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Karen Forbes

Karen Forbes

University Associate Professor

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

Memberships/Professional Bodies

  • British Education Research Association (BERA)
  • British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
  • Association for Language Learning (ALL)
  • National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC)
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Personal profile

Karen is an Associate Professor in Second Language Education in the Faculty of Education University of Cambridge. She previously taught modern languages in secondary schools in England before completing an MEd and then a PhD in Second Language Education at the University of Cambridge.

Karen’s 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 (see the MEITS website for more information) and Principal Investigator on a British Academy funded project exploring language policies in linguistically diverse secondary schools in the UK. Karen has published in a range of journals including the International Journal of Multilingualism Research Papers in Education and Language and Education. She is also a member of the editorial board for the Cambridge Journal of Education.

Karen teaches and supervises on a range of courses in the Education Faculty including the Masters in Second Language Education course postgraduate research methods courses and she supervises a number of doctoral students.

Academic Area/Links

Postgraduate

  • Deputy Masters Programme Leader
  • MPhil/MEd Research in Second Language Education
  • PGCE-MEd Research Methods
  • PhD/EdD supervision

Undergraduate

  • Research and Investigation project supervisor

Current and Recent Research Projects

Principal and Recent 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 50(3) 1189-1207. 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

Forbes K. & Fisher L. (2020). Strategy development and cross-linguistic transfer in foreign and first language writing. Applied Linguistics Review 11(2) 311-339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2018-0008

Luo J. & Forbes K. (2019). ‘It’s a plus rather than a must’: Perspectives of mainstream teachers in China on the influence of advertised educational ethos in supplementary English education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2019.1681937

Forbes K. (2019). The role of individual differences in the development and transfer of writing strategies between foreign and first language classrooms. Research Papers in Education 34(4) 445-464. DOI: 10.1080/02671522.2018.1452963

Forbes K. (2019). Teaching for transfer between first and foreign language classroom contexts: Developing a framework for a strategy-based cross-curricular approach to writing pedagogy. Writing & Pedagogy 11(1) 101-126. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.34601

Evans M. Fisher L. Forbes K. Liu Y. (2019). The form and functions of newcomer EAL pupils' speech in English: patterns of progression and communication in semi-structured interview dialogue. Language and Education 33(1) 18-34. DOI: 10.1080/09500782.2018.1445756

Forbes K. (2018). "In German I have to think about it more than I do in English": The foreign language classroom as a key context for developing transferable metacognitive writing strategies. In Å. Haukås C. Bjørke & M. Dypedahl (Eds.) Metacognition in Language Learning and Teaching. Routledge.

Forbes K. (2018). Exploring first year undergraduate students’ conceptualisations of critical thinking skills. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 30(3) 433-442.

Forbes K. and Fisher L. (2018). The impact of expanding advanced level secondary school students' awareness and use of metacognitive learning strategies on confidence and proficiency in foreign language speaking skills. The Language Learning Journal 46(2) 173-185. DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2015.1010448

Liu Y. Fisher L. Forbes K. & Evans M. (2017). The knowledge base of teaching in linguistically diverse contexts: 10 grounded principles of multilingual classroom pedagogy for EAL. Language and Intercultural Communication 17(4) 378-395. DOI: 10.1080/14708477.2017.1368136

Evans M. Schneider C. Arnot M. Fisher L. Forbes K. Hu M. & Liu Y. (2016). Language development and school achievement: opportunities and challenges in the education of EAL students. Cambridge: Bell Foundation