Kristin Kersten
Personal website: www.uni-hildesheim.de/kristin-kersten
My research and teaching at Manneheim University in multiligualism and applied linguistics centers around (instructed) second language acquisition, cognitive effects of bilingualism, and multilingual education. My research focus is interdisciplinary, including collaboration with colleagues from the fields of psychology, cultural studies, and the natural sciences. To view my full CV, list of publications and conference papers, please go to www.uni-hildesheim.de/kristin-kersten/)
Research projects:
ELIAS (Early Language and Intercutural Acquisition Studies), a multilateral Comenius project on bilingual preschools
SMILE (Studies on Multilingualism in Language Education, www.uni-hildesheim.de/smile/) investigates the relation between cognitive, socio-psychological and instructional variables and second language acquisition
BiLLiE (Bilinguales Lehren und Lernen in Entwicklung - Bilingual Teaching and Learning under Development, www.uni-hildesheim.de/clil-in-niedersachsen/) focusses on the implementation of CLIL/immersion programs in primary school
Books:
Kersten, K., Rohde, A., Schelletter, C., Steinlen, A.K. (eds., 2010). Bilingual Preschools. Vol. I: Learning and Development. Trier: WVT.
Kersten, K., Rohde, A., Schelletter, C., Steinlen, A.K. (eds., 2010). Bilingual Preschools. Vol II: Best Practices. Trier: WVT.
Kersten, K. (2009). Verbal Inflections in L2 Child Narratives: A Study of Lexical Aspect and Grounding. Trier: WVT.
Selected peer reviewed articles and book chapters:
Kersten, K., Wegner, A., Conrad, N.A., Coors, H., Hampel, A., Möller, T., (submitted). "Implementing CLIL as an innovation in primary School: identifying influencing factors." Applied Linguistics.
Greve, W., Kersten, K (accepted). "Investigating cognitive-linguistic development in SLA – theoretical and methodical challenges for empirical research." In T. Piske, A.K. Steinlen (eds.), Cognition and Second Language Acquisition. Tübingen: Narr. (peer reviewed)
Invited article:
Kersten K. (2019). "Einflussfaktoren im bilingualen Fremdsprachenerwerb." In A. Rohde, A.K. Steinlen (eds.), Sprachenvielfalt als Ressource begreifen: Mehrsprachigkeit in bilingualen Kindertagesstätten und Schulen (Band II). Berlin: dohrmannVerlag, 35-70.
Maier, E., Neubauer, L., Ponto, K., Couve de Murville, S., Kersten, K. (2016). Assessing linguistic levels of L2 English in primary programs. In J.-U. Keßler, A. Lenzing, M. Liebner (eds.), Developing, Modelling and Assessing Second Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 163-192.
Kersten (2016). "Early Language and Intercultural Acquisition Studies: Forschungsergebnisse des ELIAS-Projekts in bilingualen Kitas." In T. Piske, A.K. Steinlen (Hrsg.), Bilinguale Programme in Kindertageseinrichtungen: Umsetzungsbeispiele und Forschungsergebnisse. Tübingen: Narr, 239-258.
Couve de Murville, S., Kersten, K., Maier, E., Ponto, K., Weitz, M. (2016). Rezeptives Vokabelverständnis immersiver Grundschüler. In T. Piske, A. Steinlen (eds.), Bilinguales Lernen in Kindergarten und Schule: Erkenntnisse zur Entwicklung des L1- und L2-Wortschatzes bei Lernern in bilingualen Einrichtungen. Frankfurt a.M. u.a.: Peter Lang.
Kersten, K., Rohde, A. (2015). Immersion teaching in English with young learners. In J. Bland (ed.), Teaching English Language to Young Learners:Critical Issues in Language Teaching with 3-12 Year Olds. London: Bloomsbury, 71-89.
Kersten, K. (2014). Bilingual pre-primary schools: language acquisition, intercultural encounters and environmental learning. In S. Mourão, M. Lourenço (eds.), Early Years Second Language Education: International Perspectives on Theories and Practice. London: Routledge, 29-45. (invited article)
Kersten, K., Rohde, A. (2013). On the road to nowhere: The transition problem of bilingual teaching programmes. In D. Elsner, J.-U. Keßler (eds.), Bilingual Learning and CLIL in Primary School. Tübingen: Narr, 93-117.
Festman, J., Kersten, K. (2010). Kognitive Auswirkungen von Zweisprachigkeit. In U. Massler, P. Burmeister (eds.), CLIL und Immersion: Erfolgsbedingungen für fremdsprachlichen Sachfachunterricht in der Grundschule. Braunschweig: Westermann, 38-52.
Kersten, K. (2010). DOs and DONT's bei der Einrichtung immersiver Schulprogramme. In C.M. Bongartz, J. Rymarczyk (eds.), Languages Across the Curriculum: Ein Multiperspektivischer Zugang. Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang, 71-92.
Kersten, K. (2009). Humor and interlanguage in a bilingual elementary school setting. In N. Norrick, D. Chiaro (eds.), Humor in Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 187-210.
Kersten, K. (2009). Profiling child ESL acquisition: practical and methodological issues. In J.-U. Keßler, D. Keatinge (eds.), Research in Second Language Acquisition: Empirical Evidence Across Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, 267-293.
My research and teaching at Manneheim University in multiligualism and applied linguistics centers around (instructed) second language acquisition, cognitive effects of bilingualism, and multilingual education. My research focus is interdisciplinary, including collaboration with colleagues from the fields of psychology, cultural studies, and the natural sciences. To view my full CV, list of publications and conference papers, please go to www.uni-hildesheim.de/kristin-kersten/)
Research projects:
ELIAS (Early Language and Intercutural Acquisition Studies), a multilateral Comenius project on bilingual preschools
SMILE (Studies on Multilingualism in Language Education, www.uni-hildesheim.de/smile/) investigates the relation between cognitive, socio-psychological and instructional variables and second language acquisition
BiLLiE (Bilinguales Lehren und Lernen in Entwicklung - Bilingual Teaching and Learning under Development, www.uni-hildesheim.de/clil-in-niedersachsen/) focusses on the implementation of CLIL/immersion programs in primary school
Books:
Kersten, K., Rohde, A., Schelletter, C., Steinlen, A.K. (eds., 2010). Bilingual Preschools. Vol. I: Learning and Development. Trier: WVT.
Kersten, K., Rohde, A., Schelletter, C., Steinlen, A.K. (eds., 2010). Bilingual Preschools. Vol II: Best Practices. Trier: WVT.
Kersten, K. (2009). Verbal Inflections in L2 Child Narratives: A Study of Lexical Aspect and Grounding. Trier: WVT.
Selected peer reviewed articles and book chapters:
Kersten, K., Wegner, A., Conrad, N.A., Coors, H., Hampel, A., Möller, T., (submitted). "Implementing CLIL as an innovation in primary School: identifying influencing factors." Applied Linguistics.
Greve, W., Kersten, K (accepted). "Investigating cognitive-linguistic development in SLA – theoretical and methodical challenges for empirical research." In T. Piske, A.K. Steinlen (eds.), Cognition and Second Language Acquisition. Tübingen: Narr. (peer reviewed)
Invited article:
Kersten K. (2019). "Einflussfaktoren im bilingualen Fremdsprachenerwerb." In A. Rohde, A.K. Steinlen (eds.), Sprachenvielfalt als Ressource begreifen: Mehrsprachigkeit in bilingualen Kindertagesstätten und Schulen (Band II). Berlin: dohrmannVerlag, 35-70.
Maier, E., Neubauer, L., Ponto, K., Couve de Murville, S., Kersten, K. (2016). Assessing linguistic levels of L2 English in primary programs. In J.-U. Keßler, A. Lenzing, M. Liebner (eds.), Developing, Modelling and Assessing Second Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 163-192.
Kersten (2016). "Early Language and Intercultural Acquisition Studies: Forschungsergebnisse des ELIAS-Projekts in bilingualen Kitas." In T. Piske, A.K. Steinlen (Hrsg.), Bilinguale Programme in Kindertageseinrichtungen: Umsetzungsbeispiele und Forschungsergebnisse. Tübingen: Narr, 239-258.
Couve de Murville, S., Kersten, K., Maier, E., Ponto, K., Weitz, M. (2016). Rezeptives Vokabelverständnis immersiver Grundschüler. In T. Piske, A. Steinlen (eds.), Bilinguales Lernen in Kindergarten und Schule: Erkenntnisse zur Entwicklung des L1- und L2-Wortschatzes bei Lernern in bilingualen Einrichtungen. Frankfurt a.M. u.a.: Peter Lang.
Kersten, K., Rohde, A. (2015). Immersion teaching in English with young learners. In J. Bland (ed.), Teaching English Language to Young Learners:Critical Issues in Language Teaching with 3-12 Year Olds. London: Bloomsbury, 71-89.
Kersten, K. (2014). Bilingual pre-primary schools: language acquisition, intercultural encounters and environmental learning. In S. Mourão, M. Lourenço (eds.), Early Years Second Language Education: International Perspectives on Theories and Practice. London: Routledge, 29-45. (invited article)
Kersten, K., Rohde, A. (2013). On the road to nowhere: The transition problem of bilingual teaching programmes. In D. Elsner, J.-U. Keßler (eds.), Bilingual Learning and CLIL in Primary School. Tübingen: Narr, 93-117.
Festman, J., Kersten, K. (2010). Kognitive Auswirkungen von Zweisprachigkeit. In U. Massler, P. Burmeister (eds.), CLIL und Immersion: Erfolgsbedingungen für fremdsprachlichen Sachfachunterricht in der Grundschule. Braunschweig: Westermann, 38-52.
Kersten, K. (2010). DOs and DONT's bei der Einrichtung immersiver Schulprogramme. In C.M. Bongartz, J. Rymarczyk (eds.), Languages Across the Curriculum: Ein Multiperspektivischer Zugang. Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang, 71-92.
Kersten, K. (2009). Humor and interlanguage in a bilingual elementary school setting. In N. Norrick, D. Chiaro (eds.), Humor in Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 187-210.
Kersten, K. (2009). Profiling child ESL acquisition: practical and methodological issues. In J.-U. Keßler, D. Keatinge (eds.), Research in Second Language Acquisition: Empirical Evidence Across Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, 267-293.
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Papers by Kristin Kersten
Part A: BACKGROUND FOR IMMERSION
1. Preface
2. Why Multilingualism?
3. The Concept of Immersion
3.1 Sele
ction of language and quantity of foreign language input
3.2 Prior knowledge from preschool
3.3 What distinguishes bilingual preschools from bilingual primary schools?
3.4 Selection of subjects
3.5 Literacy training
3.6 Didactic-methodological principles of immersion
3.7 Increase in learning
3.7.1 What results can be expected in the target language?
3.7.2 What results are to be expected in German?
3.7.3 Which results can be expected in the other subjects?
3.7.4 Reports for the results in the foreign language
Part B: PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF IMMERSION PROGRAMMES
1. Prerequisites
1.1 Legal and school political prerequisites
1.2 Planning time
1.3 Close cooperation between bilingual preschool and bilingual school
1.4 Setting up a private school with an immersion profile
1.5 Integrating an immersion programme into an existing school
2. Additional Efforts for the School
2.1 Additional subject costs
2.2 Selection of teachers
2.3 Additional costs for personnel
2.4 Work load for teachers
2.5 Team building
2.6 Selection of children
2.6.1 Suitability of children
2.6.3 Dyslexia
2.6.4 Children with non-German native language
3. What do Parents Expect and What is Expected of Parents?
4. Research and Exchange
5. Follow-up after Primary School
6. Other Questions
7. Conclusion
8. Lesson Materials and Practical Help
9. References
Volume II contains a description of best practices in various different bilingual preschool programmes as well as background information on important preschool-related topics derived from teacher training units developed in the ELIAS framework. The volume starts out with Henning Wode's introduction to bilingual preschools on the European level, which gives an example of a successful model of bilingual immersion education from preschool to high school in Kiel, Germany. The second chapter summarises the most important research results from the first volume. This chapter simultaneously constitutes a part of the project's final report (www.elias.bilikita.org). In the third and fourth chapter, a team of researchers develop practical guidelines for the implementation of bilingual preschools and the role of language interaction between the L2 teachers and the children in the bilingual programmes. The following part contains four chapters by Andreas Rohde, Ute Massler, Shannon Thomas and Christine Tiefenthal which give introductory insights into the fields of second language acquisition, intercultural communication, green immersion and the development of learning materials for bilingual preschools.
Volume I presents the results of the different research studies in detail. The volume begins with a study on the L2 teachers' input and its relation to the results of the test results by Martina Weitz and her team. The data were elicited with a newly developed ELIAS observation tool, the IQOS (Input Quality Observation Scheme). In the following four chapters, the results of the language studies are presented, starting with Andreas Rohde's paper on L2 lexical comprehension based on the standardised and readily available BPVS II (British Picture Vocabulary Scale II), and Steinlen et al.'s paper on the comprehension of L2 grammatical phenomena based on the ELIAS L2 grammar comprehension test. Christina Schelletter & Rachel Ramsey's chapter includes comparison data of monolingual and bilingual speakers in England on both comprehension tests. Steinlen et al. then go on to describe the children's first language acquisition in the German project preschools, which is based on the standardised SETK test. Gerlich et al. introduce a new angle to the preschool studies, describing the intercultural encounters observed in bilingual preschools between children of various cultural backgrounds, and between children and their non-native teachers who provide the L2 input in each programme. This paper develops categories of ICC observation, which present a new step in the research on intercultural behaviour of very young children. The following two chapters by Shannon Thomas and Inge Strunz & Shannon Thomas focus on research in the zoo preschool. Thomas identifies stages of development in the L2 encounters with nature and animals while Strunz & Thomas include the perspective of parents and teachers on the reactions of the children at the zoo preschool. Volume I concludes with a presentation of the profiles of each project preschool. Insa Wipperman & Christine Tiefenthal take various factors into account which constitute the unique structure of each programme and which help understand the multifaceted nature of preschools that the research studies were faced with.
The contribution of these various (potential) influencing factors to predict and explain (S)LA is an empirical question. This endeavor, however, is challenging not only for methodical reasons, but also because the relations and interactions between these potential factors need to be accounted for theoretically: An appropriate explanation does not only require the identification of potential factors but rather the identification of their causal and conceptual interrelations in the form of a model – in other words, it requires a theory. The first step in theory formation is often to find empirical support for a factor’s prognostic or explanatory power, and for its relative or partial weight in relation to other factors. We will attempt to outline some conceptual problems with analyzing the predictive value of several factors at the same time – which can be done both from an inductive and a deductive point of view.
Such investigations have generally been carried out with the help of multivariate analyses, and lately increasingly with structural equation models and multilevel modeling. Based on the argumentation outlined in this paper, however, we hold that these types of analysis are often not sufficient to discover and/or confirm the causal effects of factors on different hierarchical levels, because they remain “blind” for a number of theoretical problems. In particular, it has to be taken into account that factors may be related to each other in different conceptual relations.
It is the goal of this contribution to discuss the various difficulties which are connected to the investigation of influencing factors on different conceptual levels for developmental processes.