רכזת תואר שלישי

ד"ר אורנה פרנץ

רכזת תואר שלישי
טלפון
דוא"ל
Orna.Harel-Ferenz@biu.ac.il
משרד
בנין 1004 קורט, חדר 107
    קורות חיים

    Education

    PhD in Linguistics, Bar Ilan University, 2004
    Dissertation: Planning Processes and Language Choice in Research-based EFL Academic Writing
    MA in English, California State University Long Beach, 1991
    BA in English, Tel Aviv University, 1988

    Administration

    Academic and Pre-Academic Track coordinator. EFL Unit, Bar Ilan University:
    Faculty orientation and staff development.
    Maintain effective communication with faculty members.
    Initiate and supervise teacher committees producing new textbooks.
    Handle complaints and appeals related to EFL studies.
    Advise students.

    New Immigrant Program Supervisor. EFL Unit, Bar Ilan University:
    Supervise and evaluate the performance of programs, courses, and faculty.
    Supervision of faculty.
    Review of teaching effectiveness.

    College Evaluation Supervisor. EFL Unit, Bar Ilan University.
    Evaluate current academic programs at local colleges.
    Continuing study of curricula.

    Departmental Service in the EFL Unit, Bar Ilan University

    Testing Committee
    Graduate Course Committee
    Graduate Exam Committee
    CALL Committee
    Learning Disabled Exam Committee
    English for Specific Purpose Committee
    Instructional Material Development


    Personal Stuff

    My interest in Applied Linguistics began with my first college teaching position. During my MA, I was hired to teach freshman composition at a community college. The college was located in a culturally diverse environment, and among my students were native and non-native English speakers. It would always amaze me how my students would go from listening to my explanations on how to write something to putting ideas and words down on paper. When I began my PhD studies, I knew that I wanted to explore the writing process of college students in order to satisfy my curiosity from back then.

    Another area in my life also impacted my interest in Applied Linguistics. Even though I grew up in the States, both my parents are native Romanian speakers, and as a result, I am fluent in English and Romanian. As a child I picked up Romanian because I wanted to understand what they were saying in Romanian when they didn’t want my sister and me to understand. We also befriended Romanian immigrants who didn’t know any English thereby requiring me to start using my language skills in order to communicate with them. During my BA, I met and married a native Romanian speaker; we also use Romanian among us when we don’t want our children to understand. But, since history repeats itself, our children can now follow our conversations even though they can’t speak Romanian yet.

    With full time teaching and raising a family, I have little free time for hobbies. However, there are two things that I try to fit into my life: dog training and painting. Our adorable Lab is kind and loving, and she’s also a bit of a free spirit. She needs constant retraining to keep from dragging the kids on the sidewalks when they take her for walks. Whenever I have the time, I remind her how to heel, how NOT to chase cats, and how to sit when waiting for cars to pass at a busy intersection.


    My other hobby, painting, gets done mainly during intersession and summer vacation. I began oil painting as a child, stopped as a teenager, and restarted a number of years ago. I don’t have a specific style or even subject matter, rather I try to paint whatever catches my eye and seems like a challenge. There are two features that tend to reappear in most of my work: the size of the canvas and the use of color. I like painting on big canvases, at least 40 inches square, with bold colors that impact the viewer. The two examples (which won't upload onto this homepage!) are 32 X 47 inches and 40 X 47 inches in size, respectively, and represent the transition I went through in color use. 

    מחקר

    Research Fields

     

    • Second Language Writing: sociocognitive aspects, language use, processes, acquisition.
       
    • L1 Attrition: second language acquisition, language attrition, bilingualism, immigrants.


     

    Research Projects

     

    • I am currently involved in two projects. The first, an international study being conducted in Israel, Holland and Germany, investigates L1 attrition among immigrants. The Israeli part of the study, Language, Multilingualism, and Integration: Lithuanian and Romanian Immigrants in Israel, is being carried out with my colleague, Dr. Adina Levine. A grant proposal has been submitted to the Israel Scientific Foundation. Below is a copy of the proposal abstract:
      In contrast to Israel’s open language policy (Spolsky & Shohamy, 1999) enabling new immigrants to feel comfortable in using their native language (L1) to the same extent as their new language (L2), many countries in Western Europe are increasingly facing conflicts and tensions between the indigenous populations and large groups of immigrants. One of the most highly visible tokens of individual immigration is a willingness to acquire proficiency in the language of the host society, and all across Western European countries, more and more strict rules and regulations are being implemented in order to enforce L2 acquisition (e.g., Stevenson, 2006).
      It has been well-established that the success of second language acquisition can be best predicted by the individual learner’s attitudes and motivations (Gardner, 1985), which are mainly influence by the learners attitude toward the L1 and L2 language communities and by his or her orientation (either integrative or instrumental) toward language study (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). While it is clear that proficiency in the dominant language is an important asset for anyone who is part of a certain society, the idea that the sacrifice of the first language is a necessary step within this integration process is unsupported by linguistic research.
      The overall aim of the project is to attempt to arrive at an integrated view of determinants of bilingual development among migrants. Established distinctions, such as integrative vs. instrumental motivation and additive vs. subtractive bilingualism will be evaluated from a multi competence perspective. Another goal of the investigation is to provide empirical evidence for the assumption that linguistic integration is more difficult for one migrant group than for others. The project is part of a large-scale international cooperation, with research groups from the Netherlands and Germany, which will compare speakers from 7 source and 4 target languages in different settings and thus will make it possible to establish how sociodemographic and socio-psychological factors interact with linguistic factors determined by typological characteristics of the source and target language. The part of the project presented hereunder will investigate two groups of immigrants to Israel: L1 speakers of Lithuanian and L1 speakers of Romanian. The groups are chosen for their demographic representation as well as the differences in the linguistic nature and structure of their L1s.
       
    • My second project involves establishing criteria for an EFL graduate writing curriculum. A number of my colleagues from the EFL Unit, Dr. Hadara Perpignan, Dr. Iris Elisha-Primo, Dr. Keren Goldfrad and Simone Sandler, have joined me in developing this project and in submitting a grant proposal to the Spencer Foundation. Our long term goal is to develop a theoretical concept of foreign language academic writing curriculum with accompanying pedagogical practices and materials development that can be used by EFL departments in foreign universities. This concept, following Paltridge (2004), should take into account the role of theory in the classroom, the role of teachers and learners in developing curriculum and selecting tasks, the incorporation of needs-based programming into curriculum decision-making, and the impact of new technologies in second language (L2) writing instruction, learning and assessment. The specific aims of this study are 1) undertaking a needs analysis for the purpose of understanding graduate students’ EFL academic writing needs; 2) developing an EFL academic writing curriculum addressing the identified needs and incorporating recent developments in L2 writing research, and 3) constructing a framework for faculty development workshops that would involve teachers in curriculum development and pedagogy decision-making while training them in the use of new technologies for promoting L2 writing. The specific aims are designed to provide a comprehensive approach to EFL academic writing curriculum and pedagogy. 
    פרסומים
    Journals
    • Ferenz, O. (2005) “EFL writer’s social networks: Impact on advanced academic literacy development.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4, October 2005, Pages 339-351.
       
    • Levine, A., Reves, T., & Ferenz, O. (2000). “EFL Academic Reading and Modern Technology: How Can We Turn Our Students into Independent Readers.” TESOL-EJ, 4 (4), Dec. 2000.
       
    • Levine, A., Reves, T., & Ferenz, O. ( 1999). “A computer mediated curriculum in the EFL academic writing class.” ReCall, 11(1), May 1999.

     

    Books
    • Ferenz, O. (2005). “First and second language use during planning processes: Evidence from L2 academic writing, pp. 185-205.” In T. Kostouli (Ed.), Writing in context(s): Textual practices and learning processes in socio-cultural settings. Amsterdam: Kluwer.

     

    Conferences
    • Ferenz, O. (2005). “L2 advanced academic literacy practices: Impact of social networks.” Georgetown University Round Table (GURT) 2005, Washington, D.C., 2005.
       
    • Ferenz, O. (2004). “EFL writer’s social networks: Impact on L2 academic literacy and writing.” ILA 2004, New York, New York.
       
    • Ferenz, O., Levine, A., & Elisha, I. (2003). “Social, Attitudinal and Motivational Factors: Effect on EFL Academic Reading.” AAAL 2003, Arlington, Virginia, 2003.
       
    • Ferenz, O., Levine, A., & Elisha, I. (2003). “The Relationship Between Goal Orientation and EFL Academic Reading: Study in Progress.” UTELI 2003, Ramat Aviv, Israel, 2003.
       
    • Ferenz, O. (2002). “Language Selection in EFL Academic Planning.” Writing 02, 8th International EARLI Conference, Stafford, UK, 2002.

      Ferenz, O. (2002). “L2 Writer’s Social Identity Construction: The Impact of Academic Social Writing Networks.” 1st Annual Conference, Israeli Association for the Study of Language and Society, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2002.

      Levine, A., Reves, T., & Ferenz, O. (1999). “EFL Academic Reading and Modern Technology: How Can We Turn Our Students into Independent Critical Readers.” Second Language Reading Research Colloquium, AAAL 99, Stamford, Connecticut, 1999.
       
    • Levine, A., Reves, T., & Ferenz, O. (1998). “A Computer Mediated Curriculum in the EFL Academic Writing Class.” ACROLT 98, Haifa, Israel, 1998.

      Levine, A., Reves, T., & Ferenz, O. (1998). “A Comparative Study of Two EFL Academic Writing Environments” NELLE 98, Bielefeld, Germany, 1998.

      Levine, A., Reves, T., & Ferenz, O. (1998). “A Computer Mediated Curriculum in the EFL Academic Writing Class.” EUROCALL 98, Leuven, Belgium, 1998.

      Levine, A., Reves, T., & Ferenz, O. (1997). “Computer-Based Writing Curriculum in the EFL Academic Writing Class. ”Writing and Computers 10, Brighton, UK, 1997. 

    תאריך עדכון אחרון : 23/11/2022