Israeli homes. In the universities, while the lectures are in Hebrew, a fairly large number of readings are in English. Moreover, the Israelis who travel or find employment in English.