Some of my current research on dynamic multilingualism:
In this paper, we introduce terminological review as a research synthesis technique that quantifies variation in definitions and characterizations of terms in applied linguistics.
Namboodiripad, S., Kutlu, E., Babel, A., Babel, M., Baese-Berk, M., Bassuk, P. B., Block, A., Cabrera Perez, R., Carlson, M. T., Carraturo, S., Cheng, A., Cheng, L. S. P., Combiths, P., Foushee, R., Frederiksen, A. T., Grammon, D., Hayes-Harb, R., Higby, E., Kendro, K., Koulidobrova, E., Lin, C.-J. C., Lin, Z., Luque, A., McGowan, K. B., Muegge, J., Shea, C., Tripp, A., Woods, S. J., & Wright, K. E. (Under review). Essentialist characterizations of language are an obstacle to accuracy, progress, and justice in science.
In this consensus paper, we identify how imprecise essentialist labels such as "native speaker" are harming research, language assessments, and the wider community.
Kutlu, E., Kendro, K., Cabrera-Pérez, R., Lozano-Argüelles, C., Baese-Berk, M., Barrios, S., Cheng, L. S. P., Frederiksen, A. T., Hayes-Harb, R., Higby, E., Johnson, M., Kim, K., Luque, A., Namboodiripad, S., & Shea, C. What Do We Mean by ‘Native Speaker’? Usage and (Lack of) Definitions in Language Science (2023–2024).
In this pre-registered study, we are reviewing papers published in six bilingualism, phonetics, or psycholinguistics journals to report trends in the use and definition of the term "native" speaker/signer.
Kendro, K. & Jarvis, S. (2026). Is my ‘bilingual’ your ‘bilingual’? Researchers’ definitions and operationalizations of multilingual terminology. Paper accepted for presentation at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA): New Orleans, LA.
In this talk, we will report survey data showing wide variation in researchers' classifications of participants as "bilingual" and other language experience labels.
Kutlu, E. & Kendro, K. (2025). Rethinking the “Native” Speaker: Essentialism and Linguistic Theory. Part of Reframing Our Language Experience: Challenging Essentialist Labels for Inclusive and Equitable Research. Presentation at the Linguistic Society of America Presidential Research Forum.
In this talk, we presented empirical data from several studies that challenge essentialist assumptions about "native speaker" and other language experience labels.
Kendro, K. & Jarvis, S. (2025). Defining bilingualism: Reconciling self-identification and researcher determination. Poster presented at the 2025 International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB): San Sebastián, SP.
In this poster, we showed that self-identified "bilinguals" often have broad language knowledge that exceeds common characterizations of this term.
Our public-facing talk was part of the 2025 Five Minute Linguist competition, earning an honorable mention.
An encore 5ML presentation appeared as a lightning talk at the 2nd ROLE Symposium— watch it here!
Henriksen, N. & Kendro, K. (2024). Laxing Vowel Harmony. In van der Hulst, H. & Ritter, N. (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Our chapter gives an overview of laxing vowel harmony across language varieties.
García-Amaya, L., Kendro, K., & Henriksen, N. (2023). Regional variation, articulation rate, and pausing patterns in three varieties of Spanish. In Radek, S. & Volín, J. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp. 1449–1453). Guarant International.
Our paper presents fluency data from three Spanish varieties, exploring both quantitative variation and mismatch between production data and listener perceptions.