FRIEDMAN, Sorel

Education

• Ph.D. — McGill University
• M.A. — McGill University
• B.A. — University of Manitoba

Research and teaching interests

English Language Learning. American culture. Composition. Reading in English.

Biography

Sorel Friedman's field of expertise is in the area of English Language Learning, particularly with reference to the incorporation of cultural, and specifically literary, material in the second-language classroom. While the position of Director of Language Courses does not directly require a research component, Dr. Friedman has found that the sheer numbers of students provide an irresistible "living laboratory" for applied language research.

In addition to examining the ways in which the literary and the cultural can most effectively be incorporated into the second-language classroom, other areas of interest include the use of multimedia and online (as well as distance) learning. Dr. Friedman was invited to be a member of the Équipe SUITE 2 and 3, a team of educators across the university who meet to share ideas concerning the use of the Internet and other technologies in the classroom. Friedman was also involved in the consultative process for the establishment of the Multimedia Laboratory for Language Teaching and Learning (known by its French acronym, LIÉAL), as well as the creation of materials for its home page, including an Online Writing Laboratory, accessible to all students registered in ANG courses via WebCT.

Between 1997 and 2000, Friedman was a regular contributor to TESL-EJ, an online journal dedicated to the teaching of English as a Second Language. In 2001, she was invited to join the editorial board of this journal and assume the role of book review editor. Friedman has also been a regular participant at various academic conferences, including SPEAQ (la Société pour la promotion pour l'enseignement de l'anglais, langue seconde, au Québec) and NEMLA, the Northeast Modern Language Association. In 1997, she was invited to lecture at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, Israel, on the teaching of English to students in science and technology. In May 2001, she received the University's Prix d'Excellence en enseignement in the category of chargés de cours, and in May 2005, she was awarded the Prix d'Excellence en enseignement (chargé de cours) from the Faculté des arts et des sciences. In 2008, she was awarded a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, Canada's most prestigious teaching award.