Member Spotlights

App that allows audio skim ‘reading’ for commuting and tired eyes is first step towards visual impairment mode

Trying to read an article but been in front of the screen too long already? Your problems may be over thanks to the Skimmer app. Designed for people with situational impairments, such as those commuting or resting tired eyes, the prototype allows users to skim ‘read’ complex documents,…

Quite a conundrum: the multitudinous research questions of the talking drum

Samuel Akinbo has his hands full when it comes to researching the talking drum.   The UBC Linguistics doctoral student and Language Sciences member found drummers are able to represent syllables, lexical tones and tonal processes of Yorùbá speech with the gángan, a talking drum used…

A Q&A with Nigel Howard about teaching ASL as an official credit course at UBC

Language Sciences members receive CFI grants for language research

Language Sciences members received more than $550,000 in the latest Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) for language research. The fund provides researchers with the specialized infrastructure needed for their work. 'Ensuring Full Literacy in a Multicultural…

Are you a fan of COVID-19 briefings interpreter Nigel Howard? You can take his ASL courses this fall

You've likely seen Nigel Howard interpreting at the provincial COVID-19 briefings. You might even have joined his Facebook fan club. And come September, you'll be able to take American Sign Language (ASL) as an official credit course with him at the University of British Columbia. Howard, an…

Finding your voice: gender affirming voice training in BC helps people find their true voice

Image credit: Rachel Cripps @miss_rachelclaire A publicly funded gender affirming voice training program in BC gives participants the tools to find and develop their true voice. Developed in 2004 by School of Audiology and Speech Sciences (SASS) Clinical Assistant Professor Shelagh Davies,…

Racist stereotyping of Asians as good at math masks inequities and harms students

One billion tweet dataset investigates impact of COVID-19 on human communication

'Review of reviews' of patient and healthcare provider communication aims to help vulnerable groups

A 'review of reviews' looks to identify gaps in academic literature regarding how communication between a healthcare provider affects the health of a patient, focusing on vulnerable populations. Evidence shows that face-to-face communication between healthcare provider and patient can affect…

App helps translate stories in multiple Indigenous languages