North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt; Rivi Carmel

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11

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North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt, Rivi Carmel

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 6, Issue 4)

Received: 1 June 2018 Accepted: 1 July 2018 Published: 24 July 2018

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Abstract

The study investigated a group of 68 young North American young adults who volunteered to teach English in Israeli public schools for a year in the framework of a joint project conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education entitled 'Israel Teaching Fellows' that was inaugurated in 2013. Employing a pre-post design, the research explored their motivations for joining the program as well as the changes in their self-ascribed identity, attitudes toward Israel and its culture, and gains in Hebrew language proficiency and knowledge about Israel. Findings showed that after spending a year in Israel, the participants gained more knowledge of Israel and improved their proficiency in Hebrew, but no changes were detected in their attitudes and Jewish identity.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 6, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11
Page(s)	101-109
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, Language Proficiency

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APA Style

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt, Rivi Carmel. (2018). North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 6(4), 101-109. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11

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ACS Style

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt; Rivi Carmel. North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2018, 6(4), 101-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11

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AMA Style

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt, Rivi Carmel. North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency. Int J Lang Linguist. 2018;6(4):101-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11,
  author = {Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt and Rivi Carmel},
  title = {North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {6},
  number = {4},
  pages = {101-109},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20180604.11},
  abstract = {The study investigated a group of 68 young North American young adults who volunteered to teach English in Israeli public schools for a year in the framework of a joint project conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education entitled 'Israel Teaching Fellows' that was inaugurated in 2013. Employing a pre-post design, the research explored their motivations for joining the program as well as the changes in their self-ascribed identity, attitudes toward Israel and its culture, and gains in Hebrew language proficiency and knowledge about Israel. Findings showed that after spending a year in Israel, the participants gained more knowledge of Israel and improved their proficiency in Hebrew, but no changes were detected in their attitudes and Jewish identity.},
 year = {2018}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency
AU  - Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt
AU  - Rivi Carmel
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PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 101
EP  - 109
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11
AB  - The study investigated a group of 68 young North American young adults who volunteered to teach English in Israeli public schools for a year in the framework of a joint project conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education entitled 'Israel Teaching Fellows' that was inaugurated in 2013. Employing a pre-post design, the research explored their motivations for joining the program as well as the changes in their self-ascribed identity, attitudes toward Israel and its culture, and gains in Hebrew language proficiency and knowledge about Israel. Findings showed that after spending a year in Israel, the participants gained more knowledge of Israel and improved their proficiency in Hebrew, but no changes were detected in their attitudes and Jewish identity.
VL  - 6
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ER  -

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Author Information

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt

English Department, Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Rivi Carmel

English Department, Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel-Aviv, Israel

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APA Style

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt, Rivi Carmel. (2018). North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 6(4), 101-109. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11

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ACS Style

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt; Rivi Carmel. North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2018, 6(4), 101-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11

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AMA Style

Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt, Rivi Carmel. North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency. Int J Lang Linguist. 2018;6(4):101-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11,
  author = {Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt and Rivi Carmel},
  title = {North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {6},
  number = {4},
  pages = {101-109},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20180604.11},
  abstract = {The study investigated a group of 68 young North American young adults who volunteered to teach English in Israeli public schools for a year in the framework of a joint project conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education entitled 'Israel Teaching Fellows' that was inaugurated in 2013. Employing a pre-post design, the research explored their motivations for joining the program as well as the changes in their self-ascribed identity, attitudes toward Israel and its culture, and gains in Hebrew language proficiency and knowledge about Israel. Findings showed that after spending a year in Israel, the participants gained more knowledge of Israel and improved their proficiency in Hebrew, but no changes were detected in their attitudes and Jewish identity.},
 year = {2018}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency
AU  - Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt
AU  - Rivi Carmel
Y1  - 2018/07/24
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 101
EP  - 109
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20180604.11
AB  - The study investigated a group of 68 young North American young adults who volunteered to teach English in Israeli public schools for a year in the framework of a joint project conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education entitled 'Israel Teaching Fellows' that was inaugurated in 2013. Employing a pre-post design, the research explored their motivations for joining the program as well as the changes in their self-ascribed identity, attitudes toward Israel and its culture, and gains in Hebrew language proficiency and knowledge about Israel. Findings showed that after spending a year in Israel, the participants gained more knowledge of Israel and improved their proficiency in Hebrew, but no changes were detected in their attitudes and Jewish identity.
VL  - 6
IS  - 4
ER  -

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