Linguistics

José Sanders’ research focuses on communication in organisations. She specialises in narrative communication. How can those stories that are used in health communication, journalism, advertising and within organisations convince people? Where can storytelling be used in text and media?

Enny Das researches communication and its effect on behaviour. Healthy behaviour, following rules, getting vaccinated: the way in which this is reported in the media or formulated in policy and how it is discussed among people determines whether this results in behavioural change or not.

Mark Dingemanse carries out field work, experiments and simulations in order to find out why languages are the way they are. In 2020 he was awarded the Heineken Young Scientists Award in Humanities and he also won an Ig Nobel Prize for discovering that the word ‘huh?’ is universal.

Bé Breij specialises in ancient rhetoric, and also uses her knowledge to analyse language usage in contemporary public debate. She is the founder of Peitho, the Radboud knowledge centre for rhetoric and conviction.

Helmer Strik conducts research into the speech of language learners and people with people with communicative disabilities, and into the development and use of apps that employ advanced language and speech technology. He is the initiator of NovoLanguage, which develops apps for language learning.

Sharon Unsworth researches the way in which multilingual children simultaneously learn multiple languages. Which corresponding factors may be deemed a success? This knowledge is shared with parents, teachers and policy makers so that it can subsequently be applied and implemented.