RESEARCH
My research sits at the intersection of linguistics, social science and applied healthcare, focusing on the language of clinical interactions and its implications for patient care. I work across the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics and the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.
With a background in sociolinguistics, my earlier work examined English language variation and change in multicultural settings. Over more than a decade of teaching English and clinical communication to medical students in Ukraine, I became increasingly interested in how linguistic practices shape clinical encounters, affect rapport and authority, and influence whether and how patients take up medical advice.
I am currently working on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project Linguistic aspects of managing face-threats in weight loss advice delivery in primary care, funded by the European Union. My research draws on Conversation Analysis and Discourse Analysis to examine how clinicians manage the face-threatening and morally sensitive aspects of advice-giving, particularly around weight management. I analyse how various linguistic tools help clinicians balance sensitivity with clarity, maintain a collaborative relationship, and support behaviour change.
In addition to theoretical contributions, I am involved in applied projects that translate linguistic insights into practical communication strategies and training resources for healthcare providers. I previously held a British Academy and CARA fellowship, and I am a co-investigator on an NIHR policy research programme grant.
Beyond academia, I have worked as an interpreter for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, supporting real-time communication in high-stakes, politically sensitive contexts. This experience has further shaped my interest in communication under pressure and the ethical dimensions of language use.
I am committed to interdisciplinary collaboration, international academic exchange and public engagement, with a particular focus on strengthening healthcare communication policy and practice through evidence-based, linguistically informed research.
KEY PUBLICATIONS
- Bespala, L., Meyerhoff, M., & Albury, C. (2024). Navigating epistemic challenges: Self-initiated self-repair in weight loss discussions within clinical settings. Journal of Pragmatics, 233, 51-69.
- Joyce, J.B., Newbert, C., Guess, N., Fryer, K., Mitchell, C.A., Bespala, L., Morris, E., Aveyard, P., Jebb, S.A., & Albury, C. (2024). Identifying key moments in type 2 diabetes management: A qualitative study of the experiences of people with type 2 diabetes and diabetes health coaches. Health Expectations, 27, e70108.
- Kozlova, T., Bespala, L., & Klymenko, O. (2021). Lexical variation in Caribbean English: Allonymy from cognitive-onomasiological and ecolinguistic perspectives. Linguistics and Culture Review, 6(S2), 82-101.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
- Bespala, L., Meyerhoff, M., & Albury, C. Politeness strategies in doctor-patient communication: Mitigating face-threats of weight loss advice. The 58th Annual Conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL 2025), University of Glasgow, 4–6 September 2025.
- Bespala, L., Meyerhoff, M., & Albury, C. Addressing face-threats of unsolicited advice: Doctors’ use of politeness strategies in clinical interactions on weight loss. The 8th Nordic Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Interaction (NORDISCO), Trondheim, Norway, 3–5 December 2025.
- Bespala, L., & Albury, C. Face-saving strategies in delivering weight loss advice: A conversation and discourse analysis study. Society for Academic Primary Care South West Conference (SW SAPC 2025), Keble College, Oxford, UK, 31 March – 1 April 2025.
- Bespala, L., Meyerhoff, M., & Albury, C. Balancing epistemics: A study of self-repair in opportunistic weight loss advice interactions. The 8th International Meeting on Conversation Analysis and Clinical Encounters (CA&CE 2024), Oxford, 1-3 July 2024.
- Bespala, L., & Albury, C. Mitigating agency in delivery of weight loss advice: A conversation and discourse analytic study. Symposium on Aspects of Spoken Discourse, Thessaloniki, Greece, 4–5 October 2024.
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND ENGAGEMENT
Communicating Care: Poetry, dance, and the science of difficult clinical conversations
BLOGS