Kimberly A.B. Swanson
- Associate Teaching Professor of French
- French Language Program Director
Contact Info
1445 Jayhawk Blvd
Lawrence, KS 66045-7594
TR 11:00-12:00pm in person
or by appointment (in person or by Zoom)
Biography —
Kim Swanson is an associate teaching professor of French who specializes in French linguistics and second language acquisition/pedagogy, with special interests in phonology/phonetics and history of the French language. As director of the French Language Program and Graduate Teaching Assistant training, she is responsible for the first- and second-year language curriculum and supervision of GTAs and lecturers who teach at that level. Professor Swanson is interested in how advances in second language acquisition theory can inform classroom teaching and has published several pedagogical projects that incorporate research findings for first- and second-year French. Her current project is a fully online, open-access program to teach/study French phonetics, entitled Quel Accent?! This program combines the features of a textbook and workbook in an online format for intermediate to advanced-level learners of French, with interactive activities that can be used in class or for self study. She has also published articles in the area of phonological acquisition, as well as the syntax-semantics interface in second language acquisition. Additionally, Professor Swanson has worked on aspects of the evolution of French, from Old to Middle to Modern French. She was recipient of the KU Cramer Professorship for 2009-2011, as well as the Cramer Award for excellence in teaching and research in 2008, and she was named an Outstanding Woman Educator by the KU Emily Taylor Woman’s Resource Center in 2011.
Education —
Research —
Research interests:
- French Linguistics
- Second Language Acquisition
- Language Pedagogy
- Phonetics / Phonology
- Historical Linguistics / History of the French language
Teaching —
Recent Graduate Courses Taught
Methods of French Language Instruction
History of the French Language
Structure of Modern French
Advanced French Phonetics
Recent Undergraduate Courses Taught
French Phonetics
French Inside Out (Introduction to French Linguistics)
The Story of French (Linguistic and Social Evolution of French)
Capstone Seminar in French
Selected Publications —
Swanson, K. A. B. Quel accent?! Open-Access program for French Phonetics. (accepted/to appear 2026. KU Open Language Resource Center.)
Swanson, K. A. B., Kendrick, J. J., & Barbier, C. (2012-2020. Revised version to appear 2025). French à la mode [Instructional materials]. (Open Educational Resource: Interactive cultural, video and audio activities). University of Kansas, EGARC/OLRC.
Swanson, K. A. B. (2017). Dictées in the French Second Language Classroom: Prevalence, Perceptions and Findings. The French Review, 90(3), 170-185.
Anderson, R., Dolidon, A., Hackney, M., Martin, E., McMann, L., & Swanson, K. A. B. (2016/2012). Workbook/Laboratory Manual for En avant [Instructional materials]. (Elementary French textbook by B. Anderson & A. Dolidon, 2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill. i-499.
Swanson, K. A. B., & Lux, C. (2013/2010). Testing Program for Quant à Moi [Instructional materials]. (Intermediate French textbook by J. Bragger & D. Rice, 5th edition) on CD-Rom. Heinle-Cengage. 1-116.
Swanson, K. A. B., & Lux, C. (2010). Preface on testing methods. Testing Program for Quant à Moi (Intermediate French textbook by J. Bragger & D. Rice, 4th edition) on CD-Rom. Heinle-Cengage. iii-xv.
Swanson, K. A. B., & Pons, C. (2009). Testing Program for Points de depart [Instructional materials]. (Elementary French textbook by A. Valdman, C. Pons and M. E. Scullen). Pearson-Prentice Hall. i-552.
Swanson, K. A. B. (2001). Is first language learning like second language learning? Learning L2 phonology in Optimality Theory. Selected Proceedings of the Second Language Research Forum. Somerville, MA : Cascadilla Press. 23-41.
Dekydtspotter, L., Sprouse, R. A., & Swanson, K. A. B. (2001). Reflexes of the mental architecture in second language acquisition: The interpretation of discontinuous combien extractions in English-French interlanguage. Language Acquisition, 9, 175-227.
Dinnsen, D. A., McGarrity, L. W., O’Connor, K., & Swanson, K. (1999/2000). On the role of sympathy in acquisition. Language Acquisition, 8, 321-361.
Dekydtspotter, L., Sprouse, R., Swanson, K., & Thyre, R. (1999). Semantics, pragmatics, and second language acquisition : The case of combien extractions. In E. Hughes, M. Hughes, & A. Greenhill (Eds.) Proceedings of the Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, 23, 162-171. Somerville, MA : Cascadilla Press.