Department/College/UnitHumanities Division

TitleTeaching Professor (Senate Faculty)

AffiliationFaculty

Other UCSC Campus AffiliationStevenson College
Oakes College
Academic Senate
Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas

Web SiteHeritage

Primary Office LocationStevenson College Academic Building
Stevenson 270

Additional Location(s)Stevenson 270

Office HoursWednesday, 4:00-5:00 (Fall, Winter, Spring); directly after classes (one hour) & weekly required conferences; WeChat 24/7

Mail StopStevenson College

Biography, Education and Training

Kimberly Adilia Helmer holds an MA TESOL from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona. She is the recipient of two distinguished teaching prizes from the University of Arizona and John Jay College, CUNY.

Summary of Expertise

linguistic and educational anthropology, applied linguistics, multilingual literacy development, and instructional technology

Research Interests

Spanish heritage language acquisition and pedagogy, English for Academic Purposes, Latin@ academic achievement, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Awards, Honors and Grants

SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE, Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT), John Jay College, The City University of New York, 2013-2014

DISTINGUISHED TEACHING PRIZE, John Jay College, The City University of New York, 2011

PRESIDENT’S AWARD, GRADUATE & PROFESSIONAL STUDENT SHOWCASE,
University of Arizona, 2006

TILLY WARNOCK FELLOWSHIP, Department of English, University of Arizona, 2006

CENTENNIAL DOCTORAL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, University of Arizona, 2004

PSC CUNY GRANT (TRADITIONAL B), The City University of New York, 2014 ($3,990)

PSC CUNY GRANT (TRADITIONAL B), The City University of New York, 2013 ($3,990)

PSC CUNY GRANT (TRADITIONAL B), The City University of New York, 2012 ($3,990)

PSC CUNY GRANT, The City University of New York, 2009 ($4,500)

Selected Publications

• ‘It’s not real, it’s just Spanish class”: Understanding Spanish heritage language student resistance in a borderlands charter high school. Heritage Language Journal, 11(3), 186-206. (2014)
• Interdisciplinary connections and academic performance in psychology-English learning communities. Teaching of Psychology, 41(1), 57-62. (2014)
• A twice-told tale: Identity and resistance in a borderlands Spanish heritage language class. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 44(3), 270-286. (2013)
• Critical English for academic purposes: Building on learner, teacher, and program strengths. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12 (4), 273-287. (2013)
• ‘Proper’ Spanish is a waster of time”: Mexican-origin student resistance to learning Spanish as a heritage language. In L. Scherff & K. Spector (Eds.), Culturally relevant pedagogy: Clashes and confrontations (pp. 135-163). New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. (2012)