"I'm not ashamed to speak Hebrew" (G., age 11):

 A Model of 'Speaking Hebrew' in the Multicultural School

Linguistically, socially and culturally heterogeneous classrooms are a global phenomenon. The movement of people from one region to another from racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically homogeneous places to cities and villages where people speak different languages has become ubiquitous and enduring. Israel is part of the global mobility is shaped as a multilingual and multicultural society (Eliyahu-Levi & Ganz-Meishar, 2016).

Educational systems throughout the world are tasked with providing the youngsters of these multi-national and multi-cultural populations genuine opportunities to learn, to achieve social and economic advancement and to live safely as citizens with equal rights (Lotan, 2006). In such reality teachers play an important and significant role. Studies in education (Pianta, et al., 2008) indicate that on the one hand, teachers positively influence scholastic success and positive teacher-pupil relationships increase student self-confidence. On the other hand, it was found (Patte, 2011; Caspe, Lopez, Chu, & Weiss, 2011) that many teachers are unwilling to cooperate with migrant families from cultural, linguistic, socio-economic, and other backgrounds.

It is important to promote two modes of language: written and spoken. In fact, it was found in language classes that the spoken received little attention and a limited amount of instruction and most of the time is devoted t writing and reading skills (Ur, 2011). The approach of communication in teaching a foreign language is based on this study. Whereby the teaching process focuses on the development of a communication competency while experimenting with authentic interactions and relevant discourse events from the students' world in order to expose them to practical use of language in the intercultural encounter (Olshtain & Celce-Murcia, 2001).

The 'Hebrew Speaking' model described in the study includes three stages: (1) Planning - the teacher determines the general subject and the children will explore it and write presentation. He can consult with friends and practice in front of them. (2) Speech - The teacher will take care of a safe and comfortable space for the children before presenting. (3) feedback - The teacher and the children will give careful and positive spoken and written feedback. The child will meet the teacher for a personal conversation and together think about points to preserve and improve.

The study focuses on the development of speech skills and its purpose is to examine the changes in oral discourse that occur in children who participate in "Hebrew speaking" classes at school. The research questions are: (1) Has there been a change in the perception of children' self-efficacy in speak the target language due to participation in "speaking Hebrew" classes? (2) What are the factors that promote children' speaking skills? The study participated 120 children aged 10-12 studying in a multi-cultural and multilingual school in central Israel. The study is an experiment study comparing an experimental group to a control group at two times: before and after participation in conversational classes according to the 'Hebrew Speaking' model (Alice, 2005). The study was designed to answer the research questions while examining the causal relationship between the variables: the independent variable - participation in the 'Hebrew speaking' class; Dependent variables - improving the ability to speak and strengthening children's self-efficacy. The research hypotheses are: (1) The children who participated in the 'Hebrew Speaking' classes will improve the ability to speak in the target language; (2) Children who participated in 'Hebrew speaking' classes will strengthen the sense of self-efficacy in speak the target language. The study involved 120 children aged 10-12 who were divided into two groups: The experimental group - 60 children who studied according to the Hebrew speaking model and three Teachers. The control group - 60 children who did not learn according to the Hebrew speaking model and three teachers who did not know the model. All children are from the same population to try to ensure that the research groups are the same in terms of participants' characteristics. Both groups will be measured at the same time, so any event that may occur between the "before" and the "after" measurement, if any effect will affect both groups equally. The research tools are (1) A self-reporting questionnaire for all 120 children at the beginning and the end of the experiment; (2) In-depth semi-structured interviews with a focus group of twenty children and six teachers at the end of the experiment. The quantitative data will be processed by descriptive and the qualitative data will be analyzed in a categorical thematic analysis (Caron & Bowers, 2000; Rabinowitz & Kasan, 2010). The ethical rules will be carefully observed in the study: maintaining the anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents and avoiding harmful questions.

The findings prove that the "Hebrew speaking" model improve children's ability to speak in the target language and strengthened their self-efficacy. We found that 46 children in the experimental group reported on a positive experience that reinforced their motivation in compared to 28 of the control groups. In addition, 71% of the experimental group reported that they were able to have a longer conversation and 64% felt good and safe while speaking. In contrast, only 35% in the control group indicated that they improved speech ability and 21% felt good and safe in their target language. The comparison found a correlation between participation in 'Hebrew Speaking' classes, encouraging positive feedback and creating a supportive learning environment and improving self-efficacy. This is similarly to Bandura's theory (2006) Guthrie et al. (2007) that there is a connection between success in previous performance, positive feedback, child encouragement, supportive environment and strong self-efficacy and motivation. According to the teachers in the experimental group, already in the first month they felt a positive effect of the model on the children's motivation to speak out loud and their ability to write text in the target language and use appropriate vocabulary. Bar-On and Ravid (2011) also found that a consistent preoccupation with fluency, reading, and enriching vocabulary improves the learner's ability to speak and write the foreign language. As we begin to practice speech in lower grades, the child will be able to develop and improve in the higher grades. The 'Hebrew Speaking' model may help other children in the world who are coping with the acquisition of another language as part of the challenges of migration and mobility. In addition, improving the children's ability to speak will help to narrow social and cultural educational gaps with their peers in the dominant majority group.

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