Kristen Kennedy Terry
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Durham Hall PO Box 870202 Tempe, AZ 85287-0202
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Mail code: 0202Campus: Tempe
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Kristen Kennedy Terry is an applied linguist. Her research lies at the intersection of second language acquisition (SLA) and sociolinguistics, specifically the acquisition of variation in a second language. As a researcher, she is especially interested in how language learners acquire linguistic features that are not often taught in the language classroom, but that characterize “real” language use. Kennedy Terry is fascinated by the process of how learners come to understand the difference between, and ultimately learn to use, alternate ways of saying the same thing (i.e., variables) in the target language like native/expert speakers do. A frequently cited example of this is the alternation between “I am going to” and “I’m gonna” in English, where both convey the same referential meaning, but each carries a different social weight and is alternately used by the same speaker in different speech contexts. More specifically, her published research has explored the critical role of social networks with target-language speakers in the acquisition of informal French by language learners during study abroad.
- Ph.D. French Linguistics, Designated Emphasis in SLA, University of California, Davis, CA
- M.B.A. Finance concentration, Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA
- B.A. Economics, International Area Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, Language Variation and Change, Study Abroad, Social Networks, Language and Identity, The Francophone World
Books
Kennedy Terry, K., & Bayley, R. (2024). Social Network Analysis in Second Language Research: Theory and Methods. Second Language Acquisition Research Series. New York: Routledge.
Peer-reviewed articles and book chapters
Regan, V., & Kennedy Terry, K. (Eds.) (forthcoming, 2025). The Development of Sociolinguistic Competence. Special journal issue of Languages. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/languages/special_issues/NC5124VCIX
Kennedy Terry, K. (2023). Learning from Locals: The Impact of Social Networks with Target-Language Speakers during Study Abroad. L2 Journal, 15(2), 92-109. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5427b39g
Kennedy Terry, K. (2022). At the Intersection of SLA and Sociolinguistics: The Predictive Power of Social Networks during Study Abroad. The Modern Language Journal, 106(1), 245-266. [Winner of Best of Modern Language Journal 2022] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15404781?tabActivePane=undefined
Kennedy Terry, K. (2022). Social Networks. In K. Geeslin (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of sociolinguistics and second language acquisition (pp. 113-125). New York: Routledge.
Kennedy Terry, K. (2022). Sociolinguistic variation in L2 French: what schwa deletion patterns reveal about language acquisition during study abroad. In R. Bayley, D. R. Preston, & X. Li (Eds.), Variation in second and heritage languages: Crosslinguistic perspectives (pp. 279-310). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Kennedy Terry, K. (2017). Contact, Context, and Collocation: The Emergence of Sociostylistic Variation in L2 French Learners during Study Abroad. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(3), 553-578.
Kennedy Terry, K., & Russell, E. (2013). Modeling the emergence of a typological anomaly: vowel nasalization in French. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 155-169.
Courses
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FRE 411 | Advanced Spoken French |
| SLC 201 | Introduction to Linguistics |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FRE 412 | Advanced Written French |
| FRE 319 | Business French |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FRE 411 | Advanced Spoken French |
| FRE 421 | Structure of French |