----- Original Message -----
From: tova t - teitel_j@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: new poll
Twenty years ago the majority of schools started teaching English in Grade
4.The children received two hours of English per week in grade 4, three
hours of English in grade 5 and four hours of English in Grade 6.At the end
of Grade 6 most children could read the stories in the old ESH 5 books
Today most schools start teaching English in Grade 2 Some even in grade 1
Neverthless when we see the reading passages in most of the textbooks now
used in grade 4 there is a very low level of expectation in the reading
passages
At the end of the foundation level they have been taught hundreds of hours
more English than they were taught twenty years ago. Many children
complete their elemntary schooling, that is, they have been exposed to
English for FIVE years and do not know how to discuss any thing in the past
tense. Some have a vague idea that "ed"endings are used but have never come
across irregular verbs in a systematic manner so they "runned" and they
"ated" and they "goed".
By the end of their 12 years of schooling pupils today have been to at least
three times more English than they were 20 years ago and I'm not sure that
their English is so much better. Yes, they can perhaps chat with more self
confidence but try giving a 1980s "Unseen" to a Bagrut class - share the
results.
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