Katharine E. Burns
Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition and Hispanic Studies
- POS 341F
Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics
4980 Margaret Morrison St
Posner Hall 341
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Education
Ph.D., Second Language Acquisition & Teaching (SLAT), University of Arizona
M.A., Second Language Acquisition & Teaching (SLAT), University of Arizona
M.A., Spanish Language & Literature, Marquette University
B.A., Program of Liberal Studies; Spanish, University of Notre Dame
Bio
Katharine Burns' work in second language acquisition takes an interdisciplinary approach to applied sociolinguistics. She conducts qualitative research on the ideological foundations of language use, with a particular focus on how power dynamics influence language learning. Her areas of research include language ideologies, L2 learner identity formation, language policy and planning, bilingualism and multilingualism, heritage language learning, endangered and minority languages, and L2 learners as emergent bilinguals.
As part of the Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition doctoral program, she mentors graduate students and teaches courses such as Second Language Acquisition: Theories and Research; Language Policy and Planning; Language and Identity; and Bilingualism. She also teaches undergraduate courses in Hispanic Studies—including Using Spanish in Social Contexts—and in the Applied Multilingual Studies program, such as Bilingual and Bicultural Experiences in the USA and Language Diversity and Cultural Identity. Before joining Carnegie Mellon University, she taught Spanish both as an additional and heritage language in the United States, as well as English and Spanish as additional languages abroad.
Areas of Interest
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- Bilingualism/multilingualism
- Language ideologies
- Language policy
- Language and identity
- (Critical) Discourse analysis
- Heritage, community and minority languages
Courses Taught
- 82-888: Topics in Second Language Acquisition (Graduate): 1) Language Policy & Planning; 2) Language & Identity; and 3) Bilingualism
- 82-280: Bilingual & Bicultural Experiences in the USA
- 82-345: Using Spanish in Social Contexts
- 82-283: Language Diversity & Cultural Identity
Selected Community, University & Professional Service
- LCAL Faculty Senator, Carnegie Mellon University
Selected Publications
Book Chapters
Burns, Katharine E. “Challenging Standard Language Ideology in L2 Learning Contexts for Endangered and Minority Languages.” The Routledge Handbook of Endangered and Minority Languages, edited by Weixiao Wei and James Schnell, Routledge, 2025, pp. 274–287.
Burns, Katharine E. “Beyond the Idealized Native Speaker in L2 Spanish Contexts: Standard Language Ideology, Authenticity, and Consequences for Learner Identity Construction.” Pathways to Paradigm Change: Critical Examinations of Prevailing Discourses and Ideologies in Second Language Education, edited by Beatrice Dupuy and Kristen Michelson, Cengage, 2020, pp. 32–52.
Journal Articles
Burns, Katharine E., and Linda R. Waugh. “Mixed Messages in the SHL Classroom: Insights from CDA of Textbooks and Instructor Focus Group Discussions.” Heritage Language Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1–24.
Burns, Katharine E. “Marginalization of Local Varieties in the L2 Classroom: The Case of U.S. Spanish.” L2 Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, 2018, pp. 20–38.
Maa, Joy, and Katharine E. Burns. “A Tale of Two Language Ideologies: Discursive Co-construction of L2 Learner Identity in Japanese CMC Interactions.” Foreign Language Annals, vol. 54, no. 1, 2021, pp. 207–232.
Ulysse, Gerdine M., and Katharine E. Burns. “French and Kreyòl in Multilingual Haiti: Insights on the Relationship Between Language Attitudes, Language Policy, and Literacy from Haitian Gonâviens.” Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 2021.