Research Areas

Professor Kern teaches courses in French linguistics, applied linguistics and foreign language pedagogy. He served from 2006-2022 as Director of the Berkeley Language Center, and his research interests include second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, reading, writing, and technology.  He is currently beginning work on a book dealing with UC students’ experiences during study abroad.

Selected Publications

“Limitations and Boundaries in Language Learning and Technology,” with David Malinowski, in Fiona Farr and Liam Murray (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Language Learning and Technology, Second Edition (in press).

“Communicative Grammar and Communicative Competence,” with Claire Kramsch, in Carol A. Chapelle (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, Second Edition. Malden, MA: Wiley (in press).

“Literacies for Teachers,” in Glenn Stockwell (Ed.) Cambridge Handbook of Technology in Language Teaching and Learning. Cambridge University Press (in press).

“Twenty-first century technologies and language education: Charting a path forward,” Modern Language Journal, 108(2), 2024, 515-533.

“Where, When, and How French is Learned,” in Wendy Ayres-Bennett and Mairi McLaughlin (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of the French Language. Oxford University Press (2024).

“Technology and Language Learning,” in Li Wei, Zhu Hua, and James Simpson (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Applied Linguistics (Second Edition). New York: Routledge (2024).

“Research Perspectives on Virtual Intercultural Exchange in Language Education” (with Geneviève Zarate and Anthony Liddicoat) in Anthippi Potolia and Martine Derivry (eds.) Virtual Exchange for Intercultural Language Learning And Teaching: Fostering Communication for the Digital Age. Routledge (2023).

“Toward the Greening of the Intermediate French Language Curriculum,” with Vesna Rodic, in María de la Fuente (ed.) Education for Sustainable Development in Foreign Language Learning: Content-Based Instruction in college-level curricula. New York: Routledge (2022).

“25 Years of Digital Literacies in CALL.” Language Learning & Technology 25(3), 2021, pp. 132–150. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/73453.

Screens and Scenes: Online Multimodal Communication and Intercultural Encounters, co-edited with Christine Develotte. Routledge, 2018.

Language, Literacy, and Technology. Cambridge University Press, 2015.