Newcomer Healthcare Communication in British Columbia
About the topic
My topic explores how CLB 1–5 newcomers in British Columbia experience communication in healthcare settings. It focuses on how institutional power, hidden expectations, and unfamiliar system norms shape participation and understanding.
The Paper
This paper argues that healthcare communication difficulties are not mainly caused by limited language ability. Instead, they are shaped by institutional power and implicit norms of appropriate participation. Drawing on intercultural communication theory, the paper shows that silence and hesitation can be meaningful responses to risk rather than signs of incompetence.
Relevant implications
The paper suggests that improving newcomer healthcare communication requires more than interpretation or language support. Institutions also need to make participation norms clearer and reduce the risks that prevent patients from speaking up.
Click the link icon to listen to the talk
Biography & Interests
Weiwei Li
Weiwei Li is a graduate student in Intercultural and International Communication at Royal Roads University. Her interests include newcomer experiences, intercultural communication, institutional power, and equitable healthcare communication.
I was born and raised in Northeast China, a very cold region, and moved to the southernmost part of China at 18 to attend university, where the climate is warm and spring-like all year round. I later spent seven years working in Beijing.
I have been teaching English in educational institutions for many years, mainly working with students aged 8 to 18. I speak Mandarin and English, and I have some knowledge of French, which I studied in addition to my university degree.
I enjoy staying at home but also love conversations and meaningful exchanges with people. My interests include cooking, reading, voice acting, and writing fiction. I am especially fond of cats and brought my two cats with me from China to Canada—one is 11 years old and the other is 6.
I am particularly interested in how students learn English effectively and enjoy communicating with people from different backgrounds. One important reason I chose to pursue graduate studies abroad is to experience learning again from a student’s perspective. I believe in lifelong learning—learning, reflecting, and then sharing.
