
Curriculum Vitae
BIOGRAPHY
I'm a Senior Lecturer at the English Language Department, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics. My research area is healthcare discourse, focusing on matters related to language and healthcare. By analysing doctor-patient interaction, I examine how doctors and patients "do things", such as make decisions about treatment and discuss concerns by interacting with each other in person and online. I'm also interested in communication in healthcare education, interproffessional discourse and patient education, alongside how people express and make meaning of health-related issues via their talk, stories and social media posts.
Before joining Universiti Malaya in 2019, I worked for over twenty years in various positions related to language, communication and skills development. My work experience can be divided into two main areas: Language and Content Services and Learning and Skills Development.
As a language and content service provider for over 15 years, I provided writing, editing and other language consulting services for clients including students and researchers, Open University Malaysia, What3Words, UK (a geomapping start up) and Trilogy, Austin, Texas (a software company).
Over 17 years as a language instructor and HRDF certified trainer, I developed and facilitated comunication skills training for a wide variety of corporate clients in Jakarta (including Bank Danamon, CINOOC, Philip Morris, Citibank) and Kuala Lumpur, including Royal Bank of Canada, TIMEdotCom,Monash University. The latter were clients of British Council, Kuala Lumpur's Professional Development Centre, where I was engaged as a training consultant. My work history is available at https://my.linkedin.com/in/ayeshah-syed-04682931
In my current role as a researcher, I'm interested in exploring how insights from language analysis can improve real-world practice in various fields. I also like hearing about what other researchers are working on and learning about new areas and methodologies. I welcome any ideas you might have for collaborations or research supervision.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
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APPLIED LINGUISTICSProfessional discourse
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DISCOURSE AND PRAGMATICSHealthcare Discourse, Doctor-Patient Talk
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION
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PhD (Discourse Studies), (Discourse Studies)Universiti Malaya (UM)
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MESL, (English as a Second Language)Universiti Malaya (UM)
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CELTA, (Teaching English as a Second Language)Cambridge University, United Kingdom
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BSc (Business), (Science in Business)Indiana University, Bloomington
ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES
- Deputy Dean (Research, Value Creation and Enterprise)09 Nov 2022 - present (Universiti Malaya)
- Head for the Postgraduate course- Aproaches to Discourse Analysis (TOX7015) for ODL Programme01 Jun 2021 - present (Faculty)
- Committee member - Career Guidance and Alumni Strategy23 Apr 2021 - present (Faculty)
- Universiti Malaya Human ResourceManagement System (HRMS) Team - Member15 Dec 2021 - 14 Dec 2022 (University Malaya)
- Coordinator25 Nov 2020 - 24 Nov 2022 (Faculty)
- Committee Member Jawatankuasa Tatatertib26 Feb 2021 - 28 Feb 2022 (University Malaya)
- Facilitator- Task Force 5.1 Theme 5 Transformation Plan: Transform Culture, Embrace Change & Nurture Talent04 Mar 2021 - 31 Dec 2021 (University Malaya)
- Coordinator01 Sep 2020 - 30 Jun 2021 (Faculty)
MEMBERSHIPS
- PRESIDENT (2022-2024), PRESIDENT/ CHIEFSince 2022 (National)
- PERSATUAN BAHASA MODEN MALAYSIA, LIFE MEMBERSince 2012 (National)
- UNIVERSITI MALAYA HUMAN RESOURCEMANAGEMENT SYSTEM (HRMS) TEAM - MEMBER, UNIVERSITY MALAY, MEMBER2021 to 2022 (University)
- INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR DISCOURSE STUDIES, MEMBER2021 to 2022 (International)
- MALAYSIAN ASSOCIATION OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, MEMBER2021 to 2022 (National)
- APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE - SOCIETY, MEMBER2019 to 2022 (International)
- PERSATUAN BAHASA MODEN MALAYSIA, ASSISTANT SECRETARY2019 to 2020 (National)
- PERSATUAN BAHASA MODEN MALAYSIA, COMMITTEE MEMBER2016 to 2019 (National)
- PERSATUAN BAHASA MODEN MALAYSIA, ASSISTANT SECRETARY2012 to 2016 (National)
AWARD AND STEWARDSHIP
- Best Paper Award (Australia/Ocenia Stream)DMCA/International Society for Conversation Analysis, 2022 (International)
- Best Lecturer Award (Postgraduate)Postgraduate Office Faculty of Languages & Linguistics, 2021 (University)
- Candlin Researcher Award 2019Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 2020 (International)
PUBLICATIONS
Article in Journal
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Ng, Tze Chang; Teo, Chin Hai; Toh, Jia Yong; Dunn, Adam G.; Ng, Chirk Jenn; Ang, Tan Fong; Abdullah, Adina; Syed, Ayeshah; Lim, Hooi Min; Yin, Kathleen; Liew, Chee Sun (2022). Factors influencing healthcare seeking in patients with dengue: systematic review, TROPICAL MEDICINE & INTERNATIONAL HEALTH. (), . doi:10.1111/tmi.13695
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Albury, C.; Hall, A.; Syed, A.; Ziebland, S.; Stokoe, E.; Roberts, N.; Webb, H.; Aveyard, P. (2019). Communication practices for delivering health behaviour change conversations in primary care: a systematic review and thematic synthesis, BMC FAMILY PRACTICE. 20(1), . doi:10.1186/s12875-019-0992-x
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Syed A. (2019). Using a patient decision aid about insulin treatment in type 2 diabetes clinics: An activity analysis, Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice. 16(1), 76-108. doi:10.1558/jalpp.18797
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Syed A, Mohd Don Z, Ng CJ, et al. (2017). Using a patient decision aid for insulin initiation in patients with type 2 diabetes: a qualitative analysis of doctor patient conversations in primary care consultations in Malaysia. BMJ Open, 7 (5). doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014260
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Zuraidah Mohd Don and Ayeshah Syed (2017) Patient Decision Aids in Doctor-Patient Consultations: Treatment Decision Making on Starting Insulin. Sains Humanika, 19(4-2): 93-103
Books
- Nadarajah, K., Abdullah, A., Bujang, M. & Syed, A. (Eds.) (2020). Women for Change and Empowerment. Association of Voices of Peace, Conscience and Reason.
Chapter in Books
- Yoong, D. & Syed A. Supporting Competing Narratives: A Membership Categorization Analysis of Identity Work in Police-Detainee Talk. In F. Rock and M. Mason (Eds.), The discourse of police interviews (pp. 100- 115). University of Chicago Press. Chicago IL: USA.
Other Publications
- Syed, A., Yoong, D., & Nazari, N. S. (2022). From the Soup Kitchen to Zoom: Online Adaptation of a Mixed-Methods Study on Cultivating Dental Students' Empathy Through Life Story Documentation. - Case Study
- Syed, A., Yoong, D., Mohamed Nazari (f2022). From the Soup Kitchen to Zoom: Online Adaptation of a Mixed Methods Study on Cultivating Dental Students' Empathy Through Life Story Documentation. SAGE Research Methods - Doing Research Online. SAGE - Technical Report
RESEARCH INTEREST
- Medical Discourse (medical dicourse)
- Discourse Analysis (discourse analysis)
- Doctor-Patient Interaction (doctor-patient interaction)
RESEARCH PROJECT
National
- 2022 - 2025, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS)A Discourse-based Model Of House Officer Socialisation Towards Enhancing Interprofessional Collaboration In Medical Practice ( Principal Investigator(PI))
- 2022 - 2024, Others MOHE - Top 100 (IIRG)-HWBLingua-cultural Adaptation Of Dementia Communication Toolkit For Use In Clinical And Social Settings ( Co-Researcher)
- 2022 - 2024, Others MOHE - Top 100 (IIRG)-HWBWP3: A Holistic Patient-Centred Approach Towards Understanding, Preventing And Treating Periodontitis With the Use of Synbiotic Toothpaste as an Adjunct ( Principal Investigator(PI))
- 2020 - 2023, Others MOHE - Top 100 (IIRG)-HWBEmpowering Patients With Dengue To Seek Evidence-based Health Information For Self-care Using A Gamified Patient Education Tool The Desca Study ( Co-Researcher)
- 2019 - 2022, Others MOHE - Top 100 (IIRG)-HWBCultivating Empathy Among Dental Students: Documenting Life Stories Of Older Adults Relying On Soup Kitchens ( Principal Investigator(PI))
- 2020 - 2022, Covid-19 Special Research GrantCovid 19: Developing, Evaluating And Implementing A Teleconsultation System To Follow-up Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus During The Covid-19 Pandemic ( Co-Researcher)
- 2022 - 2022, Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP)Visi Golongan Belia Untuk Masa Depan Yang Mampan ( Principal Investigator(PI))
- 2018 - 2021, RU Geran - Fakulti ProgramThe Values In Shared Interactions Tool (visit) For Integrating Patient Agendas Into Consultations: A Single-centre Block-randomized Trial ( Co-Researcher)
- 2019 - 2021, Academy of Family Physicians Malaysia research grantDeveloping a Malaysian Model of Primary Care Consultations ( Consultant)
International
- 2019 - 2023, International FundingSustainable Development Goals In Journalism Reporting (sdgsjr) ( Co-Researcher)
CONSULTANCY PROJECT
- Translation Assessment of Data Collection Instrument, Associate Professor Dr Cila Umat, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia01 Apr 2021 - 01 Apr 2021 (National)
- Lecturer for Short Term Mobility Programme With Daejin University, Daejin University01 Dec 2020 - 01 Dec 2020 (International)
PAPER PRESENTED
PLENARY SPEAKER
- Applying linguistics in the wild: 3 ways you can make a difference, 8th Postgraduate Research Conference, Postgraduate Students of Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University Malaya (National) (19 Dec 2020 - 19 Dec 2020)
INVITED SPEAKER
- Making a Decision about Starting Insulin Therapy: Insights from Two Discourse Analytical Approaches , Discourse & Communication Webinar, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (National) (17 Dec 2021 - 17 Dec 2021)
- ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS: SYNTHESISING, SUMMARISING, PARAPHRASING, AND QUOTING ONLINE WORKSHOP, Training Session, ACE Learning Excellence & Innovation (National) (11 Dec 2021 - 11 Dec 2021)
- Boost Your Academic Writing: Tips and Strategies for Postgraduate Students, Faculty of Education Webinar, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya (University) (24 Apr 2021 - 24 Apr 2021)
- Investigating Doctor-Patient Interaction in Primary Care Consultations Using Discourse Analysis , Video Conferencing with Universitas Airlangga (DECOTA) , Universitas Airlangga (International) (29 Sep 2020 - 29 Sep 2020)
ORAL PRESENTER
- Life Story Documentation: Early Exposure to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Dental Healthcare Education (co-author), SEAADE 2022 -South East Asia Association for Dental Education, South East Asia Association for Dental Educatio (International) (24 Nov 2022 - 26 Dec 2022)
- (re) Initiating Conversations about Starting Insulin when Using a Patient Decision Aid for Type 2 Diabetes, Digital Meeting for Conversation Analysis, International Society for Conversation Analysis (International) (31 Oct 2022 - 04 Nov 2022)
- Life-story Documentation for Empathy Development Among Dental Students: Preliminary Findings and Insights from An Interdisciplinary Communication-Focused Study Conducted During the Pandemic, 20th International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Communication, Medicine and Ethics, Hong Kong Polytechnic (International) (13 Jul 2022 - 15 Jul 2022)
- Like the Taming of the Shrew-Patients' Constructions of Control in Talk about Starting Insulin, Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics International Conference (MAALIC )2021, Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics (International) (08 Sep 2021 - 10 Sep 2021)
- Adapting Research Methodology During Covid-19: Insights from a Pilot Study on Cultivating Dental Students Empathy Number, 20th Annual Scientific Meeting of International Assocation for Dental Research - Malaysian Section 2021, International Assocation for Dental Research - M (International) (01 Sep 2021 - 01 Sep 2021)
- Does a web-based patient agenda list improve satisfaction in primary care consultations? A cluster-RCT, Asia Pacific Primary Care Research Conference 2021, , Nanyang Technological University (International) (16 Jul 2021 - 17 Jul 2021)
- Which patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus are not suitable for teleconsultation? An exploratory study, Asia Pacific Primary Care Research Conference 2021, Nanyang Technological University  (International) (16 Jul 2021 - 17 Jul 2021)
POSTER PRESENTER
- So there are a few choices that I can recommend to you lah: The use Malaysian English discourse particles in psychiatric consultations, 3rd International Connect Malaysia Confere ce, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia & Nottingham University Malaysia (International) (17 Aug 2021 - 19 Aug 2021)
PRESENTER
- Conversational Trajectories When Using a Patient Decision Aid on Starting Insulin in Malaysian Primary Care Consultations, Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, Aalborg University (International) (16 Sep 2020 - 18 Sep 2020)
- Theme-Oriented Discourse Analysis-Findings from a Study of Decision Making about Insulin for Type 2 Diabetes, Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice 2019, UTM, Aalborg University, UCSI (International) (23 Sep 2019 - 25 Sep 2019)
- Question-Answer Sequences in Treatment Decision Making about Insulin, MICOLLAC 2018: 10th Malaysia International Conference on Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University Putra Malaysia (International) (14 Aug 2018 - 16 Aug 2018)
OTHERS
- Activity Analysis of Doctor-Patient Consultations involving a PDA about Starting Insulin: Some Findings and Challenges, Oxford Research in Conversation Analysis (ORCA) Data Session, ORCA (University) (20 Apr 2018 - 20 Apr 2018)
ACADEMIC/PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Evaluation
- (2021) Article Reviewi, International, (Reviewer)
- (2021) 3l Journal - Article Reviewer, National, (Reviewer)
- (2021) Journal of Modern Languages - Article Reviewer, University, (Reviewer)
- (2020) Evaluation of Masters Research Report - A POSITIVE DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF AN INDIVIDUAL WITH DISABILITY, (Internal Examiner)
Media appearance
- (2022) Interview With Bfm Radio Health & Living, Can Empathy Be Taught in Healthcare, National, (Interview)
- (2021) Bfm Radio Today I Learned: How Language Shapes Thought, National, (Interview)
SUPERVISION
Under Graduate Students
- (2021) Context in Social Media: The Perception of Tone Indicators Among Malaysian Twitter Users
Postgraduate Student
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(2022) A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TREATMENT DECISION MAKING IN OUTPATIENT PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTATIONS FOR PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER, NOR HAZILA BINTI MAT LAZIM
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(2022) A Complex Dynamic System Theory Perspective on Individual differences among ELF Learners Chinese-English Translation Competence, Li Zhang
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(2022) Corpus-based Discourse Analysis on the International Exchange of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Li Chunxiao
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(2022) Discourse Analysis on Celebrity Public Speaking from the Perspective of the System-Functional Linguistics, Wanlin Ping
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(2022) THE REPRESENTATION OF SUNNI'S IN SAUDI SHI'A DISCOURSE AND ITS IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTION: A CDA STUDY, ALGHAMDI, FAHAD SALEM J
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(2022) ASSESSING SERVICE LEARNING AND EMPATHY VIA EXPERiENTIAL LEARNING IN GERIATRIC DENTISTRY AMONGST DENTAL UNDERGRADUATES, Vaishali Malhotra
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(2022) A Linguistic Profiling of Psychiatric Patients with Suicidal Ideation: A Discursive Psychology in Forensic Linguistics, Salina Sabri
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(2022) Towards health equity: Exploring psychotherapeutic communication practices between SOGIESC minorities and mental health professionals—a discursive psychological approach., Amirul Hakim bin Shamsudin
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(2022) Power Relations in the Institutional Discourse of Malaysian Health Practitioners, Azira Sarfaraz Ahmad
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(2022) PRODUCTION OF QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY NATIONAL-TYPE CHINESE PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS, WONG AI LI
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(2022) METAPHOR USE IN THE NEWS REPORTS ON THE CHINA-PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR, WU KE
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(2022) Transitivity and Thematic analysis of Peranakan Chinese cultural values in Baba Malay folklore., Kit Yee Tang
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(2022) COASTAL PLASTIC POLLUTION IN KERALA: CORPUS-BASED DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ONLINE NEWSPAPER REPORTS, Gokul Jayakumar
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(2021) CONSTRUCTION OF OLDER ADULTS? LIFE STORIES BY MALAYSIAN DENTAL, JOANNA YOGARAJ
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(2020) CHINESE AND BRITISH MEDIA CONSTRUCTIONS OF PROTESTERS ENTERING THE HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BUILDING, TAO JIAJIN
TEACHING
Master
- (2021) TOX7015 - Approaches to Discourse Analysis
- (2021) TOX7007 - Discourse Analysis
- (2021) TOX7007 - Discourse Analysis
- (2021) TOX7007 - Discourse Analysis
- (2020) TOX7007 - Discourse Analysis
- (2020) TOA7004 - Syntax
- (2019) TOA7004 - Syntax
- (2019) TOA7009 - Systemic Functional Linguistics
- (2019) TOX7001 - Research Methodology
Bachelor
- (2021) TIX1002 - Introduction to Sociolinguistics
- (2021) TIX1002 - Introduction to Sociolinguistics
- (2021) TIX2001 - Language Acquisition
- (2021) TIX2001 - Pemerolehan Bahasa
- (2020) TIX1002 - Introduction to Sociolinguistics
- (2019) TIX1002 - Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Groups 5 and 8)
PATENT/IPR
- MySusFutureTRADEMARK
COURSE ATTENDED
Internal / External Course
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CARM TRAINING FOR PROFESSIONAL & WORKPLACE COMMUNICATIONS ENCOUNTERS, Online (03 Mar 2022 - 04 Mar 2022)