Students’ Motivations in Studying Hebrew in Higher Education

• In Event: Hebrew as a Heritage Language: to Whom, How and Where

Abstract

What motivates students to learn Hebrew as a second language in Higher Education? As a colloquial language of only about 10 million native speakers, how could Hebrew appeal to college students and what do they wish to achieve by studying it? To answer these questions, I rely on my experience teaching all levels of Hebrew at Yale since 2010 and will use our program as a case study. My research is based on a three year long survey of 140 Hebrew students from all levels and analysis of 56 first-year students’ writing in Hebrew, describing their reasons and goals in studying the language. The student body includes both Jewish and non-Jewish learners, American and non-American, undergraduates and graduates. While most of our students cannot be described by the narrow definition of heritage learners (i.e. children of native Hebrew speakers), I would like to argue that the concept of Heritage Language in its broad definition (i.e. a language that is important to family life even if not spoken in their home), could be an appropriate way to describe our students’ motivations, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation. Based on students’ writing in Hebrew, I will show that three elements seem to catch the core of this concept: multi-generational chain, religious faith, and traditional customs. Some pedagogical recommendations are also discussed.

Author

• Dina Roginsky, Yale University