ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book argues that reconstructing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) discourse as cultural practice might be alternatively directed at effecting social change, insofar as the English curriculum is uniform to all EFL learners in Israel. It aims to deploy the term “multicultural” to denote presenting the positive values and norms of Eastern cultures as equal and not inferior to those presented in Western discourses, whether educational or otherwise. Investigating the cultural and ideological aspects of EFL discourse in a place as filled with conflict as Israel must, furthermore, be contemplated in light of a number of critical observations. The book focuses on the Palestinian Arab minority, for whom Arabic is the first language, and whose national identity is contested while studying EFL. It discusses whether curricular policies provide equal educational EFL opportunities to diverse learning populations, particularly to speakers of Arabic.