Research Interests
- Language learning strategies
- Multilingualism and identity
- English as an additional language learners in UK schools
- School-level language policies
Dr Karen Forbes
Dr Karen Forbes is an Associate Professor in Second Language Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.
Her current research interests include school language policies, multilingual identity and the development and transfer of language learning strategies.
She was part of the Education strand of a large AHRC-funded project on multilingualism which explores the influence of multilingual identity on foreign language learning and Principal Investigator on a British Academy funded project exploring language policies in linguistically diverse secondary schools in the UK.
Karen teaches and supervises on a range of courses in the Education Faculty including the undergraduate programme, the Modern Languages PGCE course, the Masters in second language education course and doctoral programme.
Qualifications
- PGCTLHE University of Cambridge
- PhD Second Language Education, University of Cambridge
- MEd Research in Second Language Education, University of Cambridge
- PGCE Modern Languages, University of Cambridge
- MA (Hons) French and Spanish, University of St Andrews
Career/Research Highlights
2022-2023: Principal Investigator on British Academy small grant project exploring language policies across multilingual secondary schools in England.
2016-2020: Member of the Education strand research team on the Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies (MEITS) project: www.meits.org
Professional Affiliations
- British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
- British Educational Research Association (BERA)
- Cambridge Language Sciences
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
Selected Publications
Forbes, K. & Morea, N. (2024). Mapping school-level language policies across multilingual secondary schools in England: An ecology of English, modern languages and community languages policies. British Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3959
Forbes, K., Evans, M., Fisher, L., Gayton, A. & Rutgers, D. (2024). “I feel like I have a superpower”: a qualitative analysis of adolescents’ experiences of multilingual identity development during an identity-based pedagogical intervention. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2024.2313564
Fisher, L., Evans, M., Forbes, K., Gayton, A., Liu, Y. & Rutgers, D. (2024). Language experiences, evaluations and emotions (3Es): analysis of structural models of multilingual identity for language learners in schools in England. International Journal of Multilingualism, 21(1), 418-438. DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2022.2060235
Rutgers, D., Evans. M., Fisher, L., Forbes, K., Gayton, A. & Liu, Y. (2024) Multilingualism, multilingual identity and academic attainment: Evidence from secondary schools in England. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 23(2), 201-227. DOI: 10.1080/15348458.2021.1986397
Wu, X. & Forbes, K. (2023). Contextualising the temporal dimension in multilingual identity construction: a longitudinal Q methodological study with Chinese LOTE-learning public high school students. System. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2023.103090
Forbes, K. (2022). Language learning strategies. In P. Watkins (Ed.), The Better Learning Research Review. Cambridge University Press and Assessment.
Forbes, K. (2022). We are multilingual: Identity education to promote engagement and achievement in schools. Languages, Society and Policy.
Wu, X. & Forbes, K. (2022). Multilingual identity in schools: A Q methodological study with Chinese LOTE-as-L3 learners in international and public high school contexts. Journal of Language, Identity and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2022.2134138
Forbes, K. & Rutgers, D. (2021). Multilingual identity in education: Introduction to special issue. The Language Learning Journal. DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2021.1918850
Forbes, K., Evans, M., Fisher, L., Gayton, A., Liu, Y. & Rutgers, D. (2021). Developing a multilingual identity in the languages classroom: the influence of an identity-based pedagogical intervention. The Language Learning Journal. DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2021.1906733.
Forbes, K., Howard, K. & Ilie, S. (2021) Individual and institutional perspectives on barriers to progression to higher education for students with English as an additional language. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 23(2), 104-129.
Li, J., McLellan, R. & Forbes, K. (2021). Investigating EFL teachers’ gender-stereotypical beliefs about learners: a mixed-methods study. Cambridge Journal of Education 51(1), 19-44. DOI: 10.1080/0305764X.2020.1772720
Forbes, K. (2020). Cross-linguistic transfer of writing strategies: Interactions between foreign language and first language classrooms. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Evans, M., Schneider, C., Arnot, M., Fisher, L., Forbes, K., Liu, Y. & Welply, O. (2020). Language development, social integration and academic achievement of EAL students. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Fisher, L., Evans, M., Forbes, K., Gayton, A., Liu, Y. (2020). Participative multilingual identity construction in the languages classroom: A multi-theoretical conceptualisation. International Journal of Multilingualism, 17(4), 448-466. DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2018.1524896