Katie Bernstein
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Mail code: 5411Campus: Tempe
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As an applied linguist and former early childhood teacher, Katie Bernstein studies the language and literacy learning of linguistically diverse students and the contexts that shape that learning.
At the smallest scale, her work examines the social interactions of young children as contexts for learning. By looking closely at what young children say and do—and how they say and do it— Professor Bernstein's research provides a window into what young students understand about language, literacy, their peers, and themselves.
At slightly larger scales, Dr. Bernstein has examined how teacher and principal beliefs shape students' learning opportunities, both in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) contexts and English-medium schools.
At the largest scale, she also studies how language education policies are created, interpreted, and implemented--in ways than can promote or hinder equity.
Dr. Bernstein's primary research methods are qualitative, ethnographic, and discourse analytic.
Professor Bernstein has been published in TESOL Quarterly, Applied Linguistics Review, Language Policy, and Linguistics and Education.
Her 2021 collaborative article--“We live in the age of choice”: school administrators, school choice policies, and the shaping of dual language bilingual education--was nominated by the editors of Language Policy for the James E. Alatis Prize for Research in Language Policy and Planning in Educational Contexts.
Her 2022 collaborative article--Moving away from the 4-hour block: Arizona’s distinctive path to reversing its restrictive language policies--won the 2024 Research Article Award from the American Association of Applied Linguistics.
Dr. Bernstein is also currently PI of a Spencer Research-Practice Partnership Grant with Childsplay Theatre Co. (Tempe, AZ) and Phoenix Elementary School District #1 Early Childhood Program (Phoenix, AZ). Together, they collaborators seek to understand how drama can support opportunities to learn during story time, particularly for culturally and linguistically diverse students with exceptionalities.
- Ph.D. Education (Language, Literacy and Culture), University of California-Berkeley
- M.A. Education (Language, Literacy and Culture), University of California-Berkeley
- B.A. Linguistics, Duke University
Guiding Research Questions:
- How do young children's peer interactions contribute to their language learning and their knowledge about languages?
- What do preschool teachers believe about language learning and linguistic diversity, and how do those beliefs relate to teachers' own histories?
- How do principals of dual language schools think about the purpose of dual language education and how do those ideas shape their school?
- How is language policy made at state levels? How do school principals and teachers also act as language policy makers?
Bernstein, K.A., Anderson, K.T., Close, K.* & Rodriguez Martinez, S. (2023). Teacher beliefs about multilingual learners: How language ideologies shape teachers’ hypothetical policymaking. International Multilingual Research Journal, 17(3), 191-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2023.2182094
Kaveh, Y. M., Bernstein, K. A., Cervantes-Soon, C., Rodriguez-Martinez, S.*, & Mohamed, S*. (2022). Moving away from the 4-hour block: Arizona’s distinctive path to reversing its restrictive language policies. International Multilingual Research Journal, 16(2), 113–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2021.1973261
Bernstein, K. A., Alvarez, A., Chaparro, S., & Henderson, K. I. (2021). “We live in the age of choice”: School administrators, school choice policies, and the shaping of dual language bilingual education. Language Policy, 20(3), 383–412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-021-09578-0
Bernstein, K.A. (2020). (Re)defining success in language learning: Positioning, participation and young emergent bilinguals at school. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. https://books.google.com/books?id=MAr2DwAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en
Bernstein, K., Katznelson, N., Amezcua, A., Mohamed, S., & Alvarado, S.L. (2020). Equity/social justice, instrumentalism/neoliberalism: Dueling discourses of dual language in principals' talk about their programs. TESOL Quarterly, 54(3), p. 652-684. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.582
Bernstein, K. A. (2018). The perks of being peripheral: English learning and participation in a preschool classroom network of practice. TESOL Quarterly 52(4),798-844. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.428
Katznelson, N. & Bernstein, K. A. (2017). Rebranding bilingualism: The shifting discourses of language education policy in California's 2016 election. Linguistics and Education, 40, 11-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2017.05.002
Bernstein, K.A. (2017). Writing their way into talk: Emergent bilinguals’ emergent literacy practices as pathways to peer interaction and oral language growth. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 17(4), 485-531. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798416638138
Bernstein, K.A. (2016). “Misunderstanding” and (mis)interpretation as strategic tools in intercultural interaction between pre-school children. Applied Linguistics Review, 7(4), 471-494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2016-0021
- Marley,Scott Christopher*, Bernstein,Katherine Arielle, Kelley,Michael Francis, Restrepo, Maria Laida.Supporting Early Language Development of Preschool Children with Drama Integration. Department of Education – Arts in Education Grant. (2018-2022)
- Kelley,Michael Francis*, Bernstein,Katherine Arielle, Farrand,Kathleen M., Marley,Scott Christopher. EYEPlay for Dual Language Learners: Focus on Orange County Public Pre-schools FL. (7/1/2016 - 6/30/2017).
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 691 | Seminar |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| BLE 537 | Linguistics for Educators |
| BLE 537 | Linguistics for Educators |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| EPA 792 | Research |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 691 | Seminar |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| TEL 493 | Honors Thesis |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 691 | Seminar |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |