Episodes

  • Improving Quality of Care for Patients with Limited English

    Improving Quality of Care for Patients with Limited English
    Jun 25 2025
    In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Brynn Quick speaks with Dr. Leah Karliner. Dr. Karliner is Professor in Residence in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco in the United States. She is Director of the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities and Director of the Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center. She is both a practicing general internist and a health services researcher, with expertise in practice-based and communication research. An important aspect of her scholarly work centres on improving quality of care for patients with limited English proficiency, and the goal of her research agenda is aimed at achieving health equity through improved communication and clinical outcomes. In this episode, Brynn and Leah discuss a 2024 paper that Leah co-authored entitled “Language Access Systems Improvement initiative: impact on professional interpreter utilisation, a natural experiment”. The paper details a study that investigated two ways of improving the quality of clinical care for limited English proficiency (LEP) patients in English-dominant healthcare contexts, by: Certifying bilingual clinicians to use their non-English language skills directly with patients; and Simultaneously increasing easy access to professional interpreters by instituting on-demand remote video interpretation. Brynn and Leah talk about the results of this study and what they mean for improved communication with LEP patients in healthcare. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    41 mins
  • Chinese in Qatar

    Chinese in Qatar
    Jun 18 2025
    In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Tazin Abdullah speaks with Dr. Sara Hillman, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and English at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Tazin and Sara discuss Qatar’s multilingual ecology and its Linguistic Landscape, focusing on Sara’s research on the emergence of Mandarin in Qatar amidst the interaction of multiple languages. Hillman, S., & Zhao, J. (2025). ‘Panda diplomacy’ and the subtle rise of a Chinese language ecology in Qatar. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 46(1), 45-65. The conversation delves into the socio-political background that contextualizes the visibility of Mandarin in Qatari public spaces and education. Sara explains the impact of diplomatic relations and economic interactions that impact cultural exchange and accompanying language use. She also tells us about the use of other languages that serve as strategies for intercultural communication. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    44 mins
  • Accents, Complex Identities, and Politics

    Accents, Complex Identities, and Politics
    Jun 11 2025
    In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Brynn Quick speaks with Dr. Nicole Holliday. Dr. Holliday is a sociophonetician and Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkely in the United States. Today, Dr. Holliday discusses her 2023 paper “Complex Variation in the Construction of a Sociolinguistic Persona: the Case of Vice President Kamala Harris” in which Dr. Holliday analyses VP Harris’ linguistic identity on the 2020 U.S. presidential election debate stage. In the paper, Dr. Holliday examines Harris’ construction of identity through language features and discusses the overt and covert prestige that those features represent to different audiences.For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    42 mins
  • Is Beach Safety Signage Fit For Purpose?

    Is Beach Safety Signage Fit For Purpose?
    Jun 4 2025
    We often take the meaning of signs for granted but that's far from the case in a linguistically and culturally diverse society. The instruction to "Swim between the flags!" can be interpreted in multiple ways - some of which may actually heighten rather than reduce risk. In this episode of Language on the Move Podcast, Dr Agnes Bodis talks to Dr Masaki Shibata from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Dr Shibata’s researches beach signs in Australia and how they are understood by beachgoers and what consequences this has on beach safety.For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    31 mins
  • The Case for ASL Instruction for Hearing Heritage Signers

    The Case for ASL Instruction for Hearing Heritage Signers
    Apr 27 2025
    In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Emily Pacheco speaks with Associate Professor Su Kyong Isakson (Community College of Baltimore County, USA) about her 2018 paper, The Case for Heritage ASL Instruction for Hearing Heritage Signers. The conversation focuses on heritage signers, differentiated instruction, and sign language interpreter education. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    33 mins
  • Christian Ilbury, "Researching Language and Digital Communication" (Routledge, 2025)

    Christian Ilbury, "Researching Language and Digital Communication" (Routledge, 2025)
    Apr 20 2025
    Brynn Quick speaks with Dr Christian Ilbury about his new book, Researching Language and Digital Communication: A Student Guide, published by Routledge. The book is an introduction to research on language and digital communication, providing an overview of relevant sociolinguistic concepts, analytical frameworks, and methodological approaches commonly used in the field. It’s a practical guide designed to help students develop independent research projects on language and digital communication. Christian is a Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at the University of Edinburgh whose research explores the social meaning of linguistic variation. His research specifically focuses on the interrelation of digital culture and language variation and change with a concentration on the linguistic and digital practices of young people. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 mins
  • Gestures and Emblems: A Discussion with Lauren Gawne

    Gestures and Emblems: A Discussion with Lauren Gawne
    Apr 13 2025
    Brynn Quick speaks with Dr. Lauren Gawne, about cross-cultural variation in gesture use. In this episode, Brynn and Lauren discuss a paper that Lauren wrote in 2024 with co-author Dr. Kensey Cooperrider entitled “Emblems: Meaning at the interface of language and gesture”. Brynn and Lauren talk all about how emblems are different to gestures, cultural uses of emblems, emoji, and how emblems might be changing in the digital age. Discussions in this episode include references to Lauren’s book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Oxford UP, 2025), the video episode on gesture that Lingthusiasm made and Gretchen McCulloch’s book Because Internet. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    36 mins
  • Lingua Napoletana and Language Oppression

    Lingua Napoletana and Language Oppression
    Apr 6 2025
    Have you ever heard of Lingua Napoletana or Neapolitan, the language of Naples? In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Tazin Abdullah speaks to Massimiliano Canzanella, a Neapolitan language activist. The conversation delves into the history of the Neapolitan language and the interplay of culture, race, and national identity that have contributed to the oppression of the language and its speakers. Massimiliano also discusses his own journey as a language activist and the movement to preserve Neapolitan, including his novels, Set Your Soul To It and You Don’t Say, which were the first ever to be written entirely in Neapolitan (and also available in English translation) For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    40 mins