ABSTRACT
This chapter describes notions of “local” and “global” in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy documents through a critical analysis of its constituent discourses. Insofar as the English curriculum in Israel is uniform for both Hebrew and Arabic speakers, it sets out to investigate critically whether EFL policy discourse works to reproduce social injustices and educational inequalities, or instead promotes equal and just educational opportunities. In terms of EFL language policies in Israel, the National English Curriculum states in its introduction that any approach to teaching English must take into consideration the major shift in its status as the global language. The chapter explores the interplay between politics and language policy from the premise that language is inherently political. It argues that educational needs and linguistic equality should be prioritized in multilingual contexts, both locally and globally. The chapter demonstrates some of the inconsistencies between the stated language educational policies and their practices in the field.
