Celeste Kinginger

About

Celeste Kinginger is a Professor in Language Learning and a Professor of Applied Linguistics at Penn State University, where she also serves as the Director of Graduate Studies. Her scholarship focuses on environments for the development of meaningful world language abilities among Anglophone learners. She played a pioneering role in establishing the viability of Internet-mediated, telecollaborative approaches to classroom language instruction and has published works on second language pragmatics and multilingual life writing. In recent years, her research has concentrated on understanding the processes and outcomes of language learning in study abroad contexts. She has authored or edited five book-length works on language learning in study abroad, including 'Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France' (2008), 'Language learning and study abroad: A critical reading of research' (2009), and 'Social and cultural aspects of language learning in study abroad' (2013). Her current work includes qualitative studies examining the home stay dinner table as a context for learning French and Chinese language and culture, as well as a nationwide mixed-methods investigation of career paths for language-focused graduates titled 'The Professional Lives of Language Study Abroad Alumni' (2023). She regularly teaches courses in applied linguistics and second language acquisition, including advanced seminars such as Pragmatics in Language Learning and Teaching and…

Research topics

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Linguistics
• Pedagogy
• Social psychology
• Gender studies
• Medicine
• Philosophy
• Public relations

Selected publications

• Learning Chinese through Contextualized Language Practices in Study Abroad Residence Halls: Two Case Studies

  Annual Review of Applied Linguistics · 2018-09-01 · 39 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT A key question about study abroad concerns the relative benefits and qualities of various living arrangements as sites for learning language and culture. A widely shared assumption seems to be that students choosing homestays enjoy more opportunities for engagement in high-quality interactive settings than do those who opt for residence halls. However, research on outcomes has to date produced only weak evidence for a homestay advantage, suggesting a need to understand the nature of lan…

  PublisherDOI

• Language learning at the dinner table: Two case studies of French homestays

  Foreign Language Annals · 2019-11-07 · 34 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Drawing on Vygotsky's insights on the sociocultural origins of development, we examine the French homestay as a site for learning, with a focus on the dinner table. Based on audio recordings of mealtime interactions, interviews, and field notes, we present two case studies of French language learners and their host families. “Amelia” lived for one semester with an “empty nest” couple whose prior experience of interacting with learners had shaped a distinct folk pedagogical style. “Irène…

  PublisherDOI

• Learning to Eat Politely at the Chinese Homestay Dinner Table: Two Contrasting Case Studies

  Foreign Language Annals · 2017-02-09 · 25 citations

  articleSenior author

  While study abroad homestays are often credited with providing opportunities for language and cultural learning, at times they can be characterized by communicative, cross-cultural, or interpersonal discord. In documenting these conflicts and their consequences, research to date has relied largely on students' self-reports, often focusing on their negative effect on students' orientations to learning. Grounded in Vygotskian sociocultural theory, this study adopts a longitudinal approach to the m…

  PublisherDOI

• The sociocultural ontogenesis of international students’ use of pragmatic strategies in ELF academic communication: Two contrasting case studies

  Journal of Pragmatics · 2021 · 15 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Narrative Remembering of Intercultural Encounters: A Case Study of Language Program Reintegration After Study Abroad

  Modern Language Journal · 2018-07-20 · 8 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract What becomes of language students who participate in study abroad and then continue their study at home? What part can their memory of in‐country living play in shaping subsequent classroom experiences, not only for the students themselves but also for their classmates and teachers? This study explores changes in the motives of a study abroad returnee, Kevin, after his return to his home campus following a sojourn in China, focusing on reintegration into the domestic classroom and into…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Sheng-Hsun Lee

  University of Queensland

  7 shared

• Qian Wu

  Zhejiang University of Science and Technology

  5 shared

• Vanessa Simpson

  Children's Medical Center

  5 shared

• Alison Gourvès-Hayward

  5 shared

• Jingyuan Zhuang

  Pennsylvania State University

  4 shared

• Dali Tan

  4 shared

• Rémi A. van Compernolle

  4 shared

• Julie A. Belz

  Infas Institut für Angewandte Sozialwissenschaft (Germany)

  3 shared

Awards & honors

• Best of MLJ 2024

Similar researchers at Pennsylvania State University

• Matthew E. Poehnerh-27
• Sinfree Makonih-26
• Tommaso M. Milanih-25