Search results for: Hebrew proficiency approach

In the Winter, 2016 edition of The Steinhardt Foundation's Contact magazine, Rabbi David Gedzelman, President and CEO of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, advocates for the Hebrew proficiency approach to Hebrew language acquisition, an approach that emphasizes the mastery of Hebrew functional language skills in authentic contexts. It also emphasizes the primacy of oral expression over other language skills. He argues that an emphasis on reading reflects a Diaspora mentality or pre-State of Israel mentality whereas a focus on oral expression reflects a Zionist mentality in that it recognizes that Hebrew is a living, spoken language in the modern State of Israel.