Current Students

Ramlah Amsa – Working with Professor Haniyeh Barahouie Pasandi in the French department, I will complete a comparative literary analysis to determine if the different dialects of one language can result in similar pieces of literature. I will analyze the graphic novels of Guy Delisle, a Quebecer author, and Riad Sattouf, a French-Syrian author, for their linguistic aspects, artistic choices, and portrayals of the Eastern and Western worlds. This would offer an innovative approach to understanding transnational stories. Does language or upbringing have a more significant impact on a person’s mindset and perception of worldviews? How does personal bias play a role in a person’s representation of a region? With this research, graphic novel readers can determine if they identify with one country more than another (based on the author from that country) and can think critically about the media they consume.

Ramsha Chaudhary – Under the guidance of Dr. David Beard, I will be exploring how language barriers influence the quality of care received by Spanish-speaking patients during visits to the emergency department. This project will entail an exploration of language as a social determinant of health, with a focus on the Baltimore City area in particular. I will accomplish this task via interviews with physicians, Spanish interpreters, and Spanish-speaking patients in order to gain a firm understanding of the issue at hand. Additionally, I will assess current solutions in place, such as digital interpreter services, to determine the effectiveness of such solutions and elucidate new ways to maximize our ability to address care gaps due to language barriers.

Adele Hare – Working with David Beard, I will be conducting a quantitative study about the Philadelphia English dialect, examining in real time how phonological changes happen in languages. I am focusing on the phenomenon of “short-a tensing”, and by analyzing the vowel formant frequencies in voice samples of older and younger Philadelphians, I can learn how the change is progressing over generations. Understanding the predictable patterns by which all language changes over time can help us dismantle the prejudices that lead to linguistic racism (linguicism), beliefs that certain languages, regional dialects, and accents are inherently more complex, more intelligent, more correct, than others. The study of sociolinguistics helps us become aware of the social forces behind the way we speak, and the social, political, and even racial, factors that shape our attitudes and opinions about different ways of speaking.