Kerry Lappin-Fortin

Professor Emerita

Department of Italian and French Studies

PhD, Université de Montréal

MA, University of Toronto

BA Honours, Glendon College, York University

P: 519-884-8111

E: klappinfortin@uwaterloo.ca

Expanded info

Biography

Once upon a time, at the height of (Pierre) Trudeaumania, I fell in love with the French language and was determined to become bilingue. My journey brought me from Toronto to Montreal (where I did my PhD in phonetics and sociolinguistics) to France and back. When I returned to Ontario, I taught French language, linguistics, and translation on several campuses before becoming a full-time faculty member at St. Jerome’s University, in 2010. I love teaching. The process of language acquisition has always fascinated me, and continues to be the focus of my research. Recently, I have been investigating the potential value of self-assessment, and native-speaker assessments, in the teaching of French pronunciation. A second area of interest for me is translation, particularly the challenges literary translators face when working with dialects or sociolects in the source text. In addition to being a confirmed Francophile, I am an enthusiastic cinéphile who does her best to recruit students to come out to the Soirées ciné I have been organizing at St. Jerome’s University since 2006. 

Publications

The content that follows may only represent a portion of the Faculty member's work.

Books

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, La traduction: un pont de départ, Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press, August 2017, 286p. (with electronic Cahier du maître, 71p.). Second edition August 2022.

Articles

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, "Investigating L1 Lay Assessments of L2 French Pronunciation", Journal of Second Language Pronunciation. Vol.4:1, 2018. p.103-128.

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, "Traduire le Black English ("C’est comme ça des fois ")", Meta: journal des traducteurs / Meta: Translators’ Journal. Vol.61 (2), 2016, p.259-278.

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, "Talking Translation: An Interview with Lawrence Hill", Canadian Literature. Vol. 223, 2015, p.100-117.

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, "Comparing Written Competency in Core French and French Immersion Graduates", Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics. Vol. 17 (2), 2014, p.91-112.

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, "Gender Assignment in Core French and French Immersion Graduates – J’aime la français, mais pas le grammaire", The French Review, Vol. 88 (2), 2014, p.121-142.

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, B. J. Rye, "The Use of Pre-/Post-test and Self-assessment Tools in a French Pronunciation Course", Foreign Language Annals, Vol.47 (2), 2014, p.300-320.  DOI: 10.1111/flan.12083

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, "Les quatre voix du duo Condé-Philcox", The French Review, Vol.86 (3), 2013, p.535-546.

Others

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, “Canadian cultural supplement” for Imaginez, 3rd edition, Vista Higher Learning, Oxford University Press, 2015. (5 pages)

Lappin-Fortin, Kerry, "Traduire un poète irlandais", Fiche pédagogique, Le français dans le monde, no. 389, sept. oct. 2013, p.75-76.

Courses taught

FR 192A: French Language 1: Module 1

FR 192B: French Language 1: Module 2

FR 203: Introduction to Phonetics of French

FR 251: French Language II - Module 1

FR 373: Languages in Contact: The History of French-English Bilingualism

FR 400: Advanced Translation

Grants, fellowships and awards

Grants

Aid to Scholarly Publication Fund, St. Jerome’s University (December 2016)

Faculty Research Grant, St. Jerome’s University (May 2016)

Faculty Research Grant, St. Jerome’s University (May 2012)

Internal grant for conference travel, St. Jerome's University (March 2012)

Internal grant for conference travel, Wilfrid Laurier University (July 2004)

Fellowships

Commission Permanente Québec-Ontario, PhD Fellowship (1979–1981)

University of Toronto Graduate Fellowship (1977–1978)

Awards

University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Award (2009)

Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance Award for Teaching Excellence (2009)

Professional, administrative and community service

The content that follows may only represent a portion of the Faculty member’s work.

Professional

Editorial Board, The French Review (Assistant Editor for Applied Linguistics and Pedagogy, since August 2014)

Organizing Committee Member, LACUS 2019 Conference 2019 (held at St. Jerome's University)

Administrative

St. Jerome’s University

Acting Chair, Department of Sexuality, Marriage & Family Studies (2020-2021)

Acting Chair, Department of Religious Studies (2018-2019)

Chair, Department of Italian and French Studies (2017-2021)

Member, Academic Committee (2017-present)

Academic Advising (French) (Fall 2006-present)

Member, Committee for Research and Scholarship (elected) (Winter 2012, 2012-2013, Winter 2014, 2014-2015, 2017-2018)  

Member, Governance Committee (elected) (May 2014-August 2016); Committee Chair (2015-2016)

Member, Legal Studies Search Committee (Fall 2015)

Member, Library Committee (elected) and Library Review Advisory Committee (January-August 2015)    

Student Orientation & Transition Advisory Group (2014-2015)

Betty Headley Award Selection Committee (2014, 2016)  

150th Anniversary Working Committee (2013-2015)

SJU Reads: discussion leader at Orientation 2013, 2014 and Book Selection Committee (2013-2014, 2014-2015)