ABSTRACT
An estimated 4,500,000 Israelis have functional competence in Hebrew versus 2,000,000 in Arabic (Spolsky & Shohamy 1999a, p. 103). According to these figures, Arabic is the second major language of Israel. Arabic is the mother tongue and the primary language of more than one million Arab citizens of Israel. Arabic is likewise a community language of a not insignificant percentage of Sephardic Jews. Arabic serves as the official language of the neighboring countries to Israel and enjoys a unique status in most Muslim countries. Arabic in Israel is a unique case: It is a minority language and is legally recognized as a second official language. Arabic was a majority language until the founding of Israel and, by sociopolitical circumstances, it then became a secondary language. Arabic is learned as the mother tongue in all the Arab schools in Israel from the 1st to the 12th grades and in several institutes for teacher training (See Amara, 2002a, and Amara & Marʾi, 2002).
