Dr. Kathryn Accurso
Associate Professor of Teaching
she / her / hers
Bilingual/multilingual education
Critical literacies/pedagogies
Decolonizing pedagogies and knowledges
Discourse Analysis
English as an additional language
Language Ideologies
Literacy education
Systemic Functional Linguistics
Biography
Kathryn is an applied linguist and former English teacher now working in teacher education. Her scholarship focuses on literacy, equity, and teacher education, particularly how to support K-12 teachers in developing beliefs, knowledge, and practices for teaching disciplinary literacies to multilingual students in the face of structural inequities.
Prior to joining the faculty of education at UBC, Kathryn worked at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC and in the Master of Arts in Teaching program at Mount Holyoke College where she co-founded the initial licensure program for teachers of English learners.
She has earned awards from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and The International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF), in addition to being published in numerous books and journals for teachers, teacher educators, and second language and literacy researchers (e.g., Journal of English for Academic Purposes, TESOL Journal, International Journal of Mathematics Teaching and Learning, and practitioner-oriented journals MATSOL Currents and SPELT Quarterly).
Projects
Understanding Pre-Service Teachers’ Practicum Experiences in the Context of COVID-19 Current
2020
Qualitative study of US/Canadian teacher candidates mobilizing their developing knowledge to support multilingual learners online.
Preparing K-12 Teachers to Support English Language Learners in the Content Areas Current
2017
A longitudinal mixed method study of pre-service teacher development of beliefs and knowledge for teaching English language learners.
Multiliteracies Instruction in the Middle Grades Completed
2018 – 2019
Qualitative study of pre-service teacher development for designing and delivering multiliteracies curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
Translingual Literacy Development Completed
2015 – 2019
A mixed method study of multilingualism in high schools and the use of multilingual/ multimodal resources to support SLIFE refugee students’ disciplinary literacy development.
Analyzing Efforts to Improve Academic Literacy Practice Completed
2012 – 2014
A mixed method study of development and impact in a U.S. teacher education program.
Awards & Honours
NASFLA Promising Scholar Award (North American Systemic Functional Linguistics Association), 2021
TESOL Ruth Crymes Academies Fellowship, 2020
Phi Kappa Phi Dissertation Fellowship, 2019
AERA Student Vocabulary Research Paper of the Year Award, 2018
International Research Foundation for English Language Education Doctoral Dissertation Grant, 2017
Engage, Connect, Serve, Achieve Grant (UMass Office of Student Affairs), 2014
McCarthy Service Grant (UMass Graduate School), 2014
Selected Publications