Kristin Lems

Dr. Kristin Lems is Professor of ESL/Bilingual Education at National Louis University's National College of Education. She teaches courses in ESL endorsement, bilingual education, linguistics, and language teaching methodologies including 'Using Music and Song to Teach and Learn Languages'. A two-time Fulbright recipient in EFL/Applied Linguistics (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Algiers, Algeria), she has directed major U.S. Department of Education grants for English language acquisition.

Her research examines literacy development in multilingual learners, linguistic foundations of language acquisition, and arts-integrated teaching approaches. Scholarly contributions include the textbook 'Building Literacy with Multilingual Learners' (3rd edition) and publications on reading fluency, vocabulary development, and culturally responsive pedagogy. Dr. Lems developed the Science Inquiry Observation Tool (SIOT) and Frozen Moment Video Analysis tool during FIPSE-funded projects.

Additional creative work includes composing the musical 'Saint Jane and the Wicked Wicks' and producing eight albums of original music. She chairs NLU's sustainability initiative Think Green NLU and contributes to the Evanston Environment Board.