Orot Students Attend “The Wave”

by Dr. Vitela Arzi 
Head, English Department, Orot Israel College

Ideally, when studying a foreign language, one should also be exposed to authentic culture – specifically, art and literature - in that language. Thus, students in Orot Israel College’s English department not only study English poetry, literature, and drama, but when the rare opportunity presents itself, they also get to experience original English-language theater in Israel.
For instance, during the month of MarCheshvan, ADGE, an acclaimed British-American professional theater group largely known for its Shakespearean productions, brought its adaptation of Todd Strasser’s “The Wave” to Israel. Based on a real-life incident, “The Wave” is set in California in the 1960s and tells the story of a high school history teacher who conducts a shocking experiment to teach his class about the rise of Nazism. The teacher tries to show his students that even “enlightened” American teenagers can easily succumb to the lure of a fascist ideology.
ADGE has appeared in countries around the world. Its goal is to introduce classic drama to young English students in order to improve their English language skills.
Orot Israel College’s administration supports and encourages extracurricular cultural enrichment activities. Thanks to the academic dean, Rav Dr. Moshe Rachimi, Orot funded the tickets and provided transportation to the play, and a large group of first- through third-year students took advantage of the offer and traveled to the theater in Kfar Saba. The outing proved to be a huge success.
First-year Orot student Aviva Balta said, “I really enjoyed the play. I’m glad you thought of it. This was also a wonderful way to improve our English, and as you always say, ‘language is also culture.’ And I think we were privileged to learn about a culture that is different from ours in a creative way. It’s possible, of course, to learn from books, but the play simply brought it all to life. It was amazing! In the play, we were able to see English-speakers’ mentality and what is emphasized in their culture (like football, etc.). The play was on a high level, and the actors weren’t indifferent to the audience. They included us, and we basically played a part in the show. I think this experience is very important for English students, and for me personally, it even inspired me to work harder at my studies.”
Kinneret Shteinmetz, a teacher taking courses at Orot, touched upon the play’s connection to recent events. “This week, we had the rare opportunity of seeing a quality play in English,” she noted. “The play focused on an attempt at understanding how humans can lose their critical and independent thinking and act as a mob – as exemplified by the Nazi party during World War II.

“We saw the play several hours after the deadly terror attack in the shul in Har Nof, where four Jews were murdered while still wrapped in their talitot. It is impossible not to be aware - these days, in light of the difficult images – of the parallels to World War II. Now, once again but with even greater intensity, the question that was brilliantly and professionally presented on the stage arises: How incitement and brainwashing can be dangerous and can lead people to hateful acts that they would not have done otherwise.”
Like other extracurricular cultural activities, theater is a manifestation of the holistic approach to the educational experience in general and to studying a foreign language in particular that is endorsed and espoused by Orot Israel College and its English department.

From Vision to Action

Orot Israel College’s English Department Head Speaks at Hemed Conference

Recently, the Education Ministry’s Religious Education Administration (Hemed) and Rav Uriel Ovadia, the supervisor for secondary education, organized a day-long seminar on improving English instruction. As part of the seminar, which was geared for principals and English teachers from the southern, central, and Tel Aviv districts, Dr. Vitela Arzi, head of Orot Israel College’s English department, gave a lecture entitled, “English Instruction as an Interdisciplinary Experience in Israel’s Religious Public Schools.”
Dr. Arzi called upon the Religious Education Administration and the school principals to formulate a vision which will make English-language instruction a high priority and to rely on this vision when defining goals, guiding, and leading, in cooperation with parents and teachers and with their creative input.
According to Dr. Arzi, low English scores in Israeli religious public schools can be attributed to two factors: First, in general, Israel suffers from a significant shortage of qualified English teachers in every sector. Second, religious students in particular may be exposed to negative attitudes about studying English, which is often perceived as a manifestation of an ideological world antithetical to religious educational values. The result is a “vicious cycle,” whereby religious public school graduates are reluctant to train as English teachers even when they possess the necessary skills. Thus, the religious educational system’s primary objective must be to break this “vicious cycle.”
Dr. Arzi noted that a foreign language can be acquired in one of two different ways: structured, direct learning in a formal classroom setting and unstructured, “random” learning in an informal or recreational setting. As she demonstrated, recent empirical studies have proven that long-term exposure to television and movies – as well as to popular music and computer games – improves English language skills and vocabulary. Recognizing the significance of informal, “random” learning can shed light on the achievement gaps between students in the religious public school system and students in the general public school system, because religious students are not exposed to the same degree of informal learning as their peers in the general school system. Therefore, religious public schools must find suitable alternatives and increase their efforts to narrow the gaps – while working to recruit qualified teachers.
In addition, Dr. Arzi explained that due to the Internet revolution, educators must treat English as a second language rather than as a foreign language and adopt the learning tools used to teach a second language. Thus, educators must ensure that English is “present” and accessible throughout the school and during many different activities and that the entire faculty be involved in the effort. For instance, teachers can develop Jewish-themed learning centers which incorporate English-language activities, put out printed or online English school newspapers, organize English-language recess-time activities, initiate English writing competitions, and produce English-language school plays. Furthermore, school principals should provide their students with English texts and invest in English libraries.
During the course of her talk, Dr. Arzi presented examples of various successful Orot Israel College initiatives which implement these ideas. She added that one need not be concerned that this approach will hurt Hebrew-language skills or vocabulary, because research has shown that language skills are not only transferred from the mother tongue to the second language but also vice versa. Improving literacy – by reading and writing in English – has a positive effect on Hebrew literacy as well.
In conclusion, Dr. Arzi called upon the Religious Education Administration and the school principals to formulate a vision which will make English-language instruction a high priority and to rely on this vision when defining goals, guiding, and leading, in cooperation with parents and teachers and with their creative input.

Students in the English Department assist Learning Disabled students in Elkana’s elementary school

By Dr. Vitela Arzi, 

Head of the English Department, Elkana campus

Students in the English Department taking the course "Teaching English to Students with Learning Disabilities (L.D.)" have an excellent opportunity to implement their theoretical knowledge by teaching students in the neighborhood elementary school on a one to one basis.

The goal of the program is to allow our future English teachers to have hands-on experience to practice what they have been taught. The first semester of the course was dedicated not only to the teaching of the remedial program for teaching reading to L.D. students, but also to the acquisition of concepts and topics related to L.D. learners, such as attention deficit disorder and visual and audio perception problems.

The participants in the program are students who were selected by the elementary school advisor after consulting with teachers. All have some form of a learning disability and have had difficulties learning English.

Orot students come equipped with the necessary material for assessment and teaching while the class instructor, Mrs. Tzila Rabinovitz, an experienced professional in the field of Teaching English to Learning Disabled students, makes the rounds and supervises the activity. After the lesson, the students and instructor discuss and summarize their work.

Both students and pupils benefit from the program. The students gain practical experience in teaching the remedial method they have learned and the pupils benefit from being taught in a way that accommodates their learning styles.

What Do Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook and English Have in Common?

by Dr. Vitela Arzi- Head of the English Department, Elkana Campus

Each year, Orot staff and administration focus on a general theme that is incorporated into students' education studies. This year, thirty years after the passing of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook Zt”l, Orot Israel College is focusing on the life and legacy of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda. The selection of this topic has created a new challenge for the English Department, where we preach and practice the integration of the “sacred” with the “secular,” as we firmly believe that relevant Jewish content should be integrated into the teaching of English, and that our English lessons should be enhanced by educational, cultural and Jewish values.

Over the past few years, the English Department has developed learning centers, units of study, activities and games on uniquely Jewish themes such as “Shmita, ”  “the Jewish Diaspora,” “Jewish Leadership,” “Light the Candles Project,” “Jewish Identity,” “Dedication and Shlichut,” “Jerusalem,”  “Matan Torah- Am Israel and the Nations,”  and many more. These activities, projects and modules, supervised by pedagogy instructor Dr. Chaya Katz, transformed abstract esoteric concepts into concrete visual, auditory and sensory-motor experiences, which were then integrated into our Practicum Teaching, and were highly appreciated by the training schools in Rosh Ha’ayin, Ofra, Petach Tikva, and Ra’anana.
When a theme is selected and declared to be an Annual Educational Topic, the staff of the English department gathers for a brainstorming session and proposes specific applications of this theme to our various courses. Usually, the students who benefit from these ideas are those students majoring in English, who are slated to become English language teachers themselves and will be able to adapt the pedagogic principles they have been taught to their own future classes.
This year, however, we decided to expand our target population, and introduce the annual theme into courses of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). These EAP courses are mandatory for all students in academic institutions for the purpose of improving students’ English reading comprehension skills, thus enabling our majority non-English-speaking student population to tackle academic texts required for their seminar papers and ongoing academic work. Students are placed in five levels based on their psychometric test scores.
Two reading-comprehension Modules have been prepared for the low, intermediate, and pre-advanced levels by Mrs. Mona Schreiber, Dr. Smadar Falk-Perez, Mr. David Wapner, Mrs. Hannah Kessler, Mrs. Tzilla Rabinovitz, and Dr. Bat Sheva Keren. One Module focuses on Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s biography, while the other focuses on his observance and spiritual legacy. The Modules are based on existing texts that were abridged, modified and edited by the instructors for teaching purposes. Suitable questions were prepared based on the content of the texts and the pedagogical goals of the modules.
From a purely academic point of view, the texts and the accompanying questions provide opportunities for practicing English-language skills such as main idea, details, pronoun references, new vocabulary and more. Yet content-wise, the texts provide an ideal opportunity to discuss significant issues such as Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s vision, his view on the Divine commandment to settle the Land of Israel, his attitude toward the State of Israel, the study and editing of his father’s writings, the history of the settlement movement and the “hesder” yeshivot.
The EAP staff feels that preparing reading comprehension modules for EAP courses is particularly advantageous.  Not only will more students be exposed to the Annual Educational Topic in English, but the idea that English can be incorporated across the curricula will hopefully have long-lasting effects.  We hope that our current students, who will become educators and educational leaders, will develop a more positive attitude towards English once they realize how it can be utilized beneficially to promote a variety of educational themes. Hopefully, in their own future schools, in their various educational roles, perhaps even as school principals, those teachers will be supportive of combined interdisciplinary “sacred-secular” programs and initiate collaboration with English teachers at their prospective schools.
Our graduates will thus become messengers of Orot Israel’s educational philosophy according to which the so-called “secular” subjects can co-exist harmoniously with “sacred” topics since such a synthesis is desirable, possible and attainable.

English Champions on a Treasure Hunt

by Dr. Vitela Arzi
Head of the English Department

If you happened to visit the Elkana campus on Jerusalem Day and wondered why children's shouts of joy were heard all over the campus, it's because they were "scavenging" for clues for Jerusalem's Old City Gates. This unique adventure was part of a whole day experience, organized by students of the English Department, for the English Champions of "Nahalat Binyamin" elementary school in Ofra.
This special group of Hebrew-speaking pupils who excel in English, is supervised by teacher Shira Hoffman, a graduate of Orot's English Department . Shira, with whom the English Department maintains constant connections, like with other graduates, had approached Dr. Vitela Arzi , Head of the Department and asked whether we could help out in organizing a special study event for the Champions group. Pedagogic Instructor ("Madafit") Dr. Chaya Katz, enthusiastically rose to the challenge of organizing a full and creative study day, revolving around the topic of Jerusalem.

The new challenge met our on- going credo that relevant Jewish content should be integrated into the teaching of English , and that English lessons should enhance educational , cultural and Jewish values. Over the past few years, Orot has declared an annual educational topic that would be incorporated across the curricula. The topic selected this year is the "Circles of the Jewish People", and the idea of "Am Israel and the Diaspora" is but one aspect of that vast topic. The English Department has chosen to focus on Jerusalem's central role in the bond between the people sitting in Zion and the Diaspora. What could be more representative of that bond than the vision established in the Amidah prayer recited three times a day?

"Return to Your city Jerusalem in mercy, and establish Yourself there as you promised…Blessed are you Lord, builder of Jerusalem." ?

And what would be more appropriate for the English Champions group than to lead them on a journey of discovery scheduled on Yom Yerushalaim?
Dressed in blue and white, a group of excited boys and their teacher -Shira- entered the Jerusalem classroom that had been specially decorated to fit the event , and supplied with light refreshments contributed by the college.
The project had two parts: A Learning Center and a delightful Treasure Hunt.
The Learning Center reflected the idea of a heavenly and earthly Jerusalem, the spiritual and the physical, past and present , and consisted of four "stations" : a) The New Neighborhoods – Miskanot Shaananim ; b) The Western Wall - a remnant of the Temple, and a spiritual center for the entire Jewish world; c) The Tower of David – a symbol of the past; d) Jerusalem's Gates- all roads lead to Jerusalem.
From the viewpoint of language instruction each "station" included a)an authentic text from a newspaper clip or an encyclopedia entry; b) presentation of relevant vocabulary; c) practice of relevant vocabulary, d) relevant application.
Supervised by the professional staff of Orot's pedagogic center, and by Mrs. Adina Salomon in particular, students designed and prepared learning materials, displays , work sheets and artwork decorations .
Each station activated different learning styles and goals, both in the presentation of the material and in the methods used for language practice, ensuring that this study day epitomized a multi-sensory learning experience. The following dimensions were included:
· Visual- pictures, maps, flags in different colors
· Auditory – songs and read aloud texts
· Sensory – displays, matching games, responses to statements
· Experiential (action learning)- role play and interviews
· Analytic- letter writing , decision making and questions.
The second part of the day, included an exciting Treasure Hunt competition focusing on the theme of Jerusalem's Gates.
First, a large scale model of the walls of the Old City with its various gates, was displayed in the auditorium. Each Gate had a text and a clue that the pupils had to decipher in order to progress from gate to gate. Equipped with a map of the campus, pupils chased around looking for clues for the next Gate, till the final clue that led them to the Treasure- a gold key of the Old City – was found. The gold key was the winners' prize, but there was also a second prize – a flag of Jerusalem- for the group that answered most of the questions.
Says Linoy, a first year student : " It was an amazing experience. The boys were cooperative and smart. I learned a lot how to approach children, and how to use various educational methods. I feel lucky that I could partake in this wonderful experience". Dora, a second year student adds: "The children asked questions and were very interested in the material. They enjoyed the game in the learning center and remembered everything they read. They spoke in English and answered the questions in English. It was really great; I felt that the learning center was worth all the efforts. I feel that the children, and we the student-teachers gained a lot from this special day." And Lehava, a second year student, concludes with what seems to be the English Department's credo: " I saw how important it is to teach topics like Jerusalem Day in the English classroom, and not focus only on grammatical rules."

The English Department goes to a live performance of "My Fair Lady"

Dr. Vitela Arzi
Head of the English Department

No study in the field of Foreign Language Teaching would be complete without a viewing of the classic film "My Fair Lady." This film encompasses the linguistic sub-fields of socio- linguistics, psycho- linguistics, and of course practical linguistics in the form of phonetics, diction, syntax, lexis and more. All of these components are studied within the context of Introduction to Linguistics and Applied Linguistics as taught in the English Department at Orot College of Education.

However, says David Wapner, instructor of the Linguistics courses, "there is a vast difference between "simply" teaching these linguistic topics within a formal classroom setting in a theoretical sense, to that of actually seeing them in "play" in the practical forum and in an extra curricular venue. "

We were fortunate indeed , as a live production of "My Fair Lady" in English, performed by the Light Opera Group of the Negev, has come to theaters in Israel at the time that our students were just wrapping up the study of the aforementioned components in class. Mr . Wapner contacted the producers and we were given tickets at a special discounted price; we received some additional assistance from the Dean of Students Rabbi-Dr. Rachimi, who helped to defray some of the students' expenses.

The students were abuzz with excitement awaiting the date and then the hour, and finally arriving at the theater in Mody'in.

Says Shira Tzubeiri, a second year student: "It's the first time that I'm watching an English speaking play, and it was an unusual and challenging experience. It was very special to meet my friends at a location other than the classroom, and it contributed to our social integration as a group". Her friend Shulamit Isaacs adds: "This magnificent well produced play was a fantastic learning experience, which brought alive all the theoretical knowledge that was amassed in the classroom . Seeing the material come to live on stage validated everything that we had studied on a purely theoretical basis."

Watching the play together with other extra-curricular activities initiated by the English Department , reflects a holistic approach to the learning experience in general , and to language learning in particular which the English Department advocates and practices.

"Light a Candle " with the English Department

Dr. Vitela Arzi

Head of the English Department

"Light a Candle " with the English Department - a unique learning center at Ulpenalt Zevulun in Rosh Ha'ayin.

Chanukah- the holiday of Light
Facing this criticism, the third year students, supervised by their pedagogic supervisor (Madafit) Dr. Chaya Katz, and helped by Adina Salomon from Orot's Pedagogic Center created a unique learning experience at their training school , Ulpenat Zevulun, revolving around the topic of light and practiced through a special Learning Center that would vitalize the spiritual meanings of Light.

At the basis of the Unit prepared by the students, was the symbol of light, representing the victory of spirit over matter. The concept of light has various biblical connotations , four of which were selected by the students :
1. The light of Wisdom – " A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine" (Ecclesiastes, 8, 1 ).
2. The light of Torah- "For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light" (Proverbs, 6, 23).
3. The light of Faith: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path" (Psalms, 119, 105).
4.The light of Soul: "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord" (Proverbs, 20, 27).

Since Chanukah is a holiday which also revolves around contrasts and opposites, (light-darkness, many-few, weak-strong etc…), the students decided that the linguistic aspect of their learning center would revolve around opposites and contrasts (such as trust-faith, materialistic- spiritual, light- dark etc). The purpose was to go beyond Doughnuts and Dreidels into the spiritual meaning of Light, create an exciting multi-sensory learning experience, and encourage the pupils to express their personal experiences.

The Song "Light a Candle"
Singer Sarit Chadad's song "Light a Candle with Me", provides symbolic meaning to the lighting of candles as an act of bringing people and nations together. It was written in 2002 during the second Intifada, and expressed the disappointment with the illusionary peace process that was betrayed by the second Intifada.
The five stanzas of the poem had been translated by the students into English, and were taught with a focus on each of the four dimensions : Wisdom , Torah, Faith, and Soul respectively. The fifth stanza was typed with empty spaces for the pupils to fill in their own personal experiences and associations. The Jigsaw method used for the unit, enabled both personal expression and group collaboration, and concluded with the whole group singing together.

The students successfully transformed the abstract concepts into visual, auditory and sensory-motor experiences that were excitedly welcomed by the training school – pupils and staff alike.