Hebrew Proficiency Certification According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – An Educational Challenge
Hebrew Proficiency Certification According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – An Educational Challenge

Summary/Abstract: The necessity of creating new curricula for teaching foreign languages (including Hebrew) and adjusting them to the requirements of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is a result of implementing the Bologna Process in the Polish system of higher education. The whole approach to teaching Hebrew to Polish students, as well as methods of assessment, had to be changed according to the new requirements. In this paper, I wish to study some challenges and difficulties which might be faced by Hebrew instructors in Europe and by the authors of Hebrew certificate exams. First, I will present the main assumptions of CEFRL and its certification system. Then, I will compare it with the Hebrew language curriculum and methods of assessment, as developed and applied in ulpanim (Hebrew language schools) in Israel. Next, I will present some challenges which might be faced by teachers preparing course participants to pass their certificate exams at appropriate levels, adjusting the curriculum’s goals to the assumptions of the CEFRL, strongly modifying the learning resources, or even developing them from scratch. In conclusion, I will try to evaluate both the European and the Israeli systems of Hebrew language teaching and testing, in view of contemporary assumptions of glottodidactics.

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